Kanyawegi children and I

On my 2nd day in Kenya, I met several children who I became very attached to by the end of the trip.  They made me smile throughout the trip despite the language barrier.  Eventually, they always came to say hello to me whenever I was near Obambo.  I did spoil them a little by providing them with sweets whenever I had some.  These kids wore dirty clothes with holes in them.  They didn't have shoes and played with tires but they were sincerely the most happiest children I've ever met.  I am going to introduce you to some of the friends I will miss very much.  Be prepared for a lot of photos.

 We were able to make them laugh :)

Nairobi

Rashma and I left the community on the 5th and took off to Nairobi on a Each Coach. Easy Coach is quite comfortable and safe because it goes directly to Nairobi without accepting new customers on the streets.  We got off the bus at this sketch junction to wait for our host family. Scott, a UBC commerce student who we met at Masai Maara, is working in Nairobi for the summer and he found us a place to stay.  We were continuously asked by many creepy mutatu dudes if we needed a ride and finally after about 40 minutes, Anne, the host mother showed up.  We got in her car and was taken to her house.  When we walked in, we were shocked.  We lived in a village  for 7 weeks where houses were mostly made of the mud and dung mixture. There was no electricity, water had to be carried from far away and being clean was a luxury. This house in Nairobi, was fancy with a flat screen TV, an enormous kitchen,  and.. a servant.  

Whoa. Talk about economic disparity.

Apparently, the husband is a senator or something… The first thing that went through our headss.. politicians= corruption (?) The youngest child of this family, Phil, was 3 and he was playing with a tablet.  This made me slightly sad because it made me think of Dadi and his shoeless dirty feet and his worn clothes.  Phil also spoke more English than Dadi who is 9.  I think people in Nairobi speak better English in general, possibly because they are not surrounded by their own tribe all the time. One thing that is obvious in Nairobi is that rich are definitely rich and poor are poor which is what you often see in developing countries.

Extravagant interior

Phil, smiling with his tablet

Amsterdam

After 6 months.. I am attempting at writing again.  This time, it will be a bit different because I am actually headed to Kenya for about 2 months with a volunteering organization called GIVE (Global Initiative for Village Empowerment).  Since flying over to Kenya is not the easiest, my teammate Rashma and I decided to stop by the Netherlands for a couple of days instead of being in layover for about 35 hours.  We flew to Amsterdam from Vancouver which took us around 9 hours, found a nice cozy place on air bnb and decided explore this city.  

We didn't do any research before our arrival so it was exciting to find things along the way by asking the locals. After yesterday's first glimpse of Amsterdam, these are the things I learned about Amsterdam.

1. Cafes everywhere.  Funny enough, I was actually looking for a big fat burger with fries to realize that I wasn't in N. America anymore.  Most places serve sandwiches with soup.
2. Cannabis.  You can get your own starter kit for 2.50 euros.  
3. Sex.  Sex museums, red light district, prostitution etc. etc.
4. Flowers.  There is a flower market which sells the root of the plant.  It was an interesting to realize once again how ugly roots grow into something so beautiful.
5. Cheese. We went into one of the stores and just tried out their cheese. #hippielife
6. Canals. Of course the signature. 
7. Cyclists. Some, very angry if you are getting in their way. This lady gave Dina, who is also a GIVE traveler this year, the biggest disapproval when she stepped on the cycling lane.  We went because the signal told us that we could walk.  I am not sure how that works around here. 
8. Very tall people. Some look like models. 

Vancouverites in T dot

I've been to Toronto a couple of times but it was in elementary school & high school and I don't have much recollection of the city at all.  I do remember it being big and dirtier compared to Vancouver but as a girl who loves big cities, this notion made me have an image of Toronto as an awesmoe city.  My  recent trip did not disappoint me and it sure made Vancouver seem like tiny.  In Toronto, I met up with one of my best friend Adriana who flew in from Vancouver who came back to Montreal with me after the trip.

Girl with a huge green bow in her hair.   

We were there during the St. Patrick's weekend and we got the chance to see the parade.  The parade itself wasn't too exciting but I did really enjoy the festiveness of it.

Desserts at Mocoro chocolate in Yorkville

Snow & Donuts

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 I try to make the best out of my weekends to explore the city so every weekend I've been visiting museums, finding famous dining locations and going to festivals.  I mean.. might as well right?  I am only here for 3 months. 


This weekend, my friend and I decided to find this popular donut shop near St. Henri station.  When we got off at the station, the area seemed really sketch and deserted.  I think the snow kind of made the experience though.  With the old buildings and trees everywhere, it looked like a scene from a movie. 

 
I did bring a scarf with me but it got too warm so I took it off.  It looks super cold but surprisingly, it wasn't too cold on this day.   I am so glad I got this jacket before I came to Montreal.  It's from TNA but I found it at a consignment store on Main St. for half price off.   I got my snowboots on my first day here in Montreal because my toes were dying from the -40 weather. I seriously thought I lost them. I miss wearing my suede heels and flats... but I have a feeling that it's going to be snowing till the end of March.

After about 10 minutes of walk from the station and playing in the snow, we found the donut place called Léché Desserts.  

New City

Wow.  It's already been 3 weeks since my arrival in Montreal.  The first week in Montreal was unbelievably cold and I didn't even want to leave my room.  It's warmed a little bit (even though it's still around -10) and I got more chance to walk around centre ville.  Montreal is such a gorgeous city with old buildings and art work everywhere in the city.  It's exciting to find an artwork on a street or at the metro station while randomly roaming around the city.

I am so behind on uploading photos, so this weekend I plan to upload everything I have so far.  First up is Quebec city.  My mom came to Montreal with me for the first 10 days so we rented a car and went to Quebec city on our first weekend here.  The first thing I realized upon my arrival is that I need to learn french.  I don't know any french.. so that's definitely on my list to-do.

First up in Quebec city was the Montmorency falls. It was FREEZING on this weekend.  I think it was around -30.  If you look at my photos, you can see that I am wearing 1000000000x layer of clothes.  I put on a beanie right after taking the photos because my ears were about to fall off.

 It was a sunny day but still freaking cold..

Food from Japan

 First morning in Japan.  I think I had the hardest time picking out onigiri from convenience stores because I am unable to read kanji..

tuna don -Osaka

salmon+ shrimp don -Osaka

Come to Korea with me -1

The 11 hour flight to Korea was dreadful, I even thought to myself that I will never come back.  Holy moly, I don't know how people do it because I was just dying inside in my tiny chair for 11 hours, unable to sleep.  So when I arrived at 8pm I was exhausted and wanted to just sleep right away without unpacking but I needed to unpack in order to get my things out of the suitcase and afterwards I couldn't fall asleep because it was morning in Vancouver.  Aiyahyah....I've been in Korea for 3 days and I've finally overcame my jet lag. 

I haven't been to Korea for 4 years and a lot has changed since then for example  I was suppose to meet my friends at Shinsa station on the 2nd day of my stay but I had no clue where that was... I had to look at the subway map and managed to embarrassed my friends slightly by acting like a tourist (they usually look it up on their phones).  I don't think I am 'acting' like one.. I am one..   Everything in Korea feels new and slightly awkward to me because I've lived in Canada for a long time.

 Saying my goodbye to moosey at YVR

  $10 (left- the men on the bill is King SeJong, creator of the Korean language, Hangeul), $50 (right- Shin Saimdang  who was a famous writer, artist, calligrapher, noted poet in the 1500s.)

 My first breakfast in Korea.