Jambo!

Kenya.is.amazing. It is well worth the crazy journey I took to get here. I slept about 5 hours in 2 days of traveling and once we arrived in Nairobi we still had some traveling left to do. It’s a 6 hour drive to Kimana, the town where we are staying. I was not prepared for the unpaved bumpy roads and I may have hit my head on the window a few times, but it was definitely an adventure in Kenyan driving. The camp where we’re staying is awesome. I’m sharing a hut or “banda” with three other girls and we have outdoor toilets and showers. This kinda freaks me out because when I went to brush my teeth last night I could see flashing animal eyes in the middle of the nearby field. I barely spit out my toothpaste before rushing back to my banda. It’s definitely an adjustment getting used to the facilities, but I took my first cold shower and it was actually refreshing, and sleeping under a mosquito net reminds me of the Philippines. AND I can see Mount Kilimanjaro from the shower and a tiny bit from my banda window. It’s beautiful and giant and I can’t believe it’s still hundreds of kilometers away in Tanzania because it seems so close because of its size. The weather has been mild, though when the sun starts blazing you are definitely reminded of how close to the equator we are. Oh, and I also learned this morning that the camp is on a fault line….and we found out because a tremor shook us awake at 5am! Hmmm, that was not  advertised in the brochure. They assure us the tremors are infrequent, but it was still kinda scary. Mom, sorry to add something else to the list of things to worry about.

We haven’t started class or worked on our project but that will change tomorrow. We had orientation and then today we went to the Kimana market to see the town and do a little shopping. I didn’t buy anything because I was too distracted by everything around me. The people, the smells, the produce, and the chaos were like nothing I’ve ever seen. I saw Maasai warriors up close and felt so intimidated by their presence. I wanted to take pictures of everything and everyone but I held back a little because I didn’t want to impose more so than our presence already seemed to do. I also know there is still time as I have 5 weeks ahead of me and will definitely return to the market.

The coolest thing by far has been all of the animals we’ve seen in just two days. We saw zebras while driving in, there are monkeys hanging around our camp, and today we came within 10 feet of some elephants around our camp. After we arrived back at camp from the market, the guard at the gate told us about seeing a group of elephants near our fence, so we went on an off road adventure in the Land Cruisers to find them. We were so close that I felt a little panicky like I was about to get trampled in a stampede, but they were just calm and beautiful. It was exciting and kind of terrifying at the same time and I can’t wait to upload some pictures to share with you guys. Things are starting to get busy so hopefully I’ll find time to download pictures later this week. Til then, here’s your Swahili lesson of the day, which is useful when bargaining in the Kimana market.

Unaniumiza mfukoni! Kuna bei rahisi? This means, “You’re hurting my wallet! Is there a cheaper price?”

Bye friends!