In Nairobi

Hello from Nairobi.

We arrived safely last night minus one bag, which will hopefully show up sometime soon. We spent a night at a hotel where we took some very cold showers and settled into our mosquito net protected beds. At breakfast there were some Masai dressed in traditional clothing who did a song and dance. As we were leaving they were showing some of their travel companions how to jump very high in the air. The jump was exactly as Aunt Christa had predicted to our utter surprise. After breakfast we were taken to the Cosmic Volunteer headquarters where we got some introduction to Kenya. We did some shopping and bought a cell phone (number to come) in case of emergency.

We will be leaving for Kajiado this afternoon, shortly after we finish typing this blog. We have learned that the family we will stay with is Kikuyu in origin though the area is primarily Masai. There will be no electricity or running water (so we've stocked up on bottled water). Most of the villagers live in Masai huts and tend cattle. We are told that women in the village are not valued at all according to Masai culture. The men value the cattle first then the children and then the women. So we are preparing for a very different way of life. The school where we will be teaching has many many students and too few teachers. Some of our classes might have 80 students! We are also responsible for correcting their schoolwork. It looks like we will have our work cut out for us.

All in all it has been quite shocking to be here but so far we aren't seriously second guessing our decision to come. It will be difficult at first but we are open to the challenge. We can already see how much different our perspective of the world will be when we return.

More to come soon...hopefully.