Day 2 of Orientation Finished

---

Hi Everyone!

Since my last post a LOT has taken place! That afternoon (2 days ago now) Brittney and I got to go to the orphanage we are volunteering at. It is only about 5 minutes of walking from our house. It was amazing! A little shocking at first to be honest....when we walked up we saw two very little babies (about 6-8 months old) sitting outside of the small building (it was the office). They were sitting on potatoe sacs, however they seemed quite content. Soon children flooded!! One little girl pulled the babies over to us, and handed one to me. She was sooooo cute!! I held onto her for quite a while...actually, until she peed on me!
Shortly after, the older kids came back from school. We were there because they were having a singing lesson and we were allowed to sit in. The older children were amazing!! They speak excellent English and are SO eager to learn! They brought out their school books and were asking for help with their geography or social as they called it class. They asked me to read from their Swahili book, and found it absolutely hilarious when I tried.
After the singing lesson the girls showed us some of their dances. Then we started taking a couple of pictures. Oh my gosh they love cameras!!! They couldn get enough of it!!!
It was so much fun, and made me very excited to get volunteering. We will start Monday.

The next day (yesterday) was our first day of orientation. We were picked up in the morning, and met the other 5 girls who are also volunteering. They are volunteering with different programs though, so yesterday and today were the only days we will get to see them. We learned a very little bit of Swahili (although it seems everyone here speaks English) and were given some tips about living in Kenya. Then we went for a Chinese lunch.

We got home around 3:00 in the afternoon, and I think Brittney and I were still a little jet-legged because we slept for almost 3 hours! We woke up for dinner which was "mixed greens" (looked like cooked spinach....not very tasty) and a pasta dish with chicken which was really good!

Today was our second day of orientation. We were picked up again in the van with the other girls and we went to an animal orphanage!!! It was unbelievable! We got to pet Cheetas and hold baby cheetas (yes Evan...be jealous....although there werent any baby Gorillas...I did ask though)!! There was an amazing lion, lots of monkees, a Leopard etc. I got some great pictures of Brittney and I holding the baby Cheetas....SO CUTE!!!

After there, we were taken around the busy part of Nairobi with people from the VICDA office. Cell phones are very cheap here and almost everyone has one! Most of us girls bought one as well...It only costs 10 Kenyan Shillings for me to text home (about a penny) and it is free to recieve calls from anywhere! The phone was 1,999 shillings (roughly 30 dollars). So I thought that would be a great way to stay in touch with home to send a text every once in a while over the next three months.

We then went for lunch with the VICDA people, and are now using the computers (obviously) and then heading back to the Lenana Slum. Today Brittney and I plan to walk around a little bit, and maybe visit the coca-cola stand and give them some of our business!!

Hope all is well in Canada!!
The rainy season has officially started here in Kenya...so don be too jealous of the weather!!

Hakuna Matata!
-Denise

---

Comments

[Dad]

wow - what a start
Hi Denise That is a great blog posting. Is there someone I should call at Niagara Regional to make sure they know about your blog, as Im sure they would love to be reading this. When we try to call you on your new cell the call is billed to us. A recording comes on and asks which number is to be billed, so the caller will pay full price for the international call. We will still call, but just wanted you to know that others may not because of the cost. Love Dad

[Kim McLaren]

hello from hickson
Hi Denise, How fun is this!!! To read what you are doing is amazing - isn our world a small place? How come you are not tired??? Actually, me and your Mom are cuddling on the chair in my living room!!!! Your Mom and Dad made a last minute decision to come to Jeremy Demarest"s Buck n Doe!!! How great is that? Can wait to read more, keep it coming, stay healthy and have fun!!!!!! P.S. talk to you later......

[Geener]

PICS?????
Hey Denice! Nice blog so far. Sounds like a real great adventure. Hope we get to see some pics of those cuuuute!!! kids and cheetas and what ever. Wish I was somewhere warm but can really complain about my life no matter the weather. Be proud of what you doing I sure am proud of you. You e going to learn so much in the next few months and really appriciate what us Canucs have. Keep up the good work. Ill be watching. Love John

[Gayle Miller]

Wow
Hi Denise (and Brittney)! Just got wind of this amazing adventure. Good for you two. Although, I'm concerned that they won't have fries for you to eat Denise. Good luck to you both. gayle (Ms. Miller)