Goodbye CYEC, hello Nairobi!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Savoring our last morning waking up to the sound of Henry the rooster and greeting Eleanor just beyond our front door, I realized that this morning was the last time I would wake up at the CYEC (at least for a while). As we started to organize some packing, Jane called us with an order to meet her at the Ivory Hotel for a breakfast on her… she fondly orders us around a lot – we don’t mind ;). She may or may not have once told us she liked us because we were obedient, oh Jane I will miss you.

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast with Jane, complete with her very familiar disapproval if our food was not finished (Insert Kenyan accent… “Imagine! Gosh! What is wrong with you?? Finish your food!”). We hung around for a while before heading back to the centre to pack up our things, say our goodbyes to the boys and staff, and head into town. We had a cup of coffee at Julie’s Coffee Shop with Issa before grabbing Ray Bell’s infamous vegetable burgers after which, we jumped on a matatu destined to reach Nairobi. Phew. The ride was quite nice, I think we were graced with a newer matatu – it was the nicest one I’ve seen! Aside for some traffic, three-ish hours later, we were in the big city! Confused as to why there was no green in sight, we waited (sticking out like sore thumbs with our monstrosities of backpacks) for Andi’s brother’s friend to pick us up (they will very kindly be hosting us until we head out on Sunday morning for the United States).

We waited a while (longer than anticipated due to traffic), and finally plopped into the car with Lucy. Now, let me just take a moment to say that I took pride in my ability to successfully drive in New York City. I thought that if I could drive in NYC, I could drive anywhere. False. Maybe anywhere in the USA. New development – if you can drive successfully in Nairobi, you can drive anywhere in the WORLD. It is absolutely terrifying. If you can, it’s probably best to just close your eyes… save yourself the worry ;). Soon enough, we safely (don’t worry mom) arrived at Dave and Lucy’s lovely home in “South B.” Hello culture shock. I will list all of the things that excited us immensely. A mirror, carpet, toilet with a seat (!), microwave, refrigerator, no flies (does that happen?)… I’m at a loss for the rest. The take home message is that we are happy to have taken some time here in Nairobi to avoid ultimate culture shock when we head back home to the US. After a quick grocery shop and a very tasty dinner we are headed to sleep for the night. Then, on to explore Nairobi a bit tomorrow!