April 30th, 2010
2:09 AM Pacific Time
9:09 AM Nairobi Time
Right now, I’m at the Amsterdam airport after what seemed like a 30 hour flight. At one point, there was enough turbulence to make me think I was on a Disney roller coaster ride. The crying babies I mentioned earlier happened to be surrounding me on the plane. I was right in the middle of the Bermuda triangle of crying infants. Luckily the flight serves free beer.
The food, surprisingly enough, was outstanding. At first glance, it looked like something Neal Armstrong would have eaten on the Moon, but after a spoonful of airport beef, it was delicious.
See? The box wasn't lying
The Amsterdam airport is extremely easy to navigate around. Imagine the shape of a boomerang, and that’s pretty much what it is built like. For someone who usually gets lost in a Wal-Mart, this was a blessing.
9:54 AM
Found my gate, D03. My flight doesn’t board for another 36 minutes.
I asked a Kenyan man who was reading the newspaper if this was the right gate. He smiled, and told me I made it to the right place. No Fiji for me.
The Kenyan Man, named Elijah, told me some advice when I’m in Kenya so I don’t get kidnapped to Tanzania. It was very helpful. One of his most important piece of advice was, whatever you do, do not ride the Matutu’s after the sun goes down. I held back the question if there’s vampires and asked the more general question: why not? Apparently that’s when tourists get robbed blindly, and on the occasional time, get kidnapped. I didn’t need to write that piece of advice down. In case you’re wondering, a Matutu is a bus which is privately operated. Nairobi has hundreds that travel the main roads which pick people up whenever you are. For a cheap price, you can get from A to B easily, as long as you overlook the whole mugging factor.
Elijah was more than helpful. He talked about his three kids, his home in Texas, why he immigrated to the States, and some language tips. We exchanged numbers in case I needed any help. What a friendly guy.
10:11 AM
Well my laptop battery just gave me the middle finger and told me it has 5 minutes of battery life left. See you guys in Nairobi.
10:24 PM
The second flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was actually longer than Toronto to Holland. Good news though, the flights are OVER! Thank god. Luckily, I found a camera store that sold chargers, so that’s all solved. However, I quickly checked my cell phone texts and realized I left my shaver at home too. If I could grow a beard, that would have been a problem.
Arriving in Nairobi was surreal. As the plane was landing, the sun was setting, igniting the entire sky with an orange and yellow hue. It wasn’t as epic as one you would see in the final scene in The Last Crusade, but it was up there.
The airport is extremely small, with what seems like no air conditioning. The two friends I made on the flight (one 19 year old Canadian girl, who lived in Japan and then moved to Tanzania, named Cohl, (pronounced ‘Cole’), and another American who looks exactly like Erin from The Office (and oddly enough, acts like her too). They both stood with me in the customs and VISA line, as it moved super slowly. Like the Toronto customs experience, all went well. The guard who was supposed to be checking if I was bringing in illegal substances was telling me jokes about Kenyan life. What particularly made me happy was the visa price was only 25 USD and was easy to get compared to the 40 Canadian dollars if I got it back home.
I said my goodbyes to my newly made minute friends, struggled with my extremely heavy luggage, and started my prayers that some Kenyan will have my name on a sign in the international arrivals. When I walked out to the arrivals, there were hundreds of people with signs. It almost felt like a protest, but instead of political slurs, there were names of various travelers. I stood in the middle of the gate and quickly scanned the crowd, looking for my name. My first glance around the mob ended with no success. My stomach dropped a little as I did a re-scan, squinting more closely at all the Kenyan drivers. Finally, I spotted my name in the very corner with friendly looking gentlemen, holding a sign with my name along with 4 other names below it. I heaved my 80 pounds of luggage over to the man and introduced myself, along with a subtle sigh of relief. The man, whose name is either Tony or Anthony, gave me a welcome note and told me to wait over by the exit. Easy does it.
10:44 PM
I waited for about 15 minutes before the four other volunteers emerged from the gates. The first volunteer was a Vancouver born 21 year old girl, who was doing the same program as I am (orphanage). She goes to Charlton University in Ottawa, taking journalism. She also happens to love soccer. In fact, she loves soccer so much; it pays for her University fees. Lucky.
We chit-chatted very briefly before the next volunteer arrived. This time, she was a Vancouver born 25 year old, who was spotting a Canucks t-shirt. She is going to be volunteering in the DPI camp, which was the program I originally wanted but was too young to get in. Judging by her virtue, she seems very cool. Not only did she attend the 2010 games as a volunteer, but she is traveling around Africa after her placement to further help out the people. Mother Teresa would be impressed.
Finally the last two arrived. Both are male and from Ohio. Their working with the AIDS program and trying to document everything with the purpose of bringing awareness back to the States. They seemed alright, despite them immediately cracking brainless jokes about the people they sat beside in their flight. I’m pretty sure they are a couple though, as one of them was reading Roses for Dummies, not like there’s anything wrong with that.
We all made our way across the parking lot and loaded our luggage in a convertible Dodge Caravan. The way in which the cars were parked in the parking lot kind of looked like what scrambled eggs look like in a frying pan. There seemed like there was no cohesive order, yet people were getting around alright.
I had no idea where we were heading. The introductory note said we were either staying with a host family or a hotel during the 2 day orientation. Seeing in how it was already 11:00 PM, I didn’t really want to go to a host family. However, that’s exactly where we were going after Tony or Anthony informed us about halfway into the drive.
10:52 PM
I’ve seen some pretty crazy drivers in my time. From watching Belgium’s drive across sidewalks to any of those intense COPS road chases you see on TV. But driving in the streets of Nairobi is utterly insane. We were waiting in some traffic when all sudden a bus and three taxi drivers drove past us on the side boulevard, dodging trees and ditches. Apparently, you can create your own roads here. One of the Americans asked Tony or Anthony if there are a lot of road collisions, which he replied in broken English, “of course not! Everyone drives with the same insanity”. I counted three stalled vehicles on the way, with one poor Toyota being stuck in a covert gap. What I didn’t count? Traffic lights… there are hardly any! And for the few that we did see, Tony or Anthony drove right through, even though it was red. Insurance here must cost an arm and a leg.
11:22 PM
We arrived in a Suburb of Nairobi at our temporary accommodation. A Kenyan woman named Virginia greeted us and helped me move my luggage inside. Walking inside, the house was very cosy. It had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and everything modern an average North American house would have. Virginia said she had to leave for an hour and told us to make ourselves at home (she spoke almost perfect English). It was kind of awkward once she left, seeing in how there were 5 white North American strangers, staying in an empty Kenyan house. It was kind of like the potential first episode of RealWorld: Nairobi.
Still waiting to hear back from MTV
11:56 PM
Virginia returned with bread and tea that tasted fantastic.
The two Americans and I shared a single bedroom, while the two girls stayed in the master bedroom. I took my Malaria pill and tried my best to go to bed, despite feeling awake enough to run 20 kilometres.
List of Thing’s I Forgot
- 1. Camera Charger
- 30 days worth of Socks
- Shaver
