We've arrived...Kenyan style

Written 3pm Friday the 17th

Well, we’ve made it here safely and are enjoying the easy adjustment to “African time”- which means that schedules are flexible (lunch at 3:30), hours adjustable and timeliness unessential. In other words, we’re at ease and not too worried about anything other than rest, acclimating to this new culture and eating lots of yummy food.

Last night Shani and Jacob (Maasai men that are invaluable liasons with the locals) met us right as we walked out of the gate at Nairobi Airport. We quickly realized that certain concepts, like it’s not what you know but who you know, transcend culture as Shani greeted friends throughout the airport and quickly got us into a special Customs line for our visas. Once we were all through Customs, Chris and Becca (our WLS leaders) met us with juice boxes, the perfect refresher after 26 hours of travel.

We arrived at the Masai Lodge around 9pm and immediately enjoyed a local buffet. The Tusker beer, rice, goat, chicken, carob soup, salad, peas, tomatoes with onions, and ice cream made for quite a feast. After getting to know our leaders a bit and learning about a nightly ritual
A-Appreciation
N-News
C-Concerns
H-Hopes
O-Oddities
R-Reminders

We journeyed to our rooms, which are so much more than rooms. They are individual little houses with a porch and bathroom on each one. We settled in for a nice night’s rest under the mosquito net. Some of us (me and Michelle) overslept a bit before Becca woke us up for breakfast.
After breakfast today we had our first group meeting. Already the group was teeming with ideas about how what we are learning here can impact our classes. Even as we walked to our rooms last night Dina and I were brainstorming about students that we hope can have this experience next summer.

I’m very impressed with Kenyan hospitality. The wait staff and hotel crew are eager to do everything before you even ask. They speak lovely English, but the accent is decidedly British, making me all too aware of the occasionally thick Tennessee drawl I lend to my own words. This afternoon we went to the giraffe sanctuary and took a tour with Judy (also Khayeni in Lua) who told us the history of giraffes in Africa. Highlights included Rebecca “getting to know” a giraffe quite well (he gave her a smooch:) and seeing hundreds of school children that were just as fascinated with us as we were with them. They were adorable in their school uniforms and loved watching the short video I took of them.
Kwahari (“goodbye”) for now. More news to come as we travel to Shompole Ranch tomorrow. Love to friends and family that are reading this. We can’t wait to share all our pictures with you! -Lauren