Nairobi, Meru, Maua, Limuru, Nairobi again, and then finally home.

In mid-October, I traveled to Nairobi for the Training Design and Evaluation sessions for the Educational volunteers.  I was excited about having some sort of input in the whole PST experience, but also curious about how much impact that the volunteers would actually have.  Throughout the week, I was pleasantly surprised how involved we were in the nitty gritty details of the PST.  This time around, it will be just the Math/Science and Deaf Education trainees, and the three Math/Science and two Deaf Ed volunteers who were there for the TDE spent nearly the entire day discussing learning objectives, how to set up sessions, how to schedule the sessions, what should happen first, and what went wrong with our PST.  After the end of the four-day session, we tentatively came up with a PST that hopefully would be so much better than the PST in 2008 was.   Even if only half of the things we have scheduled actually went through it would still be five times better than my PST.

An added bonus of going to Nairobi (a city that I continue to not like very much), I got to stay at the Kenya Continental Hotel (the hotel that Peace Corps uses for PC-K related business and the hotel where they keep all the sick people [Nairobi is one of the hubs for Peace Corps Volunteers across Africa to fly to for medical related reasons]), and I got to see several volunteers that I have not seen in a while, and because the hotel is in Westlands, a neighborhood of Nairobi that has a lot of restaurants and options, I blew quite a bit of my moolah (Nairobi is really, really, really expensive on a Peace Corps budget) for some fantastic sushi, pizza, Indian, and of course, a good ole bacon cheeseburger (although, Nate and Mel, the bacon in no shape or form as good as yours, so you better save up some for me!).

At the conclusion of the TDE, I was ready to head out of Nairobi, and because I was due back in Limuru, a short distance from Nairobi the following week, I decided to add onto my trip by visiting Alyssa and Matt in Meru and Maua.  I got in the matatu from Westlands and weaved the traffic, hoping that I would make it to city center in time to catch the matatu so it would arrive in Meru before dark.  Lady Luck was on my side, as the matatu left just before the deadline I set for myself.  I found myself speeding off up north.  I have heard crazy stories of matatu drivers driving very fast, swerving all over the place, on a variety of drugs, most likely mirra, a plant that releases a some sort of stimulant if you chew it – Meru and Maua has mirra trees galore, so it’s a big thing up north.  Anyway, the matatu I got on wasn’t as bad as I expected, and without incident, I got into Meru. 

Meru is a nice sized town, and after eating out with Alyssa, we went to her school and the next day, she showed me around a bit.  The layout of Alyssa’s house is a carbon copy of my house, so it was really weird to see how she has it all set up compared to the way I set up mine.  Her school is gorgeous, has a gorgeous library, and I enjoyed myself spending time with her and some of her students.  Alyssa and I decided to look through the Karibu Jikoni cookbook (the book that saved lives of numerous PCVs and RPCVs – I have talked with several RPCVs that continues to use this book, and I know for a fact that I would probably use that cookbook for the rest of my life), and look up for some recipes we wanted to try, and we ended up making amazing chili and chocolate chip cheesecake along with some wine.  Needless to say, I enjoyed Meru. 

After two relaxing days with Alyssa, I went up to Maua, and met Matt on the side of the road and then went into his school.  Matt’s school is on a crest of a hill, on a nice day, giving you gorgeous views of the hillsides of Kenya.  Matt and I walked around the school, meeting some of his students, and talked about his library project (which by the way if you want to donate to, go here to check out the Harambee Project, and donate!).  I met his adorable students, talked with every class about life beyond class 8, and then Matt and I walked around the school through the village, and it was a gorgeous walk, with a couple of rainbows, and beautiful vistas.  We also went to Maua for dinner and a couple of other errands.  Regardless of the rain and cold, I loved every minute I was at Maua as well. 

On Kenyatta Day, another PCV from the Maua area and I went back to Nairobi to catch a matatu to Limuru for the VAC meeting with the new Country Director.  While Meru was pretty cold, Maua even colder, Limuru was insanely cold.  Okay it’s probably not as cold as the northern part of the States during winter, but it was insanely cold to my body, used to the hot and humid Coast.  Limuru, where they provide hot water bottles for bedtime, where I sat in my room, taking complete advantage of the wifi provided at the hotel wrapped in several blankets, reminding myself of my first winter break during college back at home, parking my butt in the front of the computer and chatting away with friends on IM wrapped in blankets until the wee hours of the night. The new Country Director was different from the old one, and I look forward to working with him – he (along with the old CD) clearly loved Peace Corps, what it represents and seems to be a good person to help rebuild PC-Kenya as it continues to need some rebuilding after the evacuation. 

After Limuru, I headed back to Nairobi for one night because of the night travel restrictions of Peace Corps, and by that point, I was exhausted and completely ready to be home.  I traveled on the night train, which was really charming, sweet, and 21 hours instead of 12.  Words of advice, if you all want to travel to Mombasa from Nairobi on a vacation, fly.

It’s grand to travel, but it’s also good to be home.