Location: Fairmont Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya
We landed last night at 7:30pm Kenya-time--and I've already lost track of what that is in Michigan-time . . . maybe noon?
On the way to the hotel from the airport (after spending nearly an hour unsuccessfully trying to find one member of our group's bag--she will just have to hope it makes it to the research center somehow), we got a flat tire. The spare turned out to be flat too, but by that time the cars carrying the other students had made it to the hotel and they just came back to pick us up. It was funny because while the driver was trying to change the tire, the Professor J's 4-yr-old son, A, was playing with one of the student's headlamps and put it on strobe and then I figured our how to open the roof hatch of the Land Cruiser and R was kind of freaking out about drawing attention to our vehicle parked on the side of the road. Her fear is founded though, for a while we weren't sure if the trip was going to happen because Kenya was voting on a referendum to their constitution and it wasn't sure how the result would be received and after the 2007 election violence, there was reason to worry. The votes were actually being counted as we drove from the airport and by the time we got to the hotel, the word was out that Kenyans had voted yes on a revised constitution. Not sure what that means yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon.
We finally made it to the hotel at about 11. We had a very late dinner and quickly retreated to our rooms, which were amazing. Everyone in the Country Lodge (half of us were there and the other half at the sister hotel the Fairmont) had their own room with a bed, a desk, tv, sink, and bathroom. The room was seriously bigger than my double dorm room back in Ann Arbor at East Quad. The bed was comfy and the shower was wonderful and hot. I had a brief freak out after I realized I had brushed my teeth with the tap water (I almost started taking Cipro this morning just to make sure I didn't spend my first week in Kenya dealing with parasites and whatnot) but this morning the hotel staff told us their water is treated which I guess means I'm ok--the next 24 hrs will tell.
Breakfast was great: porrige with raisins and brown sugar, waffles and syrup, pineapple, water melon, passion fruit (see photo above), and bacon.
After a long wait in the parking lot--apparently the professors' families were a bit more jet-lagged than the rest of us--we're on the road in the Land Cruisers on the way to Mpala now. It was dark last night so I didn't get to see any of the city but this morning the city is bustling. There are no sidewalks (just dirt paths on either side of the roads) but it looks like everyone walks everywhere--you see men and women in suits plodding along these dirt paths leading up to the concrete walkways up to massive skyscrapers. Also, another thing to get used to, they drive on the left side of the road here--like in the UK. It kind of freaks me out--I keep thinking we're going to hit something or seeing someone really young in what I think is the driver's seat.
Too much going on! Must take pictures!
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