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.