Ethiopia is amazing

I never thought I would write that I loved Ethiopia sooooooo much that I couldn't wait to go back, but here we are. I love Ethiopia, so much so that if I were offered a job there, I would for sure consider taking it. Hard to pinpoint exactly why, the people might tip the scales. I like them far more than Kenyans, they are nice and helpful, not too pushy. The food is ok, I am not a huge fan of Ethiopian normally, obviously much better in situ, but still, the bread makes me sort of gag.

So Aine, Shannon and I did the weekend trip there, Thursday night to Monday morning. The first 2 nights we stayed at the Sheraton, which I must say was an AMAZING hotel, almost the best hotel I have ever stayed at. The grounds were very well maintained, and the rooms were really nice. And they picked us up from the airport. What more can you ask for? Addis is a decent capital city, by African standards. We spent the day on foot walking around and exploring. We did the Mercato (largest market in Africa - although very big, so if I go back, the next time I will do it with a guide). We went to St. Georges church (Ethiopian Orthodox, comes from the Coptic orthodox), which was interesting. There are Islamic and Judaic influences (women and men are on separate sides, women cannot go into certain places because they are unclean). He is also the patron saint of the country and the name of a bar in Phoenix. Very exciting. I became a fan of his beer (St. George's beer), but sadly Ethiopia has not gotten to the point where they sell beer shirts and beer glasses to tourists. We went to some cafes and had great coffee and pastries. We shopped for gold and silver jewelry. We had great food at Habesha 2000 for dinner, saw some dancing unlike anything I have ever seen before. Did I like Addis?

From there, we hopped a flight to Lalibela, which was a one up to Addis. Lalibela is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the sundae, the coup de gras. It is this funky town that is famous for churches built out of rock. And when I say built from rocks, they actually carved them out of the mountains. It was insane. There are 14 of them, give or take, and we saw all of them, save one we couldn't enter because we were women. Of course I couldn't stand for that, so I made our guide translate a conversation to the priest there. The guy humored me for 5 minutes, in the end the rules are the rules, and no women allowed. But I had fun trying. We saw churches all afternoon, went to the market (where I learned the price of goats - 2000 birr I think - which is like $200 - not too bad). We went to dinner in a hole in the wall local place with our guide (I was forced to dance, so thanks to the Indians for teaching me how to dance with my shoulders). We had beers and stayed up late. The next day we went to see a service as well as a wedding, which was the highlight of the trip. Singing and dancing around the church, drum banging, praying, incense, a total assault on the senses. And everyone dressed in white. Church started at 5am and went to 9am. No wonder they need sticks to keep them propped up for the service.

I always thought Ethiopia as a dry place, but I guess after the rainy season, it is super green. The drive around Lalibela is amazing. Lush green hills, trees in bloom, it was really beautiful. Then back to the airport and to Addis, where we had a drink on a hill overlooking the city, and dinner at the Indian place int eh Sheraton (everything else was closed, it was Sunday I suppose).

Great, great place. And so much more to see - Gondor (castles), Aksum (theoretically where the Ark of the Covenant is), Simeon Mountains, the list goes on. What can I say, sucker for good people, history, and culture.

Long time, no blog . . .

I know, where has Melissa gone for the past 2 months? Well, between work and travel, I have simply not made the time to write anything on my blog. But, since I am waiting on my taxi to come pick me up to take me out to the bars tonight, I thought I would put some pen to paper (figuratively), and get some thoughts out there.

It has been a crazy couple of months. After Bangkok, I spent a week in Melbourne for work. Australia is an interesting place, sort of like the US in that it is a very young country (so not too many old buildings), people are a nicer, stranger sounding version of Americans. The city itself was great, lots of sushi (which I ate every day), good food in general, very friendly, easy to walk. Not too many major sights, which was good since I was not going to have too much free time. I did manage to get out to the wineries on the weekend, and also got to see some native animals - I even pet a kangaroo! And of course, some grocery shopping for goods I cannot get in Nairobi - brown sugar and chocolate chips for baking. Not sure Australia is at the top of my list for an immediate return, but it was a good time.

After that I spent a week in Nairobi and on the weekend stayed in Kenya to go to Nakuru and Crater Lake, two parks relatively close to Nairobi that can be done in your own car. So a group of us Accenture folks (Steve, Jessica, Salvador, Rob) rented a car and headed off for our own mini safari. The whole driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road was strange, not that I hadn't done it before, but the way people drive here, it is total insanity. I managed to get us out of the city without killing anyone, and we safely arrived in Nakuru for an afternoon game drive. It was great to be in total control over where we went. In hindsight I wish I had a 4x4, because some of our little off road adventures in the regular car were a bit over the top. There were loads of buffalo, rhino, rhino with baby, giraffe, zebra. And flamingos by Lake Nakuru. And baboons, not a huge fan I must admit, they stole a boxed drink from Salvador, which was pretty funny, but in general, ni fu ni fa. We stayed at a Kenya Wildlife Services guest house, which was nice enough, but no food services. So in the middle of the night in the park we drove over to a lodge, where we had a fine meal, but got a flat tire on the way back. We debated changing the tire in the middle of the park, but instead went back to the lodge for help. Alls well that ends well. The highlight of Nakuru - I almost ran into a giraffe. How many times will I be able to write that down?

Next day we headed back towards Nairobi to Crater Lake, which was a beautiful park, but we are sort of dumb. The car was given to us with no gas, so we were not super incented to fill it all the way up. Just trying to put in enough gas to get there and back without leaving any for the car. Which meant that on our way we ended up running out of gas, and we had to buy it from some shady characters on the side of the road. We were not even sure it was gas, but oh well. In the park you can get around and walk on foot, which is a great experience because you feel closer to the animals. No predators there, just zebra, giraffe, gazelles, etc. We did get to see giraffe foreplay, which was very entertaining.

So I thought that this post would catch me up, but only up to September 14th! Oh well, it will leave more for another day.

One Night In Bangkok

There is a level of insanity associated with my travel these days. World Vision wants me to attend a meeting in Melbourne, and the cheapest flight routes thru Bangkok. So instead of doing a straight shot to Australia, I decided to spend a day and a night in Bangkok. To date, Asia and Australia qualify as two regions I have never visited, neither one has held much interest to be honest. Friends, lots of them, told me I would really love Bangkok.

And, as it turns out, I did really love it. It was AMAZING. It would be hard to pinpoint what I liked most: shopping at the Night Bazaar (shopping at a market at 10:30pm? Did I find heaven?), eating street food (which should be a no-no for me and my delicate stomach), images of Buddha (emerald ones, gold ones), temples (you know me, church, mosque, whatever, if it is religious, I have to see it), tuk tuk ride thru town (aka auto rickshaw from India – harrowing experience, but not as dangerous as India, Bangkok is much more orderly from a driving perspective).

I got up at 7:30am, and was out and about until 11pm. I did everything I could possibly do in 15 hours on the town. I bought far too much, I hit the weekend market as well as the night bazaar. Between the markets and the shopping malls (which are so numerous, and so large) you can buy literally anything. I tried not to buy too much, some wood carved souvenirs, entertaining t-shirts, a nice celadon piece for my home (whenever I buy one), and a single piece of art. I had to leave room for souvenirs from Australia.

Food . . . what can I say, I love Thai food. I went on the wild side, and ate anything that smelled good: soup for breakfast, crazy good thick rice noodles with chicken and spice for lunch, some weird fried food off the street as a snack, basil chicken for dinner, and some good local beers. Yes, beers. Can’t help myself.

The sights were great as well, the palace, the ornate temples, the people watching, the great outfits people wore. Walking around and seeing modern and traditional co-existing side by side. Riding the elevated trains, the taxis, the tuk tuks. The smells, the wonderful smells coming from everywhere. The cleanliness of the city also amazed me. I expected more chaos, more like India. Nothing like it at all. And I could get by on English, for the most part, English and hand gestures.

Would I go back? Yes, one night in Bangkok just isn’t enough.

In your dialect of English . . .

Do you say ‘Ass over teakettle’ or ‘Ass over applecart’? Either way, you can get an impression of how my bike ride went this weekend. I have decided against taking pictures of the bruises I have suffered, but I keep finding more, which makes me sort of sad inside (and more sad outside, I am having troubles finding a comfortable position in which to sit in my chair this morning). I thought I had found all of them yesterday evening when I got home from our little adventure and jumped in the shower, but there are new ones this morning L.

It turns out graceful is not a modifier you can add to my name. I am not a huge cyclist, I own a bike in PHX, but the trails I go on are relatively well kept and I don’t bike in places where I am forced to ride alongside trucks and buses with no escape path. But I am a sucker, and when Aine said, “Hey, there is this fun cycle adventure thru Masailand, let’s join,” I thought, well why not. I am a sheep in the end, and since a friend of mine told me I was such a voyeur a couple of weeks ago, I have been out there doing vs. watching.

Context: To say this was the most disorganized outing I have ever been on would be a stretch, but at present I am unable to think of a situation where it was worse. I am sure it will come to me in time. Example: We were supposed to be picked up by the event coordinators at 6:20am, they arrived at 6:45am. They had approximately 10 stops planned across Nairobi, and they sometimes didn’t know where they were going. Some people ended up waiting 2 hours because they were told they were going to be picked up at 7:15am, and we got there at 9:15am. Second example: we were supposed to be checked in and on our way at 9am. We arrived at around 11am, and didn’t get on our bikes until 11:15am. We have rules back home since it is a desert and when it is ok to be out in the sun doing activity. Generally speaking, you want to be out of the sun between 11am and 3pm. And where we started, Ollorgesaille, is in the middle of a desert. I cannot tell you exact temperatures, but at least 85 degrees on up. I am sure it hit 95, since Joe had told us it is the hottest place in Kenya.

So we biked, and I was in a sort of ‘be on my own’ mood, so I feel behind the rest of the group, stopping to talk to small children, let them ride my bike (once you let one ride, all of them have to ride – and by ride I mean they got on and I pushed). Fully enjoyable time. Anyway, I am going along, and down the road comes a matatu. It is on its side of the road, I am on mine, so I think that there is no cause for alarm. And all of a sudden he must have seen a pothole or something because he swerves towards me and starts honking his horn. So I freak, and swerve as well, which is off the road, where there is a drop between the pavement and the dirt, front tire sticks, and voila, ass over applecart. I got up, a bit shaken, but looked at myself and didn’t see too much blood, so I thought I was ok. A scrape on my leg, one on my hand, but all in all, still in one piece. A bit shaken up, I decide my morning ride, since I am sweaty and gross, is over. Luckily, there was a bus (which there were not too many of picking up people – even though it was promised), which picked me up and took me and some other passengers on to Magadi.

The rest of the weekend, well, the summary is not enough water at certain points, not enough buses to pick people up when they needed it, poor estimation of distances (aka 1 African KM is not the same as 1 US KM), dinner very late, spoiled food . . . you get the drift, poor planning and organization. It was a total blast in spite of everything, and I would still get back up on that horse (actually, a horse would be a lot of fun too, but I suppose I mean a bike here) and do another trip similar in Kenya. The area was beautiful, supposedly the last scene of The Constant Gardener was filmed there. It reminded me a lot of AZ. I loved the camping piece, there was a full moon at night and we left the top uncovered by the rain tarp, so I could sit there and look up at it, which was very calming. Thanks go off to Mike for setting up one of the tents (he thought that we were already at camp when he arrived after biking in the dark for an hour). I will have to recruit individuals to go off on weekend camping trips, I enjoyed it that much.

Hopefully not too many days ahead of icing down my backside . . .

Just how far . . . ?

Do you think you can go with security guards at the Australian High Commission before you get arrested? I decided to go toe to toe today with 3 security guards today out of principle, but wasn’t sure when enough was enough. I knew getting into this that I would lose, but still, you know when people are just being ridiculous and you have to push the envelope? So I have all of my forms for my Australian visa, and I read on their website form that office hours are from 9-11am. Now, thinking it couldn’t be that simple, I had tried calling for 2 days, but no one ever answered. So I get there, and there is a pretty upset Indian man in line in front of me, saying that no one ever answered his call . . . not a good sign for me. So I go up to the entrance desk, and they ask me if I had an appointment. I tell them that the website says (form in hand) that the desk is open from 9-11am. I am told I have to have an appointment. When I tell them that’s not what the form says, they point to a flyer mounted to the window stating that I need to have an appointment. I ask them how I would have known that, and they say I should have called. Ah ha, well, I tell them that I did call and no one answered. Oh, they say, they have been getting those sorts of complaints a lot.

So then I ask for a supervisor. But you see, the supervisor is inside, and I cannot go inside, so I cannot see the supervisor. I tell them that I have no intention of leaving until I see a supervisor. So the supervisor comes out finally and we go thru the same circular argument again. Then he says I can leave my number and the receptionist will call me to schedule an appointment. I let them know that if she cannot take calls (simple), I doubt that she can make calls. They do not think I am funny. I thought it was sort of funny. So then I tell them that I won’t leave without an appointment. And we wait, and wait, and wait, and then they tell me I have an appointment for 9am. I might have gone too far when I asked for the receptionist’s name so that I could take a formal complaint against her to get her fired. I told them there were plenty of Kenyans that needed work and could do that sort of job . . .

That's me, out there making friends. I did go back the next day and I was able to get in and drop off my passport. Now we have to see if I get the approval.

International Camel Derby

As if I needed more adventure in my life . . . this past weekend I went to a town north of Kenya by about 6-7 hours by car (Maralal) for the International Camel Derby. It's Monday today, I'm sun burned, sore in places I didn't think possible, and sluggish, but had a once in a lifetime experience.

Our motley crew met Friday morning at Java House for breakfast prior to heading out of town. The group was: MacHarg (Vandy / Duke / Acumen Fund), Mike the Accenture Intern, Amy & Ana (Acumen Fund folks), Ed & Jason (McKenzie folks working all over Africa), Kathy & Emily (Kathy has been in Africa for years now, Emily is her friend that has been working in Tanzania), Kenya Joe (ex-Peace Corps turned TechnoServe consultant), Rohan (Deloitte consultant), and Shannon (professional photographer). We had a RAV4 as well as a 9 seat 4x4 mini-bus / van (not sure exactly what to call this thing, in Zambia it would be a combi, here I guess it is a Matatu, anyway, a big van type mass transport vehicle). We left at around 10am and arrived in Maralal at 7:30pm. Along the way, we stopped in Nyahururu to pick up a friend of Joes’ (Kevin). We also had to stop in Rumuruti to convince the police to give us an escort up to Maralal. The road between the two towns is plagues by bandits and cattle raiders. It could range from having to give over money to death, and as it turns out, not so much into dying. Joe spent a good long while trying to get them to come but to no avail. So I strolled up, flirted a bit, hugged the head officer, and we were in business. The rest of the ride was fine, except that Kathy lost her muffler on the way (literally, it fell off). MacHarg was able to string up the exhaust pipe with some chain and a carabineer. Go MacHarg / MacGyver!

The evening was a throw back to college. I ended up sharing a room and a queen bed with Shannon, which I have not shared a bed since I can’t remember when. We went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner (yes, the chain opened a post in Maralal just for this weekend), where I experienced Somali food for the first time. Then back to the Yare Lodge where we were staying for drinking games. I cannot remember what we were playing but it devolved (as expected) into discussions around sex and drinking.

Race day – you could feel the tension in the air, the camels were nervous, the handlers were nervous, all of the amateurs on edge, hoping, praying that they would win the race and the big prize money. Ok, so not at all, but it was fun. Not sure that man was meant to race 10K on a camel to be honest, as it is not easy on the back side (for the person – bounding with no padding, not so much, for the camel – beating the living daylights out of it with a stick). That being said, I must just have the worst luck, as I got a camel that had no interest in racing whatsoever. The race starts, and my camel (Bore – who I was either calling Borat or Fernando at any given time) runs for a bit, and then decides that he is not so into winning the big prize money for me. We go on for about 3Km, and then he runs me into a tree. I start bleeding (nothing serious) so we stop for a minute. I realize at this point that there is no way I am going to catch up, so I tell my handler that we should switch places. At first he is skeptical, but after some convincing, he is on top of the camel and I am leading it. My handler (LeMoge) actually starts telling me to run, like the camel is going to listen to me more than it did to him. All in vain, the camel ride turned into a camel pull. I stopped at the BP to buy a coke and a water, I was tempted to ask them to ‘fill ‘er up’, but I was already pushing it with pulling into the gas station with my camel. People were looking at me strange as we headed back to the finish line, a muzungu leading an African around on a camel, but I like to be different. I came in dead last as far as the race is concerned, but 1st in the camel pull (the event I was actually competing in).

The rest of the day was filled with ethnic dancing, singing, a Tricamelon (that Joe won for the 3rd year in a row – bike, run, camel), a fantastic trip to an escarpment where I saw one of the most beautiful vistas I have ever seen, dinner, and drinking. The next day we got up early to see the start of the peace run (3 feuding tribes were brought together for a 3 day retreat before the race to promote peace and understanding), the professional camel race, and the ½ marathon (which the Kenyans finished in like 1 hour 10 minutes). I got to see a goat slaughtered and the prep for a Samburu wedding ceremony.

Icing on the cake? Stopping for a picture at the equator. Half in the northern hemisphere, half in the southern hemisphere. I think that sums up how I have felt being here, half in one world, half in another.

I love animals

This past weekend I went to the Masai Mara to do a little safari for the weekend. You know, no matter how many times I go to game parks and see animals, I really never get tired of seeing them. You would think it would lose the novelty, but that never happens.

So a group of us (Michael the intern, Mike MacHarg, Andrea, Shannon, and Melissa) left on Friday via prop plane. Let me just say I am not a fan of the prop plane. I am not a huge fan of flying, let alone getting into a little puddle jumper and trusting that the pilots have no desire to die. Of course we get on the plane and a woman tells me that the airline we are flying (Air Kenya) has one of the worst records in all of Africa. Great, thanks for sharing.

We arrive in the Mara around 4pm, Shannon and Mike having taken the earlier flight. We are picked up by the Intrepids folks (the tent camp where we are staying), and immediately go out on safari. Have to take advantage of the daylight hours I suppose. And it was a good thing we went out, we were able to spot a cheetah, some lions, an elephant, a sable cat (not sure exactly what that is, but it was pretty), and assorted deer-like animals. As the sun set, we headed back to the camp. The camp itself was a lot like a place I stayed with Emily when she and I were in Kruger. It was sort of a luxury tent camp. The tents were huge, with running water (hot), and lights, nice beds, etc. I bunked with Andrea, who is the other Accenture intern working on a PEPFAR project. That evening we had some yummy dinner and drinks, and then called it an early evening because of the day that awaited us on Saturday.

You know, when you are on vacation, even if it is just for a weekend, it is no fun to have to get up at 6am. Even if it is to go and see animals. But, the early bird catches the worm, or in our case, the early muzungu (which is me - the white person) catches the lions with their babies eating a zebra. It was so amazing, the little lion cubs had these huge bellies from all of the food they had eaten. We must have watched the lions for a good hour, and then we saw some elephants, some wildebeests, another cheetah, more lions, so many animals, I just cannot remember everything we saw. We ate breakfast in the middle of the park, we just sat down in the middle of some wildebeests and ate. Of course I couldn't help myself, I tried to stalk and catch some, but I am just not fast enough.

Anyway, I won't try to write down the entire weekend, suffice to say that I saw some amazing animals throughout the rest of the weekend (including the wildebeest migration across a river including 2 being eaten by crocs, and loads of hippos, even hippos having sex! naughty hippos!), loads of relaxation, sun, food, and good times with new friends. An amazing adventure.

Up next . . . camel derby!

Al Jazerra

Here in Kenya, I get to watch Al Jazeera on cable. It is all programming in English, the anchors are from the UK, the reporeters are very international. I think in the US we have this mis-conception that Al Jazeera is the terrorist network, that any crazy can get on and make threats, that the journalism is flawed. I have found that it is a pretty good news network, very globally focused (i.e. reporting from all over the place a la BBC news), and fairly impartial (of course you can read the negative sub-text when they start talking about Israel). It is far better than Fox News (shocking), and I would rate it up there with the BBC. Worth a watch.

Indian Influences

So I am beginning to understand the full reach of the sub-continent here in Africa. It is sort of insane, anyone that claims that it is the US and the UK that are driving things here needs to do a little check on our Indian friends. Here are just a few examples:

1) Bollywood movies - So they are everywhere. At the movie theater down the road, there are at least 2-3 movies going at a time from India.
2) TV - I was just in Zambia, staying at the Taj hotel (notice, an Indian chain), and there were at least 5 channels on TV that were Hindi language. In Kenya, there is one station here that does Hindi programming.
3) Cuisine - Let's just start with the fact that I can get more amazing Indian food here than in many other places in the world. I can even get Indian Chinese at this market 10 minutes from my house. As part of 'staple' Kenyan food, they serve chapatties with meals here. You can buy all sorts of Indian foodstuffs at the grocery market.
4) Property / business ownership - Almost all of the major malls here are Indian owned. And the business are mostly Indian owned as well. Went to drop my dry cleaning off - Indian. Went to buy some shoes - Indian. Went to the specialty grocer - Indian. Bakery? Indian.

Yes yes, the US does have a pretty long reach, and the British created this whole mess, but the Indians are coming on strong (and for the food, I thank them).

So much to write, so little time

I am absolutely horrible about keeping up with this blog. I guess it has to do with the fact that this is not a vacation like my last trip. I am here to work, which these days includes 3 different jobs. I am doing World Vision full time, and then Loblaw's and Sears on an ad hoc basis. My goal is to eliminate extra-curricular work by the middle of August, so less than a month.

I am in Zambia right now, after having spent one little week in Kenya after my jaunt off to London. I returned to Kenya with an intern, and it is good to have someone else around. Makes things more interesting. He is a good kid, but definitely a kid. He has that excitable nature which means he is full of energy. And from Northern Ireland, so has a good accent going for him.

I spent the past weekend in Livingstone, back with my old volunteer project and seeing friends. I had the most amazing experience when I went back to my school. I got there a bit after class had begun, and they were all taking their test. I walked into the classroom, and when they saw me, they all started yelling 'Teacher, teacher' and jumped up to hug me and kiss me. They were so genuinely excited to see me and showed such real emotion, it moved me. Anyway, I spent the day with my kids. The rest of the weekend was nice, I saw some friends at the market, went to a compound to see a woman I was visiting who is HIV+ with 9 kids (she is doing very well, she has planted a garden to provide food for her family), saw Alex (a boy I was helping - also HIV + - I carried him to a clinic the last time I was there - it is good to seem him happy and strong). I also saw friends on the volunteer staff, we went to Vic Falls, had dinner, went to some old haunts. All in all a wonderful weekend.

Now I am in Lusaka for a meeting with World Vision. I am always amazed at how international they are. There is a guy from El Salvador, a woman from Canada, a woman from the US, 2 Australians, a guy from Malawi, a guy from Zambia, a guy from Swaziland, and a guy from India. Quite the crew. The off to Kenya on Thursday, and then the weekend on safari at the Mara. My dance card is pretty darn full . . .

New British slang

1) Mardy bum - aka Stroppy cow - apparently a phrase you use to describe a woman that is upset.
2) Apples and pears - stairs (cockney rhyming slang)
3) Shattered - to be really tired (I'm shattered)

More to come . . .

Hiking the volcano

So on the 5th of July, I went with some friends (including Mike from Vandy) to hike up this volcano (inactive) and then walk around the crater. I proved 2 things with that little adventure: 1) I am out of shape (or at least very not used to the altitude). I huffed and puffed all the way up. To make matters worse, there was a high school class that made it up and most of the way down my the time I was half way. 2) I have a massive fear of heights. We were up pretty high, and the trail around the crater is a pretty steep dropoff. I couldn't make it all the way around once the path really narrowed. I had to turn around and go back.

I did get to see a water buffalo, which was cool. And the pictures are great, but heights, not so much. Proves I won't be hiking up Kilimanjaro!

Rain, rain go away!

After two weeks of living in Nairobi, where I think "Africa, sunny, warm goodness" I am left with almost a week of rain.

First, the 4th of July. Being an expat really makes you more patriotic. A bunch of us got together for what we had thought was going to be a fantastic BBQ to celebrate our nation's birth. So I get home, improvise Rice Krispy Treats (marshmallows are not the same here, not as fluffy, and mixed pink and white), and head over to my friend Aine's apartment complex. It had been on and off raining all day (after a wonderful sunny week), and at about 6pm, when we are supposed to start, it pours down rain. For a 5 minute walk across the way, it literally was like someone turned on the shower. Nedless to day we had to change our plans, so the guy that owns the restaurant at the apartment complex let us borrow the kitchen. It ended up turning out great. I got to use all sorts of fun kitchen equipment, the food was great, and a little bit of drunken antics. All in all a good time.

Now I am in London, and it has rained here all week. I spent the first part of the week in training (which was surprisingly good), and now I am now working out of the World Vision office in the UK. The intern started working for me this week, his name is Michael and he is from Northern Ireland. Like all folks from the UK, I could listen to him talk all day. What is is about Americans and their love for the foreign accent (i.e. British)? I am so sick of the rain, I don't know how people put up with it. I am going crazy!

Sometimes it feels like . . .

I have not left the U.S. Yesterday, on the ride home from work, I stopped off at this Italian Food Store. And it was fully stocked with all sorts of products from Italy. They even had the most amazing selection of cheeses and meats, better than some shops I have seen in the U.S. So I picked up some cheese and a bottle of wine, headed home, made dinner for some friends here, and it felt like just any old day in the U.S. Surreal! I am going to have to do a better job at finding ways to interact with the local community. Toto, I don't think we're in Zambia anymore!

Settling into my new life

I think I am starting to feel at home. I moved out of my creepy house in Karen (the Deerfield of Nairobi - I was in a 5 bedroom, 2 story house by myself) into my new apartment in the Bucktown of Nairobi on Saturday. I have a 2 bedroom place in Westlands - the name of the complex is Pinnacle Apartments. There is 24 hour security, very safe location, good locks on the doors. And it has a full kitchen and a small balcony.

Anyway, I have connected with all of the Accenture people here, plus my friend from Vandy (Mike). On Saturday I went out with everyone after I moved in. We did an art show at the museum for modern art, then late lunch. On Sunday I got to meet up with a friend of a friend (Paul), and we went to a village outside of Nairobi (Gatundu) where a friend of his was preaching. It was a Pentacostal church (I had never been before), and let's just say it was different. Lots of singing and dancing. The little kids were fascinated, and climbed all over me, touching my hair, touching my hands, it was crazy. Lots of fun photos. And after church, since we were the special guests, they made lunch for us. It was so much food (and lots of things I don't eat - meat stew, Oxtail).

Sunday night, out to Casablanca (a bar in Hurlingham) with Mike and the Accumen Fund folks to watch the Euro 2008 match between Germany and Spain. Viva Espana! So exciting that they won. All in all, a very good weekend.

And now there are more folks from World Vision living in my apartment complex, so we are doing a pot luck dinner at my place tonight. It is a great experience so far. Soon I will sign up for Swahili classes and I will find volunteer work and I will be on my way!

The Office

It is my third day on the job. I must admit that the working environment here is very different than the U.S. There are things that are the same (I wear a suit every day, I have a desk in a shared office, internet connection). But it is kind of like working in India. There are things I cannot do for myself (i.e. printing, calling the driver, etc.). The cafeteria on site is SO much better than in India, it could be the food here is more to my everyday liking (yesterday was rice and vegetable stew). But you start work at 8:15am, and then clear out at 5pm at the latest. You leave then because people don't like to drive after dark. Which means that I leave work, and then go home to re-conenct with U.S. hours. Not too bad.

Safety in Nairobi

Yesterday I met with the Security officer for World Vision Nairobi. Most of you know that I am a pretty adventurous traveller, and I like to fly by the seat of my pants. I have now officially had the fear of God put in me, and I am going to obey the rules while in Nairobi.

- There are car jackings. They happen in broad daylight. No unlocked doors, no stopping at all, no open windows. They drive you around taking money out of ATMs (which means no ATM card for me when I am out).
- There are armed robberies. Also in daylight. Neighborhood independent. Basically you give in and give them whatever material posession they want.
- I now know where to go if (God forbid), I am raped so that I don't contract AIDS as a result. I have 72 hours to get there to not get infected.
- Home invasions - well no wonder I need to haev 24 hour security and guards and CCTV all the time. Apparently this is a big issue.

Now, the up side is that NO ONE from World Vision has had any issues in the past 12 months, I think the last incident was in 2006, but still, these things apparently happen here. I am sure that they guy is trying to scare me, which has worked. Not paranoid, just for sure not going to do anything stupid.

Finally in Nairobi . . . but not settled yet

So, I have made it to Nairobi. Not without some challenges, but I did make it. I have settled in at some temporary housing in what I will call the Deerfield / Mississauga of Nairobi. My apartment in the city won't be ready until the 28th, so I am in the 5 bedroom monster of a house. And it is winter, so no way to keep it warm. I feel like I am camping, I wear like 12 layers to bed.

Work is interesting so far, meeting lots of interesting people, trying to figure out how to navigate the waters here. I have lots of meetings over the course of the next several days.

I leave in a week for London, and then I am likely going to be in Bangkok at the end of July. In September they want me to go to Australia, so we will see where that ends up.

More to come.

Delays, Deportations, and Dumb Luck

Delays - So my flight to Nairobi was supposed to leave at 10:30am, but we didn't get out until noon. Only once I got on the plane did I know why . . .
Deportations - I get on my flight, and there is someone screaming in the back row. At first I think it is some kid that is upset. Then I listen, and the person is screaming 'Please somebody help me. Somebody help my children.' There is a Kenyan woman in the back row with all sorts of deportation officers around her. It is awful to listen to, someone back there insists on getting off the flight (more delays). She finally calmed down about 2 hours into the flight.
Dumb Luck - So I get to the airport with the same bags that I had when I left PHX, and when I go to walk thru security, they tell me that the bag BA let me bring from PHX was not acceptable for this flight. You can imagine my frustration. I tried to argue and reason, but in the end I had to buy a new smaller bag, transfer my carry on items to it, and then go back and check an additional bag. Luckily the woman at the BA counter felt my pain and didn't charge me.

I'm on my way

Left on June 21st from PHX on a direct flight to London. I decided to spend the night in London . . . too many overnight flights and Melissa goes crazy. Anyway, thanks goodness for Lunesta (sleep aid). I must have been able to get in 5 hours of sleep, which is amazing for me.

6 hours in London:

1) Evening Service at Westminster Abbey
2) Walking around the Thames
3) Trafalgar Square
4) House of Parliament
5) Beer, fish and chips
6) SPAIN beats Italy in the Eurocup

What more can you ask for? I even saw David Livingstone's burrial place in Westminster. And all my bags made the first hop. Now off to bed and then fly out in the morning for Nairobi.

Funny sense of humor

So it struck me as funny that I was staying at a hotel this week for World Vision (a Christian organization), and in the parking lot was a huge bus wrapped with the Playboy Energy Drink. I think God has a good sense of humor.

Prelude to a trip

I started with World Vision today in Monrovia, CA. I am so excited about this new project that I can't hardly stand it. There are similarities and differences in working with a Christian NGO. In many ways, it is just like any other client I work with, they need help in solving their problems. But here are some key differences:

- The day starts with a department devotional
- Conference calls start with an opening prayer
- Business document summary views start with citing Jesus
- I am invited to the chapel service on Wednesday

Quite the change of pace. More to come . . .