Thursday, March 1, 2012

the urban life




here's a photograph that I just snapped of my urban host family. Sorry about the quality... man, I thought I had a better camera than this! (haha) 

Hello all!
This update is a bit later than I anticipated. Our internet connection here was jeopardized when a ship’s anchor ripped up 2 important cables…
Anyhow, here I am! I’ve been staying in Nairobi with a host family. My family is very hospitable and I find it to be pretty easy to integrate into their lifestyle because it’s really quite similar to life in the US. My siblings are all older than I am, though two of them are home for the occasion and my other sister has just arrived today to visit. The biggest adjustment? Leaving the house at 6:30 so I can get through the traffic in time for my 8:30 class. Traffic is a bit rough because development hasn’t kept up with the population growth/immigration.
All is well here:  classes are normal and tomorrow we’re visiting the city market and going to the Karua forest. Last week we went to Kibera which is the one of the largest slums in Africa, if not the largest. It was a powerful experience but after watching the movie “Slum Dwellers” (which is a documentary on Kibera …actually I can’t be sure that that is the name), I was even more blown away. I’m not doing a very good job explaining but this could be because it is late at night. (And yet, I am determined to get this email out!) I guess all I can say is I’ve never been so thankful for clean water and our sanitation systems/waste disposal systems.
SO anyways, one more week in our homestays before life starts getting crazy again… next time I talk to you all, I’ll be in Amboseli!
Hope you all are doing well!
Love,
Em

No comments:

Post a Comment