It has been a long time since we departed home for Kenya, well, only really 4 days for Ivan and I and 6 days for Daniel. Here is a much delayed (and anticipated) update on the Moi team:
We stayed at Nairobi for a night before leaving for Eldoret the next morning – which only took us about 8 hours… with a very bumpy detour that at one point it felt like the bus was literally about to tip over (and justified the need for seatbelts). Regardless, the scenery of the north rift valley is Amazing and we saw some zebras along the way – totally worth the long ride.
We have settled in at Moi University’s guest house – a nice one-storey suite with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, hot water, and a kitchen right beside us. We get 3 meals a day at specific times, but somehow we are always late and they have to accommodate our schedules. The food is definitely very decent and filling and people are just so friendly!
Today, we took a tour in the Eldoret town and managed to get most of the stuff we wanted – water, juice, milk, chips, cereal, and Cadbury cashew and coconut flavored chocolate! We are planning to visit the town a couple of times during our stay here, but we will have to take the ‘matatu’ to get there.
The Moi University main campus is about half an hour away from town, so it’s nice and safe. We have toured around and have a rough idea of where things are, but the campus is huge! Classes for us are at 5 pm or 6 pm so we will have most of the day to just wonder around, or sit on the patio and enjoy the nice weather (and of course, prepare for cases). It rains almost every day here, with sunny weather from morning to midday and a bit of shower late afternoon. It’s not too hot and not too cold, and the best thing? No mosquitoes!
So far, things have been very interesting (in a good way). Although we are still a little unsure of how things are done and what the norms are over here, we are adjusting quite well I’d say – we tried ugali, shopped at local markets, and had some interesting conversations with the locals. We have already met the students and we cannot wait to start teaching on Monday!
All the best to everyone!
Sherry (on behalf of Daniel and Ivan)
ps. never underestimate the power of ‘pole pole’ (slowly, slowly – maybe it will take 4 more hours than expected, but eventually things will be done)