Around the World in 120 Days: R1

Well once again we apologize for our silence. It turns out this consistent blogging thing is harder than we thought it would be! We've been dealing with a lot of reading (john), a little sickness (both of us) and a bit of culture shock this week (charlotte - working in Kenya is bit more complex than I thought it would be). Still, those are only semi-legit reasons for not blogging. Here is a post we intended to write about 2 weeks ago.

Our first 12 days in Kenya we lived near the edge of campus on a small compound with some other westerners and professors. All along we had planned on living in the student housing, but it wasn't ready when we first arrived. We found out we really had 3 options for housing. Option #1 was we could stay where we were - it was quiet and peaceful, but a little removed from campus and other students. Option 2 was to rent a small cottage near Kijiji (campus guest house that generates revenue for the school) which was warm and homey feeling and closer to campus, but still not near other students. Option #3 was to move into student housing which was our initial plan. When we toured campus housing we started to get cold feet. The housing was a bit more, we'll say basic (one western described it as spartan) than we had anticipated. Think concrete everything, bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling and no hot water. That's right, no hot water. The no hot water was a bit of an issue. I wasn't sure I could handle 4 months without a hot shower. In the big picture that is kind of pathetic I know, but it is how we were feeling.

So began the pro and con lists and the debates. We are only here for 4 months and we wanted to get an authentic as possible Kenyan experience. We also wanted to have real relationships and be normal students - or as normal as we can be, which may not being saying much. Anyway, we discussed our options and thoughts with an American couple who has been here for 6 years, 5 of which were spent in student housing with 3 children. In a completely non-salesy way they totally sold us on the benefits of student housing. The 2 biggest reasons are it really is the best way to form relationships with students and it gives us more authenticity. We can relate better to other students if we are doing the same things and living in the same places and going through life just like they are. So the decision was made and we haven't looked back.

We moved into R1 almost 2 weeks ago and have settled in easily. It's not perfect - there are a few roaches and it can be a bit noisy, but it is a good fit and we have not doubt that it was the right decision. And it is not nearly as sterile as I thought it might be. With a little love and a LOT of help from the Shaws it feels like a home. Since the Shaws are currently nomads traveling from home to home on campus while their new house is being built they had plenty of items in storage that we are now using including their bed and their oven (student housing only comes with a 2 burner plate). And about the hot water situation (some things are hard to give up) - it turns out for about $50 you can purchase a special shower head that can be hooked up to power to generate hot water. It is perhaps the best $50 we have ever spent!

Here are a few pictures of our new place! Please excuse the random order - blogger has not been very cooperative!