“You think I’m a stupid white person?!”
Yes. Yes we are. We don’t know how to speak Swahili fluently and we have only been here for a week. We are still figuring everything out but we are loving it!
Since we’ve landed here in beautiful Nairobi, Kenya, we have already enjoyed quite an adventure in becoming acquainted with our new home for the next several weeks. Our hosts, the Ochieng family, have been so welcoming and we are incredibly thankful for and appreciative of the hospitality they’ve shown us. Because of their friendship, we can call this place a home.
Our work here consists of teaching various primary school subjects in three of Nairobi’s slums: Kibera, Kawangware, and Mathare. This first week has been fantastic getting to know the students we’ll be both teaching and learning from over the next six weeks, as well as the teachers. We’ve also had the liberty and good fortune to have some time to explore Nairobi already. Walking around, feeling the city’s energy, and simply being apart of it has been a blast.
We’ve also been learning how to use matatus–the primary method for public transportation in Kenya. And boy are they fun! Basically, they’re small vans that hold about 14 people, and the drivers just love to find interesting ways of getting from A to B as fast as they possibly can. On Wednesday we were able to flag and then take a matatu to our work site unattended for the first time! We missed the turn by just a slight bit but it was enjoyable to walk down the city streets and we arrived at the Upako center ready for school!
And the food! Whoo! The food here is awesome! Kenya – Rafiki have shared about it some already and we’ve enjoyed getting to experience much of the same cuisine! So far we’ve tasted a number of local dishes, including Ugali and Sukuma, various bean and lentil dishes, as well as Chapati (a team favorite) and Mandazi. Ugali is like a potatoey cake made with maize. Sukuma is a spinach dish that is eaten alongside Ugali and other foods. Chapati is similar to a tortilla but is usually a bit thicker and sweeter than what we call tortillas in the U.S. We’ve also enjoyed Githiri, which combines different beans together with corn in a delicious mix. ALSO, we got to eat fried Tilapia last friday while in town in Nairobi, which came as a fully intact fish that we proceeded to eat with our hands. Yes boys and girls, that means fish eyes and fish brains. It was delicious!
Another crucial component to make note of is the Chai. It is like Chai Tea in America but not as spicy. Chai is a HUGE part of culinary culture here in Kenya. We each drink a cup at least twice a day (breakfast and dinner), sometimes with lunch too!
For only having been here a week and a half we’ve had a limitless number of amazing new learning experiences and we look forward to more in the coming weeks!
Bwana Asifiwe!
(that’s how you say “Praise God!” in Swahili!)
Kwaheri!
– Jeff, Robbie, and Alex
