At The Center!

Matatu: a very common mode of transportation in Kenya; typically white 15-passenger vans that carry around 20 people minimum

Finally we got to head to the center!! J Paul had a matatu pick us up at our hotel that morning, so we ate breakfast and then loaded up. We were quite the spectacle on the street with 5 wazungu and about 15 bags getting shoved in the back and through the windows. We were glad to be out of there.

We made a couple stops along the way including:

-       a brick factory (someone at the center wanted to make a pizza oven??)

-       a very pretty waterfall at a place called Bluepost

-       and a small zoo (Kenyan zoos are the best. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the animals and very eager to teach us. He offered to jump in with the crocodiles to show us how the male and female behave differently when provoked…. Which he then did by grabbing their tails. Legit! And he let us take some porcupine quills that were laying on top of their little cave. Winning!)

The sights on the way were amazing!! Between Mount Kenya looming in the distance and people everywhere beside the road carrying huge bundles of sticks on their backs or riding on donkey-drawn carts, I was definitely not bored. Unfortunately, no sightings of lions yet. :/ After miles of rolling green hills, we slowed down to turn on a small side road – we knew we had to be there! We slowed to a stop, and without an explanation Paul jumped out. He waved to us as he closed the door, and we continued on our way…. Alone.

We were lucky our driver knew where we were going, and we were really hoping that maybe he would also know what the heck we were supposed to do once we got there. Unfortunately, he didn’t. We pulled through a blue gate and stopped by a group of kids. They stared at us curiously, and we stared at them terrified. No one was around that looked like they were waiting for us, and none of them seemed to have any idea that we were coming. Ahhh!

But oh well! We just unloaded our stuff and hoped that someone would show up to at least tell us where to take it. While we did, we began introducing ourselves to the kids. I’ll admit that I have no idea who I met then – there were too many new faces and names. Not to mention that as I was grabbing my water bottle from the back of one of the seats I accidentally stabbed myself with my new porcupine quill. Trust me when I say Do Not Mess With Them!! It hurt for a week. After regaining consciousness, I saw that another mzungu was with us! Her name was Alina, and she showed us where we would be staying. (Come to find out, she’s also from K-State! Wooo! Represent.)

After taking our bags to our rooms, we got a tour of the center from some kids. This is when I first met Joshua and Edward. J I guessed that they were around 14 years old. They both hardly talked at all, and I love thinking back to this moment and seeing how much I have gotten to know them.  I had a hunch that Edward was a goofy kid because of the fact that he was wearing a thin pink scarf, and I was definitely right. Now that I know him, he calls himself my personal bodyguard. What’s funny about that is the fact that he is tiny. We always act out slow-motion Kung-Fu fights, and he loves to break dance for me.

We spent the rest of the evening meeting everyone – other volunteers (Penn State is also partnered with the center and sends teams for 3 weeks at the beginning of the summer), more kids, and some staff. They were all so welcoming. And even though we were still clueless on what service project would be taking up our 10 weeks here, we knew we could ask anyone for help. We planned to meet at breakfast with the Penn State advisor, Janelle, to discuss our first assignment, and then went back to our rooms to make ourselves at home.

There wasn’t much unpacking to do as there were no dressers or a closet. The 3 of us girls were staying in an adjoining room with the 7 Penn State girls. Our room was about the same size as theirs, but with only 3 beds.  Red concrete floors with a lot of empty space. Which reminds me about the huge gap in between the wall and the ceiling. As designated “non-wimp” of the team, I had to de-cobweb and de-spider above our beds before we could go to sleep. I even tucked in Bethany and Kenna with a nice barrier of bug spray around their beds.

I also got the bed next to the window. But this wasn’t just any window. The lack of curtains allowed for an excellent view of a dark hallway that was open to the outdoors. And most of the glass had been broken out of it. Basically anyone could look in and probably reach in through the window and almost touch my bed. We were basically sleeping outside. And don’t be confused about Kenya…. It does get cold here!

I still felt safe though, as the door to our room was huge and metal and had a padlock on the inside along with 7 other places for more to go. Which then begged the question of why are there so many locks on our door?? We just chalked it up there with our other questions about our room such as: Why does our hot water heater never seem to heat water? Why won’t our 2 half-sheets ever just stay put on our beds? And Why are our feet dirtier after showering than they were before?

But we lived through it, and had some great times in that room. J We were able to upgrade 2 weeks later, but funnily enough we still seem to be having very similar issues.

Next up: Service Projects & Kids!