2/1/2012- Day 2

Hi everybody! I’ve been here on my compound (the Center for Wildlife Studies) for a couple days now and I’m adjusting to the time zone and everything so I figured I would fill you in! 

The flights here were pretty uneventful…we flew from JFK to Heathrow to Nairobi with a 10 hour layover in Heathrow. There were about 25 of us and some went out into the city and explored but I decided to stay in the airport. It was a long ten hours but I am grateful for them because we got to know each other pretty well before we even started the program! Everyone is super nice and really diverse.

Soooo my brain is totally overwhelmed right now and there is so much to take in here! Also, I’m finding it hard to find words for everything that’s happening and I can’t really form coherent sentences. Therefore, I’m just gonna start listing stuff.

• ·         Our compound, which is fenced-in, is a thirty minute drive from Amboseli National Park and about 3 miles from a town called Kimana
• ·         The compound consists of a main study/class/dining-hall building (Chumba) and little huts where we live (Banda) I live with three other girls and they’re all really cool!
• ·         All the faculty and staff greeted us when we arrived yesterday. They are all Kenyans…some from local tribes, and they also live in bigger Bandas in the compound. Every single one of them is SO nice and genuine and they want to have conversations and ask us about where we’re from and what we like to do and they always answer our questions no matter how weird. I love them all!
• ·         There is a family of Baboons that hangs out on our compound…how cool is that??? I mean, they could totally rip our faces off if they wanted to so we keep our distance but they don’t seem to mind us at all. They babies are so cute! Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a morning person at all and when leaving my bed I do so begrudgingly. However, this morning, my first here in Kenya, I woke to the sounds of our Baboon family playing and talking to eachother and I felt completely elated. They even woke me up in time to see the sun rise over Mt. Kilimanjaro! It was spectacular.
• ·         There are bugs everywhere. Weird, creepy, huge bugs. I will say again, anyone who knows me knows that I HATE bugs. However, I have decided not to care. This is because, what with the prevalence of bugs, if I let it get to me…it would REALLY get to me. I mean, it’s all I would ever think about. So for now, bugs and I are okay. Except mosquitoes. (I may be speaking too soon on this one. As of yet, I have not had an actual bug on my actual body. If and when this happens, I will let you know how it goes)
• ·         This is an incredibly dusty country. With each step that anyone takes, huge clouds of reddish dust particles are kicked up and attach themselves to our feet, legs, clothes, faces, hair…everything. So, basically, I am filthy. I have dirt in every crevice. My feet especially are going to be perpetually dirty because as soon as you step out of the shower onto the dirt path, they get dirty again. I have decided not to care about this either, not that I ever minded being dirty much before.  
• ·         There is a little store (dukka) in our chumba where we can buy snacks and things. Highlight…they have mango juice (!!!!!!!!)
• ·         This morning we took a walk around the outside of the compound. It was about a mile. We saw a lot of local people tending to their farmland and livestock but there wasn’t any wildlife around. (Amboseli, which is very close to us, is not a fenced park so the animals wander freely and students in past semesters have seen buffalo, elephants, and antelope right against our fence.)
• ·         Later in the day (after our lecture about diseases like dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, etc.) We drove to the local town, Kimana. It reminded me SO much of India. Everyone is SO SO SO friendly. Just like our staff here, they come up to shake our hands and say hi and they are so fascinated by us muzungus (white people). The difference between these people and Indians: Indians usually would just gape at us. These people genuinely want to know all about us. There is even a bar there called Club Kimana. We met a woman there named Joyce who is one of the Maasai “mamas” they make beautiful beaded jewelry and are extremely pushy when they try to sell it to you. She followed us around town and even found us in our cars as we were leaving! I will never forget her. I wish I could post pictures but it would really tie up the internet when everyone is using it.
• ·         The food here is amazing. Everything is fresh and local and the cooks are great and I'm eating very well. I've found my relationship with food is way better here because of how busy we are I get to work up an appetite. We had crepes this morning with fresh mango and we even had cinnamon bread with dinner!

Okay, I think that’s enough for now! The mosquitos are coming out so I think I should get to bed where I’m safe under my net. In conclusion: I am in paradise. I am in my element. I am happy. I love it here. This place and these people are already changing me and I know I will never be the same. I am having the time of my life!

I love every single one of you who is reading this. Don’t worry about me…I am in good hands! I’ll try to update again soon.

LOVE,

Asha

Word of the day: kuku (chicken)