En Route to Kenya

The week before I left, my family had a sunny farewell sendoff barbecue filled with food, laughter and SushiGo! (it’s a card game that you need to play immediately). I couldn’t be more lucky and blessed to have such great family and friends- I am so deeply touched by everyone’s support and prayers.

If only the distance wasn’t so big.. but our hearts are bigger.

On my way to Kenya, I had a 13 hr flight to Ethiopia. Luckily I had a window seat, and no one sat in the middl. The lady on the aisle seat was reading Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist, which is one of my top favorite books (this was also one of the only three books I brought with me). I was silently freaking out because this book is about fate and destiny, and how if you go after what you truly want, the whole universe conspires with you to make that happen. So maybe this was a basic girl thing of me to be like ohmigosh the universe is sending me this sign!! But I did and it helped cut through the goodbye sadness I was feeling.

I didn’t really sleep that much on the plane cause we left around midday local time and I didn’t want to miss any free food. (Apparently the wine is included). I didn’t see much of Ethiopia but their bathrooms are very clean, and I think their toilets are missing something…

I wish I took pictures of Kenya from the airplane while we landed, but I passed out. Going through customs was quite easy. We were the only arrival flight at the time so crowds weren’t an an issue. There was a man checking your passport quickly to see if they needed proof of Yellow Fever vaccine (I think if you have an Indian passport?), then there was that station where you fill out the customs paper. After that is the part where you go to one of the booths with the customs official where they scan your passport and stuff. I didn’t really have to wait for anything, especially since I went to the consulate in NY to get a visa ahead of time, instead of an eVisa.

Much to my relief, I found my bag on the conveyor belt just as I got out past customs. I was a little nervous because I was checking my United app on my phone to see where my bags were. When I got to DC for my connection, the app said to ask an agent. They said since I switched to Ethiopian Airlines, United doesn’t keep track of it anymore… welp luckily everything worked out.

After I got my suitcase, the customs officer who was checking luggage only asked if I was carrying whiskey and cigarettes. An oddly specific and random pairing, but luckily I wasn’t carrying whiskey and/or cigarettes. The driver my company coordinated to pick my up was waiting for me and off we went. It was around noon local time. So I left 6 am from Raleigh on Friday and arrived on Saturday noon. He had the windows down, and no AC and that day was particularly hot. Plus I was wearing long pants and a jacket. I overdressed mainly cause I didn’t want to attract attention to myself, which ends up being inevitable anyway. Luckily before I was going to ask for some AC, he made a comment about how hot it was and turned up the AC. He said once traffic dies down, we can roll down the windows. BLESSED. The roads from Mombasa to Kilifi (where I’ll be for 2 weeks for training before going to Ukunda) are more dirt than paved. My initial thoughts were that it reminded me a lot of India, at least the parts of Mombasa that I saw. There were heaps of trash on the ground, huts and random local stores, wandering cows. I would’ve taken pictures but I felt self-conscious about it with the local driver next to me. I felt bad enough since it was about an 90 minute car ride and he was trying to make conversation. I’m already prone to sleeping in the car, no matter how short the ride is, but I was also tired from traveling and my eyes kept falling shut.

When we finally made it to Kilifi, you can smell the ocean water and I also noticed more white people. The company put me up in a house where I have 2 girl roommates. The first one I met, G, is from Nairobi and she started not too long before I got there. She cooked me dinner - lentil (some type of green thing?) stew of vegetables and rice, and also took me to the beach which was a 5 minute walk from our house. I live in a quiet area and I’m not too far from a local village and the greenery is so beautiful. When she asked me what brought me here to Kenya and why I left my old job, I reflexively gave her my answer that I’ve used before, “I didn’t want to be a corporate slav--uh” but then cut myself off. Oopsies!

the roads to our house

Kilifi Beach steps from where I'm staying!

The next morning, my first morning in Kenya, and there’s monkeys in the house!!! We found monkeys in our living room due to a hole in our upstairs deck window and we have a small upstairs area for an office setup but we never go up there. I went with G to her bible study thing, and the majority of people there were from our company. Interesting how pervasive religion is here.

Later that day I met our other roommate, A, who is from San Fransisco and here on a fellowship. She went to a neighboring town an hour away for a yoga retreat thing. She, a caucasian girl, went by herself! And she’s ok! Maybe Kenya isn’t that dangerous?

Off to the first day of work!