Habari ya nyumbani?

Another post to try and keep up the frequency of writing this year.
I'm not 2 days into my 'official orientation' as an EVS/ICYE volunteer. I've been doing my training with another volunteer who will be staying for a year, Gabi from Costa Rica. It's nice spending the orientation with another person and getting to know old faces a bit better too. Most of the things were covered in my first orientation back in January 2010 but some of the information will never cease to amaze me. Today we covered the list of common diseases and illnesses in Kenya as well as the issue of relationships. Now just as last time, after these sessions you can't help feeling a bit overwhelmed at the amount of information being given you to keep you safe and healthy (we'll cover security issues tomorrow!). Now I know it's all for our own good but it does make you go a bit "AAAAAHHHH!" about the whole experience! I can only imagine how Gabi felt hearing it for the first time.

We've also been having Kiswahili classes. And I've been reassured that I do actually know a fair amount already. (Yeah I know I've had a year head start but really, come on, you know we Brits don't really learn languages that well...:-p ) But it seems that my only difficulty now is having the confidence to practice, to try out the sentences and words not being afraid that I'll pronounce them wrong or mix them up. That's the really challenging part! It's much easier to say, I don't remember any of it and get by with English because Kenya is also so English orientated anyway. Though I really should try harder this time to integrate into this part of my 'cultural exchange' because I think it could be really beneficial and also pretty cool if I can put conversational Kiswahili on my CV!

I'm still waiting for confirmation on where I'll be living and what kind of family it will be. I'm actually really nervous about meeting a new family and whether I'll get on with them etc. I guess that's only natural too.
I heard some ideas on what exactly it is that I'll be doing over the 6 months from Judy today and it does all sound pretty interesting. I suppose that it's just trying to match up expectations from ICYE, EVS and myself to actual practical action in a place where things don't usually work out the way you expect them to. But I'll be making use of my 'special' mind maps and lists to try and organise my head into what I'm supposed to be doing and also trying not to expect too much. I have only just arrived (even if I had hardly even left) and it's a new task and responsibilities are different now that I'm technically 'ICYE staff'. However, I am hopeful and I hope that the ICYE Kenya team are happy to have me back. At least they must have had the chance to say "No way are we having that Laura Griffin back again!" and they didn't so let's build on that and see what happens!

So I'm doing fine, Nairobi is not as terrible as I believe it to be. Though I've been able to walk to work from the guesthouse and haven't really seen too much of the city. I'm getting on with things and it's all going OK.
For those who gave me some specific advice before I came out here, I am working on it and once I get my feet on the ground I'll try to do as I was told. I've not forgotten!

Congratulations to the Kenyans in the London Marathon but also massive congratulations to Gemma Foster who also ran and all the other people/charities I'm connected to who were involved! (If I couldn't learn to run after a year of living with 'the running tribe' I'm afraid there's no hope for me there!)

I'll post my address next time I write and will be sending out letters to everyone who gave me their address very soon! (It's not too late to jump on the 'Post from Kenya II' train if you'd like to, just send me your address and I'll write to you soon!)