Last Days in Nairobi

Hi Everyone,
I know its been a while. I've just returned to Frankfurt and I'm going to update you on my experiences during my last days in Nairobi, Kenya.

 My mom and I went to the Nairobi National Museum on Thursday.

 One of my favorite animals!

 Skeleton of an elephant.

 Zebra!

 Some of the Big 5 in the middle of the museum.

 As we moved through the museum there was an array of various birds, bird eggs, bird nests, etc.

 Then the second part of the museum included the snake park. Where we saw some crocs.

 This one smiled at me :) But then again it was also Thursday--the day they get fed.

There were turtles and tortoises. Many of them were over a hundred years old!

 Then we got to the snakes :) They also get fed Thursday too.

We left the museum and headed over to the Giraffe Center. My mom and I fed the giraffes. One of them was named Daisy. It was my first time ever feeding a giraffe. They have always creeped me out because of their long slimy tongues. However, I was determined to do it. Surprisingly, even over as much fuss as I made, it wasn't that bad. Their tongues feel like cat tongues a little scratchy.

When we left these parks we did a little gift shopping. Friday I took a tour of ISK (International School of Kenya) which is a huge campus over 50 acres. After the school, my friends took me to the Village Market. On Fridays the Masai come and sell their goods at the market. I found some great things here!

On Saturday another one of my friends and I met up and we went to another mall called Junction which is a little further out of town and also to Prestige-we had some good donuts. Sunday, was my last day and my friends and I went to the Tribe hotel for a nice evening mocktail. Then before I knew it-it was time to go. On this last note I can proudly say, "I rode a matatu and survived." A matatu is one of Kenya's public transportation buses. It wasn't as bad as I've heard and one of my friends who is a native Kenyan assured me I would survive-and I did! Another feat accomplished!


Well everyone, good night from Frankfurt.
Toodles!

Out and About

Hi readers!
The past couple of days (Monday & Tuesday) have been interesting. I've had the opportunity to get out and do a little exploring.

MONDAY

 Here's Spinners Web- a shop filled with different vendors artwork and crafts.

 Throughout the city you can see hard working men shoveling out dirt from these narrow trenches in preparation to put down new pipes.

 Furniture being sold along the roadside.

 In Nakumatt, a very nice store (similar to WalMart) they carry everything and even ask the customers to help them save the environment.

 A piece outside Village Market-similar to a large shopping center.

 Village Market waterfalls.

Revive is downstairs in Village Market next to the Organic Fruits and Vegetables store. If you want to sit outside, which I did, it's nicely shaded by a large tree and inside the store are several tables and chairs. Here I had the Mango Tango and a Oats bar. Tasty!

 On the way to ISK (International School of Kenya) looking down the hill.

TUESDAY

 Tonight's dinner at AboutThyme Restaurant. My friend's dinner-broccoli and shrimps/prawns.

My very tasty dinner broccoli and grilled calamari.

And as the restaurant instructed. "Eat. Drink. Don't Think."

Have a great day everyone!

Hello From Kenya!

Heyyy everybody!
I'm in Kenya!!! It is absolutely gorgeous here. Breathtaking.
So when I left Frankfurt, Saturday morning I flew to Zurich it was a short  flight. We landed at 8:55am my connecting flight began boarding AT 8:55. I landed in concourse A and had to book it through security, customs, and a ride on a train to get to concourse E where my flight to Kenya took off at 9:40. I made to the gate at 9:30! Finding my seat, I sat down out of breath and buckled up. The flight was six hours and was very comfortable, it was my first time flying on Swiss airlines and it was a great experience. I watched "I Am Number Four" "Country Strong" and "Beauty and the Beast". All of them are great, "I Am Number Four" kept me on the edge of my seat  and I was crying my eyes out in "Country Strong".
As we were landing I had the biggest grin on my face, I was finally back in Africa and in a new country. The scenery was beautiful as we made our descent-the sky a nice pink and dark blue mix, the mountains and hills, and the greenery. I made my way off the plane, through customs/immigration, and headed down to baggage claim only to find out that my small suitcase didn't make the transfer. I had to file a claim and the airport is delivering it today.
Last night after my second family picked me up we went to the mall to get dinner, a restaurant called Art Cafe.
Anyways today my second mama and I went to her office, then we took a 30 minute walk around the Embassy, went to the commissary, and the grocery store. Kenya is so well developed and reminds me so much of South Africa. Must write this country on your bucket list!
Toodles!

Packed & Ready

Hello my lovely readers!
Guess what?! I'm going to Nairobi, Kenya tomorrow!!!! I'm so excited! I'll get to see my "second family" and I get to cross another country off my bucket list! So I'm all packed up for a nice 7-day trip there and I'll be sure to take lots and lots of pictures!
A tout a l'heure! -feeling a little French today :]
~Rajeedah~

Determined...

Hey everybody!!!
How's your day going? Its finally sunny outside today and I'm thinking it'll be a great day to get out the house. I'd love to go to Hauptwache today so the U-Bahn and I just might get reacquainted today :]
* Hauptwache-main center of Frankfurt am Main (I consider it like a downtown hotspot)
*U-Bahn-one of the great transportation methods here. (it's a train/subway-similar to the Metro or Marta for some)
I'll let you know how it goes! Have a fantabulous day until I return..
~Rajeedah~

* CONTINUED*
Guess what?! I went out! I walked outside and realized it was HOT, therefore the U-Bahn would be boiling so instead of going "downtown" I walked around the neighborhood and then walked to the neighborhood Rewe again. I took pictures too!

 This is Rewe. In Europe many grocery stores have a nice system that the U.S could learn from. Instead of having workers going and getting carts out the parking lot and from around the store, upon arrival at the store you put in a certain money coin ( i believe its like 50cents) and it unlocks the cart you want, when you finish shopping and return the cart you get your 50 c back!

 This is the communication tower that is used as a landmark throughout Frankfurt am Main. It's really pretty at night I'll get a picture of it one day!

 This is a very important sign. Unless you want to get run over-pedestrians on the right, cyclists on the left. The way may vary depending on where you are. There's also pictures and dotted lines on the ground in case you forget.

Like I've said before, Germany is CLEAN...and GREEN. These are the recycling bins outside an apartment building. One for plastic, paper, and other stuff is designated as well.

Pedestrian friendly!

My street :)

Ok, so now that my camera is working look forward to lots and lots of pictures.
Toodles!

It feels like...

Hi everybody!!
So today was abnormally cold. I wore a turtleneck today...yea it was that cold. I went to my mom's office again today and did some more research on Mac's (I'm thinking about getting one so any input/advice you may have feel free to share the wisdom:))
When we came back from her office we had hot drinks. I went to go put on another sweater and my dad cranked up the heat. Hot chocolate was great.
The cold weather and not to mention the puffy nimbostratus clouds that loomed over the city made today feel like a Sunday. You know those days where you just want to lay around, cuddle up on the couch and if you're like me-watch scary movies.
My parents and I then had dinner as we watched "Law Abiding Citizen". Great movie check it out if you haven't.
It's now 12:36 am and I've been wanting to take a nap all day so I think I'm going to call it night.
Toodles!

Saturday & Sunday: Recap

Hey everyone!
How goes it? I hope you've been having a great weekend and have been anticipating this post :) So let me catch you up about this weekend.

Saturday
On Friday night I decided I would stay up an await the arrival of my mom returning from a business trip, I did pretty good until around 4:30 am and somehow fell asleep on Cold Case. At 7:30 I heard her voice, realizing I had slept through the doorbell ringing resulting in my dad answering the door. I went to bed attempting to reverse the error of me sleeping on the couch. It was a quite enjoyable two hour rest awakened to find out the shuttle for the commissary and P/X.  There are nice neighborhood shops here in Frankfurt but getting the U.S products you're used to the commissary and exchange are available. I decided on April 1, 2011 (no this wasn't an April Fools joke) to ease my way into vegetarianism--or pescetarianism.  As my family strolled along the aisles of the commissary I began to have an argument in my head thinking I was going to starve because there was meat EVERYWHERE....but there was hope after all.  The LAST aisle had a section just for vegetarians, vegans, and meatless dishes, I was ecstatic! I picked up as much as I could varying between different Boca and Morning Star products, also loaded up on the fruits and veggies.  When we returned home everyone just relaxed. And it was a good day.

Sunday
A nice brunch was enjoyed this morning. French toast, fruit, and meatless sausage links :) After brunch I decided to take a project upon myself (another one to keep me occupied) and begin/complete my family tree. I come from a large family...very large. So far, I'm making good progress and getting into areas no one in my family has ever gone before. Ancestry.com is a wonderful website and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take on these family tree projects. Now I'm off to go do some knitting and get ready for a new episode (U.K premier ) of Law & Order.

Toodles! ~Rajeedah~

Blank Thoughts

Hey everyone,
After staying up late last night engrossed in Book 1 of  Karen Kingsbury's series, "Redemption," I slept in and just enjoyed another relaxing day in Frankfurt am Main. I planned on attending a Zumba class taught at the CSA (Community Support Association) Dance Studio at five thirty. Maybe because it was Friday, or maybe the superstitious attendees stayed away because it was Friday the 13th, but NO ONE not even the instructor showed up.  Anyways maybe another day...
I've been working on knitting my scarf throughout the day and playing one of my favorite games The Sims 3, with the Ambitions expansion pack.
I typed up a list of some of the places I want to visit this summer (listed below): 

1. Römerberg  
2. Imperial Cathedral 
3. St. Paul’s Church
4. Palm Garden
5. Goethe-Museum
6. Old Opera House
7. Ebbelwei Express

I'll keep you all updated!
~Rajeedah~

R&R (literally)

Hey everybody!

I hope you're all having a great day! Here in Frankfurt today it's been pretty chill. That includes the weather, it's been partly cloudy and in the low 60's (Fahrenheit scale). Not too much going on today, went into my mom's office again, came back had a nice salad and watched Lake Placid 2.

Oh yea!
 I've begun knitting a scarf. I'm going really slowly, but I just learned yesterday!

Not much going on now so I'll talk to you all later!
Pictures coming soon!
~Rajeedah

The Arrival...until Wednesday

Hi everyone!

My flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt was eight hours (much shorter than the international flights I'm used to) and I must say it had some good parts and some bad. I watched five movies (The Tourist, The Dilemma, No Strings Attached, The Switch, and parts of Little Fockers, which I'd seen before.) This means I didn't sleep much, not that I could sleep because of the inconsiderate man in front of me who had the first seat behind business class (meaning extra leg room) and decided to make his chair as much of a bed as possible by flopping his seat back in my lap. I gave up asking him to push up seat after the first time. Oh well. At least the man next to me was nice and conversational every once in a while. Anyways, the food was good I had a vegetarian pasta, salad, and bread for dinner and fruit and toast for breakfast. Lots of water and apple juice to stay hydrated as well!

I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany on Monday around 10:30 am (3:30am back home). I was so excited to finally get off the plane and see my parents! The shuttle driver was waiting for me outside of baggage claim and he kindly grabbed my suitcase and we were off! I've been to Germany before, but I'm always amazed at how clean it is here. Riding on the Autobahn you won't even see a drop of old oil spillage on the roads. I learned if your car is seen leaking oil you'll be fined and told to get it fixed. Germany is a leading "green" country, they are very environmentally saavy. Trees and flowers are in abundance here.
Finally after seeing my parents, I took a little nap (didn't want to get too jet-lagged).  We walked to one of the neighborhood stores Rewe (pronounced ray-vay). We came home and relaxed, had dinner, watched tv, caught up on old times, and then went to bed.

The next morning, I heard birds chirpping and people talking outside, I thought, "Oh, its time to get up" and prepared myself for the day, walking into the living room I saw that it was pitch black outside and the clock read 4:52 am. FAIL. I knew I couldn't go back to sleep so I just flipped on the tv and laid down on the couch. Around 7am I fell asleep again and woke up around 11am. My mom and I rode the bus to her office and we came back played Scrabble, ate dinner, watched 'Why Did I Get Married Too', had some dessert, and went to sleep.

Today I woke up around 10am (no more jet-lag yay!) had a nice bowl of cereal and went for an hour walk with my parents. We crossed this bridge which gets you really close to "The Tower" (i'll find out the name of this tower eventually I promise).  When you look up at it from the bottom, it resembles an alien spaceship (lol). We walked 2.76 miles according to the little robot contraption that tells you how many steps you've taken. Back at home, we played a few tennis and bowling games on the Wii, took showers, had lunch and now I'm just relaxing :)

Sorry this post was so long-I had to catch you all up on my three days here so far!
Stay tuned for more! (Pictures coming soon too!)
~Rajeedah~