Chapati, ugali, ingera, kale, mokimo, masa, masala chips, picana, crest...did i mention chapati? One of the most delightful parts of this experience in Kenya so far has been the food. One of my biggest fears coming on this trip was that i wouldn't find much to eat, because i am a vegetarian and the national dish is nyama choma (or bbq as we know it) but it turns out that everywhere you go you can find at least one or most often plenty to eat.
There is a large indian influence here as you can imagine, so there is a lot of curries. Very good curries. I hear that the are better on the coast where we are going in three weeks, but so far, they have been excellent. The samosas have been less impressive in Nakuru, but still good.
There is this bread here called Chapati, maybe you have heard about it? Everyone loves it here. Its dense, moist flat bread, a little sweet, and soaks up sauce well. Another staple at very meal is ugali, this bland spongy, white grits block that is, well…bland. But it’s great with sauces and good for you. One of our chaparones is in love with it.
We went to an Ethiopian restaurant which was amazing. I ordered a vegeterian sampler which had five different dishes made of lentils, currys, potatos and kale all served with the ethopian answer to chapati, ingera. More spongy and very bitter. Kale is turning out to be my favorite new dish. It’s made pretty salty, and cooked with some onions. And its very full of vitamins.
There is a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables being sold. We kept driving by these people roasting corn on the side of the road and we finally gave in and bought some because it looked so good. But it was actually cooked very long and the kernels were hard already. Some were popping into popped corn!. The mangos from the fruit stand were great. Really sweet and juicy.
All the food is really cheap here. Robin estimated about 14 dollars a day, but we have been way below that. I mean, some of our meals do only consist of tea and chapatti, but hey. Its good eats.
The best experience we had so far was going over to our Nakuru JUMP member’s homes to eat dinner with them. There, I had the best kale and cabbage, fried whole potatoes, and mokimo, the best mashed potatoes ever made. It consisted of potatoes, corn, peas and salt, cooked together then mashed, served with a mild clear gravy.
Every morning for breakfast it is the same at our hotel. Coffee, or tea? Both excellent, especially the coffee, and i don't even like coffee. They only have raw sugar at the table here. They serve a piece of papaya, an apple banana and a slice of orange along with a small bowl of corn flakes and fresh milk. Then, comes a piece of sausage and a poached egg with two pieces of bread.
Just one week ago I was freaking out about not having enough peanut butter, dried nectarines and miso soup to last me even one day, and now, I am worried that I am going to over eat and gain 10 pounds. Every meal we eat l leaved the table feeling fuller then before and it is so pleasant to be so well taken care of. Mom, if you are reading this, please look up mokimo and kale and start practicing for when I get home, because knowing me, instead of Brick Oven as my first meal back home, I’ll be asking for Chapati!

Being in Africa isn’t as far sounding as it seems. There are many things similar to life on Kauai. The plants and flowers that they have around are the same ones that we have growing at home. There are spider lilies right out side of our hotel rooms. Driving outside of the cities, you see lots of empty plains, farmland and little houses with low lying mountains in the background, much like driving on the west side.


  

Many of the public bathrooms are on the same level as restrooms at Haiena beach park and Kalapaki bay. And if it so happens that on our long drives we need to pull over and squat, hey man, Kauai style. There hasn’t been anyone that grew up there who didn’t have to go in the bushes.

  

Driving by one of the lookouts over the Rift Valley on our way to Nakuru, I couldn’t help think of Hanalei’s taro fields and the river. The worst roads are no dustier or bumpier then some of the dirt roads we have at home. At least here there’s no red dirt! The sun is hot like our sun, but the air is much cooler and dryer than the humidity we have at home.

  

The children here are just as beautiful and happy as the keiki at home. They all stick together in their communities and look out for one another. I thought that it would be hard to see these children, many barefoot with ragged clothing and flies flying all around, but they are healthy, and smart.

  

On Kauai, it is not unusual to see chickens, cats, dogs, nene geese and horses wandering on the side of the road. Here, it is not unusual to see chicken either, though the chickens and roosters here are twice or three times as large as the ones at home, if you could even imagine. There are also cows, goats and sheep grazing along side the road.Also it is not out of the ordinary to see giraffes, impalas or zebras just enjoying the afternoon sun right in your backyard.

We have finally made it. I can’t believe that after more the a year of planning and so many doubts, I am laying here under my mosquito net at the Pivot Hotel in Nakuru. Well, it did take us long enough. Starting with our 10 pm flight out of Lihue, red eyed to LA. I could hardly sleep on Thursday night and when I woke up on Friday, I felt as if I was in a small daze...We didn’t have to be at the school till 6:30, so I just waited around all day for my ride into town.
After that, it seemed as if EVERYTHING else was moving in slow motion as I wanted to race at 1000 miles an hour. I wouldn’t call it excitement, it was more like anxiety. My mother said a tearful goodbye, and as she cried, she said, “God Bless You” and “pray, aria, pray” This struck me as so odd because she never says that to me. We were the only locals in the whole airport, everyone on our flight were tourists. The American flight was uneventful because for one, it was at our bedtime and two, there was no in-flight entertainment.
When we landed in LA, I got those butterflies that you get in your stomach like when you land at home. I guess this means that LA really is growing on me and I do like it after all. I was so excited, I just wanted to show everyone everything I knew about LA, but all I knew was Manchester, Lincoln and Selpulveda...and that’s not a lot.
6 hours later and a good 2 hour nap and a hefty meal at Pann’s, I got to see my lovely sister again for a few, got a sandwich and everything was mmm...and then 5 more hours and we were finally on our 12 hour flight to London on Virgin, side note, Virgin is the hottest airlines to travel. There was a black light in the bathroom, the food was better then I ever imagined plane food could, and the stewards address you as ‘love’. Heathrow wasn’t very exciting, except for my fabulous goat cheese panini and mango mocktail.
Kenya Airways wasn’t exciting either, except for the fact that 8 hours later we would finally be in Africa. Four days three flights and four time zones later we couldn’t hardly see anymore, but somehow we made it.
I am absolutely in love with Africa. Well...with Kenya at least. It is EXACTLY as I imagined and fancied in my head. Lots of smiling people, lots of animals, and lots of space. Our two group leaders Stan and Dennis are so kind and smart and so helpful. Not even three seconds after leaving the airport, we saw a giraffe.
In Nairobi, the city, it is actually very crowded, even though it looks quite large. We stopped here to get some food, which turned out to be a bad idea...see, we were strictly advised on our eating habits. No veggies, unless they have been peeled, or cooked...so no lettuce, no tomatoes, and no salads. Be shy of dairy and always peal the fruit. Also, only bottled water, and no ice. So I ordered a cheese slider...cheese toasted sandwich, but it came dripping with a mayonnaise like sauce, lettuce, tomatoes...and the cheese was not your typical grilled cheese. But its really okay. Everything we are experiencing is a learning adventure
We then started on our 3 hours drive up to Nakuru, the town that we would be staying in for the week. The vans that we had were old and very rackety, but we felt at home because they were everywhere. The other buses on the road were one of the favorites things I saw all day. They were all very colorful and painted. One was decorated like the scooby doo bus, and another had Tu Pac painted on the back.
As we were driving out of Nairobi, we passed a lot of subherbs with little shops lining the streets and all the housing in the back. Everywhere, no matter where, were people walking, somewhere. In between the towns, it was herders with their cattle, or with their donkeys, but there was also just people walking. We saw zebras, just grazing on the side of the road, along with a lot of donkeys, sheep, goats, and cows.
I was truly loving this, because it is a personal fantasy of mine to have my own goat, a donkey or two, and a lamb. The last hour of the ride however, was short of miserable. The road was very bad and the windows in our car were very load because of the rattling. It was hot, but the dust kept coming into the car.
The hotel is clean and safe. There’s three locks on our doors and the whole place is fenced in with a big brick wall with broken glass on the top of it. Each room has two double beds with a mosquito net. The bathrooms have a toilet and a shower, though when we got here there was no hot water like robin promised. The hotel is a restaurant/club that we also ate dinner at. I have the vegetable curry. Every more moment that I spend here, I feel more comfortable and become more excited.

i am going to kenya with JUMP, fmi visit JUMP's website. Basically my journalism teacher/mentor started this group in 2003 with the vision of giving voiceless children a chance to speak. We are fourunate enough as kids living in america to be able to gather the resouces needed to travel to kenya and meet up with our sister groups in nairobi and mombasa. We are bringin with us video equiptment, computers, and our knowledge of media and giving it to them, and help them create media projects so the rest of the world can hear their stories. this year, our focus is going to be on the AIDS epidemic and creating awareness.

I think that it is very sad what is happening in africa and around the world, even in the US, and nobody seems to know or care about it. But if we can show them what is really happening, it only takes one person with power to stand up, and the rest of them will follow and we can try and make this problem better.

We have been talking with the other groups from mombasa and nairobi and they are just like us, teens who like music and sports and dancing. they seem rteally nice and fun and i think that they are as excited to meet us as we are to meet them. I think the stigma people have is that 'oh yeah, the american kids can teach them so much' but the reality is that, we are so lucky enough for them to be able to teach US. they are smarter then us in some ways and i can't wait to share together.

We are also doing a safari and a bit of travel on our own, which i think is important and exciting on its own as well. I love traveling and i can't wait to shop and eat their food and see all these different things. The more i read about Kenya the more i fall in love with it, it sounds like such a wonderful beautiful and welcoming country.

5 more days. and i already got my shots. :-)

in one week and three days we are heading off to kenya. frankly, all this preperation is making me so nervous. Little things like mosquito nets, sleeping sacks, bug spray and maleria medications are scary, plus thinking about black mumba snakes, traveling three days straight, and brushing my teeth without any water from the sink.

but think about the amazing adventure we are about to embark on (not to mention with one of my closest friends and my most favortie teacher) gets me so excited. i can't wait.