The drive from the airport to the village was my first experience in the city, so i guess thats where i'll start. Me and my 3 other team members (carson, anna, and becky) were greeted by a nice young man Ruben who escorted us to a van. I immediately traveled to the driver side (forgetting that the passenger side is switched in Africa) he started to laugh, asking if i wanted t drive us home. I half considered it but am so thankful i turned the offer down because as soon we got off the highway it was complete chaos. There are NO signs, lots of speed bumps, TONS of foot traffic, herds of sheep and goats and apparently the lanes on the road are mere "guidelines" because no one stays in their own lane. (the same is true for traffic lights...green and red seem to meant the same thing.) The road itself was hardly recognizable...sometimes its gravel, sometimes its dirt, sometimes cement and ALWAYS potholes...the director here likes to call their roads "the african massage" because as you drive you sway in every direction while the vibrations of the vehicle seem to karate chop your back!
    As we pulled into the village we were greeted by Yeen-Lan, the village director here at Rafiki...she is a bundle of joy wrapped up in a petite asian body, all smiles ALL the time. She also happens to be one of the most organized people i'v ever met, it seems like her daily life is scheduled out by the minute from when she wakes to when she lays her head on her pillow. In our first conversation with us she made sure to tell us one of her favorite mottos, "if your early, your on time; if you're on time, your late; and if you're late, its unacceptable!" you can see why me and my team where a little nervous settling in, setting clocks a few mins ahead to give us a little lee-way for early morning meetings and such! Then she took us on a tour of the village and we met some of the people we'd be working with...we were all relieved that they were some of the kindest, most welcoming people ever! It was our every desire to go out into town and get a feel for the city, but seeing that we were a little jetlegged and exhausted from the journey, we made it an early night and got in bed. And although our measly 5 hours in Kenya seemed like enough adventure and excitement to last a life time... gotta admit, it gets even better!