so many things have happened in the past few weeks that have left me questioning everything and nothing at the same time. new developments on the next steps in my life combined with still experiencing new things on a daily basis here in Kenya are conflicting and really forcing me to take a step back and live my life in the moment.
I suppose i can start with an update on the stuff I've been doing lately then get into that stuff...leaving off from last time. After the safari, things settled down a little bit and Nairobi's oddities became my comfort zone again. Attending yoga classes, teaching a class here and there, facilitating mentor calls, various paperwork, filing my taxes, and catching up on emails are just a few things that I do on a daily basis.
I'm going to use my photos to walk you through some of this stuff!
These ladies are showing off a bit of the artwork AYP received from a children's yoga/art workshop done at Mystic Yoga! This picture makes me laugh because they really do not look that happy but in their own defense we had a meeting that started that morning at 8am (so everyone had to wake up super early on a Saturday). The day we received the package, Moses Pamvilian and I sat in the office and giggled as we fingered through all of the adorable artwork the children had done. Peace signs, hearts, 'yoga' and 'AYP' covered the colorful sheets and brought smiles to all of our faces. It was such a wonderful way to have Pamvilian connect with her mentors across the globe; the simple act of sending a few handmade pictures is such a nice gesture and left all of us feeling inspired by the connections in the world.
So these 2 pictures are from my day at Lunga Lunga, one of the slums of Nairobi. A few of the AYP instructors live there and I had not visited their homes or a classes yet, so Sunday seemed like the perfect opportunity. I had the honor of being escorted by my friend Vincent from town to his house...Lunga Lunga is similar to the other slums in reference to housing, but there was something a bit more peaceful and quiet about the location. I don't know if it had to do with the fact that I arrived during church hours so most people were occupied by that, but I remember thinking to myself that it felt calmer than other places I have visited.
From Vincent's house we went to an art center where Richie was teaching a yoga class to the most adorable little children. Speaking mostly in Swahili I didn't really understand everything he was saying and then all of a sudden I was the one teaching. Oh my goodness-it melts my heart even thinking about the experience now-the cutest little kids (age ranging from about 4-9) basically following every move I make-almost like a follow the leader game but with yoga. I had a blast and feel so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet/teach the little ones.
After the class we had a few photos then went to Richie's new house. He just moved into a place that he built at the edge of the community. Quaint and awesome could be 2 words used to describe it? (weird I know). I sat with him and Vincent and talked about growing up and just taking responsibility in our lives...it is funny because even though we are maturing in different ways, the fact that I am similar in age to them and experiencing becoming an adult as well, we have a lot in common. It somehow feels strange to say this, but I was proud of him...building and owning your own house is a huge deal no matter where you are in the world, and the significance of having that kind of asset here in Kenya is huge. Hanging out in his 2 room house fully equipped with electricity, a television, multiple couches, a playstation, and a stereo system made my stay feel like something similar to that of my boys back in Manlius. Worlds away but so many similarities!
From there-to Samu's house!! i was like house hopping ha...a bit of a walk away but still feeling the calmer vibe of this area compared to others in Nairobi, I found myself curled up on a chair watching some performance videos of Samu, Richie, and Vincent. These 3 are quite the crew-a little background: they're amazing acrobats and are often hired to perform at corporate events and sometimes invited to teach/perform internationally in places like Italy, Oman, Germany and a few other countries. But I was sitting on the big chair watching these on a Samu's lap top while him and 2 other boys played playstation...literally felt like hanging out with my friends at home-global similarities are mind blowing sometimes.
After they finished up their game we went back to Vincent's, picked him up then headed back to the house-the night ended with watching a few movies then passing out.
New developments in AYP consist of shifting to a new office! Instead of being in a closet sized office, we now share space with a few other projects but have MUCH more room! So one morning before my day got away from me, I decorated our board putting up some of the pictures from the kids at Mystic Yoga as well as photographs that we had in the other office. Nothing like a little color to make the place look more welcoming!
To Kariobangi...so AYP has a new product that will be sold on Paige's fundraising tour she is about to head out on. Continuing the "Bead the Change" program, AYP has ordered about 100 bracelets from these ladies so I decided to take a day to check out the progress as well as learn a bit! The day went similarly to my past experiences in Kariobangi: humbling and effing awesome. The community there has fully embraced me as a friend and one of their own...I feel so comfortable going there and just spending days with them. It is so nice to be able to have this because it allows me to step away from my life (and technology) a bit and really submerse myself in the Kenyan culture. Sitting on the floor, beading, eating Ugali and Sukuma, little kids running around, reggae music, people coming and going, and constant conversation sum up my day. I loved every second of it.
And now i'm basically caught up to about where I last posted...about the Japanese Memorial. I wanted to include this photograph because my friend Jessica should be acknowledged for what she does. Her organization (http://www.hopetoshine.org/) does such amazing things-check out the website to learn more-and she brought 10 beautiful little girls to the event. They were all so well behaved and polite; I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to help with chaperoning them.
Moving forward...to continue with my initial thoughts, and give some of you a sense of where I am in my life, I suppose I will do an update...
I feel a bit torn right now because on one hand I am faced with deciding on which grad school to choose while at the same time I am not sure if I am ready to move back to the states. This past year has been such a whirlwind of events and as the 1 year anniversary of becoming a college graduate nears, I find myself reflecting on my post graduation status. I have circled the world, lived in the mountains, lived in Kenya, I've just really been on the move and my life has been up in the air and to decide where I am going to be grounded for a while seems daunting and overwhelming at the moment.
If you had asked me where I would be 1 year post graduation from university, I am pretty sure Kenya was not even in the realm of answers...but now I cannot imagine being anywhere else. The events that have brought me to this wonderful country working for a fantastic organization don't make much sense and if I tried to explain it all I think in the end, I am the only one who would really understand the process.
Here I am, with hundreds of new friends, a whole new perspective on the world/life, and feeling the most comfortable in my own skin than I ever have in my life, and I am about to up and leave it...
I think all of these feelings have to do with being scared and unsure of what moving back to the states entails but in the end, there really isn't anything to be scared of-its just a new phase of my ever changing life.
So it looks like I'm going back to school in September, the school is still not decided yet, but it is looking like I'm going to be taking on a whole new city I've never lived in before. I applied while I was home not really thinking I'd follow through and go, but now I'm realizing I took the time to apply and complete the process so I'm going...who knew I'd get into schools I'm actually interested in forcing me to choose a school rather than have a school choose me?
Exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time but really forcing me to 'act my age' as this blog states. I cannot act like a 'child' roaming the world much longer for various reasons but to be honest, it feels good to have to make some adult decisions...like I'm a real person.
With that, I'm done venting about where I am in my life. On a more cheery note: Mark and Gina in Kenya in JUNE, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in June, going to the Kenyan coast next weekend, and Ethiopia in May!
I felt like adding a few more photos because these 2 little dolls are some of the most adorable children I've EVER met!
I suppose i can start with an update on the stuff I've been doing lately then get into that stuff...leaving off from last time. After the safari, things settled down a little bit and Nairobi's oddities became my comfort zone again. Attending yoga classes, teaching a class here and there, facilitating mentor calls, various paperwork, filing my taxes, and catching up on emails are just a few things that I do on a daily basis.
I'm going to use my photos to walk you through some of this stuff!
From Vincent's house we went to an art center where Richie was teaching a yoga class to the most adorable little children. Speaking mostly in Swahili I didn't really understand everything he was saying and then all of a sudden I was the one teaching. Oh my goodness-it melts my heart even thinking about the experience now-the cutest little kids (age ranging from about 4-9) basically following every move I make-almost like a follow the leader game but with yoga. I had a blast and feel so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet/teach the little ones.
After the class we had a few photos then went to Richie's new house. He just moved into a place that he built at the edge of the community. Quaint and awesome could be 2 words used to describe it? (weird I know). I sat with him and Vincent and talked about growing up and just taking responsibility in our lives...it is funny because even though we are maturing in different ways, the fact that I am similar in age to them and experiencing becoming an adult as well, we have a lot in common. It somehow feels strange to say this, but I was proud of him...building and owning your own house is a huge deal no matter where you are in the world, and the significance of having that kind of asset here in Kenya is huge. Hanging out in his 2 room house fully equipped with electricity, a television, multiple couches, a playstation, and a stereo system made my stay feel like something similar to that of my boys back in Manlius. Worlds away but so many similarities!
From there-to Samu's house!! i was like house hopping ha...a bit of a walk away but still feeling the calmer vibe of this area compared to others in Nairobi, I found myself curled up on a chair watching some performance videos of Samu, Richie, and Vincent. These 3 are quite the crew-a little background: they're amazing acrobats and are often hired to perform at corporate events and sometimes invited to teach/perform internationally in places like Italy, Oman, Germany and a few other countries. But I was sitting on the big chair watching these on a Samu's lap top while him and 2 other boys played playstation...literally felt like hanging out with my friends at home-global similarities are mind blowing sometimes.
After they finished up their game we went back to Vincent's, picked him up then headed back to the house-the night ended with watching a few movies then passing out.
Moving forward...to continue with my initial thoughts, and give some of you a sense of where I am in my life, I suppose I will do an update...
I feel a bit torn right now because on one hand I am faced with deciding on which grad school to choose while at the same time I am not sure if I am ready to move back to the states. This past year has been such a whirlwind of events and as the 1 year anniversary of becoming a college graduate nears, I find myself reflecting on my post graduation status. I have circled the world, lived in the mountains, lived in Kenya, I've just really been on the move and my life has been up in the air and to decide where I am going to be grounded for a while seems daunting and overwhelming at the moment.
If you had asked me where I would be 1 year post graduation from university, I am pretty sure Kenya was not even in the realm of answers...but now I cannot imagine being anywhere else. The events that have brought me to this wonderful country working for a fantastic organization don't make much sense and if I tried to explain it all I think in the end, I am the only one who would really understand the process.
Here I am, with hundreds of new friends, a whole new perspective on the world/life, and feeling the most comfortable in my own skin than I ever have in my life, and I am about to up and leave it...
I think all of these feelings have to do with being scared and unsure of what moving back to the states entails but in the end, there really isn't anything to be scared of-its just a new phase of my ever changing life.
So it looks like I'm going back to school in September, the school is still not decided yet, but it is looking like I'm going to be taking on a whole new city I've never lived in before. I applied while I was home not really thinking I'd follow through and go, but now I'm realizing I took the time to apply and complete the process so I'm going...who knew I'd get into schools I'm actually interested in forcing me to choose a school rather than have a school choose me?
Exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time but really forcing me to 'act my age' as this blog states. I cannot act like a 'child' roaming the world much longer for various reasons but to be honest, it feels good to have to make some adult decisions...like I'm a real person.
With that, I'm done venting about where I am in my life. On a more cheery note: Mark and Gina in Kenya in JUNE, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in June, going to the Kenyan coast next weekend, and Ethiopia in May!
I felt like adding a few more photos because these 2 little dolls are some of the most adorable children I've EVER met!
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