Golf and Geckos!!

I don’t know where the weeks are going since my last update so apologies as I have been pretty lazy. There are a new group of VSO volunteers just arrived in Kenya so I am not a newbie any more which is good..... But I am definitely going to get some Kiswahili lessons ASAP as I am still shocking !!!
I know I haven’t filled you in on my work situation (reasons for that)...BUT the famous Golf fundraising day for my organisation which I have been telling some people about eventually happened last Friday 10th July ...... Pretty interesting experience.... lets just paint a picture.... We had 70 golfers expected at a very fancy golf club for an afternoon of golf..... First Tee off scheduled for 12pm... so at 10.30 some of my KSB colleagues who were due to help out at the event congregated outside our office for the Hiace min van to depart to the venue so we could set up the registration table... well we waited as some people hopped into the van and then hopped out again... so as the time wore on and no sign of us departing any time soon..my blood pressure began to rise slowly……eventually at 11.30am we left the office to head to the golf club... needless to say at this stage my blood was boiling but I was taking lots of deep breaths..... it took us over 40 mins to get to the golf club because of Friday Nairobi traffic... so with tyres burning and brakes screeching we drove at top speed into the car park of the golf club and 6 of us proceeded to jump out of the van commando style and run to the registration table where there were already golfers waiting to register (ie. Bear in mind professional business men and ladies).......... So the excuses my colleagues were giving me all the way to the club “BUT Emma this is Africa .. this is Kenyan time ... this kind of set the tone for the day ... moving on to the fact that we had not organised all the prizes for the winners. So at 3 o clock three colleagues took off again in the hiace into town to buy some sports vouchers and trophies for the winners.... with the prize giving due to start at 6.30 they eventually got back to the club at 6.20pm again screeching tyres... the prize giving was an hour late starting what a surprise and then the MC who I harassed into doing the event for free mixed up all the names and order of the programme so it was all a bit embarrassing. Now you might think well why I hadn’t tried to help co-ordinate the event better... well it truly is NOT that easy to tell people what they should be doing when they think they know best....!!!!

Well, I eventually invested in some furniture for the sitting room in our flat which makes it far more sociable now that we can actually have visitors over without asking them do they mind sitting on the floor.... Then yesterday I came across the first gecko/lizard type thing in my bedroom, I had this clever plan to ambush him and toss him out the window ... so with the window open I chased him around the room with a sweeping brush and quick as I could trapped him in the dustpan and “gently” threw him out the window.... don’t worry I live on the ground floor... so do not... I repeat Do NOT report me to the KSPCA...(actually don’t think they have one here!!) Well at least it is not snakes I have to content with as a friend of mine says that her neighbours in Nairobi have had 3 snaked into their house in the last month.... !!!

Close Encounters with ... the Law..!!

I had 2 encounters with the Local Kenyan police force this week. Often this is not a very pleasant experience as they may not be your friends by any standards and are usually looking for a bribe… (I know.. sweeping statement but mostly true……).. On Monday night I was in a car with a Dutch friend who was driving 4 of us home from the cinema who a) wasn’t used to driving in Kenya and didn’t know her way round that well and b) didn’t like driving in the dark. So as we proceeded foolishly down a dark one way road unbeknown to any of us… Out of nowhere stepped 2 armed policemen who pulled us over and grilled us. First they told her it would be a court appearance and hefty fine and how could we have not seen the sign….what with no street lights.. Pretty easy to miss it…!! Although we were totally at fault.. I still do not know how we managed to pull it off but after us pleading our innocence and giving a good sob story they let us go without any charge or money changing hands…..???? (Note: No “girlie” tears were shed during this exchange!!!).

Then on Tuesday morning on my way to work in the matatu… we had just reached town and we were pulled over by 3 policeman. The matatu fare operator was a girl and they gave her a hard time about not wearing the proper uniform which is a maroon jacket and hers was slightly on the red side. The 3 cops then proceeded to get into the matatu and escort the matatu to the police station around the corner. We (all the passengers) were all told to get out and stand in a line outside the police station. I was waiting for my mug shot to be taken ….ANYWAY one of the cops proceeded to lecture us all in Kiswahili so I could only imagine was being said….. & after telling us we had been forgiven this time for not wearing seat belts he let us all go on our way BUT held onto the matatu driver and the fare operator… so who knows what happened to them!!!

Note to self: Dont go out after dark and remember to buckle up in a matatu... YEAH RIGHT!!!

A Time to Dance...

“Life is like dancing. If we have a big floor, many people will dance. Some will get angry when the rhythm changes. But life is changing all the time.” Don Miguel Ruiz.

Life here comes with its ups and downs so I am trying to find a happy balance and get into the rhythm of Kenyan life and accept that change really is a good thing .... just give me patience.... (Although, I am still trying to figure out how open my organisation is to “change”?)

On Saturday 16th May I helped out at a Children’s Party which was being organised by another volunteer friend for her organisation. The party was for 300 orphan kids from 5 different Children’s Homes in Nairobi. It was great to see all the kids showing off their dancing skills and performing songs on the stage in front of everyone. We also had sports organised (sack races, egg and spoon race etc) for the older kids and face painting and dancing games for the younger kids. I really showed how inept I am at dancing when it was my turn to show off my moves and all I could seem to come up with was my impression of a wannabe John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever... You should have seen the reaction on the kids faces...… Bewilderment!!

So with my lack of dancing skills very apparent I went along to an African Dance Class with some others last weekend... hoping I could I find my “mojo” … although lets be clear I am under no illusion that a person with zero co-ordination and absolutely no sense of rhythm will actually get it … but hopefully with a bit more practice I can master some of the foot moves if not the arm waving that accompanies the dancing!!!

From tribal dancing to Ballet dancing….. On Saturday night the Russian Ballet were in town performing so a couple of us decided to go along to the show as it would be rude to pass up an evening of staring at Russian men in “white tights”… It was highly amusing to see some of the Kenyans in the audience absolutely cracking up at the sight of the men frolicking around the stage… surely Not a very masculine thing to do!! Well as Brucie always says at the end of “Strictly”….. Keep Dancing…!!

3 Resons to be thankful.....!!!!

1) Yesterday as I was walking home from work, a matatu full of passengers lost control and careered off the road onto the footpath and crashed into a hedge where I had just walked by 15 seconds before….. Thankfully no one was injured……..?

2) Today I saw a mosquito buzzing around my room and as he was so slow and sluggish he was an easy kill… the reason why was because he had obviously been feasting on me during the night as red blood splattered everywhere!!! Thankfully there is no Malaria in Nairobi…..!!!!!!??

3) On my way to work this morning listening to the radio the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show equivalent was on air and the 2 male DJs were discussing and opening up for public comment on the best way to punish and discipline your wife if husbands are not happy with their wife's behaviour… (Last week the topic was "What does the other woman having the affair with a married man get out of the relationship etc)…….…Thankfully I have a sense of humour…???!!!

More photos from the weekend to follow later i promise....

Headline News….!!!!!

I got a good laugh out of the headline in the The Standard Newspaperin Nairobi today 30th April…

The next BIG Battle…… Women declare sex boycott over reforms and wrangling…

“Sex money and power are said to make the world go round, especially when dealing with politicians who take people round in circles until they feel dizzy. Now women in Kenya have joined hands to boycott sex for the next seven days to push for reforms and

constitutional review……
No reforms.. No Sex..”

I would love to see the effect these threats would have with the Irish Politicians!!!! Some how I don’t think Brian Cowen et al would bat an eye lid ……!

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144012904&cid=4&ttl=Women%20declare%20sex%20boycott

And all that Jazz......

Nairobi Night life certainly doesn't disappoint.... Last night a few of us went to a Jazz festival held in the grounds of the National Museum.... It was really good music... I was even practically dancing ... well shrugging my shoulders and moving my ass from side to side constitutes as dancing in my book!!!... i know me dancing!!!. The event was sponsored by the South African Commission to celebrate their Independence day and the lead performer was a South African soul diva called "Lira" who was great!! Check out Lira out on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp6HI7tkESk

http://www.misslira.co.za/home.php

Public holiday on Friday so roll next weekend for another day off work.....

just like home eh!!!

So close and yet so Far......!!!

Just had a great Easter weekend with 3 other volunteers Kelly, Anna and Rachel up in Lake Baringo… 2 and ½ hours north of Nakuru National Park!!!!

On Saturday I made my way from Nairobi by matatu to Soysambuu (just south of Nakuru) where I met a friend of a guy I used to work with in Musgraves. He lives in a house on the estate of Lord Delamare and has his very own wildlife park in his back garden. Got to see lots of flamingos, impalas, monkeys from his veranda as we sipped a glass of wine…. Eventually got a lift to Nakuru and met up with the girls in a small hotel for the night….

Early start at 7am on Saturday morning as we were informed that we could take the public Kenya Wildlife Service park bus into Lake Nakuru for a few hours trip which we were told left town at 8am.........WRONG… we waited and waited and waited ... until we we enquired again and found out it wasn’t going till much later on .....SO we decided to cut our losses and head on up to Lake Baringo…. Lake Nakuru could wait till the way back......

We bundled into a matatu and after 2 hours were dropped in a small town called Marigat.. from there we then argued for ages over the 70 shilling fare that the driver of a car wanted to charge us to take us to Lake Baringo.... after a stand-off for about 30 mins in the midday sun we finally gave in…….Finally arrived at Lake Baringo tired, sweaty, thirsty and a bit annoyed at ourselves for fighting over such little money… BUT it is the PRINCIPLE!!!
Lake Baringo as the guide book says is a twitters paradise (mmm!!) and home to loads of hippos which come out in droves at night..... so around our camp fire sipping our beer we could see them munching about 20 feet away from our tent by the lake shore….

On Sunday myself and Kelly went for a “guided scorpion and Snake walk” around the area (well we saw only 2 scorpions and one tiny poisonous snake!!!!) ... we got caught in a torrential downpour so we had to shelter for about an hour in a locals house until it passed … …. The whole place needed the rain as the area hadn’t had rain for months but my clothes are still BROWN from the mud afterwards.

We left relaxed on Monday am and got the direct bus to Nakuru this time and thought we would be in time to take the Official tour bus into Nakuru National Park............. BUT again we got some conflicting information and ended up negotiating with a guy from a tour company to take us around the park for 2.5 hours in his jeep @ 5 euro each (note: VERY GOOD PRICE)…. SO just as we are driving towards the park I spot the Actual official Kenya Wildlife bus behind us (which we knew was Only 2 euro per person) ….. so we flagged it down to get on and we ALL jumped out of the jeep and hopped on the tour bus… ONLY to find there were NO seats left and our jeep took off… SO we were dumped on the side of the road… and no way into Lake Nakuru this time……….............So close and yet so Far away!!!!!!
A bit disgruntled and mad with ourselves for being so stupid ........(note the recurring theme) we headed on back to Nairobi !!!! Lake Nakuru can wait......