First Night in Nairobi

I arrived at Nairobi’s airport, and after a long fight to get my big backpack off of one of the conveyor belts (the one it was supposed to come off of broke down), I was picked up by a nice Kenyan guy named Anton. I also had my first naive run in with a dude, who I thought worked with Anton, but turned out to just want money from me for pushing my luggage cart five feet to Anton’s car. Needless to say, I gave him none.

Anton is a quiet guy. I asked him a few questions, but he just seemed shy and not very talkative. Perhaps he had had a long day, it was 9pm by the time he got me. That was okay though, because it gave me time to soak in my first impressions of Nairobi. This city reminds me a lot of Saigon actually: Crazy driving on the streets, big industrial warehouses and fancy hotels juxtaposed next to shacks and dirt roads. Very few mopeds, but they have these tiny little busses for public transportation that squeeze in many many people. Sardines in a tin can.

Anton dropped my off at a volunteer apartment, populated by mostly girls . Bunk beds and everything. I will only be staying here until Monday it seems, when orientation starts. I’ll be moving closer to my placement to a volunteer house near Kibera (but definitely outside of it). I met three people here at the house that were still socializing in the living room: Nikki from California (who has been here for a month already, and had great stories to tell of guys proposing marriage to her within the first few days), Alli from Mexico, and June, a lovely lady from England. All three of them are placed in orphanages around Nairobi. I’ll probably go visit them at some point to check out their surroundings.

Tomorrow, the four of us will take the bus (20 cent rides!) to the city “Junction”, where I will have some internet access to send off a few emails and this blog post, get a phone, and perhaps a better map. Time to learn the lay of the land.

I have been here a mere three hours now, and already I have three mosquito bites. That mosquito net that a little angel gifted me on my last day in the states will definitely come in handy. I don’t do well with bug bites. I itch like crazy. In fact, I am quite annoyed at the bite on my big left toe. These things bit right through my socks. And the constant humming near my ears is making me nervous.