Five Days to Go

As my friend Paul said “Just think about it like you’re going away to school and not coming back for Thanksgiving”. (Paul’s going to Ecuador with the SIT program. Because he’s awesome and is into the environment. Hi Paul.)

A lot of people think I am going to be in the middle of the jungle or chilling in a hut for the entire time I’m in Kenya. This is not the case. In fact, Nairobi is a very developed city. They have skyscrapers, banks, paved streets, and camera stores.

It's like Texas!

Sorry about that. I just like the picture. It was found during a google map search of Nairobi. 

But anyway, Nairobi itself seems to be your average city. It’s about 5500 ft above sea level, making it cooler than NY right now. Weather.com reports a pretty consistent high of 70-80 degrees F over the last two weeks. Lows can get into the 50s at night. Furthermore, I am going during the dry season. (There are not four seasons in Kenya. There are two: rainy and dry) Weather wise, I think we’re pretty lucky.

Sometime in September we’ll be leaving Nairobi to go to a village outside of the coastal city of Mombasa. I imagine this will be closer to what most of you are imagining. It will be in a “rural” area and we’ll have class outside. Also at some point we’ll be leaving the country to go to either Uganda or Tanzania.  

Today I said goodbye to my grandparents and my two uncles. The final To Do list was just written up a few minutes ago. Three people today have told me I’m not allowed to pull a Jolie/Pitt and adopt a kid in Kenya (I didn't realize people were worried about this). Tomorrow I also start my first dose of Larium. Now, apparently one of the side effects of this malaria medication is nightmares. Perhaps I’ll started a segment called “My Larium-Induced Nightmare” and relay what I dream. If nothing else interests you on this blog, this should at least. Only if I get nightmares though. Promising you exciting and illusory tales of my epic battle against an army of q-tips hell bent on invading Glatfelter Lodge to steal the sorcerer’s stone almost guarantees I won’t have any.  

Terrifying...