This morning I woke up, neither bright eyed nor bushy tailed, to get ready for my first day. D was already out the door, and our third roommate was still asleep, so I had both bathrooms all to myself. So far, my only qualm with the apartment is the water pressure. The shower is like a trickle...which is going to take some getting used to. We also have an instant water heater, which means I have to walk through the apartment and out onto the porch to turn it on before each shower (and off after, as they can explode if they overheat!) which gives me a great opportunity to check the weather each morning! I showered and got ready just in time for the taxi driver to call and say he was downstairs.
By 8:00am, traffic in Nairobi is out of control. Jared said that our area is especially notorious for being really bad traffic-wise. We headed out into the thick of things, and it took nearly an hour for me to get to the office. This included driving on a completely closed road, which was undergoing construction. We happened to come upon it right behind an official, who was allowed through. They attempted to close the gate and my driver said "No! We are with him! You must let us through!" and surprisingly enough, they did! I was kind of bizarre, as it was definitely an active construction zone, but hey, it worked. "I," chuckled the taxi driver, "just avoided a HUGE traffic jam." Whatever works.
After our meeting, I spent a little time sitting at my desk and waiting to get my computer. The IT team had been at the office super late the night before so they weren't in to give me my computer. Eventually Jared pilfered an extra one and I was at least able to get online, send out some emails, and finish up the paperwork HR needed me to do to get paid, get health insurance, and other important stuff like that. Around 12:30pm, Jared took me around to show me a couple of places in the building I can get lunch if I don't feel like buying it. There is a woman who sets up a little shop in the kitchen upstairs, selling veggies and other homemade foods. Then there is also a guy in the basement garage who brings a variety of hot foods for sale. Famous last words from Jared: "I know, it looks really hole-in-the-wall and sketchy but I haven't gotten sick yet." Sign me up. I actually had really delicious rice, beef with sauce, a cabbage salad, and a little serving of greens. All for about $2. Not bad. We ate lunch out on the porch (gorgeous and sunny, but actually borderline chilly with the wind) and talked about various things for about an hour and a half.
When I went back inside, my computer had arrived, so I was able to get that all sorted before getting picked up around 3:15pm by a taxi driver Jared suggested. We headed out, and traffic was...terrible. He took a different route (which was apparently a bad idea) because it took us an hour and a half to get to the mall near my house. The sun was super strong and since we were creeping along there was no breeze and it was hotttt. I ended up napping for a while and by the time I woke up I had actually gotten some sun. I'll be tan in January, yet! Tony (the driver), dropped me off at Junction Mall, which is a big mall with a ton of stores including Nakumatt, which is basically a Kenyan Kmart. I spent a bit getting a few essentials: light bulbs and crackers, peanut butter and apples, etc. It is always fun to be in a foreign market and see what they have to offer. I got some random chip, or CRISP if you will, flavors, including "Funky Fruit Chutn'y" which I am excited to try and blog about them. Look forward to it! Also, they make me want to watch New Girl constantly.
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