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The last two days in Kenya have been filled with orientation activities. There are 6 guys and 22 girls volunteering in Kenya through GVN/VIDCA that are starting on June 1. They all seem to be pretty cool. It's especially cool to meet and talk to the volunteers from Denmark, Scotland, Mexico, and England. I could listen to their foreign accents all day.
The first day of orientation we met at a hotel like place and went over the logistical/paperwork stuff and leaned a little bit about Kenya. Then we found out about our placements. I'm going to be volunteering in Nairobi in the area known as Dagoretti. It is somewhat nearby where I had been staying, but in not quite as good of area. But, the house where we are staying is very nice and has most amenities (hot water, electricity, phone, regular toilet, etc.) that I thought I might not have while living in Kenya. Living in that house is Jusep and myself but living just next door in their parents’ house is Andrew and three other volunteers who were already in Kenya. I got to know Andrew through orientation. He's from San Diego and just graduated from Cal-St. Fullerton with a Business-Administration degree. He's got a lot of energy and really interested to learn and experience everything he can. I think he'll be a fun guy to hang out with. Oh, and when we got done with orientation, VIDCA took us to a really nice restaurant in Karen which is just outside of Nairobi. If any of you have watched the movie Out of Africa, I think Karen is where the main character lived, and we ate just down the road from her house.
The second day of orientation (yesterday) was probably the best day in Kenya thus far. VIDCA took us to Nairobi National Park and we got to go on a safari walk. It was absolutely amazing! We got to see so many different animals, from leopards to ostriches to lions, to cheetah, to rhinoceroses, to hippos. The only animals we didn't get to see were giraffes, elephants, and hyenas. I have some great pictures to show everyone, but I forgot my cord to upload the pictures from my camera to the computer, but I hope to post the pictures sometime. And, I also got a short movie of the hippos "play fighting." It was pretty cool.
After we left the safari walk, we walked around Nairobi for a while. I decided to buy a mobile phone for about $30, but the cool thing is that I can not only use it here, but I can also use it in other foreign countries simply by changing the SIM card, so it's definitely an investment. If you want to call me from the US, just dial 011-254-727-693-648. I think it might be something like over $2 a minute for you to call me, but I get free incoming calls so it doesn't cost me anything. Since it's so expensive for you, I wouldn't recommend calling unless you really want to talk to me, but now at least you do have a way to contact me directly. Oh, and there is no voicemail, so if I don't answer you're out of luck. But I do have very cheap text messaging, so that might be an even easier way to reach me.
So, needless to say, I did a lot yesterday, but my day was not done yet. I actually got to take a ride to Masai land in the late afternoon/evening. It was only about an hour or so south of Nairobi, but it was like we were on a different continent. It was very rural, the roads were bad, and the scenery was beautiful. We got to go because there were a few extra seats when they took the volunteers to the placements in Masai land. They will be living in a very meager shanty house in the middle of nowhere, but the volunteers that were already there seemed to enjoy it immensely. I'm not sure I could handle living like that for two months, so it's a good thing that I'm staying in Nairobi. And while we were out in Masai land, we got to experience a very beautiful sunset. I'll have to upload some pictures of that sometime as well.
Today we decided to spend sometime just walking around town and experiencing the culture. It's me, Jusep, Elaine, Seema, and we are meeting Andrew later. I think I'm going to have a great time here, even though it is somewhat challenging to push my fears to the back of my mind. But as I am getting to know and trust more people, it feels less and less like I am out of my element here. Oh, and I have yet to get sick or anything like that. It almost seems like my body might like this food better than American food. Imagine that, it likes natural food better than fatty and artificial stuff that we often eat in America. Who woulda thunk it?
Have a good weekend and hopefully I will be able to post some pictures sometime.
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Aunt Mart
non-member comment
You sound great
I have enjoyed hearing from you Brandon. Sounds like you are off to a great start. I can't wait to see the pictures. I read what Bruce wrote to you wait till I see him. Take care and God Bless You! Love, Uncle Dick and Aunt Mart