Greetings everyone! No, I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth. I’m ashamed to say that it’s been nearly a month since my last blog post. I could make up an exciting excuse for my absence—like that I got in a motorbike accident in Nairobi, contracted malaria in Kakamega, or nearly blew up my laptop while fidgeting with a wall socket in Delhi (that last one isn’t too far from the truth). However, all that’s to blame for the blog neglect is my laziness coupled with writer’s block and a less-than-mediocre Wi-Fi connection.
Since I’ve last posted, a lot has happened:
- – I worked with two terrific organizations in Nairobi—El Sistema Kenya and Ghetto Classics. Check out this link to read more about my time there.
– I flew to Kakamega, a more rural place in western Kenya. There, I visited my host family from GESI 2016, cooked a ton with my host mom, caught up on some rest, and met up with old friends.
– I hopped on two more planes and traveled from Nairobi to New Delhi.
– I began class visits with Sangeet4All, a music organization in India that aims to provide young students with an adequate and culturally appropriate Indian classical music curriculum—more to come on this in my next post!
My dear friend, Faith, who put up with me throughout my stay in Nairobi!
My little friend Favourlyne–we hung out every day during my last trip to Kenya, and she’s now a big five-year-old!
My first solo crack at making chapati–it was quite the success
Eventful/funny/unfortunate list of things that’ve happened in the past four-ish weeks—because why not:
-Hung out with some cool giraffes at Giraffe Centre and baby elephants at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
-Rode on the back of dozens of motorcycles to get to and from work in Nairobi (don’t tell my mom)
-Found my name brand malaria medication at a mall pharmacy…for a quarter of the price that I paid for it in the States
-Lived at a homestay just one block from the U.S. Embassy and two blocks away from the United Nations Office at Nairobi, the UN Headquarters in Africa
-Played with the Nairobi Philharmonic Orchestra (on violin—what a throwback)
-Went 6 days without washing my hair
-Caught up on the hottest Kenyan pop music that I’ve missed since my last visit two years ago
-Left my phone at café in Delhi, went home for three hours, came back to the café, and found my phone right where I’d left it
-Celebrated India’s Independence Day in my hotel room with a nice book, some mangos, and Domino’s pizza
-Rode a Tuk-Tuk through monsoon rains to get to site visit
-Drank about as much chai and coffee as I have water
-Definitely did not watch two entire seasons of my new favorite Netflix show
-Discovered my truly deep dependence on adequate Wi-Fi and cellular service
One more list (because why not) of things I’m thankful for:
-My mom, dad, and Meemaw—they’ve put up with almost daily Facetime calls, and all three have listened to me gush about this incredible trip, complain, and sometimes just ramble about nothing.
-Communicative friends—they’ve also put with my Facetime calls, meme tags, and continuous stream of annoying text messages. Thanks for staying in touch, because I see and appreciate you all.
-An Almighty God that’s granted me protection, energy, good health, grace, and so much more—seeing His kingdom at work in so many different corners of the Earth has truly been an awe-inspiring adventure.