Dear Kenya,
I will say one thing, you have been a pain in my tush with this wifi nonsense! You give me several adventures and experiences and do not let me share them with my family and friends at home. I see keeping me all to yourself....That is a little selfish Kenya. Well since I have some wifi now I will do my best to update what has happened the past couple of days.
This past weekend the program went on a little nature walk at Masai Lodge. The words "little" and "walk" is an understatement. This was a full on hike! We started at the lodge and ended at Kitengela Glass Factory. This little community took recycled glass melted and reformed it into plates, glass, artwork, jewelery etc. However, to get to this community we had a bit of a journey. We used roots of trees to travel over a stream, dodged tree branches, stepped over animal dung, jumped, slid, and climbed over boulders. It was incredible! Of course of all days to be clumsy, my body decided to trip over itself, slip, and just be a train wreck. I loved it though! I would 100% do this again. Once the climbing portion of our journey was over, we walked through flat land where we saw a group of baboons (even babies), zebras, gazelles! It was pretty awesome, I must say.The final obstacle to get us to the community was this bridge that connected one side of a cliff to the other. Of course we crossed it! It was pretty high and pretty shaky! The view was incredible. So much greenery surrounded me.
The community was very interesting. There were pieces of glass that were embedded into the ground, the walls. Decorations on the doors, stairs, sides of houses. It was very creative. We got a chance to see how they melt the recycled glass and turn it into beads to make jewellery. After purchasing several things we all headed back to the lodge to eat lunch. Once we finished lunch we had an hour or so to hang out at the pool! We were all sweaty and exhausted from our hike. It took some of us some time to finally get into the pool. But when we did, it was refreshing. This trip was extremely fun. I would recommend this adventure to anyone who comes to Kenya.
We headed home but stopped for a massive trip to the grocery store. Because the next day was September 21, the one year anniversary of the West Gate Incident, we were told it was preferred not to leave the area. So we stocked up!
Monday came around and there are only two things worth sharing that happened.
Fist we had our first class with our NEW Epidemiology professor. A classmate of mine had mentioned that someone told her that he looked like Winnie The Pooh. I wasn't sure what to expect. But sure enough, she was right. I have Winnie The Pooh as my Epi professor. He is wonderful so far. We learned a lot in our first class. There will be a bit of an issue understanding him since he speaks softly, with a heavy accent. But other than that I am looking forward to this class.
The second thing I will talk about is the traffic in Nairobi. Monday I got out of class a little bit earlier than 5pm. I did not get home until 6:30pm. The traffic is horrendous here! Not only do we sit for an hour, the pollution that surrounds us is unbearable! I have been sick the past week with congestion and a really bad cough and I am convinced it is the pollution because when I went on the hike on Saturday my sinuses and cough disappeared! The moment we entered the city again, my nose got stuffy and my cough returned. ( I am feeling a lot better now, thanks for asking! :) )
Well, that is it for now! Thank you to everyone who has been patient with me not having wifi to talk to them. I miss you all. A shout out to my Dad who celebrated his birthday this past Monday. A shout out to my AEPPhi girls who had their philanthropy event and retreat this past weekend (looked like a lot of fun!) Shout out to my little sister kicking butt at the SAT/ACT game! And a shout out to mom cuz your simply awesome! My final shout out is to Daniel Schwarz. Thank you for being incredibly flexible and strong with me. I am proud of you for working, interning, and doing amazing in classes. Miss and love you all!
Love,
Angie
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Junction Disfunction
Dear Kenya,
First off, thank you for blessing us with wonderful weather since our rainy first week here. Everything has been wonderful since my last post. Granted it has been a while so I will attempt to sum up everything since Thursday, September 18th. I apologize for the extremely long post that follows.
Thursday September 18th:
After a wonderful class in Community Health that ended at around 1, we had some time to get out of the apartment and do a little exploring. So, Bailey, Megan, and I called a taxi, and headed over to Junction Mall. What we witnessed was something that none of us were expecting. We arrived excited that we took the time to leave out usual routine to try something new. The only way that I can describe this mall is --Long Island peeps, it's nicer than Roosevelt Field Mall, or simply think of the nicest mall you have been to and it looked relatively like that. There were stores like Mr. Price, which was a store that reminded us of H&M and Forever 21, a casino, and Nakomatt which can only be described as a mix of Whole Foods and a very nice Walmart. We walked into Mr. Price to see what was being sold. We were surprised to see the variety of clothing's that were being sold. We then went to Nakomatt. We saw a numerous amount of food brands that we would see back at home. Cereals, cheeses, etc. Immediately, I started to feel a bit confused as to where I was. Was I in Kenya or the USA? There were European families everywhere! People saying "Bless you" or "Hi" in English. Something I was not used to. The past two weeks were have been shopping at local markets, practicing our swahili and quote on quote, "living how the locals do". This new environment was something we were reminded is OUR culture. This fancy mall, with selections, and easy access to whatever we needed was familiar. I am calling this experience my taste of reverse culture shock. I felt confused, uncomfortable, guilty, and appreciative of how I lived in the US and how I am living in Kenya right now. In the eyes of Kenya, we saw how the other half lived. But in reality, this other half, is our half, what we are used to. It was incredibly interesting how I felt more comfortable when we returned to our apartments. It has taken me a couple days to try to articulate how I felt. I still cannot explain fully how I felt. But this is my closest attempt.
First off, thank you for blessing us with wonderful weather since our rainy first week here. Everything has been wonderful since my last post. Granted it has been a while so I will attempt to sum up everything since Thursday, September 18th. I apologize for the extremely long post that follows.
Thursday September 18th:
After a wonderful class in Community Health that ended at around 1, we had some time to get out of the apartment and do a little exploring. So, Bailey, Megan, and I called a taxi, and headed over to Junction Mall. What we witnessed was something that none of us were expecting. We arrived excited that we took the time to leave out usual routine to try something new. The only way that I can describe this mall is --Long Island peeps, it's nicer than Roosevelt Field Mall, or simply think of the nicest mall you have been to and it looked relatively like that. There were stores like Mr. Price, which was a store that reminded us of H&M and Forever 21, a casino, and Nakomatt which can only be described as a mix of Whole Foods and a very nice Walmart. We walked into Mr. Price to see what was being sold. We were surprised to see the variety of clothing's that were being sold. We then went to Nakomatt. We saw a numerous amount of food brands that we would see back at home. Cereals, cheeses, etc. Immediately, I started to feel a bit confused as to where I was. Was I in Kenya or the USA? There were European families everywhere! People saying "Bless you" or "Hi" in English. Something I was not used to. The past two weeks were have been shopping at local markets, practicing our swahili and quote on quote, "living how the locals do". This new environment was something we were reminded is OUR culture. This fancy mall, with selections, and easy access to whatever we needed was familiar. I am calling this experience my taste of reverse culture shock. I felt confused, uncomfortable, guilty, and appreciative of how I lived in the US and how I am living in Kenya right now. In the eyes of Kenya, we saw how the other half lived. But in reality, this other half, is our half, what we are used to. It was incredibly interesting how I felt more comfortable when we returned to our apartments. It has taken me a couple days to try to articulate how I felt. I still cannot explain fully how I felt. But this is my closest attempt.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Internship, Elephants and Giraffes oh my!
Dear Kenya,
Thank you for allowing my first week of classes go so smoothly! Have I mentioned how beautiful you are Kenya?
My first week of class is over. Just seven more weeks of class and I will be a 9-5 intern at HESED! Let me explain....
My classes for AU end on Thursdays. So from Monday to Thursday I have either 3 or 2 classes that are 3 hours long (minus Swahili which is an hour and a half every day except Friday). Then on Friday we are free to intern or attend a culture class. This pattern will continue until October when my classes end, but my internship becomes 9-5 every day.
This past Friday Allie and I went to our internship around 1pm after our culture class. We met with our supervisor who told us more details about our position and roles for our internship. She told us that we would be teaching students at schools in Nairobi. We have the freedom to decide what we will be teaching, as long as it is health related. For example, one day we can talk about dental hygiene and the next Friday we can talk about physical activity and play a soccer. We were told that the next Friday we would be taught how to construct these presentations. The following Friday we would visit the school to get to know the teachers and administration and the third Friday we will begin our first presenation. We will be doing this while Allie and I are still in classes from September to end of October. However, when we are completed with our classes (starting November), we will begin to work on a project that a HESED clinic in the rural fish village Sihay tells us we need to work on. From there, we will be trained on how to implement that project. HESED will then send both of us along with another staff member to Sihay for two week (uncertain yet if it is for this long) to implement the project and help the clinic in however we can. We would leave November 17th and return to Nairobi December 2nd. Yup, missing Thanksgiving :( But the way I am looking at it is that this is an experience of a lifetime. Not many people have the opportunity to work with an Organization, travel with them and truly experience what it would be like to do hands on work. Everything must be approved by our director from the program first. So cross your fingers and hope that everything is cleared!
Friday afternoon Megan and I decided to be a little adventurous. We went around the area where we live to see the veggie and fruit stands. We were able to practice some of our Swahili, meet some very sweet people and an adorable little one year old boy. The vegetables and fruits we bought at these stands were extremely reasonably priced. We agreed that this was going to be our new place to get our produce.
Friday night Megan, Caitlin and I had a little roommie dinner date. We went to The Vineyard Wine Bar located near our apartment. We had a nice dinner with some wine and beer and enjoyed the music playing in the background. I had my first taxi experience. No big deal really. As long as we use the taxis that the program recommends we will be fine.
Saturday:
Today was the best day ever!!!!!!!!
Megan so wonderfully coordinated our first adventure in Nairobi. We went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: A Haven for Elephants. We paid 500 shillings to see and interact with baby orphan elephants being fed. We were all SO SO SOOOO excited to see the elephants. This trust rescues baby elephants that they find all over the country. They take them in, care for them for three years and then are taken to another facility where they are eased into the wildlife. In a total of 8 years these elephants are then released out in the wild once they are no longer dependant on their mothers milk. There were 15 tiny elephants less than a year old, and 10 that were 2 or 3 years old. They were incredibly adorable! We could also adopt a baby elephant for $50 for one year. I will say, it was extremely tempting. We then went to the Giraffe Centre where we fed, hugged and kissed, yup kissed giraffes. These magnificent animals were so gentle with us. They stuck their long tongues out at us waiting for food. I was able to feed and kiss one! How? That sounds crazy right? Ha well, I put a piece of food in my mouth and he licked it up with a nice sloppy kiss! (I was fortunately it wasn't that sloppy. It was more gentle than anything).
I was extremely happy that I got a chance to do all of this today. I have noticed that when we drive somewhere I really like to stay a bit quiet and just observe everything I pass. The people, the stands, the trees, the buildings and cars and the matatus. Even though Nairobi is less developed than New York or DC, there is an amazing beauty behind everything. The nature of Nairobi is something I have never seen before. In DC we all love our cherry blossoms. People from all over come to see them bloom. I agree that they are quite beautiful. But something about the bright red, yellow, orange, and purple flowers that I see on the strong green majestic trees as I drive through the city that completely makes me appreciate that I am here in Kenya. This kind of nature is something that I won't find in the states. The more comfortable I am
here, the more I appreciate my surroundings and the opportunity to be here. So thank you Kenya for opening your beautiful doors to me. I am looking forward to more adventures with you.
Love,
Angie
Thank you for allowing my first week of classes go so smoothly! Have I mentioned how beautiful you are Kenya?
My first week of class is over. Just seven more weeks of class and I will be a 9-5 intern at HESED! Let me explain....
My classes for AU end on Thursdays. So from Monday to Thursday I have either 3 or 2 classes that are 3 hours long (minus Swahili which is an hour and a half every day except Friday). Then on Friday we are free to intern or attend a culture class. This pattern will continue until October when my classes end, but my internship becomes 9-5 every day.
This past Friday Allie and I went to our internship around 1pm after our culture class. We met with our supervisor who told us more details about our position and roles for our internship. She told us that we would be teaching students at schools in Nairobi. We have the freedom to decide what we will be teaching, as long as it is health related. For example, one day we can talk about dental hygiene and the next Friday we can talk about physical activity and play a soccer. We were told that the next Friday we would be taught how to construct these presentations. The following Friday we would visit the school to get to know the teachers and administration and the third Friday we will begin our first presenation. We will be doing this while Allie and I are still in classes from September to end of October. However, when we are completed with our classes (starting November), we will begin to work on a project that a HESED clinic in the rural fish village Sihay tells us we need to work on. From there, we will be trained on how to implement that project. HESED will then send both of us along with another staff member to Sihay for two week (uncertain yet if it is for this long) to implement the project and help the clinic in however we can. We would leave November 17th and return to Nairobi December 2nd. Yup, missing Thanksgiving :( But the way I am looking at it is that this is an experience of a lifetime. Not many people have the opportunity to work with an Organization, travel with them and truly experience what it would be like to do hands on work. Everything must be approved by our director from the program first. So cross your fingers and hope that everything is cleared!
Friday afternoon Megan and I decided to be a little adventurous. We went around the area where we live to see the veggie and fruit stands. We were able to practice some of our Swahili, meet some very sweet people and an adorable little one year old boy. The vegetables and fruits we bought at these stands were extremely reasonably priced. We agreed that this was going to be our new place to get our produce.
Friday night Megan, Caitlin and I had a little roommie dinner date. We went to The Vineyard Wine Bar located near our apartment. We had a nice dinner with some wine and beer and enjoyed the music playing in the background. I had my first taxi experience. No big deal really. As long as we use the taxis that the program recommends we will be fine.
Saturday:
Today was the best day ever!!!!!!!!
I was extremely happy that I got a chance to do all of this today. I have noticed that when we drive somewhere I really like to stay a bit quiet and just observe everything I pass. The people, the stands, the trees, the buildings and cars and the matatus. Even though Nairobi is less developed than New York or DC, there is an amazing beauty behind everything. The nature of Nairobi is something I have never seen before. In DC we all love our cherry blossoms. People from all over come to see them bloom. I agree that they are quite beautiful. But something about the bright red, yellow, orange, and purple flowers that I see on the strong green majestic trees as I drive through the city that completely makes me appreciate that I am here in Kenya. This kind of nature is something that I won't find in the states. The more comfortable I am
here, the more I appreciate my surroundings and the opportunity to be here. So thank you Kenya for opening your beautiful doors to me. I am looking forward to more adventures with you.
Love,
Angie
Ending of a tired, wifiless week
Dear Kenya,
Today is the first time since my last blog that I finally have working wifi on my laptop. In the morning we go to the AU abroad centre for our swahili class. Only there can I have access to wifi when my apartment doesn't work. Great right? So this post will be quick and short.
Today I hade Swahili and Environmental Health. Swahili is really fun to learn. I have never been one to pick up languages very easily, so I have to put a lot of time into studying. Which I have! I have been so good! I review my notes and practice vocabulary every night! It's in my head somewhere haha. We also had Environmental health today which was good. So far my favourite class and professor is Community Health. I feel super engaged and challenged in this class. I feel this class is very closely related to what I would like to do. I am excited for what this class will bring!
Waking up every morning around 6 am is extremely difficult. My body has finally adjusted to jet lag and the altitude, but now I am so tired from not sleeping a full 8 hours. Either I am up battling wifi or I am not tired when I should be going to sleep. As every day goes by I am getting more and more tired.
Tomorrow I start my internship! I am extremely excited, even though it is just an orientation. I hope to have a better understanding of what my role is in this foundation.
That's all for now folks!
Love,
Angie
Today is the first time since my last blog that I finally have working wifi on my laptop. In the morning we go to the AU abroad centre for our swahili class. Only there can I have access to wifi when my apartment doesn't work. Great right? So this post will be quick and short.
Today I hade Swahili and Environmental Health. Swahili is really fun to learn. I have never been one to pick up languages very easily, so I have to put a lot of time into studying. Which I have! I have been so good! I review my notes and practice vocabulary every night! It's in my head somewhere haha. We also had Environmental health today which was good. So far my favourite class and professor is Community Health. I feel super engaged and challenged in this class. I feel this class is very closely related to what I would like to do. I am excited for what this class will bring!
Waking up every morning around 6 am is extremely difficult. My body has finally adjusted to jet lag and the altitude, but now I am so tired from not sleeping a full 8 hours. Either I am up battling wifi or I am not tired when I should be going to sleep. As every day goes by I am getting more and more tired.
Tomorrow I start my internship! I am extremely excited, even though it is just an orientation. I hope to have a better understanding of what my role is in this foundation.
That's all for now folks!
Love,
Angie
Monday, September 8, 2014
First Day of Classes
Dear Kenya,
Today was my first day of classes!!!
Woke up this morning at 5:45am to get ready for my meeting with the director of the program about our internships and then my first class of Swahili at 7:30am. My swahili professor, Fred, was a linguistics professor who taught French at USIU. He speaks fluently in 5 different languages! He was born an raised here in Nairobi but studied in Switzerland and Paris. He started the class like any other class at AU would. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and what we were studying. He then gave us a brief overview of topics that we would be covering in class. We learned that Swahili has 15 different dialects and that Swahili has recently become not only the national language but the official language of Kenya, along side English. Also learned that there are many different African languages that are dying. Because some people do not know their ancestor language, many people change their African names to Mary, Bob, Nancy etc (My fun facts of the day). We then learned some basic vocabulary. There are so many ways to say How are you? SO MANY! But I am really looking forward to learning how to speak Swahili. I am dedicating 15 minutes a day to practicing Swahili. By the time I get home I hope to be at least conversational. Lets see if it happens!
The next class we had was Fundamentals of Epidemiology. The professor was adorable. She was sweet, kinda funny, and trying very hard to try to figure out where we are in our majors so she can alter the course so we can benefit from it. These professors that we have are masters or PhD professors. Therefore, they are attempting to alter whatever they can while staying within the AU requirements. I can tell that Epidemiology is going to be a tough one for me....MATH! Not too concerned though. This class was 3 hours long. Today, because its syllabus week, we got out very early. So the rest of the students and I walked around and had some lunch on the campus. The food was not too bad, but not the greatest we have had. We had an hour between this class and our next class, Community Health. We had met the professor for our Community Health class. He was witty but in a way serious. He remembered our faces and tried to remember our names. Rather than having a lecture like we did in Epi, in our Community Health class we had a discussion about what we expected from this program, what we think community, family, household, health, and public health is. What we will be doing in this class is very new to me. We will be learning how to assess a study that we will create. In a week in November, the public health students and I will be living in a rural community for a week and conducting a survey on a certain topic (We don't know what that is yet). That is what we are looking forward to the most in this class. Because I have an interest in program planning, this is the class that will help me understand why certain programs are implemented in certain areas and why programs are successful and and unsuccessful.
My classes so far have been intriguing so far. I am very excited to start and learn new things. For the first time I will be completely focused on my major and truly discovering what I would like to do as a career in this field. Until next time my rafiki!
Love,
Angie
P.S Missing you all!
Today was my first day of classes!!!
Woke up this morning at 5:45am to get ready for my meeting with the director of the program about our internships and then my first class of Swahili at 7:30am. My swahili professor, Fred, was a linguistics professor who taught French at USIU. He speaks fluently in 5 different languages! He was born an raised here in Nairobi but studied in Switzerland and Paris. He started the class like any other class at AU would. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and what we were studying. He then gave us a brief overview of topics that we would be covering in class. We learned that Swahili has 15 different dialects and that Swahili has recently become not only the national language but the official language of Kenya, along side English. Also learned that there are many different African languages that are dying. Because some people do not know their ancestor language, many people change their African names to Mary, Bob, Nancy etc (My fun facts of the day). We then learned some basic vocabulary. There are so many ways to say How are you? SO MANY! But I am really looking forward to learning how to speak Swahili. I am dedicating 15 minutes a day to practicing Swahili. By the time I get home I hope to be at least conversational. Lets see if it happens!
The next class we had was Fundamentals of Epidemiology. The professor was adorable. She was sweet, kinda funny, and trying very hard to try to figure out where we are in our majors so she can alter the course so we can benefit from it. These professors that we have are masters or PhD professors. Therefore, they are attempting to alter whatever they can while staying within the AU requirements. I can tell that Epidemiology is going to be a tough one for me....MATH! Not too concerned though. This class was 3 hours long. Today, because its syllabus week, we got out very early. So the rest of the students and I walked around and had some lunch on the campus. The food was not too bad, but not the greatest we have had. We had an hour between this class and our next class, Community Health. We had met the professor for our Community Health class. He was witty but in a way serious. He remembered our faces and tried to remember our names. Rather than having a lecture like we did in Epi, in our Community Health class we had a discussion about what we expected from this program, what we think community, family, household, health, and public health is. What we will be doing in this class is very new to me. We will be learning how to assess a study that we will create. In a week in November, the public health students and I will be living in a rural community for a week and conducting a survey on a certain topic (We don't know what that is yet). That is what we are looking forward to the most in this class. Because I have an interest in program planning, this is the class that will help me understand why certain programs are implemented in certain areas and why programs are successful and and unsuccessful.
My classes so far have been intriguing so far. I am very excited to start and learn new things. For the first time I will be completely focused on my major and truly discovering what I would like to do as a career in this field. Until next time my rafiki!
Love,
Angie
P.S Missing you all!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Karibu Kenya!
Dear Kenya,
Karibu Kenya! "Welcome to Kenya!"
Megan, Caitlin, and I arrived safely at Nairobi airport at 9:30pm. After traveling for 20 hours together, we finally arrived the our new home for the next three months. Our adventure began in New York. We said our goodbyes at the security line and headed towards our gates. We had several hours to kill so Megan, Caitlin and I sat down, talked, and ate food. As the time got closer to board, we sat at our gate patiently waiting. As we took our final turns to use the bathroom, an announcement for the final boarding for Heathrow London came on. We then immediately realized we were sitting at the wrong gate! We rushed to the right gate and made it on the plane just in time. Off to a crazy start! The plane ride was approximately 6-7 hours long. I sat next to two older british women. They seemed very proper and extremely interested in their kindle readings. During the plane ride I wrote, read and listened to music. I got myself comfortable by placing one leg underneath me. Both the British women looked at me and looked at my leg. Immediately I felt just slightly judged, so I sat with both my feet on the ground for the rest of the flight. Everyone on this plane had a British accent. For the first time I felt uncomfortable. I have been to London before and never felt this way. Being on your own in a different atmosphere really does affect you. The flight attendant was not so nice to me once she realized I was not British. But other than that, the flight was smooth. We left New York with a beautiful view of the sunset and arrived in London with a gorgeous view of the sunrise. It was 6:30 in the morning.
We hung around Heathrow for a couple of hours, emailed family to let them know we were ok and half way to our destination. Before we knew it, we were waiting at the gate about to board our last flight to Nairobi, Kenya. And off we went.
On the plane I made a friend. He was a Kenyan who had been studying in London for the past 15 years. He was returning to Kenya to visit his family for a couple of weeks. We talked about the difference about our two countries. Where we have visited in the past, where we would like to go etc. He asked me questions about the states and I asked him questions about Kenya. It was amazing to see how two minds from opposite sides of the world think similarly, but yet so different. His perception of America is not as positive as us Americans think it is. Of course many people who see the negatives of the US still want to come to experience it. (This isn't the only time I experienced a Kenyan's perspective on the US.
After a painful 8 hour plane ride, we arrived in Nairobi, our new home. We were picked up by some men from our program and were taken to our apartments. We meet the rest of the student group and our orientation week began the next day at 9am.
This week has consisted of vital information to "survive" Kenya. We met our head of security, program director, orientation assistants, professors, and people we could trust in the program. We were taken around to the AU abroad center where we would be taking some classes, we walked around the neighborhood, drove downtown.
The next day we had a day full of guest speakers and our first lesson in survival Kiswahili. The first guest speaker talked about sexuality in Kenya, the second was one of the few clinical psychologist in Nairobi who talked to us about mental health and living in Kenya, and the final guest speaker was an AU alumni who spoke to us about networking while in Nairobi. My most interested guest speaker was the first one about sexuality in Kenya. Our guest speaker told us that in Kenya, homosexuality is not accepted. However, the younger generation coming in is becoming more accepting and understanding which allows those of the older generation to begin to open their minds a bit. OF course this is not the case for every Kenyan family. But, with the combination of young minds, support groups, and political figures coming out, anti-homosexuality is lessening. Since religion is a very larger component to the Kenyan culture, conservatives do not accept this at all. But there is more positive energy pushing for sexual acceptance than there was years ago.
Most of this day consisted of sitting. One of our orientation leaders made us play a game to help us move around a bit and helped them remember our names. Its called "pepeta". In kiswahili, pepeta means "dribbling". Essentially, the game is about us passing around an imaginary soccer ball saying, "Angie has the ball, she puts it here (place it on a body part) she pepetas (dribbles and thrusts that body part back and forth) and passes it to _____." It was the best game I have ever played. It was funny, smart, and simply enjoyable. We all couldn't stop laughing references to pepeta continued for the rest of that day and the following couple of days.
That day, jet lag hit me extremely hard. Jet lag is not a laughing matter my friends. It took most of the students, including myself the week to handle the change in hours. I am still not 100% accustomed yet. Feeling tired, headaches, and body feeling weak is difficult to overcome when orientation week is fast paced.
During this week we experienced two black outs in our apartments since we have been here. Wifi is not as accessible as it is in the US. Even the university we are studying at is not as reliable as we expected. But its ok! Go with the flow right!? When the public health students visited the University of Nairobi we met with the director of the School of Public Health. Dr. Ongore. He is presentation was filled with intellect and humor. In my opinion a wonderful combination. During his presentation, the power went out. We all giggled and he told us that this happens very often. But they have this saying. NEPA- Never Expect Power All The Time. He continued to make quick little jokes that took us completely off guard. For example, he told us he had a MBChB, MPH, and a PhD, the PhD stood for "permanent brain damage". We experienced another power outage during dinner, and when we returned home. But now we know, never expect power all the time.
When we visited the University of Nairobi, we got a tour of the University's library. We spoke to the head librarian and told us all the books that we have access to etc etc. Something he said took me off guard and upset me. He told us that the library had rules. One rule was that women had to dress up and not wear summer clothing so we do not distract the men. When he said that, the entire group of people we were with all looked at each other. We discussed it after we left his office. This was my first experience of the Kenyan culture on gender roles and perception. I understand that in my head and where I am from, there is no tolerance for that kind of comment. But here, it is accepted. It is a part of their culture. Accepting those kinds of differences from this culture will be extremely challenging.
Later that day we went into the city for a tour. Our head of security showed us the Hilton which is a well known landmark, incase we get lost. We then went to the KICC- Kenya International Conference Center. As a group we traveled to the top of the building and saw a magnificent view of the entire city of Nairobi. Everywhere you turned there was a new part o the city. What I noticed while up there was the amount of trees there were in Nairobi. In my opinion, Nairobi is fairly similar to Quito, Ecuador. However, the trees in Nairobi stand as one of the severe differences these two cities have. Another thing I noticed while above the city was the amount of pollution in the air. It was gray and almost dirty like. A lot of what we could have seen from they view was covered by the gray clouds that rested on top of them. Regardless, the view was beautiful. We all had fun taking pictures and just looking out into the city without speaking.
The past couple of days we have walking, more like sprinted through the city. As I mentioned before, I realized that Nairobi similar to Quito, Ecuador. I found this to be interesting and reassuring. I found myself more confident knowing that this environment is slightly familiar. Nairobi is very busy. But of the busy things occurring on every street there are several things I noticed that are different from Quito and especially the US. One thing I noticed is how there are little to no sidewalks. Everything is muddy, especially since it has been raining the past 3 days. Here in Nairobi there are strict laws about crossing the street. Yup. I could be arrested if I am found J walking or crossing when there is a foot bridge near by. I also have to walk on the right side of the street to see ongoing traffic. That is the other thing, everything is backwards. Drivers sit on the right side of the car and drive on the left side of the road. Did I mention how terrible the driving is here! It's worse than Quito, New York City, and DC combined! Within the first two minutes we arrived from the airport we got into a little car accident. Nothing big, just a bumper hit. But it was kinda funny. Another difference is the attire Kenyans wear. Women do not expose a lot of skin. They wear long dresses and sweaters whether it's rain or shine. There is a lot more of this culture I am yet to discover. My four months here will allow me to live the cultural difference between the two cultures I am a part of.
Saturday, we were informed more about security while studying in the city. We were told our procedures incase of an apocalypse occurred. We had plans and places to go. The most exciting part of my day was meeting my partners for my internship. I will be interning with another student, Allie at HESED. We both did not know what exactly what we would be doing, but either way we were excited. Today we met a volunteer, a staff member and an HR representative. They explained to us that for the first two months our focus is to create presentations about dental hygiene every friday to present to young children in schools. However, as we are doing that, we are preparing a project that we will be working on for two months and then implement in a rural village 10 hours away from Nairobi. We will be teaching, presenting and interacting with the members of that village for 5 days. Once those 5 days are over we will return to Nairobi. This is both exciting and nerve wrecking. I am excited because this is real hands on work that I won't be getting in DC. This is an opportunity not many people get. When I think of a public health internship in Africa, this is what I think of. Of course, I am only saying that now, lets see if I say the same thing in 2 months. Either way, I am blessed to have this opportunity and this experience. I will keep you updated about more information regarding my internship. I am excited to start this Friday.
I apologize for the long blog, hopefully wifi will be our Rafiki (friend) and not be flaky in the apartment. So, until my next blog, kuona baadaye! See you later!
Much love,
Angie
Karibu Kenya! "Welcome to Kenya!"
Megan, Caitlin, and I arrived safely at Nairobi airport at 9:30pm. After traveling for 20 hours together, we finally arrived the our new home for the next three months. Our adventure began in New York. We said our goodbyes at the security line and headed towards our gates. We had several hours to kill so Megan, Caitlin and I sat down, talked, and ate food. As the time got closer to board, we sat at our gate patiently waiting. As we took our final turns to use the bathroom, an announcement for the final boarding for Heathrow London came on. We then immediately realized we were sitting at the wrong gate! We rushed to the right gate and made it on the plane just in time. Off to a crazy start! The plane ride was approximately 6-7 hours long. I sat next to two older british women. They seemed very proper and extremely interested in their kindle readings. During the plane ride I wrote, read and listened to music. I got myself comfortable by placing one leg underneath me. Both the British women looked at me and looked at my leg. Immediately I felt just slightly judged, so I sat with both my feet on the ground for the rest of the flight. Everyone on this plane had a British accent. For the first time I felt uncomfortable. I have been to London before and never felt this way. Being on your own in a different atmosphere really does affect you. The flight attendant was not so nice to me once she realized I was not British. But other than that, the flight was smooth. We left New York with a beautiful view of the sunset and arrived in London with a gorgeous view of the sunrise. It was 6:30 in the morning.
We hung around Heathrow for a couple of hours, emailed family to let them know we were ok and half way to our destination. Before we knew it, we were waiting at the gate about to board our last flight to Nairobi, Kenya. And off we went.
On the plane I made a friend. He was a Kenyan who had been studying in London for the past 15 years. He was returning to Kenya to visit his family for a couple of weeks. We talked about the difference about our two countries. Where we have visited in the past, where we would like to go etc. He asked me questions about the states and I asked him questions about Kenya. It was amazing to see how two minds from opposite sides of the world think similarly, but yet so different. His perception of America is not as positive as us Americans think it is. Of course many people who see the negatives of the US still want to come to experience it. (This isn't the only time I experienced a Kenyan's perspective on the US.
After a painful 8 hour plane ride, we arrived in Nairobi, our new home. We were picked up by some men from our program and were taken to our apartments. We meet the rest of the student group and our orientation week began the next day at 9am.
This week has consisted of vital information to "survive" Kenya. We met our head of security, program director, orientation assistants, professors, and people we could trust in the program. We were taken around to the AU abroad center where we would be taking some classes, we walked around the neighborhood, drove downtown.
The next day we had a day full of guest speakers and our first lesson in survival Kiswahili. The first guest speaker talked about sexuality in Kenya, the second was one of the few clinical psychologist in Nairobi who talked to us about mental health and living in Kenya, and the final guest speaker was an AU alumni who spoke to us about networking while in Nairobi. My most interested guest speaker was the first one about sexuality in Kenya. Our guest speaker told us that in Kenya, homosexuality is not accepted. However, the younger generation coming in is becoming more accepting and understanding which allows those of the older generation to begin to open their minds a bit. OF course this is not the case for every Kenyan family. But, with the combination of young minds, support groups, and political figures coming out, anti-homosexuality is lessening. Since religion is a very larger component to the Kenyan culture, conservatives do not accept this at all. But there is more positive energy pushing for sexual acceptance than there was years ago.
Most of this day consisted of sitting. One of our orientation leaders made us play a game to help us move around a bit and helped them remember our names. Its called "pepeta". In kiswahili, pepeta means "dribbling". Essentially, the game is about us passing around an imaginary soccer ball saying, "Angie has the ball, she puts it here (place it on a body part) she pepetas (dribbles and thrusts that body part back and forth) and passes it to _____." It was the best game I have ever played. It was funny, smart, and simply enjoyable. We all couldn't stop laughing references to pepeta continued for the rest of that day and the following couple of days.
That day, jet lag hit me extremely hard. Jet lag is not a laughing matter my friends. It took most of the students, including myself the week to handle the change in hours. I am still not 100% accustomed yet. Feeling tired, headaches, and body feeling weak is difficult to overcome when orientation week is fast paced.
During this week we experienced two black outs in our apartments since we have been here. Wifi is not as accessible as it is in the US. Even the university we are studying at is not as reliable as we expected. But its ok! Go with the flow right!? When the public health students visited the University of Nairobi we met with the director of the School of Public Health. Dr. Ongore. He is presentation was filled with intellect and humor. In my opinion a wonderful combination. During his presentation, the power went out. We all giggled and he told us that this happens very often. But they have this saying. NEPA- Never Expect Power All The Time. He continued to make quick little jokes that took us completely off guard. For example, he told us he had a MBChB, MPH, and a PhD, the PhD stood for "permanent brain damage". We experienced another power outage during dinner, and when we returned home. But now we know, never expect power all the time.
When we visited the University of Nairobi, we got a tour of the University's library. We spoke to the head librarian and told us all the books that we have access to etc etc. Something he said took me off guard and upset me. He told us that the library had rules. One rule was that women had to dress up and not wear summer clothing so we do not distract the men. When he said that, the entire group of people we were with all looked at each other. We discussed it after we left his office. This was my first experience of the Kenyan culture on gender roles and perception. I understand that in my head and where I am from, there is no tolerance for that kind of comment. But here, it is accepted. It is a part of their culture. Accepting those kinds of differences from this culture will be extremely challenging.
Later that day we went into the city for a tour. Our head of security showed us the Hilton which is a well known landmark, incase we get lost. We then went to the KICC- Kenya International Conference Center. As a group we traveled to the top of the building and saw a magnificent view of the entire city of Nairobi. Everywhere you turned there was a new part o the city. What I noticed while up there was the amount of trees there were in Nairobi. In my opinion, Nairobi is fairly similar to Quito, Ecuador. However, the trees in Nairobi stand as one of the severe differences these two cities have. Another thing I noticed while above the city was the amount of pollution in the air. It was gray and almost dirty like. A lot of what we could have seen from they view was covered by the gray clouds that rested on top of them. Regardless, the view was beautiful. We all had fun taking pictures and just looking out into the city without speaking.
Saturday, we were informed more about security while studying in the city. We were told our procedures incase of an apocalypse occurred. We had plans and places to go. The most exciting part of my day was meeting my partners for my internship. I will be interning with another student, Allie at HESED. We both did not know what exactly what we would be doing, but either way we were excited. Today we met a volunteer, a staff member and an HR representative. They explained to us that for the first two months our focus is to create presentations about dental hygiene every friday to present to young children in schools. However, as we are doing that, we are preparing a project that we will be working on for two months and then implement in a rural village 10 hours away from Nairobi. We will be teaching, presenting and interacting with the members of that village for 5 days. Once those 5 days are over we will return to Nairobi. This is both exciting and nerve wrecking. I am excited because this is real hands on work that I won't be getting in DC. This is an opportunity not many people get. When I think of a public health internship in Africa, this is what I think of. Of course, I am only saying that now, lets see if I say the same thing in 2 months. Either way, I am blessed to have this opportunity and this experience. I will keep you updated about more information regarding my internship. I am excited to start this Friday.
I apologize for the long blog, hopefully wifi will be our Rafiki (friend) and not be flaky in the apartment. So, until my next blog, kuona baadaye! See you later!
Much love,
Angie
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