Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Wild Ride

This is the Kenyan version of public transportation. This bus is called a Matatu and it is my school bus. The interior is as colorful as the exterior with passengers who range from "Mzungu" or white people to Mamas and young children. There are flat screen TVs encased in the front that play hip hop and Kenyan music videos. They can be a lot of fun with the right crowd and the right music. Unfortunately, riding with the wrong crowd can be dangerous and costly. Yesterday two of my friends were robbed on the matatu at the stage near our apartment. It was an reminder for all of us to avoid getting too comfortable.
My classes at USIU are shaping up and Saturday I will know which internship I will have for the remainder of the semester. I am still very interested with ISSA but all of the options available in Kibera would be a blast. We start our Politics class on Friday with our country director. Kiswahili started last night and two of my classmates and I practically swam through a muddy monsoon on our 30 min walk to class.
I wish I could post a picture from my computer but last weekend I went the Giraffe Center where you get to smooch 'em and hug 'em all over. The rangers give you pellets to purse your lips around and the giraffe will come lick right out of your mouth. Pumba was there too! It was a dream come true!
I had a special request to write about what I hoped to accomplish during my time in Nairobi and I right now I don't have an answer. Right now I feel too much like a sponge to have the backbone to write in words what I want to achieve for myself here.
A girl at on of the clubs here in town was talking to one of my classmates and she said, "Of all the things you came here to do, the most important is that you came here to change your own life." I liked it.