Arriving in Kenya!

What an interesting and wonderful first few days! It started with the most beautiful plane take-off I have every had. We popped over the clouds in Montreal to see the sun setting on the tops of the beautiful sea of clouds.

After a nice chat with the friendly exchange student beside me, I landed in the gorgeous city of Zurich as the sun was rising over the snow covered mountain tops.

I wish I could have had more time to explore Zurich, but soon I was on the next plane for Nairobi.
I landed just after sunset, and was greeted by a sea of signs with various names on them. I spotted my name in big letters on a piece of paper, and was warmly greeted my whole host family. Sleepy, but happy, we went back to their home.

Irene had prepared a lovely dinner for us, and I gave them my painting of Canada. Fortunately, it matched their decor very well! We soon went to bed, and I had a much needed sleep. I slept till 10:30 the next day, which was very nice.

When I got up, I explored the neighbourhood a bit - everyone was so friendly. They all said "hi", but I tried to greet people with my tiny bit of kiswahili as much as I could. It's so interesting to see the blend of Kenyan, European, Western and other cultures in Nairobi. In how people dress, decorate their houses, etc - the blend of cultures reminds me a lot of Canada - it's just different cultures which have been thrown in the artistic stirring pot. There are few sidewalks, and the traffic is crazy, but don't worry mom - I stayed on the grass, nice and safe :) There are many pedestrians here - it's great to see how many people protect the environment and their health by walking to work or school everyday.

After my walk, I had a very nice swim in the pool on the compound where I'm staying. My hosts warned me that the pool was cold, but it was very nice and warm in comparison to our silly Canadian winter. After a bit of a swim, I dried off and practiced my kiswahili on the side of the pool (again, don't worry mom - I was both covered in sunscreen and in the shade - double safe :D). I met a very nice fellow who works in the compound. He's a great singer, and shared a bit of one of the songs he wrote with me. He loves the kiswahili language - it flows beautiful in music, and was very happy to see I was studying. Of course, he told me it was very easy to speak... not fair!

When Irene came home with the kids from school, I made us a bit of dinner - it was a fun challenge cooking with all different ingredients! I played some classical guitar, and then headed for bed. We had one of the frequent power outages, so I showed Mwema a few drawing tips to do perspective by candlelight.

The next day, today, was my first day at school! Such a busy day! I have met so many people, I can't remember half of their names. I'll be working with many different teachers in many different classes with various children with special needs, integrated into the regular stream. The kids were wonderful - they all welcomed me with a very cute chorus of "Hello Ms. Anneke" - it's so fun to be in an elementary school (called prepratory school here)! The littlest ones had a bit of trouble with my name, but it's only fair as I was struggling with some of their names too. I love how little kids say whatever they think - one boy told me that I sound like his computer... I'm guessing that a reader on his computer has a Canadian or American accent, lol. A girl told me that I don't look Canadian - I look like I'm Scottish.

The school is just as beautiful as the students :) I can't post pictures of my students of course, but here are a few of the school - the outside, the learning support room, the student artwork in the corridors, and the twisted branches of the vines everywhere.

Several of the teachers think Canadians are crazy for living in such a cold place, even +15 degrees sounded way too cold for survival. And I think the longer I stay here, the more I may find myself agreeing with them... lol. The weather is so beautiful here - it's warm with a gentle breeze and just a few clouds in the sky. Apparently the super hot dry season just ended on Sunday, so I am enjoying the "rainy season", during which it has so far only rained at night. There are flowers of every colour on bushes everywhere. It is a very beautiful country.

Just like our snow in Canada is both pretty and sparkling as well as cold and biting, no country is pure beauty. On our drive home from school today, we passed the Kibera - the largest slum in Africa. It feels very unreal to see images that I have only seen in pictures before, and to try to imagine what the person looking back at me is feeling and thinking. When I spoke with the man by the pool yesterday, he talked a lot about the importance of making money. In Canada, we value money, but I think we put a much lower value on money because our culture knows that if we lack money, we will not be completely destitute - the government is there to catch most people who struggle with money issues. Here, the divide between the very rich and the very poor is much more stark. In Canada, kids of poor families tend to remain on welfare because they don't see a future for themselves, even though the opportunities really are there - we have free access to a good education up to grade 12, and there are many bursaries available for post-secondary education. It's a matter of how the kids see themselves, not the reality of what they could do. Here, the poverty feels much harsher because those opportunities seem so unapparent. My associate teacher was explaining to me that the qualified teachers want jobs in the wealthy schools, like the one we are at, and so no one wants to teach in the slums. Parents in the slums try to put together small classes, but they can only teach what they know. I can understand the emphasis on money here - without it, you have little chance of making it anywhere, even if you are the most hardworking driven person in the world.  It's very difficult to see these things and have no idea what to do.