Safely in Kenya

Greetings from Nakuru!

I originally tried to send an email ensuring I arrived in Kenya safely on Tuesday from an internet café in Nairobi, unfortunately, just as I was about to hit send, the power went out. TIA

We have been at a week long orientation at Nakuri Regional Park, a two hour drive west of Nairobi. We are on a forest preserve and have been on game drives every evening. Some highlights of the park are not only the claustrophobic mosquito nets that I will never get used to, but we also have discovered the baboons not only enjoy roaming around freely in our compound, but also enjoy scaring the be-jeesus out of us by trying to get into the dining hall during breakfast. One jumped up and stared at us from the door, leaving me no option but to scream and jump on top of my chair. Baboons are the squirrels of Kenya. Only more dangerous. Rhinos, zebras, buffalos, impala, and flamingo are all part of the wildlife we have enjoyed on our game drives. Pictures are coming soon I promise.

Kenya is in a horrible drought and the animals are starving. This is the main reason for the baboons aggressively trying to get into anywhere they can in search of food. We also must be careful about leopards, who are also starving and could come to the compound at night on the prowl for a dreary eyed student on the way to the bathroom. But, so far so good.

The first couple days here were rough. Upon arrival, I met another girl, Julia, who flew in early and we were whisked away to a hostel outside of Nairobi, where we were left to fend for ourselves from 7 am to 11 pm that night. It was almost as if we were quarantined. Julia and I enjoyed a nap, then met another girl who arrived by taxi. The day flew by quickly and we were soon joined by the rest of the group. The next day, we went to Nairobi to the immigration office to receive a multiple entry and resident papers. Then, we went to lunch, where I was ignored and wasn’t able to order. Close to tears as I hadn’t had a meal since I left on Saturday except for meager plane meals, I almost had a breakdown at the restaurant. I was finally able to order a chicken sandwich, which only invited more tears when they brought it and it was bony and barely a fourth of a serving of chicken as the other chicken sandwiches. Then, the stint with the internet, and I was ready to call it quits. I took some deep breaths and enjoyed the two hour ride to Nakuri, enjoying a wonderful cup of coffee on the way there.

The orientation has been good, a lot of information, a lot of caution, and a lot of warnings. The people here are great. I am one of the few inexperienced world travelers, don’t speak Swahili, and am not a global studies major. Everyone here is one of the three. So, although I feel a little out of place, I am enjoying having a new experience.

We haven’t had much interaction here with the local people, but everyone we’ve met and the staff are amazing!!!

I meet my host family tomorrow. I have running water and electricity. I am living in a neighborhood with several other students, so we are able to walk to and from classes together which is great because we will need the exercise.

They feed us a ridiculous amount of food here!!! Three kinds of starches, two types of meat, vegetables, and something to soak up the sauces with are the norm for every meal. All of our hopes of coming back lean and mean are rapidly dwindling.

I am happy to be here, I love the scenery, although a lot of the vegetation is dying due to the lack of rain. African people are beautiful, just beautiful. I think about home a lot, but not in a sad way, but in a fond way. Everything is still surreal as we are still removed from the reality of what our everyday life will be like in Nairobi.