Back From Hiatus!

AAAAAAAAAH, I'm back. Did you miss me? Didja? I know it probably sounds lame, but I TOTALLY missed blogging.

First off, I'm really sorry for not posting anything of substance in the last, eek, 20ish days. It is always my intent to keep this blog updated and interesting, and I'm sorry that it took so long to get back to it. Suffice it to say, I had good reason. My roommate had some health issues that landed her in the hospital and its been a crazy, hectic, worry-filled period. HOWEVER, she's definitely on the mend, and out of the hospital, and we got the added bonus of her mom coming over to Kenya for a visit, so there's definitely a silver lining. Plus, I'm back! You no longer have to go to bed at night sadly wondering what is going on in my life!

Now, obviously, this is not going to be like my normal entries, with descriptions down to the minute detail because, come on, that would be the longest entry ever. But I will provide you with some highlights to catch you up, and then get back to regularly scheduled broadcasts...er...blog posts.

So. What's been going on in Kenya?

Traffic. And traffic police.

"WHAT?!" You may be asking yourself. "Could it be that in the past three weeks no one has solved the problem of traffic in Nairobi." Sad but true. However, I did spend the last two weeks in a taxi with Paul, shuttling between home, work, and the hospital, so I really REALLY can't complain. Paul is great. He lets me ask all my (sometimes stupid sounding, I'm sure) questions and just knows all the ins and outs of the city so we usually make pretty good time. Our goal is always to be MOVING. Sometimes it is achingly slow, and over Martian landscape roads, but I feel better as long as we're not stuck, engine off, waiting for whoever is messing things up down the line to get their shit together.

Some days, traffic is not half bad.

What?! This is not the Mombasa Road traffic I know (and hate)!

And some days, like last Thursday, it is atrocious. Paul and I tried to game the system and take a back way home (which we have done successfully before) but instead it took me nearly 3 hours to make it home. We were parked, for periods up to 20 minutes, behind a guy who turned his car off, reclined his seat, and decided to nap. The ONLY upsides were that 1) we were in shade instead of baking in direct sunlight, and 2) we were relatively close to a chocolate factory and when the wind picked up it smelled like chocolate chip cookies instead of exhaust. Its all about the little things.

Oh...that's more like it.

I DID have the opportunity to experience a super fun facet of traffic that I'd not yet seen, though. Traffic police. Monday, on the way back from work, Paul and I strayed a bit from the usual course to stop and get a cake for D's birthday. The cake was very pretty (see below), but was literally the worst cake I've ever put in my mouth. The cake part was suuuuuuuper dry, like stale bread, and the icing was basically royal icing that shattered when you cut it. The anti-delicious.

Ignore the fact that I look a mess and exhausted. This picture is about the cake.

Anyway, we got back on Mombasa Road and were heading towards town, but not in our usual lane (we are always in the far-right fast lane, but since we stopped at the store, we were still in the far-left slow lane). At one point, another road merges, and as there was a big clot of traffic, Paul pulled into the merge lane to get ahead a bit. Let me start by saying that Paul NEVER does this, and I don't know why he decided to that day. Immediately, we see a police officer a short ways down the road and realize this was a tactical error. Paul tries to merge back into traffic, but the officer angrily waves him over and we pull off to the side.

I remain seated in the passenger seat and Paul gets out to try and talk his way out of a ticket, both in Kiswahili and Gikuyu, the the language of the Kikuyu tribe of which both happened to be a member (this is not terribly surprising as it is the largest tribe in Kenya, but still worth noting). The guy was not having any of it. He saw me, a mzungu, and with his eyes lit up with dollar signs like a cartoon character. After talking with Paul for a while, and not having any of it, he came around to the passenger side and told me through my open window that Paul had been "overlapping" and could not be allowed to get away with it. We had to go to the police station (up the street) where he would be fined 10,000Ksh ($114). He would have to report to traffic court the next morning, and if he failed to do so, the money would be forfeited to the city government. If Paul were unable to pay the 10,000Ksh, his car would be impounded.

Fun.

Most traffic cops here don't have a car or even a motorcycle, so he made me sit in the back and he got in the passenger seat to catch a lift to the station. It took us about 20 minutes to get there (again, see: traffic) and the whole time he and Paul were carrying on an urgent conversation in the front seats. I sat quietly in the back. Later Paul informed that the officer was grilling him about me (where I worked, if I was married, if I had kids, how long I had been in Kenya, where we were going, etc). Every once in a while, the officer would ask me the same questions in English, apparently because he thought Paul was lying. He also kept asking Paul why I was so quiet. He truthfully responded that I have only been here a month and don't speak Kiswahili yet. The officer didn't really believe him, and I am still not sure why this was SO surprising, but whatever. Paul's later advice was that even when I do speak Kiswahili, I should always only speak English to police officers, because they will try to trip me up and like seeing foreigners uncomfortable. Noted.

Anyway, during this time, Paul was also trying to work out a bribe. Corruption is the way things work here, and it is just what you do. Apparently, the officer told me about the 10,000Ksh fine before we left thinking I'd just give it to him on the way and we could call it a day. Um...missed that signal. Paul tried to talk him down, and offered 1,000Ksh, which the officer refused because it was too low. Paul told him that he would have to ask me for money, and the officer got all slick and said that he couldn't ask while he was in the car, but that when we got to the police station, he would get out and maybe Paul could follow. He specifically told Paul that he was going for a higher fine because I was a white girl. Ah, the joys of being a perpetual foreigner. Anyway, we got to the station, the officer got out, I gave Paul 3,000Ksh ($34) and he paid the guy off and we left. Ugh. Never a dull moment.

The sad thing is, and I cannot stress this enough, this is a totally common occurrence, and there is really nothing you can do about it. Thankfully I was with a driver that I trust implicitly, so I wasn't scared (just super annoyed). 

Work

Work has been good. People keep asking how I like my job, and my answer is as follows. I LOVE the idea of my job. I love the impact and the reach. I love doing something that I am passionate about. I love being creative and having a ton of flexibility and freedom to do what I want and think is best. I like the reality of my job. It is just a lot to get used to. Spending 10 hours a day sitting in front of a computer in a quiet room of adults is just SO different from what I am used to. But I am adjusting, and as my sleep schedule begins to regulate once again, I think it will be even better.  I can't believe I've already been here over a month. It has, at once, gone ridiculously fast, and extremely slowly. I think that is one of the biggest paradoxes of living abroad. 

This Friday I also got to go out to a school fairly close to my office for a bit. We went mid-afternoon, during lunch and "rest" (nap) time for our little ones, but that actually worked out well because I got to talk to the Academy Manager, and the teachers for Baby and Nursery class who gave some really valuable feedback about stuff that has gone well/poorly this term that we have the opportunity to change for Term 2. Also the kids were adorable.

Rather than being out in the country, like the last site I visited, this school is located right on the edge of a slum in Nairobi.

I was actually surprised by how much land they had, considering it was an urban school.

Kids out at play during lunch and recess.

View towards the slum from the manager's office.

Kids playing on a construction site next door.

Wonderful Baby Class teacher during nap time. Well...it is supposed to be nap time, haha.

Adorable.

Still pretty surprised by the camera.

Awkward family photo? Hahah, I love the cheeks on the little Jolly Green Giant on the right. What is his sidekick's name? I think it is Sprout.

Ahhh, wanted to steal this little boy. SO freakin' cute.

I think as long as I get out to the schools every once in a while I'll be able to maintain my enthusiasm and work through the long days trapped in the office. I also just discovered that there is no rule against taking your computer out on the sunny back deck, so I think we'll be taking advantage of that space soon.

There have been a few changes as the office, as well. Andrea left, deciding that this just wasn't the right job for her, and we got two new wazungu: Amanda and Theresa. We all get along quite well, so that's good. They were both in Nairobi already (for varying lengths of time) so they're also just good resources for living here. We eat lunch together every day (with Nuru) and have fun talks that alleviate some work stress. I finally got to meet all three founders, who are very cool, at a company-wide meeting where we talked about where the organization is going, and what kinds of fun things to expect over the next year. I finally signed my contract, so I'm set to stay for as long as I want, and things are overall going really well. 

Also one day the fingerprint scanners malfunctioned and no one could get in. They had to break through a wall. Never a dull moment.

Breakin' in.

The Apartment

Slowly, but surely, the apartment is becoming more and more like home. I have settled in (and spent an exorbitant amount of money doing so) but I feel like I'm well on my way. We had furniture delivered last weekend (now I have a bed and don't sleep on a mattress on the floor like a meth head!) so that was really nice. Below is a little photo tour of the apartment. It is certainly WAY bigger than anything I could afford in the US and considering the fact that the entirety of my studio apartment in Seoul (room, kitchen, entrance and bathroom) could easily fit into my bedroom with room to spare, I feel like I am moving up in the world, haha. I am hoping that the extensive repairs and minor remodels we have been doing are now done, and we get get down to enjoying our apartment rather than being frazzled by it! This weekend I bought a washer and dryer (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I AM SO EXCITED) and had my ensuite bathroom retrofitted by and electrician and plumber so that instead of just being a bathtub that fills with cold water, it is also a shower with an instant hot water heater on it. And the switch is in my room! That means I don't have to go out on the porch before my shower every morning! The little things!

When you walk into the apartment, you see our sitting room/living room to the left.

And our dining room to the right.

D had all of this furniture built by Kuria, our carpenter.

The dining room leads into the kitchen.

Which is a pretty decent size.

The kitchen has an entry to....

The pantry.

And the outdoor wash area.
LOOK AT MY NEW WASHER AND DRYER!

The back wash area also has a pretty little view.

On the front of the house we have a cute little porch. 

With a view of the rest of the complex.

When you walk down the main hallway, from the dining room and kitchen, you get to the bathrooms and bedrooms.

One bathroom has a shower and sink.

And the other has a toilet and sink.

I live in the master bedroom. It is gigantic. Check out my new bed and nightstand!

Close up! Ignore the random ass mix of kitenges and scarves that are a substitute for curtains until I get them made.

My room has storage space that dreams are made of....

And a cute little built in desk with a big mirror. Which I have decorated to the max.

And an ensuite bathroom.

That new shower and hot water heater was just installed yesterday by this guy.

We also have a good sized guest room, complete with cute new bed I just had made. When you come, it won't have blank canvases on it, those are just there because the cleaning lady was doing the floor.

Moral of the story: As you can see, we have lots of space. SO COME VISIT.

My First Site Visit!

First off, can I just say that I'm super pumped you're all reading this blog? I was going through my Blogger Stats and I am blown away by how many times this blog as been viewed already. I hope you enjoy reading about my new, very different, life here in Nairobi. Keep the comments coming; I love them!

Well, my first full week on the job has come to an end, and I must say, I'm feeling like I am right where I belong. The commute continues to be miserably long, and I work 10+ hour days, but I come home feeling like I'm moving in the right direction every day. I also get to experience myriad new things (which is something I always hunger for) so at the end of the day I can't really think of anything to complain about. Sure there are challenges and frustrations, but the good absolutely exponentially outweighs the bad.

My adjustment to working in an office has going surprisingly smoothly. Our office is located in a fairly new, modern building on one of the main roads out of the city. It is very secure: there is a gated entry with guards who check trunks of cars as they enter and make note of any unfamiliar vehicle's license plates, etc. Once you get inside, there are two other guards posted just inside the door near reception. After making it past them as well, you take the elevator up to my office. In order to enter the floors housing our company, you have to pass muster at a fingerprint scanner. The fingerprint scanners are great, they not only provide security, but also automatically clock us in every morning and out every evening. It is a lot more efficient than having to sign-in or log-in somewhere. The only tricky thing is that since you have to scan in and out on every floor, I was totally at the mercy of co-workers for the first three days before IT was able to get my fingerprint into the system. Nothing makes you feel sketchier than loitering by the door to an office area, waiting to piggyback in on some hapless employee. But now that's all taken care of and not an issue anymore, thankfully!

The Curriculum Department, Teacher Training Department, and Production Department are all together in one big room. The Curriculum Team is the biggest in the company, with over 30 members. We have rows of short cubicles facing each other, and I am right by the door so I can see everyone in the room (and since I'm super nosy this is great!). Also on our floor is an open area for meetings, a few other departments (still trying to pin down exactly who is where), some small conference rooms, a large conference room, and a kitchen. I love the kitchen, because twice a day they bring in hot milk and clean mugs to make tea. Amazing. I generally need my first hit of deliciousness around 8:30am and the other around 2:30pm. It is perfect. Between all the milk tea and my breakfast cereal/yogurt, I am pretty sure I've consumed more dairy here in the past two weeks than I have in the past three months at home.

The office in general is very quiet. There are 5 wazungu (Americans in this case) on my floor and we are usually the ones you hear talking or laughing too loudly. It is definitely an adjustment to be in a huge quiet office full of adults instead of a room of crazy, energetic little kids. But I like it so far. This week I've been working a lot on finalizing long-term curriculum plans for Nursery Class, and figuring out what our whole Term 2 is going to look like. I'm also writing a variety of leveled children's books, preparing script templates, and teaching Virginia how to mail merge documents so that we can do things as efficiently as possible. Efficiency, for me, is the the name of the game, especially as we get into the nitty gritty of writing the actual scripts and preparing to innovate some new lessons and strategies for teaching concepts. Although I sit for the VAST majority of the day at a computer, I am really really excited about what I am doing so the time goes surprisingly quickly.

On Thursday, I was super pumped because I got to go out on my first school visit! The video production was heading out to a rural school just outside of Nairobi. Literally if you do a Google Map search of this town, all that comes up is our school. With the address "Dirt Road".

Google Maps is not wrong.

We left the office around 7:00am and due to (say it with me now) awful traffic, it took us about an hour and a half to get to the school. Let me begin by saying, our schools are pretty "no frills." The structures are simple, and really exist basically to provide a safe, enclosed space that protects pupils from the elements as they learn. Unlike many other school building organizations, who build great structures and then peace out, our concentration is not on the building itself, but on what occurs INSIDE that building. As one teacher said when being interviewed, "When the parents talk, it isn't about the school buildings or structures. It is about what is offered inside and the opportunities." We are one of only a very few organizations worldwide who concentrate so heavily on the actual curriculum being offered in our schools. Each teacher gets an e-reader with super scripted lesson plans, ensuring a standard delivery across our really diverse schools and teachers. It is a really innovative and fascinating process and I am excited to be a part of it.

Two classrooms (one on this side and one on the back).

Latrines. I have peed in many a squat toilet in my day, yet none could be so aptly described as a "hole in the ground."

Another set of classrooms, but 4 this time (two on the front, two on the back).

The final building (two classrooms on the back, and storage/offices on the front).

Looking out from the Baby Class to the field and latrines.

The exterior of the building from the Baby Class door.

This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands.

Thursday was kind of an off-day to visit a school, because it was Nominations Day in Kenya. Basically, there are a ton of political parties, including six main parties. For each of those parties, many people put their name in for each position (Mayor, Representative, President, etc). Nominations Day is when members of each political party go to a central location and vote to narrow down the choices so that only one representative from each party is on the ballot for each position come elections in March. Public primary schools are closed, as many of them are used as polling places. Though our schools were open, many kids didn't come to school, so our Nursery Class had only 5 students, and the Baby Class I sat in on had 2. Usually class sizes are much bigger.

Anyway, I spent the whole morning in Baby Class. The two little ones, began the morning increeeedibly distracted by me, but slowly they got used to me being there (though I had to stand/sit directly behind them so they weren't just staring) and went along with their day. I think the teacher was also a little nervous to have me in there, but she was fine. Although it didn't give me the totally true school experience, it definitely got my mind going and 3 pages of notes outlined some ways I think we can improve things, as well as things we are already doing really well. It was exciting to actually get out to the schools and see the kids that my curriculum will be directly impacting.

Not quite a SmartBoard...but it does the trick. 

Learning the names of colours.

So much space for two teensie kids.

Just about every other activity on the Baby Class Schedule is "toileting."

Playtime means I get to take pictures!

Although it is technically the hot season, Thursday morning was quite cold and rainy. I had goosebumps on my arms and got the chills pretty bad in my short sleeved shirt.

They thought my camera was hilarious. Especially when I took a bunch of pictures and showed them.

I am having this printed for my desk.

Absolutely precious!

At recess, I was the hit of the school. "Mzungu! MZUNGU!!" The kids cried, rushing me. At one point I think I had about 25-30 kids just trying to touch me: patting my hands, touching my hair, hanging on my arms. Foreigner celebrity status strikes again. They also loved hamming for my camera, and were very excited to get to push the buttons to take pictures themselves. It was a total crowd pleaser.

They stopped in their tracks with a screeching halt when they saw me coming, haha.

One of the photos taken by a kid randomly pushing the button on my camera as I held it.

"Teacha, teacha!"

During the afternoon, I hung out with Victor and his team as they interviewed kids, parents, and teachers for a video they are putting together for the company-wide meeting next week. It was really exciting to hear, in their own words, why kids and parents like coming to our schools, and what makes the teachers want to stay there.

Adorable Class 4 girl who wants to be a singer when she grows up.

One of the mothers, who asked to take a picture with me. She said "I have two kids here. I like it very much. It is the best school. Thank you!"

At one point, a teacher was being interviewed and he was asked what he thought his students would be doing in the future. I got a little teary when he replied, "What do I believe the pupils will do in the future? Whatever their dream is. If they want to be a doctor, they can be. Because of [this school], they can meet their dreams." Another said that "Parents can see that our pupils, they are doing better than other schools' students. They can do their ABCs when other students can't. They can read and answer questions better and faster." One of the grade 6 students was asked what he thought of the school, and he said "My favorite thing about [the school] is our teachers. They are teaching well, and if you don't understand something you can always ask....If someone wants to send their children here, I say do it. Because [our school] is the best school." A few students also mentioned that they liked our schools because the teachers were trained well, and because the teachers weren't allowed to beat them. It was very interesting to listen to their answers to the interview questions.

Too soon, it was time to head back to the city. The kids came out to do their Outdoor Skills class (basically PE) and I snapped a few final photos of them dancing and laughing with their teachers. It was a great day.

Gorgeous end to the day!

The whole school lot!

Friday I was back at the office, but with a little more motivation after actually getting to meet the kids I'm serving. I am really looking forward to going out to more schools (hopefully this week) because I know the urban schools will be very different from this one in a lot of ways.