Jina langu ni Elisa

I arrived safely in Nairobi early on Monday, February 4th. The town I will be living in is called Kitengela. It's small, but there are many factories so most people have jobs and live relatively well (relative to what the expectation of people living in Africa is). People are extremely kind and warm!

For the most part I'm adjusting very well! Although many things are very different, I'm really embracing the differences! Kitengela reminds a lot of Mexico, that might be making the transition easier. My only criticism of Kitengela is that it is extremely dusty, even more so than New Mexico!

The food is great! Mostly beans, rice and lentils. Most places have chapati which is essentially a tortilla equivalent. Partly because of chapati, you pretty much eat everything with your hands. It's certainly not a place for germaphos! On my first night we ordered food to share. Imagine 3 to 5 people using their hands to eat rice, beef stew, and vegetables out of he same plate! It's a strange phenomenon, but for whatever strange reason I kinda like it!

We have tea every morning between 10 and 10:30! Tea time is my new favorite thing in the world! I may have to adjust my life to make it a permanent part of my life!

I live in an apartment with the 4 other Americans who work for our company. They are all amazing people! If you could imagine the ideal group of strangers that you can suddenly start living with without knowing them and it be perfectly ok, even a good thing, that's the scenario. I know it seems unlikely, or even impossible but they are very easy to live with!

Our apartment is nice, the living room is my bedroom. Don't worry I have a curtain for privacy! We don't have a fridge or a stove (well we have something that works as a single stove top, the green thing in the pictures), but I guess I'm not particularly attached to those things because it actually took me a few days to realize that. Buying food is so cheap, you literally get a huge plate of food for less than a dollar! I've also been living off mangos on many days! Best mangos in the world!!!

My life is good :)

-Elisa