Life post elections

So...the elections came and went. It was an interesting couple of weeks, high drama but fortunately little violence and unrest. We are all slowly getting through our election supplies, of mainly noodles and alcohol!

There are huge billboards across the city now thanking Kenyan for keeping the peace. The queues to vote were so long, and many Kenyans stood in line for at least 5 hours. I admired the patience, and wondered if I would give up a holiday to wait in line for so much of the day! Kenyatta seems very popular although perhaps still a little controversial but more so on the international scene.

Of course, security measures remain tight but sometimes dubious. Yesterday I popped into a supermarket quickly before going to meet a friend who is kindly taking a suitcase back to the UK for me. I was stopped at security for my car to be checked as per usual. The askari returned and asked me, "What is in the suitcase. Clothes?"
"Yes," I said, "and a few household items".
His next question, "Are you a terrorist? No, you can't be a terrorist, not with that face!" And through I went.

In school we no longer have to practice our evacuation drills. The children still ask to do it though-they loved locking the doors and hiding under the tables! We called it the lion drill as they do keep escaping so it is maybe not an impossibility that we would have to use it one day!

Security

Last week the evacuation drills began in school. It is amazing how calm the kids are and how unphased. We had another practice on Tuesday and are trying to identify any potential difficulties (despite it being very unlikely). When we got back to class we had a little chat about the whole thing and how sometimes we will have to use different entrances etc depending on where we are on campus. The question of the swimming pool came up, and what the children would do if they were in it. It got so funny and ridiculous as some children suddenly looked totally panicked at the thought of being caught out completely naked if they were changing. I love that that is their only fear! I tried to reassure them that if they were naked, their clothes and towel would not be far away so easy to put on fast! We laughed so hard about the whole thing.

Last night I went to an open evening run by the British High Commission. I expected a rather informal chat whilst munching on cucumber sarnies, so was rather surprised when it was a sit down affair in a theatre! My friend and I were planning a quick escape when it started getting interesting. After the introduction the floor was opened for questions. Wow, the atmosphere changed so fast and was transformed into chat show style, like Jeremy Kyle! People became very animated, angry and loud! There was booing and unbelieving giggles, as well as applause for those who made a point that was very appreciated! Just looking at people's faces was hilarious. I didn't realise how disgruntled people were! So much for going hoping for a cheeky glass of Pimms! The upcoming elections are causing tensions yes, though people were more cross about passport renewal times and the slow response times to emails. It was such an entertaining few hours. I am def going to the next one!!

Saved by a Nun

When I first went to Rome I was very excited about the prospect of seeing a nun, and found the whole thing very amusing but also super cool! In Nairobi you often see nuns out and about (I do still get the giggles when I see them driving or shopping which is absolutely ridiculous as they are of course humans!) but the novelty has not worn off, and they still make me smile.

As my car is in the garage I have taken to walking a lot more in daylight. The pavements here don't always exist, and so it does get a bit uneven, muddy and rocky. But still, I am enjoying walking and realising how lazy my legs have become as they ache after some quite short walks. I definitely don't live in London anymore!

Last weekend Kelly and I decided to walk to a shopping centre about 45 minutes away. After 15 minutes my  flip flop snapped! Tricky! After a lot of giggling, we managed to walk/skate on the flip flop to a shoe shop that was tucked away nearby-wasn't too far, we were lucky!

I mourned my flip flop but didn't think too much of it.

Until yesterday. After work I rang Kelly and suggested a Planet Yogurt Friday afternoon trip. Planet Yogurt is really one of the best things about Nairobi. It's frozen yogurt with a variety of toppings and is so yummy and addictive, it takes great self control not to go there daily. So, off we walked.....this time quite a short walk but uphill, and due to the recent matatu strikes, the 'pavements' were rather busy as public transport is greatly reduced. So, it was quite difficult to walk and the road was of course Kenyan style, particularly uneven and rocky. And, it happened again! But this time I couldn't even skate on the flip flop! The ground was uphill and not at all smooth. The only option was barefoot.

We were perhaps 15 minutes from our destination so giggled along. What else could you do?! But then a nun stopped, and asked if she could give us a lift as had seen that my shoe had broken. I thought this was hilarious! Loved it! So yes, it isn't good to get into cars with strangers but I thought a nun would fall into the same category as policemen, so in we jumped. She dropped us right outside the shopping centre and I decided to buy a pretty pair of wedges as opposed to flip flops (not sure I trust them) for the walk home, and of course a rather delicious Planet Yogurt!

We have planned a mission of a walk today to go to a craft fair....am debating whether to bring a spare pair of shoes. Twice in a week already!!

Akon

Finally, Akon came to Nairobi!!! I was ridiculously excited. My friend Kelly and I both share a lifelong, well, ambition really, to dress as bumble bees, so we thought that this was the perfect opportunity to achieve the dream. We rather excitedly bumbled up, but decided to leave our wings at home for fear that they would be crushed.

Sadly, as we left the house, the heavens opened.....but when dressed as a bee it would take more than rain to ruin the mood! Walking into the festival grounds though and seeing everyone dressed as if they were going for a day at the races was a lil embarrassing! Some people even wore hats! Fortunately after a couple of minutes the requests for photos started coming in and we felt more relaxed and fun! There were a few questions as to why.....because Akon's favourite animal is a bee of course (hehehe)!! People seemed to buy it, especially as our wristbands were black and yellow striped-matched perfectly! I cannot say how many photos we were in.....we made a lot of new friends!

Due perhaps to the rain, and the fact that the tickets were open for two days so you could go on either, there weren't that many people there. I took this as a great opportunity to get right down to the front! Poor Kelly wasn't feeling up to standing in the rain, so we sadly separated. I got escorted over under a parasol with a security guard (I was still concerned about my hair at the point so begged for him to take me over!). I asked him to find me a tall (my antennae and heels made me pretty tall!), friendly companion with whom to share an umbrella! He succeeded! It was a bit strange being a solo bee, but as the minutes turned to hours (!!) waiting for the man himself I cared less as was just too excited! Akon did not disappoint! It was an amazing show, very energetic. The umbrellas came down almost immediately and we all got totally drenched but it didn't matter (Don't Matter) at all.

Thought this one captured the rain pretty well!

Akon did a lot of crowd surfing so I got to touch him! Very exciting! Was very pleased to see my fellow bee who had somehow pushed her way in and joined me about halfway through. Hanging out in the dry VIP area just wasn't as fun as being cold and wet and close to Akon!

Absolutely soaked at the end of the concert but very happy!

Paradise Lost

This half term was an ever changing one. Had a million plans, but what with hospital visits and generally being exhausted I ended up staying in Nairobi and actually had an awesome week. My friend Kelly and I did a few trips and enjoyed watching friends play Touch Rugby, exploring forests and going to Paradise Lost.

I have been meaning to go for ages and can't even remember how I heard about it as don't actually know anyone who has been. It is about 45 minutes north from me (though 2.5 hours on the way back when we got seriously lost and ended up downtown with people taking photos of us through the windows, cringe!) and is a huge picnic area. It was great to walk around and picnic, though we did turn down the offer of buying a live goat to then bbq! The waterfall was beautiful  and we could walk behind it and explore the series of caves which the Mau Mau actually lived in during the resistance to the British.

The highlight though was seeing a church choir shooting a music video. We thought we'd sunbathe and watch but were almost immediately accosted (we didn't see any other wazungu so were a bit of a novelty) and invited to join them in the dancing. We refused, many times, and told them we were very happy to watch. When you travel by local transport here you often see these videos playing and they are hilarious! Interesting dance moves, and generally poor quality and pretty cringeworthy!

Well, to our delight, an Indian man happily obliged and joined in. We found the whole thing pure comedy as the poor guy had no clue and so was always out of time. I took many pics but didn't manage a video of him as was shaking with the giggles but did get a few pics.

Incredible dance moves. Classic!

Love it!!

End of term antics

Well, the end of term has been and gone. It is always such a busy time and one which I don't really enjoy too much. The lack of routine and general craziness bug me! But it all went well, and I was thrilled to have finally done a whole term this academic year, full time!

We had a Junior school football tournament, 'The World Cup' and my class had chosen to be England. I wanted to go all out and encouraged the class to wear red and white, and organised face paint, as well as an English football shirt (the most unflattering piece of clothing I have worn for a while!) for me. The night before was spent painting the St George's cross on each fingernail! It was such a fun day. My mission was for people to actually question my nationality as I do get ribbed for being rather overly patriotic. Mission accomplished! My Welsh colleagues actually disowned me. My class played so well and won half their games which was amazing as we were the youngest year  group in the 'championships!' I ran so much and screamed, was proper hoarse after but was one of the best days of the year with my class. We laughed so much!

A lil pep talk to my female players

On Friday we had speech day which did lead to a few tears as my Head of department is retiring and she has been an absolute legend and unbelievably kind and supportive to me. It was surreal chatting to others who joined at the same time as me and realizing that our initial contracts are now up, and we were all meant to be leaving...only one is, and she was in tears, promising to return next year! The time has flown, and I am unsure whether my time will be really up next year....

My class got to know me well....as demonstrated by the greatest thank-you present ever!!! I showed absolutely everyone and was so so thrilled!!

My 'boyfriend' SJ...already in pride of place on my bedside table

Guy and I decided to go away for the weekend as a cheer up and headed to Carter Lake. It was the first time he saw me navigate.....the last also, he is a fast learner! We did get rather lost but got to see so much more so I feel we were rather lucky! Silver lining and all.... It was a great chilled out weekend in a beautiful location. 

The floating restaurant at Crater Lake

On Sunday morning we went on a walking safari. It was amazing! I was surprised with how much game we saw and got so close to. It was lush to be able to walk too. We had a great guide who told us loads of interesting facts that were rather tricky to decipher with his strong Kenyan accent, but it was so funny and satisfying when we finally worked out what he was trying to say! Not sure we really remember many, just the words we got stuck on. Gorge took me a good ten minutes to work out-it sounded just like coach!

One week old giraffe, cute! I named her Lydia ;)

Now packing to fly to India tomorrow.....will be great to go back after a few years and see a few new sights as well as returning to Mumbai and Goa. May try get into Bollywood this time! Guy has just booked a ticket to join me for a few weeks so will be a nice mix of girly time and solo travel as well as having an awesome navigator for a bit!

Guy and I post hike

Lamu

I finally made it to Lamu! It has been on my Must-See in Kenya list since I arrived. It was actually the last place on the list until I finished my book on the plane so was left reading my guide book and have now added a few more!

We flew over from Nairobi and had to get a lil boat from the airport across to the town (the archipelago is made up of 7 islands). My lovely friend Slavica jumped onto the boat and straight into the captain's seat......we thought she'd be asked to move, but istead they indulged her and let her steer. Was so funny....we all had a free shower so were rather awake and rejuvenated after the short crossing!

Captain Slav

We got off the boat right next to the Donkey Sanctuary (Island Taxi rank) which rather delighted us! Our hotel was a short walk up the narrow streets (think two donkeys in width) and alleys behind it. We met a lovely girl from Mombasa, Remi, on the plane who was staying at the same hotel as us-we were the only guests, and the three of us became inseparable.

Remi, Slav and I awaiting our dhow

We took a dhow boat to tour the islands and to go fishing. Lamu is so beautiful. Due to the recent pirate behaviour it was also completely quiet. Understandably tourism has been badly affected which is very sad,  but it was great to visit without the crowds. I had also foolishly told some of the girls Slav and I teach gymnastics too that I would demonstrate cartwheels when I returned, so wanted to use the time on the deserted beaches to privately practice! Fortunately, it seems that cartwheeling is a skill much like riding a bike that you don't seem to lose! The girls were impressed when I showed them on Monday!

The next day was Donkey Day! We decided to catch a donkey to a nice beach and then back so headed to the rank! Well, as expected we were three giggly, shrieking girls, wobbling about at first as we got used to the donkeys, trying to keep our balance, which was a challenge as we couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous we all looked! It was at this point that I spotted a girl from my school. Oh, the shame! I didn't bump into her again, it was literally just at that moment that we saw each other, possibly the worst moment  to be noticed on the trip! Sadly she wasn't the only one took an interest in us as tourists. A lady ran after us with a video camera (not a tourist one either....this was definitely TV!) and people unashamedly took their phones and cameras out to snap us! It was worth the shame though, we had so much fun and a lush day at the beach.

We don't look that silly!

For the return trip I had brought high heels! I couldn't resist the photo opp despite the strange stares-well people were staring already, so may as well give them a lil treat! The donkey owner took a shine to me though and thought the way to woo was to jump on the back of my donkey on the route back. Rather than impress me, it scared me! Especially when he tried to get a bit amorous! (oh the power of heels!) so the photos are sadly not being posted-a squirming Hannah sitting as far forward as possible to avoid him is not my best look (Remi and Slav got a lot of laughs from this though). You can see how far forward (poor donkey!) I have moved to and of course the shoe here!

We didn't actually see any other tourists on a donkey, so understandably we were quite a spectacle! Poor Remi fell off twice which me and Slav could not stop giggling about. We did sustain a few donkey injuries but our laughing and re enactments for the rest of the trip more than compensated!

The town is very quaint and sweet. It was fun to wander through and get lost in all the alleys, only to be met by donkeys.

The old Swahili doors are beautiful, and the history on the island is incredible.

We enjoyed shopping. As expected, lots of pretty wooden, carved objects, and of course, tourist shopping wouldn't be complete without a wooden bra! (Uncle Stephen, you need to extend the range further than bow ties!) I think we are all regretting not stocking up on new underwear in Lamu!

Lamu was a refreshing break. Not having to aggressively drive or carefully avoid matatus, animals and crazy drivers was great. It was lovely to be able to walk about and not worry about safety. It did make Nairobi seem extremely fast paced though. Everything was sloooooooowwwwwwww. Every meal took over an hour to arrive and the popular African expression pole pole (slowly slowly) has definitely taken on a new authentic meaning! Great for a few days, but lush to be back in the city!