Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?

After a fun filled Christmas vacation in the States, I’m officially back in Kenya.  I was struck by how much easier it was this time around - Nairobi is starting to feel like “home”.  It’s the little things - like when I got off the plane, I was met by Peter, my driver, for my ride to the apartments.  When I first arrived in November, Peter was a stranger - now we’re friends, and he greeted me as such.  When I went to the gym yesterday morning, the staff all welcomed me back, asking where I had been and filling me in on events since I’ve been away.  Even the security guards at the Sarit Center Mall (which is where the gym is located, so I see and chat with them every day) stopped me to say hello, happy new year, ask where I’d been and the like.  Of course, it was wonderful to see my Accenture and Nairobi friends as well...the “intense” nature of ADP projects means that you build friendships very quickly.  It’s kind of what I think sleepaway camp must be like - you are thrown into a new situation, spend all your time with a relatively small group of people, and as a result become really close really quickly.   All of these relationships really make you feel like you belong in a place - I’m slowly realizing that this is the first “local” project I’ve had in my career - even though it’s far from home, it’s the first chance I’ve had to establish a living and working community in the same place.  Funny that I had to come halfway across the world to do it!

I’ve had some questions about the area around my apartment.  My neighborhood is called Westlands, and it’s one of the more affluent areas of Nairobi.  Many ex-pats live here, along with young professionals.  There are lots of restaurants within walking distance (which is really nice considering security concerns limit mobility here) and two malls (Sarit Center and Westgate).  There are a few photos below - I’m aware that the area probably looks pretty “rough” as compared to the USA, but it’s definitely posh for a developing country!

This is the outside of the apartment complex - as you can see, it's a lovely (and BRIGHT) shade of green.  There are two buildings that face each other.  The building next door is currently under construction, and the banging starts nice and early.  It's usually pretty easy to ignore - however, there were a couple of nights back in December when the crew was JACKHAMMERING between 2 and 4 in the morning.  That was a little upsetting - thank goodness it stopped!

The gate to our apartment - and the building across the street.  The guards have to check all people and cars that enter - standard procedure here.

 My apartment is on the second floor - the windows on the two right columns!

This is an ariel view of Sarit Center.  This mall is where the gym is - although "gym" is a very loose term - there are probably only about 20 cardio machines total, but there is a decent weight room, they offer some classes, and there is a pool on the roof.  It's definitely better than nothing - but it's quite expensive, because these types of services just aren't widely available in Nairobi.

School Lane - this is the road our apartment complex is on...Vicky was very kind and posed for a photo on our way to our "office" (aka Art Caffe at Westgate Mall).  As you can see, no sidewalks - we walk along the side of the road.  The more "major" roads tend to have sidewalks, but you still have to watch out for the random holes that seem to crop up everywhere.  The red dirt means that everything gets pretty dusty/dirty.  I'm constantly having to remember to look for cars coming from the "wrong" direction!

This is Westgate Mall - one of the posher malls in Narobi.  It has lots of shops, a food court, and movie theater. I couldn't get very close to take this photo - they do not like you taking pictures of the buildings, due to security concerns.  But, if you look closely, you can see the umbrellas on the first floor behind the trees - that is the outdoor section of Art Caffe, which is one of our preferred places to work!