* Urban Homestay in Nairobi *

Some pictures from my urban homestay in Nairobi. I lived with a family for 3 weeks while I took classes at the United Kenya Club in the city with the rest of the students. Some people lived in pairs with families, but I was alone, which was nice, I got to know my family really well. Every weekday morning my mom would drive me into the city for my first class, Swahili, and then she would go to her job at the International Committee of the Red Cross. My 2 younger brothers, 7 & 8 would be driven to school by their dad, who works at a big insurance company in the city as well. We would all eat breakfast together and then leave the house by 7am to try and beat the morning traffic. Traffic is a big problem in Nairobi - no one follows traffic laws and cars are everywhere on the road. During the day in the city I would take classes and in between I would go into the city for lunch or shopping, swim laps at the YMCA pool near where I took classes, or do work in the library at the UKC. Mom picked me up each day at the UKC around 5:30pm, and we would drive home or stop on the way to do errands. We all ate dinner around 7:30pm and then I would play with the boys or do homework. I had my own room in the house and the boys loved to come in and play with all my things or watch me do homework. The first few nights I was attacked my mosquitoes and woke up with huge welts on my face and arms, so the 3rd night I asked for a net over my bed, which made the rest of the stay a lot better. I lived with the Ouma's for 2 weekends. One Saturday we went swimming at a beautiful hotel pool in the city and I helped the boys with their front crawl. Each Sunday we went to Church and then spent time with my mom's sisters who live around the city. We went to her sister's for tea one Sunday and another day we went shopping with 2 of her sisters for clothes. One Saturday night I took a taxi by myself from the house to meet up with the rest of the students at a popular club called Galileo in the city. It was so much fun and we danced to a live band who played songs we all knew by Paul Simon. It was a little scary at first to take my first taxi alone into the city, but once I was there I was fine. As long as you are aware of your surroundings in the city and be smart about what you do at night, you can keep yourself very safe. Another Saturday I went to the Maasai Market with my mom to buy small gifts and souvenirs and I bartered for everything I bought. The sellers are so pushy and grab white people who they assume are tourists with lots of money. I used some of the Swahili I have learned and bartered their prices way down. Sellers would start with ridiculous prices, like 5,000 shillings, and I would get them down to 100. Mom said she was very impressed with my bartering and said that she usually gives up with sellers and gets too impatient to barter. Later that day I went with my mom to the wedding of a woman she works with. It was amazing to see how Kenyans organize weddings and the different traditions that take place. Everyone was dressed in bright clothing and there was a lot of dancing and singing - I felt very lucky to be able to see a Kenyan wedding. I was the only mzungu (white person) there. One Wednesday I didn't have classes because the government of Kenya issued a national holiday (October 1) to celebrate the end of Ramadan for the Muslim community. The whole month of September is spent fasting, and October 1st is usually announced as a holiday for Muslims to get together to feast and spend time together. That day my family took me to the Nairobi National Park to go on the nature walk. I was surprised when we saw all kinds of animals - rhinos, zebras, leopards, and lions! Each Friday all of us students only had Swahili class in the morning and then we did "urban activities". One Friday we went to Kibera, the biggest slum in Africa, which I right outside the city. There we split into groups and got to visit community development projects that are taking place there. I visited a business called Smolfish which is run by a young man from Kibera. Smolfish produces kikoy cloth products and weaves all the cloth by hand and sells everything to shops in Nairobi. The business helps Kibera by employing people from the slum and giving money back to the community. There are 2 pictures from Smolfish - one of me using the pedal machine to wind yarn, and another with all the workers and my group with our finished products that we got to take home that day. Another Friday we went to the UN delegation in Nairobi and we visited with people from a section of the UN called UN Habitat, which is working with the youth of Nairobi (especially the ones from the slums) to improve employment and education rates and provide them with options for their futures. It was interesting to see the connections between the trip to Kibera and to the UN - both trips worked to show us how change is taking place in the city for the less fortunate.

During the 3 weeks I ate great food - every night was something different. I was given a cooking lesson one night . I learned how to make chapati and ndengu, and I was surprised when she let me do most of the work. I can't wait to cook the meal at home - delicious!

On my last night we got take-out Indian food - my mom said I couldn't leave without having it - Nairobi has amazing Indian!! I gave the family the gifts I had brought for them and also a chocolate cake. When I left after my 3 weeks I promised the boys I would write to them and we would be pen pals - they were so sad to see me leave - very cute. I look forward to keeping in touch with the family.

I have included some pictures from my 3 weeks - enjoy!

Today is Sunday October12 - I got back to the compound on Friday and we all spent the weekend catching up and relaxing - and also writing a big paper that is a culmination of our 2 homestays - rural and urban. Tomorrow, Monday, we leave early for Amboseli, where we will stay for 9 days learning from the Maasai people, who are pastoralists, and going on a few different game drives (safaris!) to see all the animals of Amboseli. Amboseli is known for awesome game viewing and is a beautiful location at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. When we return to the compound next Wednesday - we pack again - and then Thursday we leave (just the students by ourselves) to fly to Mombasa for 4 days to stay on the beach and relax for our midsemester break. Talk to you in a few weeks!!