Nakuru- First Days

Hello! So my first few days gone by crazy fast so I will sum up what I have been doing!

                                                                 Downtown Nairobi

                                                     View driving away from Nairobi

I was driven on Saturday from Nairobi by Benson, a really sweet guy who works for my program. He was too nice and told me all about Kenya's geography, tribes, and animals. We stopped at the Rift Valley overlook and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!! It is such a huge valley and it was a clear day, so perfect. We had a 3 hour drive and the scenery was gorgeous of course. I was amazed by the variety and how many mountains/hills there were. Since it is the rainy season everything was unbelievably green. We even spotted some Zebras grazing!

            This doesn't do the Rift Valley justice. It was SO HUGE. This is only a small fraction. 

Boys raising bunnies to help support their families. Benson thought it was pretty funny that I used to have a pet bunny, especially since the whole point of having them here is to eat them.


Once I got to Nakuru I met my roommates Jordyn (from Australia) and Itziar (from Spain). They are the nicest girls ever and are great about showing me around the city and answering my millions of questions! Rosemary's house is really nice and right now I have my own room, unless another volunteer shows up later in the summer. It is about a 20 minute walk from the center of town and 40 minutes to my job at FAIR (Family AIDS Initiative Response).

                                                           My sweet cheetah print bed

                                                                Rosemary's house!

Sunday we laid around a pool at a nice hotel called Merica (not kidding). It was really relaxing and a nice way to start my week. Monday I went into the office and did some data entry and met my coworkers who are all extremely nice. (If you are starting to see a trend...everyone is so nice!!) Haha. Later at night my roommates and I went to our friend Rita's (from Canada) for her birthday dinner. Her host mom Florence made a HUGE dinner for us, two girls from Denmark, and some Kenyan friends. There was so much food but it was so good you couldn't stop eating. (and if you did stop Florence was quick to add something else to your plate.)

                                The Merica hotel- and yes....a deer head is the symbol. haha

      A giant supermarket downtown. They can definitely rival Walmart on both variety and price!


Today I went to a smaller FAIR office at a church called St. Nicolas. It was nice because there were other interns (all Kenyans) who were closer to my age. We did some paperwork and then I got to go out in "the field." It was nice because this office is in a less populated part of town. It is less busy and developed. It had a great view of the mountains that surround the valley. We stopped in on a woman who is a diabetic and malnourished. FAIR keeps track of her health and makes sure she is eating right. She was a very tiny, very old lady who has already lost a leg to her disease. Thankfully, her blood sugar level is normal but she is still so so thin. Everyone was talking in Swahili which was difficult, but I was able to understand a few words here and there. Afterwords I asked my supervisor a few questions and told her what I understood and she was impressed that I was making an effort to understand. Then the cutest little kids started yelling "mzungu sasa?" which basically means "what's up white person?" Haha. I probably hear the word "mzungu" (white person) about 200 times a day. Walking up the street so many people say it to you. Guess they are reminding me in case I forget?

                                             The road I take to get downtown and to work.

                                      The front of the main FAIR office, sponsored by USAID.