24 hours in the Green City in the Sun

Hamjambo mabwana na mabibi.

We landed less than 24 hours ago in Nairobi, and the anticipated culture shock has definitely been post-poned. I'm sure this all part of VSO's plan. Our first week is a sheltered one of 'in-country training', essentially an opportunity to soften our landing and build our confidence starting with two days of Swahili lessons followed by an introduction to Kenyan culture. Later in the week we have meetings and orientation with the people we'll be working with for the next 12 months. There appears to be an emphasis on negotiating exactly how the placements will work, which is a little concerning as I've signed up to do a specific job but we have been told to expect the unexpected. I only hope they aren't expecting a doctor.

We've arrived with 15 other volunteers, eight from the UK and the rest from the US, Canada, the Phillipines and one from Holland. The presence of another Gareth, sporting a similar 'beard' and glasses has tickled our Kenyan hosts. We're twins, apparently. I'll get a picture tomorrow and post it so you can let me know who should be most offended.

We've been taught the basic structure of KiSwahili and a few verbs to conjugate. We've been split into two groups, ostensibly to have more manageable groups but we were divided according to our prior knowledge of KiSwahili or confidence with languages. Jo is in the group which shared those characteristics.I am not. She seems to be way ahead of me after just four hours. Still, we've got until Tuesday when we head 'downtown' to practise.And she's just fallen asleep so I'm gong to spend an hour or so swatting.

The area we're in at the moment could be anywhere in the world; a well-appointed B&B next to a large hotel (complete with floodlit tennis court) and the YaYa, a shopping centre which attracts the disposable income of the more affluent people in the city. There are lots; this is the financial centre of the whole of east Africa. Its also a very international city, and no-one batted an eyelid at us when we went on our group excursion to the YaYa and a couple of surrounding streets. 

We tried to buy local sim cards but I neglected to get any of our phones unlocked (one of the only jobs which was specifically left to me). This practice is illegal in Kenya so we might have to buy some actual phones rather than try to engage any elements of this city's notorious underworld or risk arrest, especially as the process itself is called 'flashing', and a conviction for that is hardly the type of cv-enhancement I had in mind when I signed up for this.

So at the end of our first full day we're simply anxious to get going, to learn some more Swahili and find out more about the next 12 months. I'll make sure future posts are shorter, and that half are written by Jo.

Asante sana na kwaheri

GW