Blogs from Nairobi, Nairobi Province, Kenya, Africa - page 83

Last week I was in Nairobi for a Technology conference. It was pretty uneventful but nice to be able to catch up with a lot of other volunteers. This week I'm back at site busy writing funding proposals. I have a temporary roommate which is nice because I was beginning to get a little lonely living by myself. She'll only be here for nine weeks and most of that time I'll be traveling so the arrangement worked out well for both of us. Tommorrow a few other volunteers are coming to visit and we are all going out dancing. Saturday we are going to Nairobi for the 4th of July party but on by the embassy. It should be a lot of fun. They have a soccer tournament too and I think we are going to ... read more

Well climbing the mountain was a lot of fun. It took us about an hour to climb up it and another two hours to walk around the crater and another 45 minutes to get back down. It is actually a volcanic crater that has been dorment for some time but it was cool because you could see the the steam rising from certain parts. Our Halloween party at the center was a lot of fun. It was nice to stay there overnight and be able to use "real" bathrooms. I am covered with bug bites though I think from planning manhunt. This Friday we find out where our sites will be and I'm pretty excited to be almost done with training. Nov 9th I finally found out what my placement will be I'll be doing microfinance ... read more

Now that we're back in Nairobi, it doesn't seem as daunting the second time. Except that when we got off the bus, Mike almost let himself get pissed off at a relentless, harassing taxi driver. My approach now? Say nothing and just look at them. Or turn and respond with, "Blah, blah, blah!" Not worth my energy anymore to get baited into a fight. Leaving Arusha was tough but tougher still because I caught a cold which became full-blown by the time the bus ride was over. There was a memorable highlight at the border stop: I became most interesting, as my hair got the full attention of a young Maasai guy who spent a good amount of time touching it and examining how it works. I love Maasai areas. The people are so interested in ... read more

The circumstances for this trip were a bit unusual. I had always had these romanticised dreams about Africa in general, and safaris in particular. I had been reading the ads in the newspapers for quite some time, but it was not until I came across a special priced group tour to Kenya and the Masai Mara that I finally decided to act and booked myself a seat. Having done that my boss suddenly decided that I should go on a month long biz trip across the pond to Denver, Colorado in September, talk about lousy timing. Fortunately my plan was already set and booking made, so I managed to get a decent compromise. I got to spend two weeks in Denver and then fly home for the weekend, do the laundry, pack the bag and go ... read more