Keen on Sydney

I made it through the first week! I already feel so comfortable with Sydney but I know there is SO much more to explore. Here are some of the highlights of my first week in Australia:

1)   Monday: Night out at Side Bar on George Street. For some Australians, every night is a time to enjoy each others company and many take advantage of the opportunity to go out dancing, even on a Monday night. While I doubt I’m going to be a frequent Monday night partier, it was a great experience to get out of the house and explore the downtown nightlife in a new city. With almost 5 million people in the city, Sydney is by far the biggest city I’ve spent any real time in. So wandering around a city that never sleeps with new friends and “heaps” of new Aussies was a fun way to spend one of my first nights in town.

2)   Tuesday: Dinner in Chinatown. Like any major city, Sydney has quite an impressive Chinatown. On Tuesday night, I ventured back into the city to explore the famed cuisine off Hay Street. After a violinist serenaded my group with Jingle Bells (yes, in the middle of July), we stumbled upon an underground Chinese food court. We each ordered from a different one of the 15 greasy Chinese restaurants and came together to enjoy our feast.

3)   Wednesday: Salsa dancing at Coogee Beach. After class on Wednesday I jumped on the 370 bus that took me from my doorstep to Coogee beach. At the beach, I met up with my friends Charlie and Jimmy from Duke and had $5 steaks (bargain!) at a restaurant on the beach. After enjoying our juicy steaks (meat here is infinitely better than in Kenya, even if the cheapest option is still 5 times as expensive), we went upstairs for Wednesday night salsa dancing. Because we came late and had no idea what we were doing, one of the two salsa instructors left the main group to teach the silly Americans how to dance (we needed it). By the end of the night we were all pros (sort of…) and had a lot of fun making fools of ourselves.

4)   Thursday: Experimental and Behavioral Economics. I’m an Economics and Psychology double major so when I found a class called Experimental and Behavioral Economics in the University of Sydney’s course catalogue, I jumped right on it. My first lecture did not disappoint. Similar to my first lecture with Dan Ariely (a behavioral economist at Duke), money was involved. The difference was that Dan took student’s money, while my professor in Sydney paid me money (one whole Australian dollar, it bought me a tenth of my lunch!). We played economic games, some of which supported standard economic theory while others refuted it. 

5)   Friday: Shopping at Paddy’s Market. At the end of the day on Friday, I took a stroll past Broadway, down George Street, and past Central Station to Paddy’s market. Imagine a collection of all of the street vendors and fresh produce sellers that you would expect to be selling their goods on sidewalks, and put them all together in one humongous market. That’s Paddy’s market. Not only is it an awesome sight to see, but it also has food for a somewhat reasonable price. I bought everything from eggs to socks to an unidentified Australian vegetable and called the trip a success.

6)   Saturday: Hiking through the Blue Mountains. I woke up early on Saturday morning to catch a bus and a train out to the Blue Mountains, a set of magnificent mountains about 100km west of downtown Sydney. Traveling with UNSW students, I hiked for the better part of the day past the famous Three Sisters rock formation and a lot of fun bouldering rocks. It was refreshing to get outside the city and appreciate some of Australia’s nature, especially as I think of all of my friends at Duke starting PWILD staff training. The Blue Mountains are not quite Pisgah, but they made for an awesome day trip.

7)   Sunday: Rest.  Today I did absolutely nothing. I went to a free barbeque, did my laundry, and relaxed. School hasn’t picked up too much so I am just enjoying being able to sit in my Eno hammock, read my book, and settle in to this new place called Sydney.

Welcome to the Land Down Under

Quick side note/recap: last week I came down with a pretty unenjoyable case of malaria. All of the fun symptoms: vomiting, joint and muscle pain, splitting headaches, fever, loss of appetite, and just general feeling of pain and discomfort. Thankfully I had a great doctor, got shots and medications, and was feeling better after about a week (so just a few days ago). On to Australia!

After a solid two days of travel, a little more malaria, and a little less sleep than I was hoping for, I arrived in Sydney! I saw the sun rise over the harbor from the plane on Sunday morning and it was gorgeous. Before I knew it I was through customs and getting out of a cab being welcomed in to my new home, Sydney University Village. I was greeted by very friendly receptionist and taken to my apartment full of four sleeping (you would be asleep too on a Sunday morning at 8am) USyd students who are going to be my roommates for the next four months. I unpacked was just feeling settled (except for the whole lack of sheets, bedding, towels, cell phone, or money) when a friendly roommate named Victoria invited me to a free barbeque.

My room pre-bedding/anything

I’m always a fan of free food, and real hamburgers with lettuce and tomatoes after two months of ugali was nothing short of amazing. I met a bunch of friendly strangers from everywhere from London to Sydney to Davidson (less than an hour from my home in Charlotte). It was the largest gathering of white people (I’m tempted to call them mzungus) I had seen in one place in months which was quite a shock on my system. From lunch a group of friends decided to take off into the city and I said, “why not?” and joined them.

We walked right out of the Village onto Kings street, a Franklin Street-equivalent, but filled with Thai, Chinese, and Indian restaurants. Next thing I knew I was getting off a bus and walking right up to the Sydney Opera House, which was quite a site to see. I’m sure you know what it looks like from the harbor where all of the famous photos are taken from but head on from the land it reminded me of the pope’s hat/mitre. I’m looking forward to going back to be able to explore the inside of the building and hopefully even see an opera performed.

From the Opera House, still coming to terms with the fact that I was in the eastern hemisphere for the first time in my life, and in Australia for that matter, I was led on by new friendly guides through the Royal Botanic Gardens. We meandered through and into the heart of the city. Parts of the city make me feel like I’m in Manhattan because of the ginormous department stores, and other parts feel like San Francisco because of the urban rolling hills. 

Where the garden meets the city

After joining a couple of newlyweds for their wedding photo in the streets, we made our way to Chinatown for the food court with the “cheapest food in town.” Unfortunately that meant dinner for $8-10 as opposed to the normal $10-15. Sydney is expensive.

After a “cheap” but filling bowl of noodles we started walking back home when I realized that I still didn’t have any bedding and the thought of sleeping on the couch after sleeping on a plane for the previous two nights didn’t sound incredibly appealing. So, I stopped by the local K Mart and grabbed the essentials before it closed (read: bedding, towel, 5 boxes of cereal, and ice cream). I made it home at 10:30 and passed out after a successful day in Sydney.

Yesterday (Monday) was my first day of class, starting just about 24 hours after I stepped foot on Australian soil. The few classes I’ve had have gone well but I’m still doing a lot of drop/add, I’ll let you know about them when I get my schedule all finalized. Between classes I’ve been meeting new people, trying not to have a heart attack every time I see the price of an item (you know those bottles of Cokes your parents told you were a nickel growing up? Yeah, they’re $3.50 AUD here), getting a cell phone, and all of the general paperwork and chores normal people do during orientation week that I missed.

I like it here. I’ve got great roommates, a great location, I know I’ll be happy with my classes when I get them sorted out, a great city, amazingly nice people, and travel opportunities galore. It’s going to be a great semester.

The List

Things I’m going to miss

·      Chapati

·      My host family

·      Village Enterprise

·      Being able to set up my hammock in my back yard

·      Free time

·      Ugandan pineapple

·      Chai

·      8 hours of sleep every night

·      DukeEngagers

·      Club Westlife

·      My dogs

·      Pikipiki rides

·      Ugali

·      Less than $1 meals

·      Soy Tu Dueña

Things I’m not going to miss

·      Malaria

·      Gratuitous amounts of oil

·      Ugali

·      Bucket showers

·      Spontaneous blackouts

·      KISUMU, KISUMU, ARE YOU GOING TO KISUMU!?!?!

·      27 people matatu rides

·      Mosquito Nets

Things I’m looking forward to

·      Washing machines

·      The beach

·      Pancakes

·      Real showers

·      Sydney Opera House

·      WiFi

·      Duke friends

·      New friends

·      Being able to wear shorts

·      English

·      THE BEACH

An Internship in 8 Pictures

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Cultural Exchange

Dorcas (adorable 4 year old girl who lives in my neighborhood): How are you?

Me: Nzuri sana, na wewe? (Very well, and you?)

Dorcas: I’m fine!

Dorcas and me.

This is a conversation I have at least once a day not only with little Dorcas but also with Kenyan men and women of all ages. Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that those are the only 5 words that Dorcas knows, she insists upon speaking Swahili to me. At first this confused me. She could barely speak any English but yet insisted upon using the tiny bit of English she knows to communicate with the mzungu who walks down the street every day. But then I realized that I was in a very similar situation. I know very little Swahili, relative to how much English many Kenyans know, but I still great people on the streets with the classic Swahili greetings. I do it partly to show respect, to show that I didn’t land here two days ago staying at a fancy hotel on vacation, but rather that I have actually taken time to start to learn the local language. But I also do it because I am genuinely interested in the Kenyan culture, a culture there is a lot to learn about, and I feel that I can get a better sense of it by at least trying to communicate in the local language.

And that’s when I realized that Dorcas and I aren’t that different after all. I came to Kenya two months ago to work for a microfinance institution, to meet new people, and to experience a new culture. I hadn’t really thought about the cultural exchange, the fact that Dorcas was also interested in my culture. After the many days of walking by her house we began to talk in a combination of broken English, broken Swahili, and neighbors who spoke a good bit of both languages. After she got over staring at my skin and laughing at the hair on my legs (strange concept for many Kenyans), we talked about each other’s families and lives.

I went to church with my host mom my first Sunday in Kakamega and it was quite an experience for me, attending a service in Swahili that lasted four hours in a building made of iron sheets in the middle of a field. While trying to take in whatever I could I also went up to the front of the church, faced the pews, and introduced myself using the little Swahili I knew. But what I was too oblivious to notice was that the congregation was incredibly intrigued by my presence there. I didn’t really get a grasp of this interest until a few weeks later when my host mom told me about some of the conversations she had been having with some of her neighbors. Ever since they saw me with her at church, people started to ask what it was like to live with a mzungu. What does he eat? How do you take care of him? How does he sleep? How do you afford all the amenities he requires? How do you communicate with him? I was happy to hear that my host mom had responded that I was no different from living with one of her own children. I eat ugali, I take bucket showers, I help do the dishes and cook food, I feed the dogs, I require no extra special treatment.

Thinking back on it, it makes sense that many people on the outskirts of Kakamega have no idea what mzungus are like. But it was a bit surprising to hear all of the misconceptions many people have about white people. At the same time, many people in the US have incredibly skewed perceptions about much of Africa. The fact that people so often refer to “Africa” instead of individual African countries is just the beginning of the lacking understanding of the varied cultures. Tanzania neighbors Kenya but Kenyans stick out like sore thumbs in Tanzania because of the drastic differences in pace of life, priorities, and ways of living. Few Americans would guess that there are well stocked supermarkets not that different from Wal-Mart in small towns in Kenya, I know I wouldn’t have before this trip! 

One of the many isles of Nakumat, the supermarket a 10 minute walk away from my house.

Many Kenyans think that there is free money constantly being handed out to anyone who wants it in the US and many Americans believe that everyone in places such as Kenya lives in extreme poverty. The truth is that there is a wide range of living conditions in both countries and that there are a lot of misconceptions that need to be cleared up. I hope you have gotten a tiny glimpse into what my time in Kenya has been like but if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend traveling to Kenya someday to see for yourself.

Tomorrow is my last day at work and then I’m off to Sydney on Friday. I’m planning on putting together a brief photo post tomorrow to wrap up my time working for Village Enterprise so keep an eye out for it. My time here has flown by but I have had such a great experience I can’t imagine a better way to spend my summer.

Let the Training Begin!

And they are off! After an exciting and relaxing weekend with my fellow FSD interns at our mid-summer retreat in Nyvasha this past weekend, I was ready to get back to Kakamega and back to work. Yesterday morning, at 7:30 our first candidate arrived at our new office (really exciting) for the first day of Employed Business Mentor training. The training is not only a process in teaching these candidates how to create, train, and mentor small businesses, but also the last step in the recruitment process as we narrow down our number from 12 finalists to 4 EBMs.

Because one of my biggest goals this summer with Village Enterprise was to select and train our first EBMs, this has been a very exciting but busy process for me. Yesterday morning was the first time that the 12 finalists from the 4 different locations finally came together and met. Not only was it great to see the candidates meet each other and be in the same place, but it was also a lot of fun introducing the candidates to the other members of Village Enterprise staff. It is funny to think back to a month ago when I arrived at the Sheywe location EBM interest meeting to find only two interested applicants. But by the forces of the universe, many qualified candidates found out about the position and applied. While my initial fear was that we wouldn’t be able to find four people that were up for the job, my current anxiety is over not being able to take all 12!

I’m about to run off to Maasai Mara (the Kenyan name for the Serengeti) with some friends for the weekend to see the wildebeest migration and a lot of cool animals. I’ll be back with pictures on Monday!