Into the swing of things now!

Wow, what a week and a bit! I feel like a lot happened and I'm really starting to feel at home here.

Ran into the pesky monkeys again - this time causing mischief at the UN Habitat trade show.


It's like they've never seen a table cloths before! ;-)

Socially it was a very good week for me. I had my first night out with my French flatmate and friends! Pretty cool Nairobi bar in Westlands, K1, where we drank beer/cider and watched the footy.

As a new hire you're required to go to at least one security briefing so I went on Friday but due to technical difficulties it ended up being more like a networking event for newbies and I met some very nice people including one particularly friendly girl name Ruth.

 The weekend brought Friday night drinks and dinner out with my American flatmate. Appetizers at Art Caffe followed by sushi at Ocean Basket at the Oval. Do I sound like I'm starting to find my way around Nairobi?!

A bit of rain didn't stop me from shopping (once again, what was I thinking bringing only one suitcase for 6 months?)!

Rockin' the wellies

Saturday afternoon and evening was an amazing bbq at the home of long lost family! It was awesome to catch up with Pattie and Gisele (and her fiancé and two gorgeous daughters) - I haven't seen them in YEARS but they made me feel very welcome. I also got to meet a whole bunch of new UN friends.Those guys are a blast. The seafood was seriously delicious! Beautiful family, home ,and job...living the life!

The family and the seafood extravaganza

Sunday brought my first trip outside of Nairobi! It was a work retreat to Lake Naivasha. I still have yet to get used to the concept of being on time here (or lack there of)....showed up at 11am as requested and we eventually left at 12:30pm! The drive really took me back to my trip two years ago, such a beautiful country full of character and colour.

Just outside Nairobi

Kenyan country side

First glimpse of the Rift Valley and maybe Mount Logonot?

 

Traffic jam! lol

I feel really fortunate to be included in these meetings - this is what I'm here for! We had 1 1/2 days with the Ministry of Education and 1 day just the UNICEF Education team. I've learned so much about how things are done over here...the challenges and coming together to find solutions. There is a ridiculous amount of projects going on affecting hundreds of schools and tens of thousands of children. I really hope I can contribute in some small way to the success of this team.

I also enjoyed some frank discussions over drinks with my colleagues about what it's really like to work in International Development (inside and outside the UN). Their insight is so valuable to me as I decide on the next steps in my career.

I have to say, it was a VERY nice perk to attend meetings at such a lush hotel and conference centre!

Best night's sleep in ages

Two showers! Although I think this was a steam room.

The pool that we didn't get to use

Even though almost every minute of the 3 days was jam packed, I made sure to run down to the lake one lunchtime and was rewarded with...

Hippos! Eating lunch :)

Stork

Yup!

 

Lake Naivasha

 

cool tree

 

On a more somber note, security is a real issue over here and I know quite a few people are worried about me - rest assured that I am taking all the precautions I've learned in my training. Although the Garissa University attack was several hours away from Nairobi, the attack on a UN vehicle yesterday in Somalia was a little too close to home for comfort. Several of my colleagues knew one of the people that died. Sadly, that's the reality of life over here every day for many people. And now, organizations which are trying to bring education and nutrition to children are now being targeted. I hope the respective governments are taking this very seriously and doing something about this terrorism. Please keep sending your thoughts and prayers to everyone in this region (and all war torn and/or poverty stricken countries) that there may be peace one day soon.

Same stuff, different country?

I had a couple of "revelations" this second week in Nairobi.

One

I'm still totally enamoured with my apartment and all the comforts of home that I've been able to find here. I mean, Nakumatt is pretty much Walmart and the other day I nearly bought a pair of Sketchers at Bata (remember that store?!). Any thoughts of losing weight living on beans and legumes have gone out the window with the discovery of Lays and Cadbury. In fact, if you have money you can live VERY well here in Nairobi. And that's kind of the problem.
 

My apartment & flowers my flatmate bought

Groceries...for one week! (not my yoga mat)

Yep, they even have Nutella

I'm starting to wonder if all of us "aid" workers living it up over here are really helping or contributing to the problem. I don't mean in the nature of our work but in our lifestyle. For example, we're working so hard to improve the education system in Kenya but everyone's children go to international schools. If we succeed in curriculum reform will all the expats put their kids in local schools? Hhhhmmmm.

Two

The other epiphany I had was more about myself. Here I am on this grand "adventure" but have not been too adventurous so far. Whenever I move to a new city my main goal is to not get lost. So far I have successfully memorised the most direct route from my apartment to my office, the cafeteria, and the grocery store.

adventure
 [ad-ven-cher] /ædˈvɛn tʃər/ 

  

noun

1. an exciting or very unusual experience.

2. participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

3. a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

4. a commercial or financial speculation of any kind; venture.

5. Obsolete.

1. peril; danger; risk.
2. chance; fortune; luck.

Ref: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adventure

Let me back up a bit. Here is what happened this week.

On Thursday one my co-workers offered to buy me lunch because I shared my pizza with him last week on our way to a meeting. The queue at the cafeteria was huge so he suggested we eat somewhere else. But where?! I knew there were other places to eat on campus but had yet to look for them. We didn't have to venture too far to find the Delegates restaurant and had a lovely lunch.

Friday was an amazing day - I got my new security pass (name finally corrected) and a UNICEF lanyard (this was actually quite the accomplishment as they don't give them out that easily, especially to interns) then we had a team meeting and my boss let me give the updates on the week's meeting with the Ministry. And then, we all went for Friday coffee...and literally walked 20 paces past the cafeteria to a coffee shop and bakery that I had no idea existed! I've been craving a simple sandwich for lunch since I started and all I had to do was keep walking. (Sidebar, we finish work at 2pm on Fridays, hooray!).

Saturday I didn't feel like cooking so I went downstairs to the restaurant to pick something up for dinner. It was closed :( And my flatmate says to me "The Mediterranean restaurant will still be open". Umm, what Mediterranean restaurant?! The one that is 100 meters down the street....literally.

Mediterranean restaurant

Ok Universe, no need to hit me over the head, I have made a resolution to be more adventurous going forward. Even if I get lost.

So far I walked to the mall, explored every nook and cranny, and came back after dark....in a taxi. Ok, baby steps peoples, I'm still investigating the safety issues here! I also walked over to the UN complex and found the gym (and recreation centre) and today I will actually work out.

One of 3 tennis courts

 

So, we shall see how I feel about working and living over here as the weeks and months go by (I did come across a consulting firm that I'm excited to learn more about) and also what I find as I get lost in my travels around the neighbourhood, city, and country. Stay tuned!

Cheers!

 

First week in Nairobi...sorry, it's a bit of a long one!

"Welcome to Nairobi! We have no running water at the moment". And thus my adventure begins...

I think family makes the transition from "home" to a "new home" infinitely easier. My cousin George and his family have once again opened their home to me and made me feel welcome and at ease. Having a place to unpack your bags, even briefly, makes you feel less like you're travelling and more like you are at home. For those that know me and my past adventures, that's how I roll!

So, let's see, how to summarize six days worth of excitement and experiences?

Well, there was no time for jet lag, that's for sure! I arrived Saturday night and went to bed shortly after we got home (the joys of travelling for 24 hours and being exhausted). Sunday I did feel pretty much on schedule and had a relaxing day and then on Monday the fun began!

After months of correspondence with very little details about my new job, I finally got a text message of where I was supposed to be going...kind of, no address but I guess everyone knows where the UN Complex is. So, Monday morning at 9am I got in my private taxi, that George arranged for me, and off I went for my first day at work. I must admit, I did have "first day at school" butterflies in my stomach but I was also strangely confident that I had done this before and that everything was going to be fine. And what a delight it was to wear a dress and light cardigan! Bye bye winter.

Picture of the weather - from my phone

"30 minutes to cross town! No big deal. I don't know why everyone was warning me about the traffic". Ha ha, I was so naïve back then (4 days ago). After arriving at the UN Complex and being rejected by security for not having any papers, my colleague came to get me and we crossed the large campus, passed through several buildings and finally into ours. I could envisage myself getting lost many times over the next few weeks!

Map of the UN Complex

This is going to sound crazy but even though I knew I was going to be working for UNICEF I didn't realize that I was going to be working for THE UN. That's kind of a big deal and a dream come true! We're across from the American Embassy so there are a lot of armed guards on this street...I don't have if that makes me feel safer or not!



Covert pic - you can't see the sign that says "no photography"



Beautiful grounds at the UN complex



My office - not my bicycle

My office is small and reminds of the portables we used to have at school. Pretty different from the 47th floor of the KPMG building in Toronto! But it has everything you would need in an NGO office - meaning I get a desk and have to use my own phone and laptop, lol. My team (Education, Kenya Country office - not to be confused with the Regional office which is down the hall) were very busy but everyone made an effort come over to introduce themselves and say "Karibu" (welcome). Three of my colleagues made sure I found the cafeteria and joined me for lunch. In the afternoon I proceeded to do all my HR/security paper work (which should have been done before I got there but would in fact take the next two days) and all in all it was a pretty light day. In just a few conversations with my colleagues I was in awe of the projects they are working on! I couldn't wait to get involved and learn from them.

If you look closely you can see it has my middle name instead of my last name - oops!

My boss (Chief of Education) is very nice and "hooked me up" with his private taxi driver and made sure I got a good rate. The journey home was much worse than the morning (1.5 hours to go 26kms) but not as bad as it would be for the rest of the week (avg 2 hours and 15 minutes)! He also put me in touch with another UNICEF employee that has a room in his apartment for rent. It is ACROSS the street and amazingly modern. Seriously, much nicer than my place in Toronto. Moving this weekend, yay!

Wednesday the work started in earnest. I attended an "innovation" brainstorming session all morning - I cannot tell you how fulfilling it is to be surrounded by people, from Kenya and around the world, all doing work you're interested in and sharing the same passion! I was really impressed and very inspired. I feel like I have definitely made the right decision to come here. I got to work closely with the deputy rep (basically second in charge at UNICEF) in my breakout group and I think she was pleased with what I was able to contribute...seeing as it was my third day. The afternoon was all hands on deck (including my own) to put together a surprise status update presentation for the Ministry of Education. It was a long day as we worked until 7pm, took my 2 hours taxi ride home, and finished up the PowerPoint at 1am. 

Up early Thursday to catch my 7am taxi back into work (you see why I'm moving across the street) and it was another long day....the meeting at the MoE office in town took 3 1/2 hours...turns out it was long overdue and there was a lot to talk about! I'm so glad I was included (despite being "voluntold" to take minutes and I didn't have my laptop with me) as it was great to see how the government and UNICEF work together and the challenges they've had so far. As well, I got to see the dynamic of working here and how people communicate with each other. Very open and a bit blunt but no arguing or escalating voices. Definitely much more transparent than what I am used to working in the corporate environment in Canada.They didn't make me feel invisible either. I got tasked with tracking all the action items and meeting the Ministry monthly to follow up on progress. I'm a bit scared but secretly glad they're putting me to work right away and giving me responsibility - gives me a chance to show what I can do! And I do love a challenge.

And here we are today, Good Friday and my first day off. Exhaustion finally caught up with me and I slept for 11 hours last night. Just finished my afternoon snack...when in Nairobi...

Chapati and chai!

Speaking of being in Nairobi....I have figured out/remembered the following things so far:

• Having a bath by filling the tub with a small amount of water from a bucket 
• Making tea with tea leaves in a special tea pot on the stove
• Turning on the gas stove
• Turning on the stove and electric sockets from a switch on the wall
• Using the vape machine at night to keep the mosquitoes away
• Sleeping while simultaneously being too hot and too cold
• How to pass time when stuck in Nairobi traffic (no point in road rage)
• Closing the window so monkeys don't get in and steal your food

And with that I'll leave with you with these final few images for those that are not following me on Facebook or Instagram. Looking forward to seeing what next week has to bring!

Love, Tash

Cheeky monkey

 

Mandazi! And very good Kenyan coffee