Back to School

Life has begun here in Nairobi. Orientation was a blast and a semi vacation, but now that school has started, it’s back to the grind. A much easier grind than in Champaign that is, but a grind nevertheless. The weather here makes it much more bearable. The first Monday that we were back here in Nairobi (1/24/11), we were able to go downtown as a group and purchase cell phones, sim cards and internet modems. Being away from almost all forms of technology for a week was a really nice feeling. There was no urge to check my pocket to see if I had a text message or email on my phone. There was no checking facebook, CNN or twitter on my computer. It was a liberating feeling. But getting a Kenyan sim card and internet modem felt great. I was instantly reconnected to the world.
Classes started on Tuesday and I felt like I was in high school all over again. Six hours of class every day. Four hours of class a day in college is a lot so six is quite an adjustment. Our day is split up into three blocks of two hour classes. We have a morning block from 8:30–10:30, a tea break from 10:30-10:45, the mid morning block is from 10:45-12:45, lunch from 12:45-1:30 and then the afternoon block from 1:30-3:30. We are all taking the same four classes here taught by our faculty and faculty from the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. One of the classes we are taking is called Country Analysis. This class is taught by the most animated professor I’ve ever had. His name is Fred. He is a professor at the University of Nairobi and he is very passionate about his teaching. This class is designed to teach us about the history of Kenya, going back to pre colonial times all the way up to how Kenya fits into the global scene right now. It has been a very interesting class because we have been able to learn why things are the way they are today. Virtually everything is traced back to British Colonialism. Everything from political parties, economic conditions and corruption can be traced back to the way Kenya was colonized. Another class we are taking is International Development. This is the reason we are here. ID is taught by MSID-Kenya Program Director Dr. Jama. Dr. Jama is a native Kenyan who earned his Ph. D. at Washington State University. In addition to running MSID-Kenya and teaching one of our courses and teaching at the University of Nairobi, he also heads an Institute on International Development here in Nairobi. This class is about what development is, how it is achieved and how can development be improved. A lot of Kenya’s development comes from foreign investors and it’s quite interesting learning about the differences between US aid money and aid money from other countries like China. US aid money comes with strings attached. This concept is called conditionality. The US will say that they will give X amount of money to Kenya if they vow to fight and reduce corruption. Other European countries will give money on the condition that human rights violations are reduced. There are an endless amount of conditions that you can attach to your aid. China on the other hand, could not care less. They give money on no conditions which has allowed them to flourish in Africa. As you can imagine African leaders love free money with no strings attached. In this sense, there is a free lunch. China is just hoping that your free lunch will actually end up benefiting them in the future. I am very excited for the rest of this class. Our third and last major class is Swahili. We are split up into three levels; beginner, intermediate and advance. There are 18 of us in beginner and we are split up into three smaller classes of six people and a teacher. Having not taken a language since junior year in high school, it’s been a challenge getting that part of my brain working again. That’s all I have to say about Swahili. Our last class is only about once a week. This is our Track course which relates to our internships. There is an environmental track, a public health track, a social services track and a micro business track. I am in the micro business track and the class consists of me, our teacher George, and another one of my classmates. I’ve only had this class once and all we did is talk about political and domestic issues. Later on we will be going out into Nairobi and interviewing micro business owners about their experiences. I am really looking forward to this class as well.
How do I get to class you ask? It’s a good 30 minute walk alleys, gardens and sidewalks. No, I am not kidding about the gardens. All 24 of us are located in clusters of four or five so they all get to walk together to class. In Kilimani, the estate/city ward I live in, it is just me and my friend Paige. Her house is about ten minutes from mine so she picks me up every morning on the way to class. The first day was pretty funny because Carrey, a 15 year old, walked me to class. It’s really not a bad walk at all. It takes some people almost an hour so I feel pretty lucky. The morning is also one of the best times to be outside because the weather is absolutely perfect. We have the afternoon off tomorrow and it will be our first time going out on the town. Should be a good time!