The First 48

My very first blog post about my Great Pan-African Adventure will not include any big, broad strokes about first impressions of Kenya or my grand plans for working here.  I just want to fill my gentle readers in on my big 48 hour adventure that brought me to where I am sitting right now, as of yet unconnected from the internet, listening to goats outside of my window.

Packing and preparing went pretty smoothly, considering how much of a head case I can be about getting ready for big trips like this.  With the help of my family, I got my two perfect 50 lb checked bags and dangerously overstuffed carry-on and back pack to the airport and through security without any issues.  I had tons of time at the airport, so I ate a ridiculously indulgent Japanese meal that I ordered without speaking, from an iPad, and included a chocolate mousse served in a little take-out box made of chocolate and had little Pocky chopsticks.  I picked up a Coke from the store (Share a Coke with Erin!  This is a good sign), hopped on the plane, and promptly fell asleep.  I arrived at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport at 6 am, about 11 pm MN time.  Just short of my first 12 hours. Pretty uneventful. 

I explored the vast airport for a few hours, ate some Dutch breakfast at the urging of Sonia Gloss, who is sort of my grand guide on this whole adventure (and pretty responsible for me ending up in Kenya—keep this in mind if things go wrong).

 I went through security into the glass-walled waiting room about 45 minutes before my flight to be sure I wasn’t late and settled in on the floor.  This is where by far the most distressing part of my journey took place.  You cannot bring water through security, even though I had never left airport security and purchased everything in the airport, so I quickly chugged all my water.  Being thirsty is one of my least favorite things, and I was not about to spend 8 hours begging for tiny cups of water on the plane.  This was clearly a mistake.  The flight was delayed and there was NO BATHROOM in the waiting area.  I endured significant pain and was one of those jerks who pushes to the front of the ticket line to board.  There were a lot of us jerks, actually.  I was not the only person who made a bad choice today.  The flight was about 7.5 and not too interesting.  I ate like a queen.  WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH AIRPLANE FOOD CAUSE IT HAS GOTTEN REALLY GOOD GUYS.  I had a salad and tortellini and bread and butter and cream puffs floating in fluffy pudding and toasted almonds.  Later I had ice cream.  Later I fell into a deep Tylenol P.M. induced sleep and woke up and found food in front of me again.  I ate it.  I do not remember what it was, but I ate it all and it was really tasty.  Somewhere in here I hit 24 hours.  It’s a little hazy.

We got into Nairobi around 9 and I got to do a really movie-esque thing: deplane directly onto the tarmac, via stairs.  There were no paparazzi, but there were people holding signs that said “Passengers in transit.”  I do not know if this was to tell people what we were doing if they somehow (?) wandered into the airport, or instruct us to get on the busses waiting a ways away.  The main airport in Nairobi sort of burned down a few months ago, so a lot of business is now conducted in wedding tents and converted parking ramps.  We seemed to go through immigration in one of these parking ramps, or the original planners did not design the first port of entry with comfort or aesthetics in mind.  Immigration was slow, but I found wifi, so I was happily texting away on my phone for most of it.  I enjoyed watching the mostly German and Dutch tourists who had come to Kenya (KAYNYA) for Safari, and had dressed as though they would be heading straight into the wild from the plane.  A bunch were actually picked up in a gimmicky giant jeep thing that was painted like a zebra.  Customs was a breeze, and I found Dorcas waiting outside with a driver right away.  She was so warm and nice and knew exactly how I felt—as a Heller grad who made this journey (in reverse) for the first time not long ago, she was well aware that I wanted to sleep much more than I wanted to chat.   We drove out to Ongata Rongai in about ½ hour, which was apparently quite the feat—it can stretch out to hours with traffic. 

I got to my room at 11 pm or so, 3 am MN time and I have stopped trying to figure out how long it has been since I left MN.  Let’s all pretend this adds up to 48 hours so I can name the blog post like a TV show.   The building is quiet and clean and devoid of internet.  My room has two beds, tons of storage, and a window looking out on a field.  I was expecting to be in a more urban area, but the building seems to be just on its own on this dirt road.  It could be that this field is confusing me.  I slept really soundly with the sheets I brought, Amy’s giraffe neck pillow as a pillow (thanks!), and the airplane blanket I stole.  Good thing I did that because it got chilly here at night! 

Today I went downstairs for breakfast and the night guard, who was still working was like hey dummy its not day yet, go back to bed.  My body is confused, though, so 7 am was when I woke up.  He made me breakfast anyway, which was tea and donuts.  I was pleased. 

Shift change happened and the lady who works in the kitchen came in.  We talked a little and I learned I have a really hard time with the Kenyan accent. Greeaaaaat.  I tried pronouncing “wifi” and “internet password” many different ways with no success.   She did bring me a mango, though, which was delicious.  Back up to my room and I decided to unpack and get showered up and dressed.  I ordered tea up to my room so I could have boiled water to brush my teeth with and DRINK because I have not had water besides the tea that was waiting for me last night and breakfast tea and did I mention I hate being thirsty?  I am trying really hard not to dwell on this.  Pretty boring morning, with two exceptions:  My bathroom IS A SHOWER.  As in, it looks like a half-bath with just a toilet and sink and then you look up and BAM shower head.  It just pours out over everything and that is kind of fun.  Also, I looked out the window after my shower and the field was filled with hundreds of goats.  Pastoralists!  Right here very very close to the city.  I like the goats, they are my neighbors. 

Note: As of writing I have not figured out how to flush my toilet. 

Note 2: As of 8 days later I have just gotten internet so this is going up well into my trip.