First weekend in Nairobi

It is hard to believe that the first weekend has already gone by! I am settling in well and am looking forward to the next 2 years here. The city is amazing. There are so many things to do- from going out to different restaurants, to checking out clubs, or just walking around the shopping centres… there seems to be something for everyone here.

I still have not had the chance to take photos while I have been here this week. I don’t want to stand out too much on the streets by whipping out my digital camera, so I have been fairly conservative on drawing attention to myself.

So the weekend in review…
Friday after work a number of us from work went to downtown Nairobi. This was an experience. Dana and I arrived with some people from work and when we walked in we both realized that we would be the only two white people here for the evening. That was a very different experience. I had a great time and everyone at work was so welcoming and generous. Once it got time for the dancing though I definitely began to feel intimidated. People here can dance!! It was really a fun evening and a great way to get to know people at work on a social, less formal level.

Saturday morning I roamed around one of the shopping centres, called “YaYa Centre”. A couple of things of interest…. they have a health food store there that sells gluten free food- Dad, this will be of interest to you! So now you don’t have to worry about gluten free food when you come to visit :) The other note of interest…. they sell the Oprah magazine at the grocery store- yeah!!

I then met up with the Peter’s wife (owners of my apartment) to buy the furnishings for the house. We both got along very well and have exactly the same taste in furniture, etc… so that was a relief. We managed to get everything at the Nakamat and then went to the apartment to check out how the building manager was getting along with finishing up the details of the apartment. I didn’t realize that a few things still had to be done, but Peter’s wife (can’t remember her name) was my advocate. She told the work crew that they had to do another coat of paint, varnish the floors, clean the bathrooms, etc. Things that I would not have known to ask about.

In the afternoon I found a gym to go to – brand new equipment, sauna, steam bath… the works. They also have aerobics classes, etc. It was a bit on the pricey side, but a great way to spend an afternoon!

Last night was another night out- the Kenyans love their parties! Dana and I met up with Cyril and Harrison (2 Kenyans that we work with) and went to this bar called “Casablanca”. As by its name, it has a Moroccan theme. Outside of the bar/restaurant there are all of these fire pits to sit around. Inside is beautiful, with orange/yellow walls, benches with beautiful tapestries for seats, sheesha pipes, etc. As we piled into Harrison's car, the car wouldn't start so we all got out of the car, pushed it down the road along with 2 guards and some friendly helpers and had to do running jumps into the car. If anyone has seen "Little Miss Sunshine" it was close to their van experience :)

Today is Sunday and this morning most people go to Church. There is a strong Christian community in Kenya and it seems that most people go to Church and practice their faith. This afternoon I was busy running around town picking things up for my apartment. Not sure what the rest of the day holds, but I am sure I will find something to do!! I am off to Kigali, Rwanda tomorrow for the week and will update from there. Should be an interesting trip as we are in meetings (blah), BUT also get to go into the field to see some schools.

That is about it! Hope everyone else around the world had great weekends!!