Today was our second full day of orientation. We headed over to the AU center around 9:00am after completing an inventory of all the items in our apartment with the apartment housekeepers. The walk was really muddy since it rained lightly all night and throughout the day. It is still winter in Kenya so it has actually been pretty cold - at least for Kenya. I wore a sweatshirt, scarf, and raincoat almost all day today and was still a little chilly.
Our orientation started with a guest speaker who talked about homosexuality in Kenya. He talked about how homosexuality was not widely accepted in the country and a small political party had introduced a bill similar to the one that was recently struck down in Uganda, though it is not expected to go anywhere. Being gay in Kenya is not a crime right now, but homosexual acts are and it seems like the lines are pretty blurry between the two. In Kenya there is also not yet recognition of the diversity of sexualities other than straight and gay/lesbian, like bisexual or transgendered. Despite this though, there have been some positive developments in Kenya. There has been much more discussion on the issue and several high profile Kenyans have recently come out which has really furthered acceptance of LGBT people. The talk was really interesting and we had some great debate/discussion with the speaker on this issue and about his own experiences (which were really positive!)
We then had talks from several other guest speakers about mental health while on the program and living, working, and networking in Kenya and how best to approach the development field as an expat/foreigner in Kenya. We broke for lunch where the orientation assistants taught us some Kenyan games and we ate food that Mary, the cook and all around AU mama, made - including some homemade Kenyan samosas! After lunch we had our first Swahili lesson on basic “survival Swahili.” I already love the language, but I know I am really going to have to work hard and study a lot. The most useful phrases so far have been Asante Sana (thank you very much) and Karibu Kenya (Welcome to Kenya).
Afterwards representatives from the Kenyan universities came to help everyone fill out their enrollment paperwork, which was cool to watch even though I wont be attending either university. On the development track we could opt to either take one class at USIU or to take a new class called the geographies of gender and development, which sounded absolutely amazing so I chose that instead. The class should be a cool dynamic too since it will just be me and one other girl.
By the end of all this we were all super tired, so the bus picked us up to take us to dinner at an Indian restaurant called Open House. I sat at a table with five other people from the program and Sabina, one of the orientation assistants. Sabina has a really cool perspective on a lot of things in Nairobi since she grew up in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya and East Africa. She has been a really great resource for learning about Kenyan culture and what she sees as effective development practices. She’s also just super sweet and a wonderful person. I hope that we continue to hang out and keep in touch after this week.
When we got back home we got to experience our first blackout. They have generators to light up the courtyard but we had to use an emergency light in the apartment. Shreya (one of my roommates) and I chatted for a while before a bunch of us met up in an apartment to play cards, talk, and hang out. So far I am really loving everyone on the program and it seems like we have a pretty fun group. When we got back to the room the power had turned back on so I could take a quick shower and get some much-needed sleep.
Our orientation started with a guest speaker who talked about homosexuality in Kenya. He talked about how homosexuality was not widely accepted in the country and a small political party had introduced a bill similar to the one that was recently struck down in Uganda, though it is not expected to go anywhere. Being gay in Kenya is not a crime right now, but homosexual acts are and it seems like the lines are pretty blurry between the two. In Kenya there is also not yet recognition of the diversity of sexualities other than straight and gay/lesbian, like bisexual or transgendered. Despite this though, there have been some positive developments in Kenya. There has been much more discussion on the issue and several high profile Kenyans have recently come out which has really furthered acceptance of LGBT people. The talk was really interesting and we had some great debate/discussion with the speaker on this issue and about his own experiences (which were really positive!)
We then had talks from several other guest speakers about mental health while on the program and living, working, and networking in Kenya and how best to approach the development field as an expat/foreigner in Kenya. We broke for lunch where the orientation assistants taught us some Kenyan games and we ate food that Mary, the cook and all around AU mama, made - including some homemade Kenyan samosas! After lunch we had our first Swahili lesson on basic “survival Swahili.” I already love the language, but I know I am really going to have to work hard and study a lot. The most useful phrases so far have been Asante Sana (thank you very much) and Karibu Kenya (Welcome to Kenya).
Afterwards representatives from the Kenyan universities came to help everyone fill out their enrollment paperwork, which was cool to watch even though I wont be attending either university. On the development track we could opt to either take one class at USIU or to take a new class called the geographies of gender and development, which sounded absolutely amazing so I chose that instead. The class should be a cool dynamic too since it will just be me and one other girl.
By the end of all this we were all super tired, so the bus picked us up to take us to dinner at an Indian restaurant called Open House. I sat at a table with five other people from the program and Sabina, one of the orientation assistants. Sabina has a really cool perspective on a lot of things in Nairobi since she grew up in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya and East Africa. She has been a really great resource for learning about Kenyan culture and what she sees as effective development practices. She’s also just super sweet and a wonderful person. I hope that we continue to hang out and keep in touch after this week.
When we got back home we got to experience our first blackout. They have generators to light up the courtyard but we had to use an emergency light in the apartment. Shreya (one of my roommates) and I chatted for a while before a bunch of us met up in an apartment to play cards, talk, and hang out. So far I am really loving everyone on the program and it seems like we have a pretty fun group. When we got back to the room the power had turned back on so I could take a quick shower and get some much-needed sleep.