NAKURU

John and I finally arrived in Nakuru around 3 on Monday – it was so good to finally GET here!! bI'd been literally dreaming about working at the IDP camps and now I'm doing it!! Getting to Nakuru was the easy part: John and I grabbed a matatu from Nairobi, waited for 2 hours (are you getting that Kenyans do a lot of waiting?) for it to fill with passengers, and then began our 3 hour drive to Nakuru. Instead of going all the way into down, though, just to take another matatu from town to the IDP camp (20 minutes outside of town), John had the matatu drop me off at a place called East Gate, where he assured me a moto bike would meet me. So, there I sat, the only mzungu in site, next to a highway with 2 duffel bags of stuff. Each matatu that passed (maybe 50) stopped to ask mzungu if she wanted a ride, and every time I'd respond, “sitaki, moto anakuja hapa, asante!” = “don't need it, a motobike's coming, thanks!” Finally another mzungu walked by and looked at me funny saying, “hey mzungu, are you waiting on something? Cause, uh, you're sitting in the middle of nowhere by yourself...” When I clued her in, she said “Oh! You're Jen!!”This mzungu's name is Lucy, another volunteer at the camp through a different organization—there may not be any other Waltz volunteers, but there are 4 (soon to be 5) other volunteers!! AH what a great surprise it was! We went to my new home for the next month and a half and dropped my bags in my new bedroom. At Elizabeth's, I have my own room (there are two beds, though, which means that if another volunteer comes I'll be bunking with someone else), there's a huge living room, electricity, tons of chickens, and delicious food—I'm good. A year ago, or even 8 months ago, I would've walked into the house and thought, “This cannot be where I'm living. Oh my god, there are bugs everywhere, it's blazing hot, there are spiders in my bedroom, there are no bathrooms—this cannot be real.” But it's amazing now how all my standards have changed. Instead, the house is beautifully decorated, I have my own bedroom, and the family is absolutely incredible. Not to mention, it's only a 20 minute walk to camp. THAT might be the best part! It'll be a big change from Nairobi, but it's exactly what I've been wanting. It feels so good to be here. I can tell already that my time here is going to be the most impacting yet. Happy Birthday, Mama Hicks!! I love you and couldn't have done any of this without you! See you in May!!