By eryon180
"Karibu Kenya!" Within a few minutes of arriving in Nairobi, I was met with friendly smiles and a long visa line. With no wifi, cell phone service and the promise that I would be picked up from the airport, I was pretty nervous. My name is Emily and I am studying abroad this semester throughout Kenya! However after a week of being in Nairobi, it is normal to be surprised and definitely confused!
SIT Orientation was held at the Savelberg Retreat Centre which is a religious hostel/convent. We had our own rooms (with mosquito nets!) where we were able to acclimate to the time change and the food before moving to our homestays. Waking up in the morning, I went down to breakfast where we had tea or chai with milk and sugar, and toast with margarine and jam which we learned was the normal breakfast set-up. Later in the week, we got Safaricom phones, changed our money to Kenyan Shillings and ate a lot of sakuma wiki and ugali. This week was incredibly important as we learned about safety and security, diseases and expectations of the program--basic normal orientation stuff. Clean water is very difficult to acquire as the pipes can sometimes be broken and waste can enter the system so we had to brush our teeth with water bottles.
On the first day, we went on a driving tour of the city. One thing to know about the roads in Nairobi, they are hectic drivers! The roads are set up like the British but many of the roads that are treated like two-way streets are one-way and we were frequently met with cars facing us head-on. Driving throughout the city, it was clear to see the blatant contrast between the impoverished and wealthy sections. Our driver took us to the industrial sector where many of the jobs are selling automobile parts and hand-made items like water jugs, wheelbarrows and leather shoes. With so many cars on the road, traffic also happened often. As we sat in the car, people would pass by and shout "Mzungu" which means "open" or "white European" and try to sell us stuff. Honestly, it was very overwhelming to see even the outskirts of the slums area and being unable to help people in such situations. However, it was a necessary shock to experience.
The most incredible part of orientation though was "The Drop Off". Our program director told us that we should take our backpack, phone, a map and a notebook and that we were being "dropped off". Each of us were dropped by ourselves in the city, suppose to talk to three people and come up with two ideas for our research project. I was dropped at the University of Nairobi which is gated and guarded due to the recent Garissa attack. With my student ID, they let me on campus but immediately I saw the contrast between GWU and UNairobi.
The school is very large and is located in the center of the city. However it does not have any liberal arts programs as most departments were education, engineering and economics. I did meet some students studying communications, business administration as well. Inside though, the resources available were minimal and the classrooms looked slightly run-down. Despite this, after reading some textbooks found that the information integrated more global experiences than at home. At first, most people did not want to talk to me or thought I was a tourist, but after speaking in Swahili, the frowns turned upside down and I was met with more "karibus!". Nearby was the Kenyan Cultural Centre where I watched a Luer (one the ethnic groups in Kenya) tribal dance. I learned it was performed during ceremonies especially FGC ceremonies. It made me wonder about embedded cultural practices and whether they still perpetuated human rights issues in modern times.
Today, I will be going to my homestay family. I am nervous but also looking forward to what it will be like. It will definitely be an experience, and I think will be when I finally go through culture shock but I know that my orientation has prepared me for the worst. Orientation and being introduced to the country has also debunked many misconceptions that Americans have about Africa, with Kenyans being pretty similar to everyone back home. While abroad, question everything and jump into your first week open and be ready for anything!