AFRICA!

So I finally made it!! The internet has been awful so far, and still is, but it should be getting better in the next couple of days. I wish I could describe how beautiful everything is here!

The traveling seemed like it lasted forever. I couldn't sleep during my first plane ride to London so I was pretty tired all day, but then I passed out for almost the entire second plane ride because I was so exhausted. Before the second flight to Nairobi, I travelled through Leicester Square with Jenna in the morning, and then met Brian a few tube stops down for some lunch and a little more sight seeing. London was more exciting than I expected to be honest! I really liked it!

When I finally got to Kenya I was ready to go. We were picked up at the airport by a few of the staff, who are all native Kenyans. They drove us to camp in giant Land Cruisers which was pretty cool. The ride only took about 4 hours, and we took two stops on the way. It was verrry hot. The streets had no lines, signs or speed limits and were pretty scary, but our drivers were much more cautious than the people passing us...in both directions.

The camp is like nothing I expected. I thought it would be mown down grass and dusty, open field, but I was wrong. We are surrounded by tall grass and huge trees that look like the ones in the Lion King. Only the main area of the camp where the cabins bathrooms and main building are is trimmed down. Because it rained about a month ago everything is huge and green. It is gorgeous. The first day was pretty relaxed because they knew we were all exhausted. It was even difficult to unpack and get sheets on my bed, but seeing the moon and stars that night made it all worth it. They are SO bright. It was amazing.

The second day was pretty relaxed in the morning...but I was on cook crew, which meant I had to get up at 6:30 to help make breakfast with the cooks and 4 other students. It was actually pretty fun. I made the pancakes! I was thinking about my mom, dad and Aunt Dor on their griddles cooking 8 pancakes at a time, because I made about 30...1 at a time!! To make each one I put a normal amount of batter in the pan and then immediately rotated the pan so that the batter would spread. I quickly flipped them, making a very thin final pancake. They were pretty good! Later on we had safety discussions that were pretty scary but as long as everyone stays smart, (no worries dad) they will be fine. In the afternoon we went into a town called Kimana because it was market day. All the girls had to wear skirts or dresses, and it was one of the most interesting and overwhelming experiences I have ever had. All the women who sell their beaded jewelery came after us shoving everything in our faces and hands trying to get us to buy something. All we could do was shake our heads and try to remember the words hapana for no and asante for thank you. In the end I bought a couple small bracelets but it was very very stressful because we had to say no close to 5o times (no exaggeration) to get them to walk away... and they would still come back a few minutes later.

After town we came back and just had dinner and relaxed for the night. Today we had a nature walk in the morning, so we went outside the camp boundaries and explored with Daniel, one of the men who works and teaches here. He carried his tribal spear, sword, and walking stick, in case we happened to run across any predators. Daniel and many of the other staff grew up in a Maasai tribe. He has the traditional circular scars on his face and arms. Some of the other men, who don't speak any english, have the large holes in their ears like you see on TV and in magazines, they are our security guards that watch the gate 24 hours a day. I knew the men that worked here were kenyan, but I didn't realize that some of them came right out of their tribes to work for the school after growing up in their traditional ways. It is so fascinating!

After our walk we had some short introductions to our classes that will start tomorrow and then had free time. I went outside to play volleyball with some kids, and as we played there were a bunch of little monkeys playing around in the trees right next to us. I have seen at least one monkey on camp everyday so far, which is very exciting because they are my favorite.

I know I am forgetting some, but I'll save some for next time. Our first safari is this Saturday at Amboseli National Park, which is not far from here. I'm very excited to go! I'm sorry this took so long, and it still might be difficult to communicate in the next few days. I should be able to use the internet every other night once its set up right. Hope all is well at home! And I'll update again when I can!

xoxo, Jen : )