A bit about Kenya/our house

A few people have asked me about things like what language do they speak in Kenya, and general things like that.  So I figured I'd do a post on some of that general stuff and a bit about where we are staying.

The official languages in Kenya are English and Swahili.  There does seem to be a bit of a split of languages based on income class.  People like guards at compounds and gardeners, maids etc. generally don't speak that much English.  They will have learned a bit because the people that employ them will all be primarily English speakers.  The majority of the wealthy people are British ex-pats, which accounts for the prevalence of English.  The currency is Kenyan Shillings, although at most touristy things, US dollars are accepted as well.  The exchange is about 87 Shillings to 1 Canadian dollar. 

Here's a picture of the house we are staying in.  Our hosts are Lisa and Ronnie.  Lisa is a doc from Winnipeg that spends a significant amount of time here in Kenya heading up various projects.  She is one of the people heading up the project that Joce is working on here, as well as several others.  Ronnie is originally from Kenya, he is an Anaesthetist working in Nairobi, and really the only person that speaks Swahili.  Lisa is learning Swahili as well, but as Ronnie grew up here, he is our go to if Swahili is needed.  There are two other interns staying at the house, Rachel and Sara. 

The area we are living is called Langata, it is a suburb of Nairobi.  As with all of the other houses in the area, the yard is a fenced compound, with a guard at the front gate 24 hours a day.  The trip into Nairobi is in theory a 20 minute  drive, but with construction on the main road and traffic, it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 and a half hours.  We are serenaded to sleep every night by the Tree Hyraxes, neighbourhood dogs, hyenas, and various other wildlife.  Thankfully, you get used to the noise, as it seems to go on all night long.

The temperature in Nairobi has generally remained around 25-30 degrees, and so far it has only rained one day.  Staying here in Langata has been a pretty gentle introduction to living in Kenya.  Not difficult to get used to at all.

-steve