Amboceli

last weekend i had the chance to go to Amboceli National Park . Amboseli lies immediately North West of Mt. Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. Amboseli was established as a reserve in 1968 and gazetted as a National Park in 1974. The Park covers 392 km2, and forms part of the much larger 3,000 Km2 Amboseli ecosystem. Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by 6 communally owned group ranches.

The National Park embodies 5 main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of a pleistocene lake basin, now dry. Within this basin is a temporary lake, Lake Amboseli, that floods during years of heavy rainfall. Amboseli is famous for its big game and its great scenic beauty - the landscape is dominated by Mt. Kilimanjaro.

This was truly an amazing experience, we drove all over the park and found giraffes, hyenas, ostriches and ELEPHANTS!!! the only downside was that the clouds covered the peak of Mt. Kilamanjaro ALL DAY!!!
Oh, and before we entered, we had to stop to pay at the gate and we were bombarded with the Massai people trying to sell us things...i bought a mask, well I traded for it...it's a really nice mask danita...and i'll buy you new sunglasses :) I promise! I LOVE YOU!!!

The Matatu

I think i mentioned before about the Matatu being the most popular form of Public transportation, but in fact i have found that it is private, anyone can start a matatu, i thihnk its kind of lik a franchise??? anyway they all have numbers and depending on the number is where they go, like a public bus. but the thing is there is nothing to tell you their routes, you just have to know. so if i want to go anywhere i have to ask joe, or eunice which Matatu i need to take.

So here's how it works...
To get to the orphanage i have to walk down the street and catch the '135 Matatu,' seems simple right? WRONG! as soon as you go to the stop there are at least 3 matatus which means there a 3 guys crowding around you, trying to convince you to talke their Matatu, when you finally find the right now you have to ask how much it costs (usually it's between 40 and 70 shillings, but you don't really know if they are cheating you becuase you are white so that automatically means you have money so they can shortchange you and you would never know!) then when you know, you crowd into this 12 seater van...only you are on there with anywhere from 12-24 people (seriously, there were 24 people one time, 3 guys were hanging out the door) the entire ride you have to sit squished between at least four other people and try to protect your pockets and belongings at the same time as trying to breate the filthy air and know where you are and how long until you have to get off, because yes, these Matatus have routes, but they only ever stop if you tell the money collector guy...Oh yeah! any paying! somteime during the journey, the guy will ask for the money and you have to give as close to the amount as possible, because like i said before they WILL shortchange you. than as you get off you are trying to squeeze past 18 other people riding and trying not to touch any of them...by the time I get off the Matatu, i am ready for another shower!

I know it sounds really bad, but it is an experience that i don't think anyone should live without :)

Carnivore

Carnivore is probably the Best Restaurant in Nairobi, or at least the most expensive. (approx. $30 a meal) It is a restaurant that serves mainly...meat!it serves anything from chicken to Pork to Crocodile! yes...usually it serves game meat at well: buffalo, Zebra, Lion, Gazelle, etc. However due to too much hunting they are not allowed to serve the game meat anymore, BUT, i was able to try Crocodile and Ostrich meat!\

Anyway last Friday the group of us volunteers went to experience Carnivore
Here's how it works: we go into the restaurant, which is very nice by the way, and there is a HUGE roasting BBQ pit where they cook the meat and when we were sat we ordered the drinks. When the drinks were brought out the meal officially starts. After the soup of the day the servers bring out a bunch of sauces for the different meats and the put a flag at the table. For the rest of the meal different servers come to the tabel with HUGE swords with meat on it and depending on the meat they either slice it off with a huge knife or they slide the pieces off the sword onto your plate. Oh my gosh it was insane! when you have eaten as much as you can you surrender and take down the flag and then they bring you dessert! all of this for $30...it would have cost much more in the states, that's for sure!

The Orphanage

The Riruta Shade Acadamy is located in Kangware outside of Nairobi. To get there i have to take the 135 Matatu for about 30 minutes. Upon reaching Kangware i walk for about 10-15 minutes before reaching the orphanage. At the Orphanage i help in the Classroom for the younger children Ages 3-6. Well, if you could call it helping, i usually sit there while either Vidah or Evelyn teaches, then i might play with the children during playtime and at lunch i eat with the children and then i sit and talk to the women while the children sleep...i feel so bad because i want to do more, but it's like they don't want to give me responsibilities and i don't know how to make them make me do things. I think that as i am there everyday they will have me do more things, yesterday i taught the children a song (popcorn popping) and tommorow i am going to teach them a game...if you have any ideas of what i can do with them please let me know!

The children are so wonderful though, there are twelve in all there is Frederick, Brian, Peter, Odiambo, Amos, Alvin, Jimmy, Omondi, Patience, Virginia, Alex, Robin, Mary, Justin, Michelle, and Renate. the youngest and the oldest are my favorite (the first four and the last four) but they are all so amazing and full of life! I am getting to know them better every day.

This place truly is a place devoted to Christ, the motto is: "Backward: Never, Forward: Yes! to Meet Christ" they pray before classes and each meal. You can definatly feel the spirit, it feels like a safe place for the Children.


Pictures: The Orphanage, Some of the Children with the Color Blast Gum, Justin, the four Oldest Playing with Tops :)

Missionary Work and the Church :)

Although it has happened the most recently, i think that most of you would want to here this story the most :)

My first day at the Orphanage:
the Orphanage is very much at Christian Orphanage. The first day i was there Vidah asked me about my beliefs! Talk about missionary opportunity, she wanted to know all about what i believe! we talked about the Book of Mormon, the Plan of Salvation, the Church Program, Atonement, Jesus Christ, the Trinity and how we believe differently, EVERYTHING! Some of you know this, but Brother Farmer gave me an extra book of Mormon to give when i left, and guess what! first day there and she was so into it, not necessarily a 'baptize me next week' into it, but she really wanted to know what we believed, even now, we still talk about it almost every day and i was able to give the book of Mormon to her...anyway that isn't the story you really want to hear about...

While talking to her, she said that she believed that there was an LDS church building RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD!!! she said that a lot of people stay away from the building and the Missionaries (or rather she said the white men with white shirts, black pants and name tags) because they worship the devil and are believed to be a cult...that is when i knew we had the right people.

Today, i left the house early so that i could wander and find the church...i took the first road i saw and about two minutes walking i saw a white steeple...ten minutes later i found the church, and what do you know!? there were couple missionaries with some of the members that lived close by!!!

I met the bishop, the relief society President, and the young womens president! I also met Jackson, who used to be the bishop (He was bishop for six years and got released three months ago) I also met Frieda who is a 19 year old girl that lives right down the road from the church. Jackson and I started talking, and he is now called as a welfare specialist and he is starting a volunteering company through the church based here in Kenya where students from the U.S. can come and either stay with a member or in a hotel. Then they can travel all over Africa doing service. Right now he has three volunteers in Mombasa. there are over 100 areas in which you can volunteer and by next month they will be on the internet :)


I'll talk more about it later, but honestly i don't feel like i am doing much or helping much at the orphanage, I feel like i should be doing more while i am here. Now Jackson and Frieda are going to help me help. Tomorrow i am going to go with Frieda to a Library that they have set up to help African students get excited about learning, and then hopefully later this week I am going to go the the Hospital with Jackson and help out there! I really feel like this is why i came...I mean, i feel like i am being put in a position to help, and meeting people that will help me progress...

Anyway, the way i met them is because two months ago they took a piece of land right by the church and made it into a community Garden. Now, every morning families go to work in the Garden. It was so wonderful!!! they have only been planting for a month and this is what it looks like!

Pictured: The Garden, and Frieda with a Mushroom

People

In past and future posts i have mentioned and will mention a few people, i am not going to tell you a bit about all the important people i have met, just so you know :)

Gloria and Allison
Gloia and Allison are the first couple of volunteers that i met and they are my roommates. Gloria is 25 years old and an architect from California. Allison is going into her senior year studying Accounting in Syracuse, NY. They met three years ago when they both traced their roots starting in San Fancisco all the way to China. Allison had a couple of weeks free and decided she wanted to teach English in Kenya and asked if anyone wanted to come...Gloria said yes! (I wish someone would have volunteered to come with me :)

Winnie and Jason
Winnie and Jason were the second set of volunteers that i met, They are both from Vancouver B.C. Jason just graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Winnie is currently studying Engineering. Winnie was the initiator in this couple, she wanted to come and jason thought she didn't know what she was getting herself into so he came too...okay, not really, but it was mentioned

Joe, Eunice, and Kevin
Joe is the Volunteering Solutions Coordinator here in Kenya, he is an okay guy, will tell me anything i need to know, and will answer questions if asked, but other than that if he needs something done, or we need help he will hand us over to his assitants Kevin or Eunice.
Eunice is 21 years old, studying education at the University, she is very nice, and very quiet, she has helped a lot in settling down here in Kenya
Kevin i don't know very well he just helped me get home the first day of volunteering at the Orphanage, but he seems like a cool guy, lacks patience with the Matatu's, but really, who doesn't?

Vidah and Evelyn
Vidah and Evelyn are the women who teach at the orphanage, these are the women that i spend the most time with and help to teach the children. They are wonderful hard working people who donate all of their time to the Children. I look up to them Very much
Vidah has two children (one of them goes to school at the orphanage) and lives close by with her husband. She has been teaching at the orphanage for two years
Evelyn also lives close by with her husband and spends ALL of her time at the orphanage helping, she has been there i think Six years! i believe she also has two children.

Sasa Kwa Kenya! (Hello from Kenya)

Friends and Family, just to let you know the last blog WAS courtesy of wikipedia, i can't spend much time on the internet and its REALLY SLOW...i am alive, and i am sorry i can't write everyday but that is life here...i have to take an hour Matatu ride in order to get here and i just can't make it everyday...sorry!
Anyway other that the lack of communication with the ones i love, everything here is AMAZING! i am learning so much everyday and I can't help but falling in love with this place and the people i know i have posted a couple things, but can you believe that was only the first day here!?! and it's been a week! I am going to write as much as i can about the last week and hope you can sort through it all, sorry about the mess...

So the day after my grand Safari I was briefly shown the Orphanage i would be working at and i was taken to be shown Nairobi. Nairobi is the Capital of Kenya and the biggest City. We were shown many Gov't buildings including the Parliment and the courts. however, we couldn't take any pictures because apparently you can get arrested if you take pictures of the gov't buildings. So, i could only take pictures of the Conference center and the statue of the First Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta

To those of you who thought i was going to be staying in a hut in the middle of the Savanna, i am sorry to disappoint. I am actually staying in what Kenyans would call a Mansion, although it is no bigger than an average house in the U.S. it has a porcelain toilet (although it only works half the time) Two burners (that plug in), and a T.V. (that has about five channels)...I am doing laundry by hand and hanging it up to dry, eating mostly rice, beans, and maize with vegetables, i think it's pretty good, but other volunteers don't really like it, like i said internet is rare, and white people are even more so...I wouldn't have it any other way! it gets a bit lonely because I can't really talk to many people. If i could change one thing it would be that i would have brought someone with me. Next time i guess :)