Karibu Kenya! So far, so good

"Karibu”, they say. And we do indeed feel pretty welcome so far. I write this from my room at the hotel we will be at for the next week, doing our VSO ‘In-Country Training’.

Good omens so far:

1. We arrived at Heathrow to find out we had been upgraded to business class due to overbooking! Woohoo! Although the whole experience was so adverse to what we are flying to Kenya to do that it only added to the already immense weirdness we were feeling. Shouldn’t really complain though about flatbeds and posh food (sadly too hungover to appreciate the free drinks). Enjoy the comfort while it lasts, we are told. ````````````````1q

2. We arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to find ‘Miss Kenya’ (beauty queen) standing waiting in arrivals (limo parked outside). Sadly not waiting for us, but still a sight to see.

3. We safely pass our first test of Kenyan bureaucracy (and our patience) – eventually passing immigration and recovering all of our many bags. We are warmly greeted by the VSO taxi driver, who has been waiting hours for our arrival, and drives us across the city to our hotel at nearly midnight, chatting all the way.

4. We are on our training with 10 other VSOs, all of who seem great – a variety of Brits, Canadians, Americans, an Italian, a Ugandan… all here to do the same crazy thing as us – a great comfort.

5. We find our hotel has this internet connection…May our connectivity continue!

I could probably write for hours, but at the same time think digesting everything and being able to articulate it in a pithy, witty way is still way out of my grasp. So enough for now.

But we are safe, and well, and welcome. We even had our first (of many) Tusker beers, hosting an impromptu party in our room this evening. Karibu indeed.