Nairobi

And now I'm enjoying the cool, fresh air of Nairobi! When I was here before, I thought that the road in front of the office here was a horrible road. Somehow, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. When I was here before, I thought that there was so much garbage and dirt on the roadside. Somehow, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. When I was here before I thought the drivers were crazy. Somehow, it doesn't seem so bad anymore...

I went to meet someone in YaYa Center yesterday afternoon. It's quite a nice mall here in town, when you're drinking a latte in the center court, you really feel like you're back home in North America. It's even full of white folks! Because of the way things worked out, I only had a small window of time to see this friend, so I had to run almost directly from arriving to get a taxi to YaYa. I didn't even have time for a shower to wash the dust from my feet. So I was still smelling a little like my previous home when I arrived in YaYa, and I didn't really have time to mentally prepare myself for the excursion back to the land of the clean and Westernized.

So I had a bit of culture shock there. I also needed to buy a few things, so I went into the main grocery store there. Funny, but I really was slightly paralyzed by the choice! So I didn't buy anything more than just the basic things that I've been craving - milk in a carton (not the UHT or powdered variety), vanilla yogurt, granola cereal, mince meat (um, er, ground beef in Canadian speak), chedder cheese, shampoo, nice smelling soap, a chocolate bar, and some apples. I also bought some ear wax remover... well, because of the crazy ear wax problems that we all seem to have back in Sudan!

I forgot about orange juice, though I had some on the plane and I couldn't believe how nice it tasted. I'll have to stock up tomorrow on OJ. Mmmmm.... OJ.

Anyways, I had a nice visit with my friend Karinya. She just returned from visiting with my dear friends back in E-land! So I got letters, and I got to see photos of them! I even got a new nitzala shawl and some powedered shiro to make into a lovely meal sometime. It was just so good to hear first hand news of that place. And I'm so glad that there is yet another person who knows my friends there, and can understand why I love that place so much.

In the evening, I got home, made myself a cheese burger, had a lovely hot shower, and went to bed, snuggled under a heavy blanket. Mmmmm... I feel like a new person already. But I'm also already missing Zane and all my friends back home!