The long road to Meru...

Jambo, loyal readers (all three of you)!

We made the six-hour journey by van to Meru today! Meru is the village where BLISS (the secondary school we're teaching at) is located. We woke up early for a great breakfast back in Nairobi and gathered in the waiting area until our vans arrived. In the lobby of the guest house in Nairobi, we were surprised to hear the familiar sounds of Christmas music coming through the overhead speaker. None of us are quite sure why, but maybe Kenyans are just always in the Christmas spirit!

The ride to Meru was interesting, eye-opening, and amazing-- I finally processed the fact that none of this is a trip to a tacky African-themed amusement park or a bizarrely realistic viewing of a National Geographic documentary. This is real life, these are real people, and my eyes are actually seeing these sights. As we drove through village after village, I couldn't help but feel like an outsider. After all, as an abnormally pale young American, I don't exactly blend into the crowd here in Africa. Every time we passed through a crowd (nearly everyone in every village was outdoors, tending to their fruit stand, feeding their animals, or simply walking around), people would notice our van full of strangers and stare. I wasn't sure how to react, so I simply smiled or looked away if the staring became uneasy. This was a new sensation for me, but I completely understand the fact that we are new faces to people here, and their staring is completely warranted. Any awkwardness was made up for by the small schoolchildren we saw on the way here. Groups of four or five children would intermittently appear next to our van, all of them dressed in matching school uniforms-- many of them held hands or wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders. Some of the younger ones waved at us as we passed, and this was enough to make the entire six-hour trip worthwhile.

We stopped for lunch in Embu at a charming little restaurant. The people there were friendly, kind, and helpful-- this has been the case for most of the Kenyans I've interacted with so far. After lunch, we piled into our vans and finished the journey to Meru... and I can't say I was sad to get out of that van. Did I mention that there are virtually no rules regarding driving here? Well, I'll say it now: there are virtually no rules regarding driving here. It's kind of a free-for-all, which makes for an exciting but moderately scary long-distance car ride. We got to the Thiiri Centre (an arts and cultural guest house/facility) around 6 pm, and we were greeted by many friendly faces. Dinner was spaghetti (that's traditional Kenyan food, right?) with spinach and oranges right from the local gardens. I can't say enough about the beauty of this place! Thriving greenery countered by fog-clouded mountains in the distance, as well as the occasional patch of open grass and bright red soil. Pictures will never do it justice.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day because we are finally meeting the students at BLISS. Each of us is expected to introduce ourselves to the group of 100+ Kenyan students directly following their daily opening ceremonies. I'm nervous, but I know this is the beginning of something wonderful. However, school starts EARLY (at least by college student standards... 8 in the morning), so I should shower and hop into bed. Until next time!

Village we passed through on the way to Meru.

View from my room here at the Thiiri Centre in Meru.