I slept so well. I’m very pleased about
that. Last night, I went around to most people’s rooms and said goodbye, but I
didn’t know where Pat and Adam’s room was, and Chelsea and Bissy were still in
town, so I was worried that I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to them all. Luckily,
Pat and Adam were at breakfast when I arrived this morning, and Chelsea and
Bissy walked by as I was waiting for my taxi, so I got to say goodbye to
everyone. I also enjoyed chatting with Adam and Pat at breakfast, since they
also lived at the other house and I didn’t get to know them as well as those at
the Oasis.
I was struck again this morning by how
astoundingly cheap everything is here. My lunch and dinner yesterday, hotel for
the night (with a king-size bed to myself – glorious), and 20-minute taxi ride
to the airport cost a total of $45USD.
Right now I’m sitting in the Nairobi
airport, in the midst of a 10-hour layover. I thought about leaving the airport
to explore, but I’d need a visa, and between the cost and hassle (especially
since I don’t know how much time/money it would take to get into town/ back
here later), I decided not to go out. So I’m hanging out…I’ve got about 8.5
hours left. I bought internet, which was a good life choice even though it was
a bit expensive ($6USD for 12 hours…).
I’m a total nerd…I’m pretty sure everyone
reading this knows that, but I decided to include that as a disclaimer in case
someone was somehow unaware. The end of my trip into Nairobi consisted of me
realizing that a lot of countries end in the letter ‘a’, and subsequently
making a list of countries on my phone, sorted into categories. Those ending in
each vowel (including ‘y’) have their own categories, then there are categories
for “ending in ‘land,’” and “other.” It’s worth noting that I’m using the
English name for each of the countries for consistency, though I made an
exception for Cote D’Ivoire since many English speakers Anglicize that rather
than saying Ivory Coast. I was pretty pleased that I managed to name over 50
countries in about 10 minutes without internet. And I confirmed my assertion
that a lot of countries end in the letter ‘a.’ I’ll probably continue playing
this game once I finish this post and get bored of using the internet.
I got really excited because not long
before we landed in Nairobi, a peak reached above the clouds, and it looked
similar to the pictures I’ve seen of Kilimanjaro. After looking at a world map
(and doing my best to not look at country names… Luckily, I already had Malawi,
Tanzania, and Kenya, which were the ones that mattered for this exercise), it’s
totally feasible that it was Kili! It was gorgeous, though I’m sure it’s more impressive
from the ground. I was particularly excited about seeing it because Mars is
planning to climb it in February 2017, and I knew she’d be pleased that I saw
it.
I was expecting that after 3 weeks of being
around people all the time, I’d enjoy the solitude of travelling alone.
Instead, I’m finding that I’m missing being around my classmates. Luckily,
there’s talk of having a get-together at some point this summer. I’ll also stay
in touch with many of them, I expect. But this was a truly unique experience,
and it’s unlikely that all 18 of us will be all together again.
I could continue to write and rant, but I
don’t think I really have anything worthwhile to write about, so I’m gonna sign
off.
-Jen
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