random

Additional info on Kibera - some of you may have seen Kibera b/c it's featured in the movie The Constant Gardener. Also, a lot of the post-election violence happened in Kibera, and there are "keep peace" signs throughout the slum. Actually, the husband of the host mom at the volunteer house here in Nairobi was killed in Kibera during the violence.

Food - I forgot to mention that we also drink a lot of chai tea. Oh and apparently Kenyans don't drink water. Seriously. Most people I've met have tea in the morning and another tea at night and that's basically it. I think I'm going to be over chai and cabbage by the time I come home.

Nakumatt - you may have seen news re the fire at the Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi. I've been in that market before, and I'm currently in Nairobi and just walked by where the Nakumatt used to be. So many people are still missing. The whole thing is such a tragedy. The fire engines ran out of water, and there are questions regarding the number of fire exits in the store and whether the doors were open. It's been all over the news. Absolutely terrible. It makes you appreciate the safety precautions we have at home - even though they can often be annoying. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/02/01/kenya.explosion/index.html

Today - I met two other volunteers, Lora and Martha, in Nairobi. We went to the Masai market, bought overnight bus tickets to the coast for next weekend, had lunch at Hooter's (nothing like the one at home but decent fries) and are now running a few errands before heading back to our various placements. OH and I met a Kenyan runner on the bus into town. He suggested a running book for me, so I'm going to have to check it out when I get back home :)