Kicking back and relaxing

Dear Kenya, 

Sunday night and still exhausted from the week. With two midterms, and a final exam, I am pooped out! The week was not all too exciting. AU staff members came to visit us this week to see how the program was going and to show members of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill how this program formulates. We had a lovely meal with the AU Abroad director, Director of AU Career Center, our Public Health advisor, and some members of UNC. I got the chance to sit down with my advisor and get to know her. She is new to AU and her position. She was delightful and especially fun and interesting to talk to. She was very mother-like in her way of speaking, her responses and in her mannerism. I enjoyed talking to her and the other students around me. Once the week was over we were trying to decide what to do on this three-day weekend. Monday is a public holiday so school and classes are cancelled. 

So on Saturday, a small group of students went to Paradise Lost in Kiambu. We paid 750 shillings for transportation round trip. As we started our trip it began to drizzle. The night before it had down poured. I went out with two friends of mine to a bar for a beer or two and on our way back home the roads were flooded. I fell asleep in the cab ride home, but from what my two friends told me, there were moments that we were floating on the road. The water so deep we had to take different routes and drive extra slowly. We got home safely, no worries! Since this rain continued for the rest of the night, the roads to Paradise Lost were extremely muddy. We got to the park and paid our entrance fee and the drizzling continued. The view of the lake and what we think was a suburban community was peaceful. We then paid 100 shillings to see an "Old Stone Age" Cave. The small hike to get there was fun. The ground was very slippery and muddy but with patience and all of us helping each other, we got to the waterfall and the cave. The waterfall was beautiful! The vegetation, the rocks and strong water all tied in beautifully. After taking several pictures we entered the cave. It was dark and small. We had to bend over and balance ourselves. We got to the end and realized there were bats in the cave...sooo we quickly got out of there. No bites, no interaction with the bats no nothing so I do not want any Ebola comments, please and thank you! We finished our hike and had some snacks. After snacks, three of us went horseback riding while the other three went for a boat ride. We heard that there were camel rides and ostriches and of course the day we go, both camels and ostriches are at another national park. Typical! So we settled for horseback riding. It was fun! We didn't ride for too long but we all enjoyed ourselves. We then sat by the lake and watched some birds and our other three friends who were boat riding struggle to get back to shore. Once we decided to start heading back we all attempted to get the mud off of our shoes (which was nearly impossible) and head to grocery shop. We decided to have a communal dinner together with an ice cream sundae for dessert! The night was wonderful. We made sandwiches, had ice cream, laughed, talked, and hung out. 

Today, sunday, a couple of us went to an Indian Festival. There was music, food, dancing, rides, games, and shopping. With my limited experience with Indian food it was difficult to pick a plate to eat. So we all purchased different foods and shared off of each other’s plates. With full stomachs we continued to walk around and eat more food. We watched a performance of traditional Indian dancing, singing, and a group of children’s mine performance. It was a nice adventurous afternoon. It was nice to walk around a bit and get out of the apartment. Plus, with decently priced Indian food, who could refuse! Overall this was a relaxing weekend!