Our pseudo-vacation has ended and classes have begun. Last week was pretty slow for the most part. Tuesday and Wednesday we just bummed around at school and picked up new international students. From Thursday-Friday I went to Naivasha and Hells Gate National Park with Mike, Dijana, Robin, and Ladu. Ladu is from Sudan and has a car here. He offered to take us home with him in December. This is exciting. Anyway, it took a while to drive there. We were stopped at a roadblock and were questioned by this police officer that looked like a general. He seemed friendly and sounded like he was joking when he told us it was illegal to not wear seatbelts in Kenya. Robin talked to him and apparently he was serious and we would have to each pay 6000 shillings as a fine. Robin took charge and paid him off and that was that. Ohhh corruption. I seriously don’t know what we would do without Robin.
We had planned to camp in the park on Thursday and spend all day Friday in the park exploring. We got there, Robin talked to the guys, and then decided for us that it would be cheaper to stay at this resort on Lake Naivasha instead. Things were going exactly opposite how we had planned, but that is the Kenyan way. We ended up camping at the resort, but it was a serious joke. It felt like we were just camping in our backyard or something. There was a pool and it was seriously a nice place. We ate food from the local market and then crashed pretty early. Friday Mike and I insisted we go to Hells Gate even though it appeared more expensive than we planned. We got there, drove through the park and saw lots of animals. There were zebras, giraffes, buffalos, antelopes, and baboons. Very cool. Then we parked at this ranger’s station and were able to get a guide to take us through the gorges and hot springs. We would have been so lost without our guide. Apparently parts of Laura Croft: Tomb Raider were filmed in the gorge there. The springs were cool. At one point the gorge was so narrow we had to take off our shoes and walk through the warm water. Then we hiked up to the top of a hill and were greeted by a Maasai community. They were amazing. They showed us one of their mud huts, explained about their lifestyle, and then danced for us. They were so nice. They told us we could come back and stay with them for a celebration if we wanted. We bought some jewelry and then headed back to the car. We did all that by 1pm and we were exhausted. Drove back to school.
Saturday the new international students went on a tour of Nairobi. Mike and I stayed behind and caught up on sleep, walked to Nakumatt for water and some other things, and used the internet at school finally. Rosa, Aaron, and Catherine returned from Lamu and we all caught up and gossiped and had fun.
Sunday I got a call from the refugee I was in contact with here in Nairobi and he informed me he was on his way to school to pick up the stuff I had for him. When I asked how soon he would be here, he responded with “ok thank you bye” and hung up. Typical. Mike, Dijana and I waited by the gate for a long time. Eventually the refugees showed up and I took them to lunch. They were both very nice and it was good to talk to them for a while.
Monday classes started. We were warned that professors don’t even show up on the first day a lot of the time. Dijana and I had class at 9 together. We woke up early and went to the library when it opened to get our books. That took sooooo long and was so ridiculous. I only have 1 book. Crazy. Went to class and waited for the professor until like 920. Then figured out we were in the wrong class. Found the right room where the professor finally showed up at 940. The first 20 minutes he talked about why its important to read for class and do you work and work hard. He said “do it for yourself, and if not for yourself, do it for your parents who pay your fees.” Yeah right. Then he preached to us about teamwork and how Jesus is God and Jesus believed in teamwork. Bad times. We never even talked about International Humanitarian Law. So my first class wasn’t great. Went back to the hostels after and Mike and I were people of action and got a whole bunch done on campus. Then class again at 530. The professor was an improvement. Very energetic and we actually talked about African development. The professor was hitting on me a lot and he made me his secretary (even though he kept calling me Tracy) and talked about how he was going to take me on a date to get coffee. Awkward!!! Then he dropped a bomb on us. He asked if we could just not have Wednesday classes cause it interfered with his schedule. So now we don’t have Wednesday class. I’m a little bummed cause this class was going to be amazing and I want to learn as much as I can. We’ll see how this works out.
Had another class this morning. Sooo much better. The professor is so smart. We talked about current events for a while. Then we each had to introduce ourselves. Then class ended. And here I am. About to go to lunch, then my last class at 120. Oh, did I mention the library isn’t open until the 21st and there wont be wireless internet until next week and the computer lab is always PACKED? Yeah, great times. I’m out.
loves
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