2010-11-27 8:30pm

Gooooooood evening people!
Okay… I think I have been talking too much good about the weather… Cause today I woke up at 5am,  and realized it was pouring down! Ouch…!

I talked to Deli, but eventually we decided to go for it and hope for the best! So I went to Shangilia at around 7:15am and arrived at 8-ish. It’s nice to take a matatu on Saturday mornings, and Sunday even… No jam!! Something so “small” really excites me!

That’s one thing; you know you’re in Nairobi when you feel excitement like that! Another thing is you know you’re in Nairobi when your buggers are black. Nice, ey? ;)

The car was ready when I got there. We just waited for the kids to finish their breakfast, and then we were on our way.

It was me, Delia (teacher), the driver (duh), Grace, Josephine, Anne, Melvin, Benjamin, Alan and one more girl who apparently took Cynthia’s place. I don’t know what happened there, and no one really wanted to tell me, so I dropped it.

It was quite chilly but the rain stayed away most of the time. It was dripping a little at one point, but thankfully it stopped again.

It was so much fun to go to the Animal orphanage with the kids. And the prices were funny. Kids under the age of 3 (Alan) went in for free… Kids up to 18(?) and students 50ksh and adults 100ksh, for Kenyans that is….Me? I had to cough up 1200 for myself to enter!  Oh well…!

It was really nice to just walk around and let the kids enjoy the animals. All of them behind bars, except for some monkeys… The animal orphanage is located in Nairobi National park, so there were wild monkeys running all over, even baboons!

Anyway, those monkeys… One almost grabbed my leg, and the kids had a blast cause of that, and I swear, the monkey was following me! The kids laughed so hard at it, and they were also playing around with the monkeys! :)

We saw all kinds of animals.. Unfortunately they changed the rules since I was there in 2006, cause I hoped the kids would have been able to go in to the cheetahs and pet them.. But they don’t do that anymore, and they said no kids are allowed in the cages anyway… Oh well. But I think the kids had a blast anyway! :)

After the animal orphanage we went to the city and we stopped at G&R to get food. The kids had one request: Chips and sausage. (Chips being French fries here).

They really enjoyed themselves! And it was nice to see. I’m glad I chose that place, cause they got BIG portions! I paid like 2200Ksh for the 10 of us (!) Including drinks!

When I had finished I went to Tuskys to buy some chocolate bars and lollipops, 9 of each, for only 450Ksh!

I had a great time with the kids today! Of course it was hard to leave Shangilia this morning, cause the ones who stayed behind were pretty jealous. But I have explained to them (a few times now) I can’t take all of them at the same time. Many of them seem to understand that though.

We got back to Shangilia just before 2pm and I decided to leave at 3pm, to meet up with Mary at ABC place.

We went to Identity at Westgate shopping mall, and I bought another pair of jeans (no, I have no idea where I’m gonna put them). And spent the store credit I got from the bozos at Village market.

The jeans look great! :)

After that we took a matatu to the city and changed to a bus and went to Nairobi hospital. I was going to pick up my x-ray pictures, but apparently the doctor didn’t leave a report… So they couldn’t give them to me. So now I have to go to the hospital again tomorrow, after all… I wanted it over with today! *sigh*

Then we decided, since we were in the area to continue up to Habesha and eat dinner there.

We got in to a matatu, and not long after we were stopped by the police and eventually all of us had to leave the matatu, and all passengers demanded their money back..

Apparently that vehicle had been stopped by the police earlier (another driver, though), but earlier the matatu just kept on going and didn’t actually stop when the police wanted them to… So they stopped it now, and the police really didn’t care that it was another driver.

Oh well, we just started walking to the next matatu station, which was very close and jumped on the next one.. And eventually came all the way to Habesha.

It was sooo nice, as always! The food is just so amazing! And it’s so cheap! And I haven’t even been sick from the food! ;)

Then we took a bus together back to the city and I got off at Kenyatta Avenue and was surprised how close it was to the hostel! Cause I haven’t thought about it before!

I mean, I try to avoid walking too much alone after the sun has set… But walking along a big street like that and on a Saturday, there were people everywhere! So I saved like 400 Ksh on a cab!

When I got back to the hostel I went to the terrace and had chai, maji na maziwa :)  But it was all empty so it got a bit boring… But I started writing here and well… I had a lot to tell today!

Tomorrow I’m going back to the damn hospital, and then off to Shangilia.. and I’ll leave there at around 4pm, to go back to YMCA and change… Then I’m meeting Mary, Wesley, Diana, Sam and Diana’s cousin for dinner at… HABESHA! :))  …When in Rome?

I have also decided to pay for one more night, even though I’m not gonna sleep here from Monday to Tuesday… But it’s easier for me to keep my bags here in the room, instead of having to be back here at 8:30pm to pick it up from the safety deposit.

…And I told Mary she could sleep here and have a nice YMCA breakfast… The money wouldn’t go to waste at least! ;)

Anyway, this is it for now, I’m gonna relax to a movie… Later!

Having a blast at Nairobi animal orphanage with the kids

Eating dinner at G&R: "Chips and sausage and soda",

and for dessert: lollipop and chocolate bar :)

Habesha!!! :))

2010-11-26 8:15pm

Good evening!

This morning I got up at around 6:30am… My knee looked a lot better this morning too!  But it still hurts when I walk on it. Annoying.

I went down for breakfast and then I started walking towards the matatu station by Biashara and Moi, to take a matatu to Village market.

When I got there the Masai market was just about to open… It wasn’t all that organized though, so I went to Doorman’s (I think that’s what they’re called) and got a chai latté. I asked if they had wireless and they said no, but when I started looking for a wireless I found a strong free one!

Soo, I sat there for like an hour… and then I went up to Masai market to do some X-mas shopping :)

Still, it’s sooooo tiring to haggle… But I got some pretty damn good deals. I even haggled a painting from 2200 to 400, again! :)

I think I spent like an hour and a half there then I was too tired to continue haggling. So… I started walking around and found a store called Identity. They had a lot of nice things.

One annoying thing though, is that they follow you like hawks in the store, and want to be all over you if you find something.

I did find a pair of jeans, really awesome ones… In the men’s section of course :P

And also two tops, one black and one white. That came to about 6000Ksh… And they had a campaign, which started on the 22^nd… If you shop for 6500Ksh, you get to pop a balloon, and what ever amount (written on a piece of paper) falls out from the balloon, you get back.

That is what they told me. So I bought a pair of earrings too… Mmhm, popped the balloon and it said 200 Ksh… And the jerks give me store credit! They didn’t say anything about that.

You can expect to be fooled in the masai market… But in an upscale store like that? Hell no! Now I’ll just have to see if I can make it to the store in Westlands (cause I’m soo not going back to those bone heads)…otherwise I’ll just give them away!

The walking today had been on and off… Sometimes it hurts like hell, and sometimes it’s totally fine… I can’t wait to go home and check it out for real.

Oh, and I decided to pick up the x-rays on Sunday or Monday instead.

After the shopping I sat down by Tastes of Africa, still at Village market… And I had Ugali and cabbage. Mmmm, mmm, mmm… It was delicious!

Then I took the matatu back to the city. Actually found a post office, so I sent the post cards… And then I went to YMCA to change and drop off all my stuff, and then I headed straight to Shangilia.

I’ve spent the whole afternoon there and it was so nice. The kids finished school today so I got to spend time with them all… And sadly Beatrice went home… But she wrote me a fantastic letter, and I just wish I had more time with her. She’s such an amazing person!

I played table tennis with Cynthia and lay puzzles with some other darlings… And I gave the movies to the other kids, and they ended up watching Rush hour! :P I think they liked the movies I picked out for them :)

Just need to remember to pick up the High school musical movies too!

When I got off the matatu in Kangemi I decided to check out the shoe people’s shoes, and I found TWO converse, MY SIZE for 200Ksh each! Love Kenya!!! :)

And on my way to Shangilia I stopped by and bought 7 pairs of earrings for some of the girls. The lady who sold them was so sweet, gave me a discount and all!

At around 5:45pm I started walking towards the matatus and apparently boarded on that was just going to Westlands, so I had to change there…

On the other side of the road, the jam was crazy! But there had been a bad traffic accident… But it stopped the traffic completely.

When I got back to the city I went to G&R to have some Ugali and cabbage (yes, again…When in Kenya…!).

And then I walked back to YMCA to have a cup of tea on the terrace. Lovely evening!

Now I’m in my room, frustrated over the fact that I don’t have room for everything I’ve bought! (doh!)… Oh well… I’ll think of something… or if worst comes to worst… I’ll just have to pay the extra fee for additional luggage… I just hope that’s not a fortune…!

This is it for now! Off to Nairobi animal orphanage tomorrow with some of the kids! Wooho! :)

Nighty night!

The masai market at Village market

Village market...

Darling Beatrice <3

Shangilia moments <3

2010-11-25 9pm

Good evening!

Well, this day has been somewhat different...!

I got up at around 6:30am, couldn’t sleep any longer. My knee was still hurting and was even more red this morning.

After breakfast I went back to my room, and I think the meds they gave me at the hospital makes me tired, cause I fell asleep on my bed… Only for like an hour…but still…

My plans to go see Mary N today fell through, cause I felt like I needed to take it easy.

Mary I had an interview today over at Westlands, so I went with her to find a place with wireless internet to try and save my sick sick computer.

Of course the internet was down in all of Westgate center… So when Mary I came back we went to PC World and asked if they could help. Sure, for 6800KSH they would install Kaspersky Antivirus for me…

I even located the hidden Recycler folder…. So it was a fact. My computer was infected.

Instead of paying an insane amount of money like that we went to ABC Plaza, and sat down at Java House. I uninstalled F-Secure and downloaded the Kaspersky free trial Internet security. The download alone took like an hour… but I decided to wait with the installation. Better to do it at the hostel later tonight.

Since the ABC Plaza is on the way to Kangemi we took a matatu to Kangemi… and arrived at Shangilia at around 4.30pm.

The kids had their P.E lesson, and were gonna have it until 6pm… So we just stayed for a while and then accompanied Delia to the matatu station.

…I found out the details about the teacher who had been killed…. And they were very unsettling…

Also, I experienced the WORST matatu ride so far! And they even charged more! The most I’ve paid is 40ksh. It’s supposed to be 20-30ksh. The matatu driver played insanely high music, and did NOT know how to drive. But he did know where the break was at! Crazy man!

Even though we left Kangemi at like 5.30pm, they still had to take a de-tour cause of the jam… That’s the one bad thing with matatus. Even though they’re supposed to drive a certain route…if there’s jam, they never do.

So once again, I arrived at Hilton. But it didn’t matter too much tonight, cause we went and picked up the movies for the kids and then Mary headed home, and I walked back toward the hostel. But I stopped by at Java, Koinange to get a Chai latté to go.

My knee has been such a pain today, and I know I’ve been pushing it… Since it’s swollen I should have been resting it today… But I just can’t. Not while I’m here. I have so many things I need to do!

Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to Nairobi hospital to pick up my x-ray scans and then I’m going to village market for a quick visit at masai market. (That is if my knee can take it).

Then I’ll go to Shangilia. Tomorrow the kids will finish their school too! It’s gonna be so nice!

This is it for now! Over and out!

MWAH!

My damn knee...

2010-11-24 7:30pm

Well hello!

Okay this day has been insanely good!
I got up at around 7am and went down for breakfast. Then I got ready and head to Nakumatt Lifestyle to buy a new flash disk. Only 2GB, cause they’re quite expensive here!

I decided to bring the computer today, so that if we went to a Java with Wireless I’d be able to install a virus protection program and search the computer. Many of them have this 30 days free trial, which is perfect!

Anyway! Then I headed over to Hilton to meet up with Mary! We went back to Mitumba to see how the door and roof had come along.

We got there at around 11am, only to find out that the girl’s mom had gone, and no one knew where or for how long she’d be gone… The roof however was fixed but the door wasn’t done yet.

Mary and I decided to go to Capital centre to get something to eat, and to fix my computer, so we went to Java and hung out there for a while.

I finally installed an Anti Virus, but since they don’t have internet here at YMCA I can’t really scan the computer, cause it seems the installation didn’t finish.

I can’t remember exactly what time we went back, but we found out that the mother of the girl had actually gone to pick up the girl at her sister’s; like an hour away from there!

So we waited for like 10 minutes more and then they came!! It was so good to see her again, she is just the sweetest kid ever!! She wrote me a letter today and when I read it later in the evening, I almost started to cry. It was so beautiful!

She was so happy that I got the door and roof done for her mom. The carpenter told me that I fixed the roof JUST in time, the piece they used before was so so bad!
It’s amazing… To them I have done so much, and I can understand that… But this was like I wrote yesterday, the same amount of money I would’ve paid for a 3 course meal at a restaurant…

I am so happy that I did this for her.
The money for Shangilia is already spent, so I used my own money to do this… And it feels great to have done it.

Mary and I sat down and talked to the girl for quite a while, and then we went to a “shed store”, and I got the mother some bread, milk and bananas to her 5 month old son and I got some sodas for the girl. She was going back to her sister today.

She actually came with me and Mary to the matatu and rode with us to a junction where she had to change. We went out with her to make sure she got on the right bus.

Then Mary and I took a tuk-tuk to the city.

We went to G&R and I had some Ugali na mboga and chapati and it was so so so good. I should go there every day. Cause one plate of ugali na mboga is 100 ksh!

After dinner we went to Java just to sit and relax and I had, of course my Malindi chai latté. Delicious!
We stayed there for an hour or so.. But it was so nice to just sit and relax.

Right now I’m back at YMCA, having a cup of tea. I even ordered it in Swahili: chai, maji na maziwa, tafadhali. :)

Tomorrow I’ll be going to my other friend Mary’s house to see her baby!! :)
Then I’ll be spending the afternoon at Shangilia.

Right now, I’m so exhausted, I’m gonna take a cold shower and then I’ll watch a movie…until I fall asleep!

Nighty night!

UPDATE:

SO! Now I've even experienced Nairobi hospital!

When I got to my room, I was going to take a shower and when I removed my pants I saw a major red rash on my right knee. The same knee that has been bothering me for a long time now.

...So, the pain I felt earlier was from the swelling. It was really uncomfortable to walk on.

I called my aunt, who is a nurse and she said that if the skin is warm where the rash is, it's most likely an infection. And the skin was burning hot and swollen so I decided to go to the hospital.

...I thought the Swedish health care was crap.
The nurse took my temperature and blood preasure... (which was 2000ksh), then I talked to a doctor, who wanted me to get an X-ray. That was another 1500ksh. And when the results came back she said the infection was too small to see anything on the X-ray...

So I asked her if she knows what it is. She said no. I asked if there's any way to find out. She said no.

And then she prescribed a bunch of meds and an ointment... Which was another 1500ksh.

..Oh yeah, and the cab was 800ksh, two ways.

...And imagine, the thing that took the longest, was to get the meds.
...No hurry in Africa, hakuna matata.

Right now it's 25/11/10 8am... And my knee is still red, and swollen and very uncomfortable to walk on. Sigh.

Will just have to take it easy and not walk so much. AS IF! I'm in Kenya!!

BAH!

Good day!

Mitumba

The making of the door

The carpenters! :)

The door is in place! :)

He's cutting the piece of metal that was in the roof, to put up above the door.

Putting up the piece of metal

Mitumba kid. Liked to hit people. Including me. Kind of annoying! ;)

My darling girl! <3

Love!

The kids could ride up and down the street in Mitumba for 10 Ksh.

My knee... :/

2010-11-23 8:15pm

Hello hello!

Well, this day didn’t start all too well… I was going to update my blog and Facebook with pictures, but as I sat down by the computer at YMCA, it started deleting file by file on my USB memory stick… It said a virus had been detected. Just my luck. I googled it later, cause I have a folder on my USB memory called Recycler. I’ve tried to format the memory twice, and to just remove it, but it always comes back. I’m worried my computer has been infected too, but since I don’t have wireless internet here, I can’t download a virus scan. Frustrating to the max! I’m worried for my pictures!

I hate viruses!

At  breakfast I started talking to an American guy, Kurt. He was really cool. He was there with his girlfriend, and they are missionaries, and had spent quite a while in a Kikuyo village outside of Nairobi.

Another big group of American missionaries came to the hostel last night, so they eventually joined breakfast too! It was very nice!

After that I went to another cyber café and updated my blog. I think it’s this particular cyber café, where I got the virus. Damn them.

Oh well, then I went on my way to Hilton to take a bus to South C, and a slum area called Mitumba.
One of the girls at Shangilia lives there; she’s one of the older girls, and has already finished school, so she’s spending time at home.
But before she left she told me that they don’t have a door to their house. So I decided to go there and buy a door!

The girl wasn’t there today but I talked to her mom and the guy who is making the door.
The mom also told me that their roof is leaking… And since it wasn’t that expensive, I decided to pay for both the door and the roof. Came to a total of about 3000 ksh. Just figured that to me it’s like a meal out at a restaurant in Sweden… But to them it’s a big big deal!

I gave them a deposit and told them I would be back tomorrow. I just really really hope they’re done by then, and don’t go all Africa on me.

After that, I met up with Wesley in the city and we went to Habesha together and we had the Injera. I know I wrote Njeri or something before… But it’s in fact called Injera. Oh how I love Ethiopian food! I am going back AT LEAST one more time before I go home!

After a great dinner, Wesley and I went to Shangilia together. It was a really nice day at Shangilia.
I spent the last of the fundraiser money on 21 pair of shorts for the boys. And I wanted Mbeke to have a pair of shoes so I bought a pair for her. AWESOME Converse shoes for 300ksh(!). I even found another pair for 200 ksh(!), but they were too small. Same with the one for Mbeke. She’s a size 5. I wish I was too. I would have so many new awesome converse! :P

We didn’t leave Shangilia until 6pm-ish… And it turned out to be too late, cause the jam was a fact… And the driver took a detour and I ended up by Hilton… Again…

I had to get a cab back to YMCA, but I got a good deal with a cab driver, 250 Ksh :)
He seemed to be a really nice guy as well!  Got his number too, so I can call him if Simon isn’t available!

I sat down for a cup of tea at the terrace, and after a while a guy from Nigera sat down and started talking… But now I’m back at my room, updating the last bit of today!

The USB memory annoys me to the max though. I’m thinking of buying another one tomorrow, just so that I will be able to update my blog and maybe a few pictures. A 8GB was 2200 ksh though, so they’re really not cheap!

Tomorrow I will go back to Mitumba to make sure the roof and the door is fixed. Then I will go and pick up the DVDs for the kids; then probably head over to Kangemi, depending on what time it is.

Anywho!

I’m off to bed! Nighty night!

Mitumba

Mitumba: The "door", blanket. [Before]

Mitumba. Not much space...

Mitumba

South C, right next to Mitumba. Quite the difference, right?

The big kitty at Habesha. Adorable!!

2010-11-22 8:45pm

Good evening!

Well, this morning I woke up at 6:30am – ish. After getting ready and I had breakfast I started walking down town. First I went in to a cyber café and updated my blog and checked my bank account.

Then I headed off to Hilton to take a bus to Adam’s Arcade and Toi market. When I got down there I asked (just in case) if number 46 goes to Adam’s even though I know it does. But the guy told me to take number 24.

Surely, that bus also took me to Adam’s and I think the guy told me that cause number 24 is faster than 46. What a nice bus person! :) So now you know, but 24 AND 46 goes to Adam’s.

At Adam’s they were all setting up for the day… So I just walked around and headed for Toi market. They were also setting up, but some had put up things for me to look at.

I bought so much stuff today! I was exhausted! I got so many t-shirts and sweaters and 11 more bras. Most of the shirts were 20-40 ksh each, so I got so, so, so many of them!

I found a few things for myself also… which was nice! :) A few tops and t-shirts.

When I was done at Adam’s and Toi, I took a bus back to Hilton, where I met up with Mary.
We went to Java, Mama Ngina st. and had some fruit salad, very nice.
It’s been so hot today as well! But I am NOT complaining!

Then we went to get some hair pieces (I got them for Cynthia, so when her hair is long enough, she’ll get braids again, like she had the first time I met her).

I also went to get a few movies for the kids. They gave me a list, so I’ll just have to see if I can find them all…!

Then we went to Java, Koinange lane to meet up with my other Mary! :) Unfortunately she got delayed, so we only got to spend like 20 minutes together, then we needed to head off to Shangilia.

We got a cab driver to agree on 700 ksh, and for that we also drove to YMCA first so that I could change t-shirts.
He tried to get more when we got to Shangilia, cause he said that we didn’t tell him that Shangilia was so far within the slum in Kangemi. BS!

At Shangilia I was going to hand out clothes, one by one.. But the kids stormed the room. It was a bit chaotic there for a while, but it calmed pretty quickly.

I have about 1200 ksh left, and tomorrow I will buy like 20 pair of pants for the boys. They sold them for 50Ksh each in Kangemi. Perfect!

I hung out with the kids, and Joyce wrote me the sweetest letter today… I read it as I was leaving Kangemi, and I wanted to cry. She’s such a wonderful kid!

I got to watch the kids practice their dance routine. They’re just awesome!

We even planned out the transportation for Saturday when I’m taking some of the kids to Nairobi Animal Orphanage… Shangilia apparently have a car, so we’re using that one! Perfect!

Mary and I left at around 5:45pm today and took a matatu back to the city.

We went to Java, Koinange and had dinner and totally relaxed. It was so nice.
We wrote down the plans we have for the rest of my stay, cause it feels like I’ve been making so many plans, but have no clue when or where :P Hakuna matata!

Relaxing in my room right now.
Tomorrow will be a very interesting day. Tell you more about that later!

Nighty night!

My girls, Mbeke, Caroline, Melvin, Joyce & Esther

I love them so <3

The girls are practicing their dance routine

2010-11-21  7:30pm

Heeeeeey!!

What a wonderful magical day!
The day started at 6.30am. I got up, got dressed, ate breakfast and then walked off towards Hilton.
Mary and I was going to meet there at 8am and then take a matatu to Mavuno church for the Sunday morning sermon!

The church was actually a big, no huge(!) tent and there must have been at least 400 seats, and they all eventually filled up!

At first we all (read: they) sang a bunch of songs. It’s just like in my church back home, they have a big screen where you can read along the lyrics.
I however just enjoyed to listen to the others sing. The songs were great!

Later one mzungu, apparently a German guy and a Kenyan girl went up on stage and started talking. And the German guy said that he’s from a small village of about 600 people in Germany, and apparently they just eat bananas during Christmas over there.  Something about them being communists and only wanting to import from other communist countries… In this case Cuba. Or so he said.

Anyway! He took up a banana, and said first to squeeze it, then inhale, then exhale (sitting down), start to peal it open… inhale the smell of the banana, and then eat little by little…

Very interesting. :P

Later they asked if there were any visitors in the crowd, and I raised my hand, along with like 2 others, and everyone started cheering!
Then a lady came up to me and gave me a banana, as a welcome present. Same with the other 2 :)

The sermon was pretty long, and he read a little too much straight from the bible for my liking… I like it in my church when they use words from the bible but they give parallels to everyday life… And makes it easier and more fun to listen to.

After the sermon we headed back to the city centre, and I went to YMCA to change, update my blog very quickly and upload some pictures… But, since the kids at Shangilia are free all day today I didn’t want to spend more time by the computer, so I took a matatu to Kangemi shortly after.

This day at Shangilia has been magical. We haven’t really done anything in particular… They’ve been doing my hair and we’ve been talking a lot. I feel like I’ve really bonded with the girls today. More than I could imagine.
I was very frank with them and told them that if there’s anything they want to talk to me about, don’t even think twice. I love girl talk, and I’m always there for them.

At first I could tell they still thought it was a bit awkward… But then I started telling them about myself and my teenage years…and puberty… And then the questions came flowing… It felt so good that they felt like they could open up with me. And they really enjoyed it too…

I can’t explain in words how much I love these kids. They are my life. They are my children. I want them to have everything in this world. They are magical! My jewels!

I went home at around 6.30pm… I realized there’s not gonna be a jam today since it’s Sunday, so I decided to stay longer.
The kids even wanted me to sleep over. I wish I could do that one night. Maybe next weekend :)

I took a detour to Uchumi, cause I wanted something to drink, and I realized that they have a second floor with clothes as well (after spending a lot of time in Kenya, and passing by that place almost every day…) and I found a great  top. It was 1250 Ksh, but I just loved it, so I didn’t think twice.

Now I’m sitting on the terrace at YMCA, with a beautiful view of one of the fullest moons I’ve ever seen, and drinking Ketepa tea… Life is good.

Tomorrow I’m going to Adam’s arcade again to do some more shopping for the kids!

I also have to plan out for next week’s field trip. I’m taking Grace, Cynthia, Josephine, Anne and Alan to Nairobi animal orphanage on Saturday. But I still don’t know how to arrange with the transport.

Last year it was so much easier, cause we just filled up a matatu and took the girls to YMCA for a swim, and then we called them again when we needed pick-up. Don’t think that’s gonna work very well since we’ll be like 8 at the most (Me, Mary and a teacher).

Oh well, I’ll figure something out during the week.

I’m off to my room to watch a movie or two and really relax!

NAKUPENDA KENYA!

Mavuno church, and me with the very meaningful banana ;)

Sweet Martin with the cutest gap ever! ;)

My darling kids!

Mbeke is doing Beatrice's hair :)

2010-11-20 11:36pm

Hello hello!

This morning I got up at 6:30am… Had my breakfast, got ready and then walked off to Hilton, Moi avenue, to first check out the Masai Market… But since I got there at around 8, they were still setting up, so I decided to take a bus to Adam’s arcade.

When I got there they were also just setting up, but I just started walking, and as I got to Toi market, they were getting more and more set up. I found a few tops and I also bought 10 bras to the girls at Shangilia. I will actually go back next week and buy more. They were only 40 ksh each!

When I was done at Adam’s I took a matatu back to Hilton, Moi avenue and by that time the Masai market was up and running.
I didn’t spend a lot of time there, cause it was quite crowded, and you get really tired of haggling and saying no thanks, and people coming up to you saying “please come and look at my things, it’s just over there”… instead of letting me go around in my own pace… Phew.
I did find a few nice earrings and necklaces though.
One guy was rather funny… He wanted to charge me 1000 ksh for a pair of earrings… I just laughed and walked off… Later a girl came up to me and said, she’s the boss, and asked what my price would be.
I had just bought a pair of earrings for 200 ksh (without even haggling… I actually told that lady I had great respect for her, giving me a fair price from the start, cause the earrings were amazing!)… Anyway, I got the other pair for 200 as well! So I was happy :)

Then I went to Java House, Koinange lane and had a chicken quesadilla before dropping my stuff off at YMCA, and then off to Shangilia.

Getting to Kangemi wasn’t a big problem, since it’s Saturday, but there was a wedding in town, so a little jam was expected…!

I arrived at around 1pm, and the kids were just getting their dinner. Ugali na sukuma. Right then I wish  I hadn’t had any dinner at Java… but I was stuffed so I had to pass….

I didn’t leave Shangilia until like 5pm…
Oh! And I finally med Sammy! Apparently he’s off at a boarding school… Don’t quite understand how it works…But oh well…!
But it was so nice hanging out with the kids today… We had a really nice time…
Some of them were going to a hotel in Upperhill for the performance (I thought it was next week)… I wish I’d been able to go with them!

Oh! And one of the younger boys, Martin had just lost a tooth and he was crying cause of the pain… I didn’t realize the tooth had come out… SO I gave him a pain killer… But then he showed me the tooth… And I told him that the tooth fairy is busy, so I’ll just give him 20KSH… He started smiling and his other boy, SO cute, started pulling his teeth cause he also wanted 20 KSH. Then he started laughing.

…Later Martin came up to me and asked if I could take the 20 KSH and go out in Kangemi and buy him a new set of teeth. Aaaahhh, so adorable!! So funny!!

At 5pm I took a matatu back to the city, and I went to YMCA to change. Mary came shortly after and then Geoffrey. We took a cab to Habesha, an amazing Ethiopian restaurant. The service is pretty poor… You have to be patient…. But we ordered one platter of Injera and a bunch of stuff on it (check the pic! …Yes, it’s an egg in the middle….!) It was a perfect size for 3 people and it’s only 550 KSH!! Imagine! That is one cheap meal… Not to mention delicious!!!

After Habesha we took a matatu to Casablanca… An amazing place…!
I was so in the mood for a cup of Ketepa tea (just like last year with Dak & Bo), but apparently they just serve tea on weekdays… Oh well…! I had to settle for a coke.
They also have water pipes… I wanted to try, but it was 1000 ksh…and I just wanted to try it, so I thought it was a bit too expensive.

The place is amazing though! The interior design is fantastic! I could so live there! ;)

After that we shared a cab back to YMCA and Mary and Geoff went on to Zimmerman, where they live.

And this is a short version of today!

Nighty night! :)

Adam's Arcade

Toi market

Kangemi

Me and Josephine.

Having fun with the kids!

Me and my girls <3

Talking with Sammy

Mary and I are enjoying Habesha food! :)

Casablanca!

2010-11-21

I got up at around 6:30am, it was kind of hard to sleep with all the hair. Something I gotta get used to…!

At 8am the cyber café still hadn’t opened, so I started walking down town to find another one; and I did. The charge was 1Ksh per minute. Fair price, but the connection was soooo sooo slow!!

I started updating my blog and uploading pictures, but far from all of them cause it just took too long!

Later I went to Hilton to meet up with Mary. We took matatu 106 from the matatu station to Village market. Sort of a hang out place for mzungus.

This is where the masai market is on Fridays! And that was my aim.

I took a deep breath and entered and started haggling. It felt good to say that I know what the prices should me by now, so don’t even try with me.

For example, I bought a painting; He started at 2200 ksh (CRAZY!!!), and I got it down to 400… good deal!

I also bought a couple of ebony candle sticks…He started at 3750, and I got them for 700!

It’s very tiring though! I got exhausted so quickly!

Later we took the matatu back to River road and went in to the Uniform centre and I bought pieces for 20 500 Ksh!
-15 white shirts
-7 blue skirts
-8 grey trousers
-40 pair of socks, different colours!

Then we headed off to Java, Mama Ngina st to meet up with Geoffrey and have something to eat before going to Shangilia.

We were stopping by at YMCA first to drop off all my stuff and I called Simon and he picked us up at Java.

When we got to Shangilia the kids were practicing for the show there are having soon. They’re so amazing!

Gracie listened to the MP3 player and it is so good to see her smile again!!
We hung out with the kids until about 6pm and then we took a matatu back to the city centre.

I had decided I wanted to remove my braids, cause they were so rough on my skin, plus, they were more like ugly dreads anyway.
I went to a hair salon close by the hostel, and what was supposed to take like 1-1½ hours took 3(!!!) hours and at the most 5 people were helping out. Not even the staff at that place could figure out what had happened.

My theory is that when they put it in hot water, it was TOO hot, and melted the hair a bit and caused it to shrink… And look like crap (in the back). There were like 5 braids that actually looked perfect. Oh well.
I sent Mary in alone to negotiate a price and I got it for only 200(!!) :) Bet they were annoyed when I came through the doors.

One of the women who was working on the hair, told me she is luo (spelling?) (the tribe luo, that is)… And she wanted to give me a luo name; Achieng (spelling?). I don’t think it had a meaning. I have asked around and no one knows, and the woman told me it doesn’t mean anything in particular.

…Oh, did I tell you that a matatu driver called me Wanjiku the other day? …No clue what that means either…!

This is it for now! LOVE!

Village market

At the uniform centre

Gracie and I

Enjoying life!

Crappy no-good hair...

Frizzball...

2010-11-18 8:10pm

Whoooosh! What a day! (again!)

I got up at 7am, but going to sleep was a bit tricky and I haven’t slept very well… Cause of the braids :P
But after breakfast I went down town to meet up with Wesley at Hilton Arcade.
Then we took a bus to Kibera! 32C, I think…!

The Kibera experience was AMAZING!
I feel so lucky to have had Wesley show me around. It felt a lot better than if I had went with Kibera tours. He lived there for a while and knew so much about it, and it was such an interesting thing to experience!

He told me that one of the best things they’ve done for many slums so far is to put up lights. BIG lights… Like the ones that light up football fields!

That must be so nice for the people who live in Kibera. We walked around for maybe 2 hours, or more! But even though my knee hurts like hell, I didn’t care. It was an amazing experience.

And the kids were too cute! Just like in the movie “The constant gardener”… They yelled “how are you, how are you, how are you!?!”… Totally adorable!

And it was so funny…. Cause here in Kenya, if a black man is together with a mzungu woman, especially in the slums…EVERYONE assumes he’s hit the jackpot! And people were apparently saying so as well, in Kiswahili as we were walking through.
One friend of Wesley even said that since he now hit the jackpot and is with me, I could give him a little something.
But Wesley and I just laughed it all off. I thought it was hilarious! But people were so incredibly nice!
And walking around with my rasta braids, I drew extra attention. Ego boost to the max!
People just come up and say I look smart (Kenyan way of saying pretty). I love it!

After Kibera we went to an area called South B. He used to live there too, in a slum called Marigoini.
I’ve heard a lot of Kibera and how poor it is, and yes, it is poor, but as we were getting deeper and deeper into Marigoini, it just got worse and worse.
But the people were still so nice, and I was able to take many pictures all day!

One woman even told me that next time she would help me with braids for a much cheaper price! :)
She was adorable!

He told me so many interesting things about both Kibera and Marigoini… But I think I’m too overwhelmed right now to even remember. But it has been a wonderful day!

After Marigoini we went back to Hilton, and then I went back to YMCA, to drop off some things and change.
…My shoes were very muddy and one got soaked in a puddle of mud in Marigoini :P

Then I took a matatu to Kangemi and today I had the shirts and the MP3 player for Grace.
She loved them all, especially the MP3 player. But having something in private is impossible at Shangilia. There are curious heads finding their way everywhere… And some started asking Grace if they could have it.
But she’s keeping it with a teacher, and the same with the clothes. But today she was smiling a lot more. I think she got the closure she needed of going to Emily’s funeral.

I spent about 2 hours there, hanging out with the kids, and it was really nice. Some of them were practicing for a show that they’re gonna have, next week, I think.
It was such a nice and relaxing afternoon…

I started walking up to Kangemi matatu station at around 6:15pm… There were several to choose from, but the best thing is to get one that is the most full, that way you don’t have to wait so long…They don’t go until they are full…!
One guy started pulling my arm and refused to let me go… After I told him like 20 times, and told him I’m serious, LET ME GO, several times… He finally let go. Doof.

I got another matatu and we only waited for like 5 minutes…
However the traffic jam was baaaaaad, and the matatu driver decided to take a “short cut”… So we didn’t drive by where I was supposed to get off. We drove all the way to Hilton, Moi avenue (Hilton Arcade). And since it was dark, I decided to go to Nakumatt City hall and buy something to eat and drink, and then I called Simon, the cab driver from yesterday. He’s a really good cab driver. Very nice, and has good prices.
I just wanted to go home though, so I told him 300 would be fine.
And there was SUCH a traffic jam! I didn’t get home until around 8pm… Imagine it almost took me 2 hours to get back from Kangemi!
Not to self: Leave earlier than 6pm or later than 8pm….!

When I got back to YMCA I went to the terrace and had a cup of tea and started writing my blog :)
The staff here is so nice and they really take care of me :)
Haha, even other guests! I like my tea quite cool, otherwise I just burn my tongue, while Kenyans like their tea HOT HOT HOT! And this one man walked up to me saying he wanted to take my tea and get it re-heated for me! He couldn’t understand that I liked it cooler!
He’s been sitting next to me for a while, so I guess he thought it was very weird that I didn’t started drinking directly! He was funny :)

Now, I’m off to bed.
Tomorrow I will go to Java, Mama Ngina st. and meet up with Geoffrey, and then Mary and I will go to Village market, cause the Masai market is there tomorrow!
Then I’ll go to the Uniform centre in the afternoon and then off to Shangilia! :)

Nighty night!

Kibera, just arrived

Water container

On the road in Kibera...

Me : Wesley and I : Our Kibera tour guides and myself :)

Kibera

Electricity lines...

Kibera restrooms. You pay between 3-5 ksh to use them.

I will not hold back! Volunteer to stop rapes!
Found on a wall in Kibera.

One part of Kibera

By Kibera river

On the bridge from the Kibera slum area to the other side
where they have built apartment buildings, where the people
of Kibera were supposed to move in... But so far rich people
have bought most of the apartments...

The bridge

Arrived in South B.

About to enter the slum area called Marigoini in South B.

Deeper within Marigoini

Marigoini kids

Gracie is wearing the clothes I brought for her,
and she LOVED the mp3 player

Oh how I love Gracie... And her smile is the most wonderful ever!

Hanging out with the kids

2010-11-17 9:30pm

I got up at around 7am, and I sat down to update my blog and all for a while cause I wasn’t going to meet Mary until noon.

But then I started walking down town… And I kept walking and walking and walking… Didn’t really have a game plan, but I accidentally stumbled upon River road, and that’s where the uniform centre is! So I went in there and bought a bunch of uniform parts for almost 11 000 ksh.

I kept on walking and decided to go to a hair salon to ask their price for getting braids. Of course they wanted to over-charge me, and said 5000 ksh.
So I just kept walking, and eventually met up with Mary!
We decided to go to Shangilia to drop off the uniforms and the stuff I brought from Sweden! So we also went by YMCA, before we took a matatu to Kangemi.

We spent some time with the kids… It was pretty calm, cause many of them are at home cause of the break and a few of them were at Emily’s funeral in Mombasa…

Later we went back to Nairobi, cause we were going to look for the hair salon I went to last year. It had moved from the place we went last year, but they told us to go to UGANDA house…but when we got there we didn’t find anything, so Mary called a friend who usually gets her hair done at their place, and they were in some other house :P But it wasn’t far at all, so we went there!

We negotiated for me to get the braids, with extensions and a pedicure for 3000 ksh. And hell! The pedicure lasted for over 2 hours! Me like!
The people who work in this place (Meena Salon, at the corner house of Mezzanine 2^nd floor) are just so sweet! And the owner rocks!! Her hair is amazing (see picture below) :)

I really like the hair, I thought it was gonna be longer though and not quite so heavy!! :P
But it’s so much better than last year with the weaves with dreads… (What was I thinking?) haha.
I don’t know if I’m gonna have them when I go  home… cause it’s quite expensive to remove them back home… But I’m not sure yet…!

I do get SO SO SO much attention with them! Haha.
Afterwards (took about 4 hours) I decided to take a cab home. So I asked one of the cab drivers how much e would charge to YMCA. Can’t remember what he said but I got him to come down to 150 ksh, which is totally ok! The cab driver’s name is Simon, and I decided to take his number so I can just call him if I ever need a ride, and I know he’s good with the fare costs!

The one thing that was really unfortunate though, was that it was after 8:30pm, only by 8 minutes, but they had locked the place where I keep my laptop, so I couldn’t update… Quite a boring evening. But I just went to bed instead… Was kind of hard to sleep with the big addition to my head too :P

And this is it for today!
Tomorrow I will go to Kibera and South B with Wesley! Exciting!!

Nighty night!

River road area

Uniform centre on River road

Kangemi seen from where I get off the matatu

Me in Kangemi

The clothes from Sweden and the Uniform centre

Pedicure!! :)) Sooo needed that!

Braidin', braidin', braidin'...

Me and the ower of Meena Salon

2010-11-16 9:30pm

Good evening guys!

Whooosh! What a day!
I woke up at like 7.00am, got ready, went down for breakfast and then headed out. The cyber café wasn’t open at that time, so I couldn’t update sooner.

I headed to Uhuru highway to get a matatu to Kangemi (number 23 or 30, in case you’re interested). And it was crazy. The jam is usually to go IN to town at that hour, but I had to wait for like 20 minutes before I could get one, all the others were full and just drove by.

I got to Shangilia shortly after 8am… It had been raining heavily last night… It was quite muddy in some places.
It is so much fun to walk through Kangemi alone… People are so friendly and curious what the hell a mzungu is doing there.

I arrived just as some of the kids were getting transport to their school. Everyone screamed Maddy and wanted to go back out :)

I got the list from Paulina and I hung out with some of the kids and another very nice woman, which is part of the staff at Shangilia.
The girls braided my hair and made me look very stylish! :) They were so sweet.
But I was heartbroken to find out that the older kids just graduated and were going home! Some today and some tomorrow.
(Some of the kids have relatives that they spend their holidays at).
Even the younger kids are graduating this week, and will go home… At the end of the week there might actually just be 10-15 kids left! (Out of about 240).

Sure, it will make it a lot easier to bond with the kids who will stay behind… but I’ll miss the others so much!
That made me feel really frustrated that I didn’t go to Shangilia yesterday.. But at least I got to hang out with them today and some of them aren’t leaving until tomorrow afternoon.

I actually went to Kangemi supermarket and got a few things for Gladys, Freisha and Joyce… 3 girls I also have a special bond with… Since I’m not gonna see them anymore this visit (They’re not back until mid December)… I just felt like I wanted to do something for them. So they gave me a few requests of what they’d like and I went and got it for them. …My girls <3

Then I headed back up to the matatu station and took a matatu to Hilton Arcade where I was going to meet up with Mary. I sort of ended up shopping a bit… The stores there are so cool! There are things they sell at the Masaai market but SO cheap! (Yeah, you can haggle and get it cheap at Masaai market too, but at Hilton Arcade the prices are fixed) :)

We went to Java house close to Hilton to wait for Geoffrey (He used to work at Java Koinange lane, but is now the branch manager at the one by Hilton!) This was his day off, so we were meeting up to go to lunch! But just as we ordered we got a call and he told us to meet us by the other Java house (Koinange), so we took our drinks to go and met up with him there and went to a place called Savanna, which is almost like Java house. (But Java house is better) ;)

Poor Geoffrey was feeling really sick, but still wanted to come and meet up with me and Mary. So sweet! I’ve missed him a lot! And I’m so proud of him for getting promoted and all. He’s awesome! :)
I had a chicken wrap, and it was delicious. (fyi).

Then Mary and I went to …umm… Vishal centre, which is a wholesale place.
We started working off the list, and got a bunch of different pens they asked for and also 30 pair of underwear for girls (they were 25ksh each!). The total of the pens were like 700-something…And we got A LOT of them!

They also had an AMAZING price for Always (sanitary napkins?, Maxi pads? …don’t know what the correct word is…but you know what I mean. At least you girls do!)
Anyway, I got 16(!!!) packs of 8 in each for….wait for it… 1090 ksh!!!!!!
I am SO loading up before I go home!

Then we headed to Shangilia, and handed over the first load of stuff!
The kids had finished school for the day and some of the older kids were still there.. And Wesley was there too!!! :)
Wesley used to volunteer at Shangilia, we met last year and have kept touch through Facebook!
We had such a great talk, he’s really an amazing person!

He’s even offered to take me on tour in Kibera! I was going with the “Kibera tours”, and pay for the visit, but his brother lives there and they said they were more than happy to show me around. We’re going there on Thursday, it will be great!!

He also told me that one of the women who work at Shangilia, her name is Emily, I remember her from my first visit to Kenya and Shangilia very well.. She died just last week. It’s just so awful…
She was actually hit by a car on her way to Shangilia, in Kangemi! It’s insane… but it doesn’t surprise me cause of the way they drive…
But that was really sad news… :(

We spent some time with the kids and went to the matatu station at around 6pm… We didn’t want it to be too dark when we headed back to the city.

As we arrived by the University buildings, we decided to go to Nakumatt to get some drinks, and I really, badly needed after sun… I have SUCH a bad sunburn on my chest and back(shoulders)… Even though I put on Sun block. The tattoo on my upper arm is totally fine though cause I use SPF 40+ on it :P
I had to wear a thin shirt today cause I don’t want the burn to get worse, but it has been so so sooo hot today, having an extra layer was awful!
Oh, and the beauty of it all is also that I have sort of  a white round spot on my chest where I used to have my necklace… Looks great! ;)

Mary and I just spent some time in my room here at YMCA… And now I’m actually wiped out!!
Getting up at around 7 tomorrow… and they told me the cyber café opens at 7.30, so let’s hope they will! :)

Nighty night lovely people in cyber space!

Tumshangilieni mtoto!

Freisha,me,Joyceand Gladys. My girls <3

Kangemi

Been shopping for Shangilia. Dropping off the first load.

Me and my baby girl!

Me and the kids!

Josephine,Grace and I

Shopping for Shangilia!
This is the first load we dropped off!

Hangingout with the kids and Wesley! :)

2010-11-15  7:00pm

Good evening, good evening!

I just got back from Nakumatt… I actually went there to buy socks, cause apparently that’s one thing I forgot to bring. And I ended up walking around…and totally forgot about it… But on my way back, when I realized why I had gone there; two guys were standing by the road and sold socks and ties. Perfect :P

Today I got up at 7:30am and had breakfast and then I actually sat down by a cyber café and uploaded pics and my blog!
Then I went down town to meet up with Mary at Hilton Arcade. We were gonna take the matatu to Ngara, where there is a market..

I bought a pair of pants, which I later realized are too big, but oh well…!
I have my shoulder bag with me, you know, the EVERLAST one, which I have had every visit to Kenya!
But I just felt like it was too much for my shoulders and I wanted a backpack instead.

We didn’t really find anything there, so we decided to go to a place called Gikomba, and that is one HUGE market in Nairobi… It’s located a bit outside the city centre, and it felt more like a slum, but it was CRAZY how much stuff there is!

I found an Eastpack bag, which I haggled down to 600 ksh. Very satisfied!
I also found a pair of used Converse, faded purple, really cool, and I just paid 300 ksh for them! Mhm!
But Mary told me, as we were standing there, another guy told the guy who owned the place, in Swahili, that he should charge me more since I’m white and have a daddy who pays for everything. OMG! Thankfully Mary was with me, and told them they couldn’t do that…
I’m glad she didn’t tell me about that until later, cause it kind of pissed me off!
I know they always try to rip us mzungus off, but putting it like that is just… Jackass!

I also found a shirt, and the guy told me 950 ksh, but I said I won’t pay more than 300.. He refused and I walked off… We kept walking, but we went back the same way later, and at that time there was a girl there instead, and I eventually got it for 450 ksh, which was totally fine.

We actually couldn’t walk around the whole market cause of the rain last night… It was s muddy it was CRAZY! And as we came out lots of people were sitting by the road, offering to clean shoes for 10 ksh! I didn’t mind my Converse being muddy so I didn’t care… But Mary told me that the locals do it cause they’re probably going into town, and want to look neat, otherwise people may judge them, especially if they meet someone they know…

Then we made our way back downtown, and it has been so hot today, it’s crazy!
Even though I’ve put on sunblock today, I got really burned! But it’s ok, it doesn’t hurt.
Then I wanted to go to the Java House where Geoffrey works, and he was there!! It was SO SO good to see him again! He’s become branch manager!! We’re going to have lunch tomorrow! :) Get to catch up a bit more!
And I had the fruit salad today and it was delicious!

Then Mary showed me a place where they serve ugali na mboga, githeri and chapati! Their chapatis were DELICIOUS! Ugali at that place is only 100 ksh! I’m gonna be eating there a lot more! :))

Then the sky was really dark, and we were supposed to go to Shangilia, but considering how it came down yesterday, we didn’t feel like taking that chance. Also because there are no asphalt roads in Kangemi… Imagine the mud…!
It was also getting pretty late, and I don’t want to take a matatu after nightfall…
Mary headed home so she wouldn’t get caught in the worst traffic jams… And I felt so bad… I really wanted to go to Shangilia. Eventually I got a hold of Tom, at Shangilia, and told him I’ll stop by and get the list tomorrow morning at around 8:30am.

Eventually it cleared up and became a really nice evening…which was frustrating. I even went out and asked a cab driver how much he would charge to Kangemi.. and he wanted 1000 ksh – ONE way!!!
In 2006 I remember we paid between 300-400 ksh to go to Kangemi, and I paid 1500 from the airport, which is a MUCH longer distance… And he didn’t want to negotiate. Otherwise I would have gone out to Kangemi and just have him pick me up a while later…

Buuut anyway… I’m exhausted, really, I wouldn’t have much energy over for the kids, so it’ll be better to see them tomorrow afternoon!
Mary and I are meeting up with Geoffrey at noon for a lunch, then  we’re gonna go shopping for Shangilia. I will probably start as soon as I have the list though!

Anyway, this is it for now, I’m actually going to bed soon… I’m wiped out!
More soon!

LOVE!

Ngara market

Ngara market. It's been raining a bit!

Gikomba market

One of the streets we couldn't checkout. Ankle deep mud :P

My shoes weren't that muddy!

But if your shoes ARE muddy. They will clean it for you.
They were pulling me in all directions cause they wanted to clean my shoes.
No thank you...no thank you....no thank you... NO THANK YOU! HAPANA! :)

Goooooooood evening!

So, since this is a ”time altered” post, you guys can figure out I never managed to find time to sit down by the computer, other than posting on facebook that I’m actually alive!

Today has been great!
I got up at 6:30am cause I wasn’t sure if I was gonna go with Mary to church or not…
Once I realized my Swedish number wasn’t working here, I was already back at the hostel… (around 3:30am). Kind of regretted not buying it at the airport, but anywho…

After breakfast and settling in to my other room, specifically telling them NOT to clean it during my stay (they understood when I said why, though)… I went to Nakumatt, since it’s open 24 hours… I did find it at a place called Fone Express… The thing is, for some reason it has been inactivated to receive calls and texts… And I didn’t realize that until like 9:30am-ish (amish, haha! ….sorry, I’m tired…!) when I decided to call Mary, and she had been trying to get a hold of me for hours…

And it’s 9 something pm here now and it still doesn’t work.. But I can call and text all I want! Annoying… Hope it will be fixed by tomorrow.

It’s actually pouring down, like nothing I’ve seen before!
It was very cloudy and quite chilly in the morning, but then the sun came out and it was wonderful… It IS the wet season now… But they usually have nice weather, but it can be very unpredictable… like, sun one minute, rain the next , then cloudy…and then back to sun! It’s been like that today, but It’s been great!

Oh! And while at Nakumatt… I noticed a guy was checking me out from all corners… and eventually came up and talked to me, wanted to “be my friend… maybe boyfriend…” He seemed very nice, except those few too pushy moments… Funny story, I ended up giving him my phone number, the one I just got, and since it’s not working he’s probably thinking that I’m ignoring him :P

Oh well, it is always such an ego boost to be here… But I don’t think I can get used to the way people look, no, not look, STARE at me all over the place! Even when I’m walking with Mary, she’s like “giiiiiirl, they are checking you OUT!” She’s awesome! J It is sooooooo good to be back with her!

Anyway, I went to Nakumatt again to meet up with her and went back to the place I got the sim card and asked for help, and he said it can take 40 minutes up to 8 hours for it to work (which is not true, since I had it twice before… but there is something new about the whole deal, I didn’t quite get it…).
Anyway, he told us we could go to Safaricom helpdesk thingie down town, and we did… and we were #19 in line to get help… and over here it’s hakuna matata… Pole pole, slooooooow. T-I-A J (This is Africa).
We decided to move on, and have been trying to get a hold of the help desk via the phone all day… no luck. The last thing they told me today was that it should work by tomorrow around noon. Let’s hope.

We went to Shangilia, and it was so nice to walk through Kangemi again… I have missed it, A LOT!
It was so nice to walk through the gates and kids screaming out “IT’S MADDY!!!”… Warmed up my heart straight away, and I got a million hugs at once! And Grace is so biiiiig!! My girl!
The kids noticed my tattoo in the neck, and Mary told me many were jealous… But that IS how much I love her… and she doesn’t have anyone else… But I want her to know that there is someone out there who loves her like her own.
I felt really bad for her though, cause she had a very sore throat… And I could tell she was in a lot of pain. She was very calm, and didn’t say much at all, but I could tell by the hug she gave me that she has missed me too… J NAKUPENDA WEWE GRACE!

We stayed for lunch, and YES they served ugali na mboga!! LOVE! It’s so funny, Mary told me that is like the cheapest you can eat in Kenya, it’s really really cheap, but I love it so much! It’s AFRICA!
But if someone came up to me in Sweden and said “oooh I looooove the noodles you have over here” I would probably react the same way! :P  That is known as “student food” here, cause it’s so cheap, and something students buy to get by :P

We chatted with the kids and spend time with them, which was so so so nice.
I talked to Tom today about the list, and they’re gonna have a meeting tomorrow (Monday) and discuss what the different departments need (food, medicine, clothes, school material etc), and I will probably get the list tomorrow, and then I’ll start shopping.
Tom was really happy that I’m back and that I brought such a nice surprise!

After Shangilia we went back to the city centre and changed to a bus for Adam’s arcade (toy market).. And I found the coolest pair of Converse EVER…But a size too small… Bugger bugger bugger!! I think we wanted 1800 Ksh for them (less than 180 Swedish Kronor).
I did find 2 VERY nice shirts though 300 ksh (less than 30 sek) each J Perfect!

After a bit of shopping there we took the bus back to the city centre and had a great dinner at Java house… I had a pollo quesadilla, diet coke and a Malindi chai latte afterwards, and Mary ordered a roast beef toast, diet coke and a double coffee afterwards… I paid for both of us, and added a tip, and it was just 1500 Ksh (150 sek… you get the idea now right…?)…And it was a BIG plate!
And the Malindi chai latte tasted better than ever! J SO good to be back!

After that Mary came with me to YMCA, and I gave her some of the clothes I cleaned out from my closet that I thought she’d like, and I was right! J And I got her a walled (I have too many…!) and an MP3 player (129 sek at Netto, but a great gift!)

This is about what happened today, in a nutshell… I’m going to bed, looking forward to a brand new, awesome day tomorrow.

NAKUPENDA KENYA! This is my second home.

Oh, and yes, I do hope to fix my Kenyan phone number by tomorrow…! Feel handicapped when my friends here can’t reach me… Kind of hard to make plans that way…

Anywho, nighty night, over and out!

Me in Kangemi, Mare and I are on our way to Shangilia

Hanging out with the kids... The girls love my hair... :)

Mary and I and some of the kids!

UGALI NA MBOGA, Shangilia style!  Delicious!

Showing the kids my tattoos on my feet :)

Gracie and I... Poor thing was feeling sick... :(

Pollo quesadilla at Javahouse: Me be happy! ;)

2010-11-14 4am

I’m here! I’m in Kenya! I’m at YMCA!
Since I arrived so early/late…in the middle of the night, they told me I had to pay from Saturday…. But I don’t care at this point… I’m tired… Just took an ice cold shower…. Gotta love the Y!
I can’t get too comfortable yet, cause I have to change rooms later…

I can’t wait for breakfast, I’m starving!
And I have to say that lady was right… Turkish airlines isn’t very good… The staff was really cranky… And arriving at 2:10am hasn’t been the best experience… Nothing went wrong per se, but It’s nicer to arrive at human hours…! :P

Then again, I’ve saved about 2000 Sek, but flying these crummy hours and coping with a cranky staff!

OH! And guess what?!
Since I packed my bag until I could pack no more…I had to put one pair of pants in the side pocket… Even though it stuck out a bit, it was rock solid… But someone stole them! :P

They were supposed to go to Shangilia, but oh well… Guess someone thought he/she needed them more…!

Well, I’m gonna try to get some sleep! Breakfast in 2½ hours!

…Just realized it’s Sunday… probably won’t be many places open today… But as long as I get my simcard… I’m happy…!

Nighty night, over and out!

I thought it was funny :P

Istanbul by night...

2010-11-13  18:20

Hello again,

Right now I’m on the plane to Nairobi…
The plane to Istanbul was a bit delayed, so I just had about 30 minutes until my next boarding started.

I’m sitting next to a very nice Kenyan lady, but she has had a whole lot of bad experiences with Turkish airlines apparently, and swore off to never use them again. Understandable. She had quite a trip!

She did spook me a bit though, she asked if I had picked up my luggage in Istanbul, but I never had to do that in a transfer before (other than in the US, but over there you HAVE TO!)… And since the transfer wasn’t that long, I’m nervous… What if my luggage is left in Turkey? Oh bugger.

…Well, it’s mostly just clothes for Shangilia and several gifts, but… still… I really want my luggage to arrive when I do… Please please please!

I can’t wait to arrive to Nairobi! It’s ”just” 6 hours to go… And it will be 2am when I do arrive.. so…yeah.

My knee has been bugging me A LOT since I left home this morning… There were no appointments available yesterday… The nurse was actually quite rude about it….
But then again it’s been bothering me since I was in middle school… on and off… but for the last couple of weeks it’s been aching on and off every day. I just hope it won’t ruin my trip. Good thing I’m not going on a hike (…which on the other hand would be really nice….but not with a knee like this).

Enough about that!

I met a Danish girl waiting for the gate to open,  and we planned to sit together if there were available seats… but as soon as I borded the plane I got a really bad migraine attack… It was awful!
I did more or less sort of watch a movie called Flipped. The little I watched I liked!

They’re about to hand out the menues… and VISA forms…. Later peeps!

Over and out!

...I thought it was funny...! :)

Istanbul fromthe sky, by night

2010-11-13

Hey peeps,

I’m currently sitting in some food court at Kastrup airport… Early bird, has 2 more hours here…”Weee”. But it does feel good to BE here.

I checked in online yesterday, so I just went to the check in machine to pick up my boarding cards.
And at baggage drop I was 4th(!!!) in line! There are several perks of bein eary as well ;)

Then I went through the security check, and of course they looked through my bag.  I think that’s like a curse… My bag ALWAYS gets checked. Not that I have anything to hide, it’s just annoying.

I remember when I went to the states in 2006, at first my flight was cancelled and I had to take another one, and I just had one hour transfer, and had to transfer in the US, which means I have to re-check in my luggage, and when I did that and just had like 20 minutes to get to my gate, of course the security guard checked my bag, VERY thuroughly (is that even a word?). And when I pointed out that I have a plane to catch, he was like …”tough luck”. BAH!

But, right now everything’s good… Tomorrow at this time I’ll be in Nairobi, going to church with Mary and then off to Shangilia!

This is it for now!

Over and out!

Got my boarding pass!