A New Chapter!

This far, the trip has been a vacation for me. I've visited all the tourist sites in Istanbul, met most of my family members, eaten some ahhhhmazing food and just been in awe of how different life is in Africa from the U.S. We arrived in Kisumu yesterday. Kisumu is a small town just a 35 minute flight away from Nairobi, on Lake Victoria. Upon arriving, my uncle Amin picked us up. We were taken on a dirt road to downtown (where there were paved roads) and shown the original bakery where the family first started growing in business. Just a 5 minute walk away is the hotel where I am staying at. Kisumu has a very different vibe from Dar, Nairobi or even Zanzibar. It reminds me of home. And by home, I mean Temple, Texas. Everyone knows everyone. Everything is very close by. And the town is a place with a huge emphasis on community. The room that I actually have in the hotel is an apartment.

That's my living area. 

My bedroom. As you can see, I still haven't organized everything...hehe. 

And my kitchen. Complete with a view of part of the town! 

I also have a balcony, shower room and bathroom. It's pretty nice! We spent the rest of the day getting situated. Then we went for dinner with Munira and Amin (y'all. I am going to gain so much weight here! The food is just too good!). After that it was pretty uneventful. But yesterday was when all the real work started!! I met with Munira in her office and we started discussing options about what my goals and plans were for the rest of my stay here. I told her I wanted to volunteer for sure, gain experience in the workplace and just learn how to live on my own. She told me that just last week the Women's Ismaili Group had donated books to the Aga Khan Secondary school library but that they needed help setting up the library. Right away, I got excited! I wanted to help as much as I could. So yesterday we went a visited the headmistress. She was very happy to see us and along with helping the librarian, I will be teaching English in return for learning Swahili!!! The kids I am working with are actually in high school but we also went to visit the nursery. The headmistress there also wants me to help out and so after I am done at the secondary school I am going to be helping out in the nursery!! And then from there I can decide what I want to do! I am so excited!! This is the beginning of the rest of the trip! After visiting all the schools, we went for chai at Massi and Mammi's house. (Amin's parents). The table was full of food! And the chai! First class!! Then dad and I had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. I ordered the chicken poussin. Which is a traditional dish here. 

That's what a real 1/2 chicken looks like y'all. Steroid free! But I've just woken up. It's about 8:20. And today I will be spending the day at the school. Wish me luck!! Ahhhh!!!