From August 11th until the 18th, I was at orientation in Akron Pennsylvania with about 60 other SALTers. The week was filled with sessions on how to live in a foreign country and on what MCC's greater mission is beyond just the SALT program. Outside of the sessions, it was a lot of fun hearing about where everyone else was going and what they would be doing. However, the best part was probably getting to meet all the IVEPers at the same orientation. IVEP is like the opposite of the SALT program. Instead of sending young adults from the U.S. and Canada to the rest of the world, it brings young adults from around the world to the U.S. or Canada for a year. I think the defining moment of the week was the night we had a birthday party for one of the other SALTer's. It eventually turned into a dance party where everyone taught everyone else a dance from their home country. It was surprising how close we all became after just one week, and when it was time to leave it was both exciting and sad.
On the morning of the 18th, Ben Stucky and I left for Kenya. We had a very interesting trip. Our planned trip was to fly from Harrisburg Pennsylvania to Washington D.C. to Zurich, and then to Nairobi. However, United Airlines initially wouldn't let us check-in in Harrisburg. They wouldn't let us check in, because our return tickets were not for within three months. (return tickets are fake tickets that say we will be coming back on a certain date, so that United Airlines is not liable for us arriving in Kenya without a long-term VISA. We needed these, since we weren't getting our work VISA's until we were in Kenya.) We called MCC, and in about 20min, they had gotten us set up with a new "return flight" for early September. United Airlines accepted that, and luckily our first flight had been delayed about an hour, so we were able to make the flight. Then, in D.C., it started storming right after we boarded for the flight to Zurich, so we sat in the Airplane for 4 hours. This meant we missed our flight in Zurich. When we got to Zurich, we went to the transfer desk, and they were able to book us on a flight leaving for Istanbul in 40min, followed by a flight to Nairobi. We made the flight, and in Istanbul bought a phone card for the pay phone to call MCC headquarters and have them tell the MCC Representative in Kenya we would be arriving at 1am. We had trouble with the phone since it was all in Turkish, and then just as they began boarding, we got help from a man who didn't speak english, and were able to talk with MCC. Then we landed in Nairobi around 1am, and got our temporary VISA's around 2am. In the end, I think it was all worth it, because flying Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Nairobi, meant we got grippy socks to wear on the plane and keep, haha.
We have now been in Nairobi, Kenya for almost a week. We started Swahili language classes on Monday and have them for five hours a day for two weeks. It is a lot of information to absorb, but I think Ben and I are doing ok. We are now able to translate some signs on stores, and hopefully we will be able to have some very, very basic conversations in Swahili in not too long. Also, I think living with a host family should really help us each improve our Swahili throughout the year. After studying Swahili, we have spent most of our time trying to figure out the bus system here. The buses have specific stops, but sometimes take different routes to get there, so Ben and I often wonder if we are going in the right direction. The buses can also be a lot of fun though. They are usually blasting the radio, and are always a little hectic. We have definitely had some failures as we try to learn the system (for example: getting off the bus at the wrong time or just getting on the wrong bus) but most people have been really friendly and helpful.
That's all for now. I might post again next week, otherwise my next post will be from Migori after I have started teaching.
Grippy socks. Mmmmmmmm.
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