Wake up in the morning...

So today (Sunday) is the first day we have completely free. At the moment, I am the only one awake (shocking, i know). Our plans include: going to the grocery store, buying Ashley a modem and than cooking for ourselves for the first time in a week. Since our knowledge of Kenyan cuisine is still quite limited, we plan on having a nice mixture of what we have learned how to cook in Kenya and what we normally cook in the US. Perhaps as my affinity with Kenya and it's cuisine grows, the Kenyan cuisine will become more prominent in my cooking than any other variety of food.

We woke up yesterday and walked to the office where we will be taking Swahili and our Politics and Culture classes. It was about a 20-25 minute walk, which is something that I will have to keep in mind when those urges to hit the snooze button undoubtedly arise. It wasn't a bad walk - though we do walk down a closed road and across a make shift bridge in a ditch -- welcome to Nairobi. My feet are going to be perpetually dirty these next four months.

Following our time at the office, we took a matatu to where we will pick up our USIU buses following or monday/wednesday classes. We then ventured around the city -- visiting the site of the 1998 bombing of the US embassy and the KICC building (the Kenyatta International Conference Center) where there was a great peripheral view of the city (pictures to come). Eventually we made our way to the Maasi market. Since we had been up since 7am and it was now 3pm, very few of us had the energy or were in the mood to be followed around and hassled by merchants, however we all bargained a little. I have no doubt that I will return there many times once I am more familiar with the city and what things should cost.

It is nice to have today off -- especially since we start classes tomorrow. I am both excited and nervous, as I seem to be for most things in this country. I guess that is the experience, that is the point. The unknown is suppose to challenge your conception of who you are and what you can do.