Random Thoughts from My Return

 As I write this, I am staring at the clock counting down the hours until I will let myself go to sleep for the night. As we speak I have another three hours to go before I may retire. I am putting myself through sleep deprivation so that I can finally get on schedule with local time. after sleeping 16 hours the first day we arrived I was unable to get one hour of sleep last night, our second night here, and spent the time tossing and turning, all while trying to overcome a migraine that had been torturing me all day. However, other than the whacked out sleeping schedule I have subjected myself to, I feel like we are settling in nicely here in Nairobi.

As soon as we stepped off the plane, I didn't skip a beat before adopting my past Kenyan ways, chopping my sentences so that I could be better understood by the locals and using my Swahili greetings whenever possible. Eric is a great travel companion and has been very gracious as a drag him from place to place reminiscing about the time I spent here last Fall. I often find myself looking over at him, trying to guess what is going through his head as we weave our way through masses of people and dodge matatus. I wonder if it is comparing to how I described it, I try to remember exactly what i told him and if I should've explained more about this or that. But, he seems to be fitting in just fine and is adapting remarkably, given we've only had two days here. It takes a brave soul to walk confidently into a slum area on his second day in a country where he understands zero of the local language. He's a trooper.

They love him at Hamomi already and are thrilled to have us both here for such an extended period of time. A highlight of our first day there had to have been when we walked into the 7th/8th classroom and the teacher asked if the kids remembered me. Without hesitation, they shouted "Elizabeth"! ( more on that later). They broke out in applause when we told them how long we were staying for and again when we told them we were bringing them computer classes and first aid help. it was as if they were validating our trip right there, and we hadn't been there but five minutes!

I have decided to go by Elizabeth, my middle name, at the school and at my homestay. As I learned last year, it is frustrating to both me and the person I'm conversing with to try to explain how to say my name. ( Kenyans often interchange their Ls and Rs, so having to annunciate  both in the same name is quite a feat and ends up stumbling off the tongue as "Rawrer". Yea, no thanks. So, Elizabeth it is.

There is so much more to tell, but we have been unsuccessful in obtaining free wireless at the coffee shops that usually have it, and the internet cafes near by charge and arm and a leg per minute because they are all situated in the "Western" malls and the cyber cafes that are reasonably priced are just a tad out of the way. So, for now, this-- and the promise of spending Sunday afternoon at the wi-fi spots (provided their internet is up and running)-- will have to do.

We are doing splendidly, loving every experience we've had and looking forward to the many more to come during our stay here. 

-Laurel "Rawrer"