Today we got to spend a lot more time out and about than we have so far, even though it was freezing! It rained all day and at one point I could actually see my breath (even though I doubt it dropped below 55). I did not pack appropriately for this! Apparently this cold is uncharacteristic for this time of year, though, and it should be getting warmer soon.
All of us on the development track headed over to USIU first thing in the morning to take a tour of the campus, while the public health students toured University of Nairobi. The campus was absolutely beautiful! It is probably nicer than the AU campus – especially the library. All the plants are amazing too! It's like being in the jungle. We met some really nice students there, toured the campus, and ate in the canteen. I’m not sure if I regret my decision not to take a class there but I am still really excited for the gender class and glad I got to see the USIU campus. We also had our first lesson in cross-cultural misunderstandings at USIU. After the tour Victor told us to go to the canteen to get some coffee, but that message was lost in translation and we all thought we were supposed to order food - even though we would be eating in town later in the day. He was really chill about it and didn’t even seem to understand there was a misunderstanding lol.
Then we headed over to University of Nairobi to meet the other group for lunch. This was my first real exposure to Kenyan food. I ordered chicken with some kind of kale thing (called sukuma wiki in Swahili), chopati (a kind of bread), and ugali (a traditional Kenyan food that is essentially mashed maize). It was actually really delicious and I really enjoyed it, despite having eaten less than an hour before at USIU.
After lunch we walked around the downtown area and then headed to the Kenyan International Conference Center (KICC) – the tallest building in Nairobi. We got to go on the roof and take pictures, which was definitely a highlight of the trip so far! It was so cool to see so much of Nairobi and was a really amazing experience!
After taking tons of pics we headed over to a nice restaurant where we ate dinner. Since it was so cold and we were seated outside, Mwangi told us all to order some drinks to warm ourselves up (and to celebrate Megan’s 20th birthday, of course)! Dinner was delicious and a lot of fun! On the way back to our apartments, Evans (our driver) got out and began directing traffic, since the roads were so jammed no one was moving, which was definitely not something we see often in the states!
When we got back there was another blackout but it was also the first time we had internet so we were all frantically checking our emails and posting blog updates before our emergency light also died - whoops! Need to remember to charge that in the future. After chatting with some friends from home and finishing my blog I was definitely ready for bed.
All of us on the development track headed over to USIU first thing in the morning to take a tour of the campus, while the public health students toured University of Nairobi. The campus was absolutely beautiful! It is probably nicer than the AU campus – especially the library. All the plants are amazing too! It's like being in the jungle. We met some really nice students there, toured the campus, and ate in the canteen. I’m not sure if I regret my decision not to take a class there but I am still really excited for the gender class and glad I got to see the USIU campus. We also had our first lesson in cross-cultural misunderstandings at USIU. After the tour Victor told us to go to the canteen to get some coffee, but that message was lost in translation and we all thought we were supposed to order food - even though we would be eating in town later in the day. He was really chill about it and didn’t even seem to understand there was a misunderstanding lol.
Then we headed over to University of Nairobi to meet the other group for lunch. This was my first real exposure to Kenyan food. I ordered chicken with some kind of kale thing (called sukuma wiki in Swahili), chopati (a kind of bread), and ugali (a traditional Kenyan food that is essentially mashed maize). It was actually really delicious and I really enjoyed it, despite having eaten less than an hour before at USIU.
After lunch we walked around the downtown area and then headed to the Kenyan International Conference Center (KICC) – the tallest building in Nairobi. We got to go on the roof and take pictures, which was definitely a highlight of the trip so far! It was so cool to see so much of Nairobi and was a really amazing experience!
After taking tons of pics we headed over to a nice restaurant where we ate dinner. Since it was so cold and we were seated outside, Mwangi told us all to order some drinks to warm ourselves up (and to celebrate Megan’s 20th birthday, of course)! Dinner was delicious and a lot of fun! On the way back to our apartments, Evans (our driver) got out and began directing traffic, since the roads were so jammed no one was moving, which was definitely not something we see often in the states!
When we got back there was another blackout but it was also the first time we had internet so we were all frantically checking our emails and posting blog updates before our emergency light also died - whoops! Need to remember to charge that in the future. After chatting with some friends from home and finishing my blog I was definitely ready for bed.