Why Noise Producing Toys should be Banned

I have finally found my home and unpacked which is a huge relief after unpacking and repacking, sleeping in group rooms, and just generally hanging out with twenty Americans all the time. My host family is pretty awesome, especially my Mama who I think may be one of the coolest women in Kenya. Not only does she speak 4 languages, she also has 2 masters degrees then her PhD, and travels all over for her job as a scientist at the Nairobi Museum. Malaika, my new 4 year old sister, is a bit rambunctious but fun to have around. Although having my hair pulled and being jumped on while I am lying in bed are definitively things I'm going to have to get used to. I'm living in a rather nice neighborhood, and my apartment is gated and has a guard 24 hours a day. It can also steal wireless internet from the apartment complex behind us, which is nice and unexpected. However, like most internet connections here in Kenya, it's unfathomably slow and I don't expect to use it very much; unfortunately letting my emails pile up over days can be quite the hassle when you have an internet connection this slow.

I've also met my "Aunt" and "cousins" and will probably be seeing them once a week after we attend church; the NPC- Nairobi Pentecostal Church.. I haven't quite gotten the hang of the hand raising, hip swaying, dancing crazy worship, but maybe if I practice hard enough I'll be a pro by the end.

Our group gave up the tourist things and instead focused on finally actually starting to acclimate to Kenya. We were very much coddled the first few days. Our last day of orientation was a tour of the city, and in many ways it broke my heart and disturbed me greatly. I was prepared for poverty, and slums, and all of the heartbreaking stuff you see on tv but like to pretend doesn't really exist. I wasn't prepared to see what I thought were these things, and then be told that we weren't even looking at poverty at this point and then drive through the area that holds the richest of the rich, and all their excesses including personal water slides usually reserved for water parks. I also went and played with some babies at an orphanage, and am astounded at how well behaved these children are, and how easily they eat. I'm chalking it up to the fact that batteries were taken out of all their toys, and were therefore not surrounded by heinous, miserable toy noise 24 hours a day. That stuff is awful. Malaika unfortunately just got a toy that plays a Chinese pop song over and over again.

Hope all is well in America.