Adventure Wednesday in Downtown Nairobi

A Busy Day in the Central Business District

Haley and I had a busy day in downtown Nairobi. Due to a relatively open afternoon schedule, we were able to run several errands today and accomplished many of the items our our to-do lists. Once we arrived in the Central Business District we made our first order of business changing our flights via the Turkish Airlines office. After a ten minute walk from the UKC where we have classes, we arrived at the Turkish Airlines office on the corner of Market Ave and Moi, which we had googled earlier today. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us was the fact that this little branch was incapable of handling any ticket adjusting, and rather served only as a booking agent office. With some directions from the friendly staff at the small branch, we headed some six blocks north to the International House Tower where we were told to visit the main Turkish branch. 

Upon our arrival at the International house, we were greeted by a team of security guards and a maze of security checkpoints rivaling the TSA at international airports. Even just to get up to the tenth floor where the Turkish office is, Haley had to surrender her license as collateral for a visitors pass (which she joked didn't bother her too much, as she's 'sick of that picture anyways'). Nonetheless, after almost 15 minutes of wandering through the lobbies, elevators, and hallways of the high-security building, we arrived on the tenth floor where we were greeted by the enthusiastic staff of the Turkish office. 

A quick thirty minutes later, we had officially switched our flights so that we can stay an extra ten days in the country with our Moms, who arrive on the 16th of May (can't wait!). I even asked the clerk who assisted us to put a note in with the file that we are VIPs in hopes that we are upgraded or given access to the posh Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul. After we left the Turkish headquarters we met Haley's host sister, Koki, who spent the rest of the afternoon with us. 

Next stop: Kenyatta International Conference Center. KICC is a massive conference center located inside the compound that houses the president's office, parliament, the supreme court, and several other important government buildings in the heart of the Central Business District in downtown Nairobi. The crowning jewel of the KICC is the 30 story tower which houses many of the centers' conference halls. Towering over downtown Nairobi, from the helipad and observation deck on the roof, vistitors can experience a breathtaking 360 degree view of the city. 

On the recommendation of some of our classmates who visited the tower earlier this week, we visited KICC for the sole purpose of climbing the tower and taking in the sights of the bustling metropolis from high above the streets. With the help of our friendly tour guide, Peter, we learned all about the history of the impressive building, the KICC and its historical significance, and also many local landmarks visible from the tower. The view from the top truly speaks for itself. Below are some snaps I took with my phone atop the helipad and tower. 

Koki and Haley pose in front of the city backdrop on the rooftop helipad

This is a panorama view from the helipad atop the Kenyatta International Conference Center. From here you have a 360 degree view of Nairobi.

Ngong Hills Hike

This Saturday a group of us decided to venture out to the nearby Ngong hills for a little exercise and fresh air. The Ngong hills are located just outside Nairobi high on the plateau overlooking the Great Rift Valley in nearby Ngong.  The hills are only a 40 minute drive from the compound along Ngong road, which is one of the main roads heading into Nairobi.

On Saturday morning we all woke up around seven o'clock, had breakfast, packed lunches, and headed to the bus around eight. Along with Adan, one of the friendly askari (guards) who works on the compound, we made the 40 minute trip to the foot of the Ngong Hills at Kona Baridi, a small village located at a very sharp and windy bend in the road. There we met our Maasai guides for the hike, a group of three young local men who accompanied us on the hike. Although guides are not required, security can sometimes be an issue, and the presence of the armed guides was a precautionary measure we took as a group.

We started hiking shortly after nine o'clock and headed up the dirt road from Kona Baridi towards the first of the seven hills on the hike. From there, the trail took us up and over several of the high grassy peaks and we continued to climb higher and higher. Some two hours in we reached the halfway point at the top of the fifth and tallest hill, where we stopped to catch our breath and take in the gorgeous views of the Great Rift Valley. During this water break we were also fortunate enough to meet Mr. Johnston Waithiru, a local business man and self-proclaimed sportsman who offered to lead us in an elaborate stretch and fitness routine before we started to head onwards to the remaining peaks. His enthusiasm was contagious and we left the halfway point following our break with a new spring in our step and a new friend.

A little selfie love at the beginning of the hike...notice the cloud behind me

The clouds finally cleared and allowed me to take this shot on the way up peak three. 

Group photo from the top of the fifth peak around 7800 feet. 

Ally stands amidst the clouds as the sun peeks through on the top of peak five. 

Looking at the sixth peak as we head down the backside of the fifth. 

A local scout troop does some drill practice on top of peak six.

A view from the end of the hike of the windfarm at the bottom of peak seven. 

From the halfway point on, we continued to hike down into the valleys between the remaining peaks and up the following hills, sucking wind most of the time as the altitude (fluctuating between 6000-8000 ft). On top of the sixth and seventh peaks we met groups of school children and young scouts (respectively), both whom were out for some physical fitness training on the sunny Saturday morning. We descended the final hill around noon, and stopped at the bottom of it to take lunch and relax in the shadow of several giant wind turbines clustered around the base of the hill.

A short ten-minute walk down a dirt road took us past the Kenya Wildlife Service ranger station at the northern entrance to the park and led us right to our bus, which returned us to the compound in Karen for a relaxing afternoon and some much needed naps. At the end of the day, the burner of a hike left most of us pretty exhausted, although not too much to keep from enjoying the beautiful weather for the rest of the weekend.

Safari ya Tanzania

A welcomed site in Arusha upon our arrival. This man had his shop set up right next to the notable "Hillary Clinton Shop".  Photo Credit: Julia Hall

Karibu Kenya! We've just returned from our two-week safari with Dorobo in Tanzania, where we had the opportunity to view wildlife, learn about the savannah and forest ecosystems, and live with two indigenous groups practicing their traditional lifestyles. Dorobo is an environmentally conscious tour operator based out of Arusha, Tanzania that has had a working relationship with indigenous people's in the Yaeda Valley for almost thirty years, since the company was started by three brothers in the 1980s. Our two weeks with Dorobo were chock full of excitement and learning as enjoyed the natural beauty of the ancient landscape and the culture of the people's who have lived in harmony there for thousands of years.

We spent the first week of our guided safari (in Kiswahili 'safari' translates to 'trip') in Tarangiri National Park, a 4000 sq.km protected park which covers a large swath of northern Tanzania and is home to hundreds of thousands of migratory species throughout the year. During our stay in Tarangiri, we went on several full-day 'game drives' (what the locals call 'safaris') across the diverse landscapes of the northern section of the park. In addition to the hundreds of birds pointed out to us by our avian-enthusiast guides, we were able to catch sightings of many of the iconic African savannah species, including many African elephants, lions, wildebeest, antelope, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, and warthog.

I snapped this picture of the larger Dorobo truck crossing the Tarangiri River. Unlike many in the park, this river remains wet throughout the year, which means many animals come to drink from it in dryer months.

Although blurry, this picture shows two lioness resting in the shad of some Acacia trees as they watch nearby zebra grazing near the riverbank. They eventually made a half-hearted effort to take some zebra after they wandered very close to their tree, but it proved unsuccessful as it appeared they were already full and didn't care to waste the energy on a kill. 

A better photo of the lions taken by Meghan

Photo Credit: Meghan MacGregor

Photo credit: Meghan MacGregor

Rachel climbs up the baobab near our lower Hadza camp. Photo credit: Meghan MacGregor

I took this photo of elephants in the marsh playing and cooling off in the heat of the day. They also like to cover themselves in mud to keep their skin cool and damp and parasites from entering through their skin.  

This curious zebra took a break from his grazing to stare at us for a bit as we snapped some photos from the Land Rover.

While many of the animals are now beginning to migrate outside the park in preparation for the mating season and as food grows scarce inside the park, we were fortunate to catch sightings of most of the big game in the park that are still around. Evidenced by the ear-to-ear grins sported by most of us during the close encounters with these impressive animals like elephants and lions, the opportunity to witness these animals so candidly in their natural habitats was nothing short of incredible.The beauty, grace, and power of these animals alone was truly awesome; be it lions stalking zebra and other prey from the camouflage of the grassy plains or elephants casually grazing and throwing mud on themselves at the waterhole.

This is a view from our drive up into the mountains to our camp in the Nuo Forest.

After several days in the park, we headed west towards the Yaeda Valley, where Dorobo has an excellent working relationship with the native Iraqw (pronounced hear-ock) and Hadza people, both of which have inhabited the land in and surrounding the Yaeda Valley for thousands of years. Our first two days were spent high in the mountains (7,500 ft) of the protected Nuo Forest, located in a region densely populated by communities of agro-pastoralist Iraqw people.

Here we had the opportunity to discuss the problems associated with land shortages and forest conservation, issues incredibly pressing in their community as there is not adequate land to support the growing population and land-intensive practices of these people. In addition to fruitful discussions with local men and women we had lots of downtime in camp, which we spent birding, playing soccer with locals, going on nature walks, hiking to gorgeous natural waterfalls, tossing the frisbee, and simply sitting around the campfire sharing stories. This portion of the trip was pretty amazing, especially in contrast to the savannah, as the high-mountain forest ecosystem offered a completely different, yet equally diverse array of wildlife and scenery.

I spent much of our afternoon visit to the local village playing soccer with some of the children. Although they were a bit shy at first, they loved soccer and soon warmed up to playing with me. Photo Credit: Julia Hall

Following our time in the Nuo Forest, we drove another four or five hours down into the Yaeda Valley to spend our remaining days living and learning with the ancient Hadza people, a group of hunter-gatherers whom are believed to be direct descendants of the earliest known human civilizations discovered just north near the Ngorogoro Crater ('Lucy' and many remains of the earliest hominids were found here). The Hadza are an incredible people with a modest population who have managed to survive as subsistence hunter-gatherers in this region for thousands of years despite the extinction and assimilation of many other cultures with the advent of European settlement here.

Our move from our lower Hadza camp to the higher mountain camp involved an eight mile hike across the valley, which had some swampy sections. Photo Credit: Julia Hall

The Hadza start fires using a traditional fire drill made of a special wood. 

Once they have created an ember with the drill, they transfer it to a tinder bundle to start the fire. 

With the Hadza we had the opportunity to join them as they conducted their daily activities, including digging tubers for food, harvesting honey, gathering berries for eating, and even hunting for game. Many of us also enjoyed climbing a massive baobab tree with help from Mika (one of our guides) who slung a rope for us. We were able to walk, work, and hunt alongside these indigenous people, an incredibly genuine opportunity to experience their culture and lifestyle in its most pure form. Further discussions with the Hadza helped us understand just how unique they are as a people and how wholly content and satisfied they are with their lifestyle, which many (including the Tanzanian government) would consider primitive and/or backwards.

Additionally, we participated in other traditional cultural practices of the Hadza like dancing and gambling, which serves as one of their main mediums of exchange (some of us gambled clothing and other small items and won some cool Hadza arrows). Surely the time spent we with the Hadza will prove to be special memories treasured by young people from a culture and world so foreign from theirs.

Cheap Hair Chops and Side Alley Shops

Cheap Hair Chops and Side Alley Shops

This week max and I decided it was time for another cultural experience, new haircuts. After some serious investigating while walking the streets of Nairobi scouting for any kinyozi with mzungus inside, we struck out on our first two attempt to locate a barber shop suitable for our delicate waspy locks. Admitting defeat after two lunch breaks of ducking our heads into every corner kinyozi and striking out time after time, I resorted to asking Nelson when I had returned home for the evening. "Of course," he said, "I know a place just down the street at the Westgate Mall that'll sort you boys out nicely. It's near Girigiri, where the UN headquarters and many embassies are, so they're quite used to cutting mzungu hair."

Needless to say, we heeded his advice and Butch kindly brought us to the barber shop the very next day. As I have heard Max explain several times already, walking into the kinyozi was like walking into a scene from the movie Barber Shop, complete with rows and rows of gentleman getting their weekly cuts and shaves in rows of black leather chairs lined against both walls. The sound of clippers buzzing and humming in harmony was trumped only by the sound of the British commentators calling the football match on the massive flatscreen tv in the corner near the sitting area. The receptionist offered us juice and water as we waited for our guys to finish with their customers.

As we waited for what seemed like an hour, we watched the match between Newcastle and Southampton, all the while nervously awaiting our new Nairobi hairdos. Perhaps because of the match playing in the background, at one point we were both wholly convinced that we were going to leave the shop with some awesome Eurotrash footballer haircuts with longer top sections and practically shaved sides. We also joked about getting ourselves some classic shape-ups, complete with the razor straight lines cut into our sideburns. After more careful deliberation, we decided that although the hair would grow back, our pasty white scalps would likely suffer from the intense midday African sun, especially on our safaris in Tanzania for the next two weeks.

Eventually our guys finished with their customers, and called us over to their stations, two chairs side by side closest to the tv and the game. With some very broken Swahinglish, in the next thirty to forty seconds, I did my best to explain to my man what I was looking for in the cut. Eventually we came to a mutual understanding that I would like it cut shorter. Not surprisingly, the aforementioned decision on "shorter" was entirely relative and his definition turned out to be much different than my own. At this point he grabbed a tuft of my hair in his fingers and with his comb indicated a length of about half the former length towards which he would be working. Sawa sawa, I told him, agreeing to the abbreviated length. Soon he began to work his way around my head with his scissors, all the while laughing at the conversation Max and his man were having about his intended style. Of course, Max has shorter hair already, so he had significantly less at stake in this endeavor from my perspective.

I tried not to look in the mirror as he worked, and instead fixed my eyes and head on the nearby screen, straining my neck to catch the action as the game heated up and wound down to the final minutes of play. His experience and judgement would suffice, I decided, and I stopped making an effort to explain to him that I did not want a crew cut. After a while working with the scissors lopping off the longer top sections, he fetched his arsenal of electric clippers, with which he tackled the sides and back of my head. I tried not to notice how much hair was falling onto my lap and apron. Still, I knew it was getting shorter. Much shorter. Some 25 minutes later, after what seemed like the longest and most precise cut and shaping my head has ever experienced, I was ready for the finishing touches, all of which were performed with his trusty clippers. I thanked the nice barber, shook his hand, paid the receptionist, and headed out the door with a new spring in my step and a "smart" new haircut, as Kenyans would say. Although my hair has not been this short since my mohawk post-season days on the soccer team back in high school, I think it looks nice. Either way, it's much less maintenance at this length, and much cooler in the midday heat.

Here it is, folks. I've just taken this picture with my webcam as I sit in a lovely rooftop Java and cyber cafe, which I have made my camp for the day because I have no classes and tons of work to complete before we head to Tanzania Saturday morning.

Some inspiration for all you chilly SLUzers back in Canton. We've no maple syrup here.

NCPR Photo of the Day for 12/31/1969

Lazy Sunday

Breakfast of Champions

After an action-packed night at the club with Haley, Katie, Kate, Max, Allie, Danny, Megan, Addie, Butch and friends, I woke up this morning around 8:30 to the smell of sausages and eggs wafting down the hallway from the kitchen. Although I miss lazy Sunday mornings strolls to Dana and the ceaselessly amusing ritual of watching people piece together and recount their evenings over french toast, waffles, and blue powerade, there is something to be said for waking up in a warm home to the smell of a home-cooked breakfast. I think Kenyans have just the expression for this; to borrow from the wonderful language I am learning to love, asante sana.

I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been granted on this adventure so far, and I think this is an excellent time to take a minute to thank some of the people who have made this trip possible. Chiefly among them is loving and supportive family. Mom, Dad, Lilli, and everyone else: All of you keep me going. Every time I open my laptop I see your smiling faces gathered around the great room in Ruru and Grandpa's beautiful home (except for you Anna Leigh, as your facial expression in the particular photo I've set as my desktop clearly shows a playful spite fixed on our aspiring professional photographer, Andrew, whom I always imagine is grinning from behind the lens while perched atop the staircase landing). Hearing updates from home, like Dad's most recent email about Grandpa and Andrew skiing together at Waterville, Mom and Ruru's bake-a-thon and harrowing delivery/visit to Lilli at the Naval base in a blizzard, and Jay's recent successes leading the Masco Ski Team, are treasured by me while I'm so far away from you all. To all my friends who encouraged me to apply to Kenya, and to all the faculty who helped make this adventure possible: words would only betray my gratitude towards you all, as I am so incredibly thankful for your efforts and support. I will continue to make the most of this experience with you all in mind, and please know how thankful I truly am for this opportunity.

Tree House 

Last night was easily the most exciting, spontaneous, and amazing night out yet. We started the evening the same as Thursday and Friday, by checking out the scene at the bars in Westlands (at which I think we will soon be regulars). After we hung out there for a bit, we headed to a club called Tree House, which ended up being the place to be for all aspiring Nairobi night owls. Despite initial difficulties some members of the group encountered at the door due to the seemingly arbitrary discretion of certain doormen, we all made it into the club eventually and gathered in a couple booths for a while as we checked out the scene inside the club and acclimated to the deafening thump of sub-woofers and European house music. The crowd was a nice mix of young people from all over, including many Europeans and exchange students like us. In retrospect the name of the place should have prepared us for the unfamiliar genre. Two Swedish DJs perched above the main stage and dance floor did an excellent job hyping up the crowd of young people, and the vibe was really enthusiastic the whole night.

The night spent at Tree House was marked by hours of dancing, mingling, and people watching that combined for an amazing night to remember. In addition to meeting many fascinating characters from all over Kenya and elsewhere worldwide, I was able to learn much from two nice young guys  who live and work in Nairobi. Both work for local NGOs in  that work directly with development agencies and the operating branches of government programs like USAID and UKAID working to ensure Kenya continues to progress politically and economically while maintaining peace. The opportunity to speak with these recent university graduates working in the very fields I'm studying provided some great insight into their particular fields of expertise. We exchanged contacts and I hope to meet with them in the future and learn more about what they do.

Church

This morning I went to church with Trevor and my dad at 9:00. Although the venue for the service was a bit unconventional, it was lovely just the same, and I really enjoyed the sermon delivered by an enthusiastic American pastor lady. The Pentecostal service was held in a gigantic wedding tent located on the grounds of a local primary school, and the whole experience was so far from any conventional church service I've participated in. Instead of a choir, there was a full band onstage leading the congregation in a nice mix of English and Swahili gospel songs whose lyrics were projected on two large screens flanking the stage. A large section of the service revolved around a powerpoint prepared by the visiting pastor, and the interactive sermon called on audience members to participate. The general demeanor and tone of the entire congregation and clergy was both inviting and enthusiastic, which made for an overall enjoyable situation. I was also given the opportunity to meet some of the pastors in a less formal new visitors meeting following the service, and they were all young and interesting. I would like to return to this church as it is surely a welcomed change from the more rigid services I'm accustomed to back in the states.

Nyama Choma


This afternoon we went out for a late lunch/dinner to experience a treasured favorite among many Kenyans, nyama choma, or roasted meat. Unlike the cheesy atmosphere at the Carnivore, which we visited with the program, the place we went this afternoon was far more authentic, especially since we were able to pick out the butchered meat ourselves and sit nearby the open charcoal grills on which it was cooked by locals. Accompanied by chapati and some fresh tomato chili salads, with the amazing backdrop of Ngong hills surrounding us, we feasted on delicious goat ribs, legs, fresh spicy sausages for hours. We all had a blast walking around the restaurant and resort area and watching the staffed Maasai men and women perform traditional songs and dance for all the customers. I had an opportunity to dance with the Maasai men when they came to our table, an experience that was pretty cool, even if somewhat touristy and contrived.

Also of note during our meal, which took the better half of the afternoon including the hour-plus drive there and back, was the opportunity to meet the former Kenyan Ambassador to the US, a colleague of Nelson's who was there with his wife and sister-in-law. Ambassador Ogego spoke with us about our university pursuits, our feelings about the US-Kenyan relations, and told us much about the time he served as ambassador in Washington for the last eight years. It was really valuable to be able to speak so candidly with him about his time in Washington, during which he spent much time in high-profile political circles working on important relations between our two closely-tied nations.

The restaurant/resort where we ate was called Olepolos. This roadside welcome sign is made of an elephant shoulder blade. 

I took this photo to show the freshly butchered meat we ordered. This guy had just finished butchering the goat we feasted on and you can see the ribs that we ordered sitting on the scale. 

Nelson snapped this photo of Trevor and I chowing down on our mbuzi ribs as the Maasai men danced and sang in the backgorund. 

I captured this photo of the Maasai dancers as they approached a family eating on the patio. Notice the long hair and headdresses of the men and the elaborate necklaces and collars worn by the women trailing behind them.  

The Maasai guys had a very peculiar way of getting our attention as we ate. Although we did our best to ignore them, this one persistent fellow would come and lay his arm, shoulder, and head down on my shoulder as I was eating. After maybe three times doing this, I finally agreed to appease him and get up to dance a little. There is a video, which I will try to attach later.  

Chili Challenge

This is the before shot. Notice Trevor's lovely chili mustache. 

Before we headed home, we decided to cap off the wonderful meal with a bit of a gentleman's bet. We all took one of the small chilis we had been picking around from the tomato salads and agreed to eat the whole thing. Perhaps demonstrating a wisdom none of us youngsters could manage, when we all went to bit into the hot little chilis, Nelson simply tossed his passed his mouth and over his shoulder, leaving us to sweat through a couple fiery bites before we smartened up enough to swallow the little devils. Needless to say, as the following before and after pictures show, the following minutes were spent in disbelief as we attempted to fight the spicy death thriving in our stinging and seemingly swollen tongues and cheeks.

This photo highlights the fiery death aftertaste. Notice that Nelson is not in the picture. He was cheeky and decided to toss his chili over his shoulder as we all chomped into ours. 

Just another close up to show the anguish on our faces and in my eyes. Fiery death, I'm telling you. 

More Urban Homestay News

Today marks the sixth day of my urban homestay with the Gitau family in Nairobi. I must say that I've never had such a blast living with any other family. Butch (Trevor) and I have had so much fun spending afternoons swimming at The Windsor Club, the evenings checking out the Nairobi nightlife, and lazy mornings rocking out to our morning pump-up music driving to class despite the horrendous morning commuter traffic. Believe it or not, the infrastructure in Nairobi has remained largely unchanged since the British colonial era, a characteristic that helps explain the incredibly congested roads around rush hour in the morning and late afternoon. The morning drive in to the Ufungumano house where I take Swahili lessons would normally take only five minutes without traffic, but every morning it turns into a frustrating slow-moving thirty minute ride. The good news, however, is that the delayed journey grants me time to read a sizable portion of The Daily Nation, the paper that gives me great discussion material for my government class on the elections. Here, news about the campaigns is front page nearly every day. Here the paper boy is very much a fixture, and you will find one hawking the daily paper on every major corner. Unfortunately, they do not go around shouting "Extra, extra, read all about it! Uhuru slated to win in first round!". Still, it's nice to pay for the paper and actually sit down with it in the morning before class; it makes me feel all grown up to sit with the paper and a cup of chai before class and catch up with the latest developments.

Yesterday was a normal day, which means I left for school around 7:30 in the morning and returned at 4:30. Classes have been very interesting, and my Swahili is certainly improving, but still I am a bit hesitant when trying my Swahili in public. Last night marked my first night out in Nairobi (In Kenya for that matter) and Butch and I went out to Westlands to check out the scene with Katie, one of the other girls on the program who is living with his cousins. Because he is only 19 and was in the states last year when he would have started going out here, he was just as green to the night scene as I, which made last night interesting. I joked with him that following him into bars/clubs was like the blind leading the blind. Still, friends of his made some solid recommendations for places to check out and they panned out nicely. We actually met a fair number of American students at one of the bars, most of whom are here studying on an exchange from University of Minnesota with Nazarine University here in Nairobi.

After we hung around at the bars for a couple hours, we headed down the street to the night club that friends recommended we check out. It ended up being quite the place to be on a Thursday night. Although Katie and I were definitely the only two Mzungu in the whole club, we had so much fun and met many great people. Among them, was a couple of young guys who invited us into their private box. We soon learned that one of them had previously been running for MP for the local Westlands district, but that he had been bought out earlier that day by his main opponent. In exchange for his endorsement and promising the support of his followers, this young man (about 26) was given a brand new Range Rover Sport and a large sum of money. The money, of course, is what had put him in such a nice mood, so much so that Katie and I didn't pay for a drink the entire evening. It's a bit peculiar to hear a candid story of what is basically corruption or vote-buying, but that is simply the accepted way of life, and especially politics here. Butch explained to me, as many other people have, that EVERYONE and everything in Kenya has a price. Now I believe him.

As for the dancing...well that's a story entirely on its own. I must say, the girls here are some of the most amazing dancers I have ever seen. Almost intimidating, especially in such a busy nightclub with an Amazing DJ and light show, is the way these gorgeous African girls will "wind" to the beat in high heels that make you wonder how they even stand up. Being the adventurous scout that I am (Thanks Troop IV and Big Jay), I mustered up the courage to make my way onto the dance floor and see if I could keep up. Let me just say that I have never so much identified so much with the popular moniker White Man's Overbite. Perhaps the only encouraging part of the experience, at first at least, was the fact the the DJ was spinning all American beats, which I at least knew the words to. Luckily, I met Eve, a lovely girl from USIU (United States International University) who took pity on the poor mzungo who must've looked like a fish out of water on that dance floor. She offered to help me find my inner Kenyan and start dancing like one. After a frustrating while trying to figure out how to move my hips and avoid stepping on toes, I finally got the hang of it. Katie soon made it out onto the dance floor and we had a blast dancing for almost an hour. I'm not even ashamed to say that I'm sore today, because it quite an experience and I have NEVER danced so much in my life. We got back from the club around 4:30 and then hit the hay. Although my body is surely not adjusted to this lifestyle, I hope that it doesn't have to take this kind of sleep-deprivation abuse too regularly.

 Luckily, today we had the opportunity to visit Kibera Girls Soccer Academy, which was really interesting. The girls of KGSA are both driven and determined young women who strive to make a better life for themselves through hard work in the classroom and on the pitch. Many of the graduates of the young school have successfully managed to continue their education and pursue higher degrees and careers. In Kibera I was able to practice my Swahili with the kids without the pressure of sounding foolish in front of my peers or elders. The afternoon spent in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya, was truly invaluable. Not only did I gain a better understanding of the struggles of the poorest Kenyan people, but also a greater appreciation of the privileges I have been blessed with my whole life. More to come on the Kibera experience, but for now I must go meet up with Butch and his friends. We're heading out to an Ethiopian restaurant for Josh's birthday. Apparently you eat with your hands at this place. I am wearing a white shirt; this should surely put my table manners to the test (Thanks Ruru and Grandpa). Well...when in Africa...