field trips, birthday, and term papers

another week has passed, and i have officially been here for over a month. i've been here for five weeks, which means i'm 1/3 of the way through the semester. it's crazy how fast time is flying by.

on monday, we went on a field trip for my country analysis. i can honestly say that it was the most pointless field trip i have ever been on. we went to ngong, where i went a couple of weekends ago. we stopped at an agricultural teaching center, where farmers from the nairobi area come to learn how to better manage their crops and animals. pretty much all we did was see cows, rabbits, chickens, and a goat. then we went to the top of one of the hills (we rode the bus this time instead of hiking) and saw some wind turbines. wooo. then we came back to nairobi and the field trip was over.

wednesday was my 20th birthday. i'm not much of a birthday celebrator, and wasn't expecting this one to be any different. a few girls on the program got me flowers, and the msid staff got me a cake, which i shared during tea break. after class, i went to creamy inn for ice cream. the night before, i reminded my host parents that it was my birthday, and they kind of forgot, but said they'd plan something and i was not to worry. so that night i was expecting to go out to eat, being prepared a special meal, or doing something to celebrate. well, my host father and brother came into my room, sang happy birthday to me, gave me a chocolate bar, and walked out. that was the extent of my birthday celebration.

thursday we had another field trip, this time for my development class. we boarded the bus and got a tour of nairobi-- seeing the industrial portion of nairobi, a major informal sector where they make many things out of recycled materials, and then an upper-class area, where many of the country ambassadors live. it was nice to see a different part of nairobi, as i usually stay in about a 2 mile radius of school.

tin shack

garbage disposal is a huge problem in nairobi

nairobi skyline

tin shacks many people in nairobi have to call "home"

friday night, i celebrated my birthday "msid style" at smart village, an ethiopian restaurant. i was nervous that no one would show up, but people did, and it was a lot of fun.