Moved Into A New Apartment

Note that the title of this blog post is meant to be sung to the tune of "The Old Apartment" by the Barenaked Ladies!

It’s official - I have new digs in Kenya.  I made the move to a new apartment a few weeks ago - kind of a hectic time to be moving, considering I had to move the day I left for my big trip across the United States for the Convening.  Of course, “move in” is a loose term as it really amounted to me frantically throwing things in bags and depositing them right inside the door of my new apartment, then rushing off to the airport with Vicky.   Seemed like a reasonable way of achieving the goal at the time (after all, I had to get it done before I left, since my old apartment was already rented to someone else), but walking in to that mess wasn’t the best way to reduce my stress level when I arrived back from the trip.

Nonetheless, I am settled in now and really enjoying the new place.  The apartment itself is definitely much nicer - it has hardwood floors, more closet space, two bathrooms, and a (tiny) outdoor patio.  In addition, the amenities are great - there is a gym right in the complex, a pool, and a shared outdoor area with tables, chairs, and umbrellas.  Plus, Vicky and Emma (who are my two closest pals here) live in the complex as well, so there’s always someone cooking dinner...and it’s usually not me!  The only downside is that it’s a bit further away from the shops and restaurants - what used to be a 5-10 minute walk is more like 20-25, which means we need to call cars more often, which means a bit more coordination/pre-planning when we want to go places.  This is a little frustrating to me, because in the States, I’m so used to getting in my car and going when and where I want - it makes me feel claustrophobic to have to “plan” how I’m going to get out and about.  But, I am MUCH more used to this than when I first arrived, so it’s definitely not as big of a deal as it would have been five months ago.  Having the gym right here will also help me stay on track with my recommitment to fitness, and since Vicky and I have no official workspace, it’s great to have a bit nicer “office” (complete with poolside seating, of which we take full advantage!)

The other amazing thing about this complex?  There’s a turtle that lives in the common outdoor space!  That little bugger is FAST - sometimes we’ll see him on one side of the garden, then what seems like 5 minutes later, he’s on the other side!  He drinks from the pool and often sleeps under Vicky’s window...sometimes she can hear him shuffling around at night.  Hilarious. We’re trying to decide what to name him - suggestions welcome!

Below are some pics of the new place - it’s definitely first class!

My bedroom - note all the pictures of friends and family - and the American football!  I'm not having much luck convincing everyone here how great football is - but I'm not giving up yet!

One of the two bathrooms, but the only one that has a shower (the one in my room has a tub).  Scarily, the shower door has a lock that flashes 'vacant' or 'occupied' depending on the position.  Since the door is clear, it's pretty easy to tell if it's occupied or not!

Kitchen - outside is a small second patio with a washing machine, sink and drying rack (still no dryer - I miss those!)

Family room, with sitting area behind

The (tiny) patio - but it's definitely an improvement over the (no) patio of my last place

Views from my bedroom window/the patio

Outside of the complex - I'm the second floor in the back building.  That's the gym on the first floor (with the windows), so I walk by it every day. Now I really have NO excuses to not run!

Photos of the outside sitting area - also known as our new 'office'.  Quite lovely!

Last but not least, the office "pet".  He's a turtle (or as Emma insists, a tortoise).  His name is Tarquin (which is VERY British, and given to him by Emma) but I call him "Bear" for short. 

Stateside

Whew, I’m jet lagged, yet as excited as ever - Vicky and I just got back to Kenya after an amazing trip around the USA.  When we started this phase back in February, one of the foundations that provide the funding for our project offered to hold a Convening for us in Seattle in late March.  The very fact that they offered to host a Convening is a big deal - I wasn’t aware, but apparently Convenings are held for big initiatives that they think will become major implementations - it’s a way to get key experts and project stakeholders together to discuss the progress made to date and agree on the path forward.  For Vicky and me, it was a chance to bounce all the ideas we’ve been working on since November against some really great brains/experts in this sector, and continue to build on the momentum that has become the WIND project.  Another neat aspect was that the foundation also flew in some of our key Kenyan stakeholders - it was a great way for them to get to experience some of my culture, since I’ve been living in theirs for the past five months.  It was good to play “hostess” for them - a little bit odd, as I could see many of them were way out of their comfort zones -  makes me realize how much of a “fish out of water” I was when I first came to Kenya!  The Convening went very well - there were definitely some contentious parts, as there are things that some of these partners fundamentally disagree on, but by the end, everyone in the room had optimism that we can come to a model and solution that is going to be beneficial for everyone.

We were away from Kenya for a total of 10 days - we first stopped in NYC to do a presentation on our project to one of our other donors.  We got to spend the weekend in the city - I took the opportunity to watch a LOT of college basketball and catch up with some friends.  Then it was off to Seattle and the Convening - it was my first time to Seattle, and I’ll definitely be going back!  I didn’t get to experience much of the city (we spent most of the time working), but I enjoyed what I did see and I also appreciated the opportunity to meet some of our project sponsors face to face (it might sound strange, but most of these folks we’ve only worked with remotely up until now, so in my mind, they were headless voices coming from a speakerphone!).  After the Convening, I got a few days “leave” in Dallas, which was great.  Being far away makes me really appreciate the time that I do get to spend with my family and friends.  There’s nothing like going home.  Then it was back to Nairobi via Heathrow - and of course, I bumped into Miss Vicky Easterbrook in the security line - she was looking a bit flustered, as she had overslept (by this time it was Sunday morning in the UK) and just barely made it to the airport for our flight!  Thereafter began our quest to find her a shower in the BA lounge - the hijinks never seem to end with the two of us.

We’re back now and staring down the belly of a very busy week - the trip was amazing, and we gained so much good input, but as is often the case when traveling and in meetings, not much actual work gets done, so we have a bit to catch up on.  But, I’m feeling recharged and encouraged by all the positive feedback we received, and am ready to put pen to paper!

Life in Nairobi

Since starting this new phase of work, I’ve been doing a lot more Nairobi-based activities.  This is partially because now that I have been in Kenya awhile, I’ve done a lot of the ‘easy’ weekend getaways, and partly because work has been busy - it’s been a bit much to have big weeks AND try to get away on the weekends.

However, one does not need to get out of Nairobi to have fun - not by a long shot.  I’ve put together some short synopsis of some of the events my friends and I have been up to lately, and included photos where I could.  Hopefully this gives you some insight into my “normal” Nairobi life:

Black Diamond Dancing - Black Diamond is the name of one of the local bars/clubs in Westlands, which is the area where my apartment is.  There is karaoke in Black Diamond every Tuesday night, and once that is over, they start playing a really good mix of Kenyan and “western” hip hop and dance songs.  It’s always a blast, and whenever we go, we end up staying out wayyyy too late.  With all this fun going on, Wednesday mornings can be a bit painful.  Karaoke here is hilarious - the Kenyans seem to have a penchant for very slow love songs, while our group tends to the “Ice Ice Baby” or “Semi-Charmed Life” types of songs.  It’s an eclectic mix, that’s for sure!

Blankets and Wine - this is a music event that happens the first Sunday of every month.  Basically, a new venue is chosen each time, and African artists from Kenya and the surrounding countries are booked to perform.  They set up tents for shade, and sell food and wine, plus have play areas for kids.  It’s a very “ex-pat” thing to do, but the music is great, and it’s a wonderful, relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I’ve only been once, but the music was awesome, and I’ll definitely be going again if I can!

Pancake Day - In the States, we celebrate Fat Tuesday (the day before the start of Lent) with Mardi Gras, parades and beads.  Apparently in England, Fat Tuesday is known as Pancake Day - everyone gorges themselves on pancakes (what we Americans would call crepes).  As most everyone knows, I love any excuse to eat pancakes.  So, we invited some folks over and cooked pancakes (both the American and the English versions).  I was a little worried about how they would turn out - purchasing ingredients here is a bit of a “luck of the draw” situation, and I wasn’t sure if the altitude would affect them.  Turns out my fears were for naught - the first batch of English pancakes was a bit of a disaster (who knew what a difference leaving out an egg would make) but we recovered nicely and had a great meal.  There were even chocolate chips (semi-sweet, of course) for the American pancakes.  Nothing says happiness like breakfast foods.

St. Patrick’s Day - I’m slowly starting to learn that not everyone goes as crazy about St. Patrick’s Day as Americans.  Green beer, and wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, while perfectly natural to me, is looked upon by my (mostly English) friends here as...well...weird.  This year, I had two St. Patrick’s day celebrations - the first was on the actual date and was kicked off by our own homemade green beer (thanks to Laura the Legend who went out to procure Tusker and green food coloring).  It was VIOLENTLY green - I was the only one who really drank it, but I loved it!  We went out to an “Irish” bar with live music and “Irish” specials (not very Irish at all...but they did have Irish Car Bombs on special) and finished the night out at Black Diamond.  Then on Saturday night, we went to a St. Patrick’s Day Ball put on by the Irish Society of Kenya.  It was held at the Hilton downtown, and it was a very hoity toity event.  Black tie, and your ticket got you a sit down meal, plus lots of drinks and dancing.  Since it was more of a mature crowd, the “disco” portion of the evening started out tamer (think Fleetwood Mac and Don McLean) but quickly transitioned into the “music of today” as the younger crowd took over the dance floor.  I have to admit, it was a great time - really fun to get all dressed up for a change, especially when our lack of an office means I spend a lot of time in gym clothes.

That’s just the high level overview - there are dinners, and brunches, and events I could go on and on about.  There’s something happening just about every day, should one fancy it - I never lack for social things to do here!

Out and about on St. Patrick's Day!  Notice how I'm pretty much the only one wearing green - except Lidia, who pulled out her Ireland football jersey in honor of the day...and of course, we're all doing the infamous bear claw...my legacy in Kenya.

Blankets and wine...a relaxing way to spend a Sunday..thank goodness for the shade though...it was HOT!

Pancake Day!  This is the second batch of English pancakes...the one where we actually put all of the right ingredients in the mixture!

Black Diamond karoke - and we were joined on stage by a special guest star :)  I think at this point we were singing Backstreet Boys - much to the amusement of the Kenya crowd.

All dressed up for the St Patrick's Day ball!