ETA at 181: 7:15

Landed at JFK!

Arrival into New York

Hello families of BCS. I just want to confirm that you should meet your son or daughter at Berkeley Carroll School and not the airport. BCS has arranged an airport shuttle for the students. Thanks! 

Erin Lasky

Director of Operations 

Students in the airport

Hi friends and families of BCS! The students are at the Nairobi airport and should getting on their flight in the next hour. We will continue to monitor the flights and will update the blog with any travel delays. Thank you for your continued support of the program! We are thrilled by how well the trip went! Here is the flight information:

Turkish Airline 608 Sat. July 6th 3:45AM IST 10:05AM

Turkish Airline 1 Sat. July 6th 1:15PM JFK 4:50PM

Erin Lasky

Director of Operations. 

Students on safari

Hello friends and families of BCS. The group is in the Masai Mara on their safari and they don't have an Internet connection. They had a fantastic safari today and got to see lions, elephants, gazelles, water buffalo and much much more! The students are all happy and healthy! They will try to update the blog before they leave for the airport very very early on Saturday morning. We will keep the blog updated with any travel delays! 

Erin Lasky

Director of Operations. 

Kenya: July 2, 2013

The group awoke at 6 o’clock this morning to a beautiful Kenya sunrise upon the horizon before beginning to pack for the long trip to Nairobi. While packing, many of us were surprised to see that on the other side of the fence that surrounded our camp were many of the friends we had made during the trip. Although this was an unarranged send off, it was one of the more moving experiences of our stay. Friends such as Toikan and Edward entered our camp to exchange gifts, take pictures, and say their final goodbyes. We all then got onto a bus where we arrived in Nairobi four hours later and returned back to the Masai Lodge. The rest of the day was spent by the pool and participated in a group activity called “Utopia”, in which we discussed how we would solve worldly problems in order to create our own Utopia.

Dinner was served in the evening, consisting of cold sodas and beef stew. Towards the end of the meal, a celebratory birthday cake was brought out for Chris. It was super duper fun, and Chris said it was totally the best birthday he had ever had! The day came to a close with a group reflection. 

- Aidan, Ethan and Georgia

Photos, Part II

Greetings from Masai Lodge. The group left Shompole this morning, and is spending the night in Nairobi before heading to the Masai Mara tomorrow morning. We hope you've enjoyed the blog so far --  even with our Safaricom modem it was hard to get a strong enough signal to load Blogger (or any webpage). That said, it's pretty amazing one can get a signal at all in a place as remote as Oloika! I'm going to make good use of the WiFi now and post some more photos, since there's usually no internet whatsoever in the Mara.

- BC

Allie and Georgia getting sand for the cement

Ethan and Jasper conferring with fellow workers

Izzy keeping the foundation's surface moist

Emma and Maddy working on the other end

Aidan trying his hand at throwing a Maasai spear

Garrett receiving a necklace from his host

Homestay group portrait

Admiring the sunset...

...which was pretty special...

...matched only by the sunrises!

Walking to the market after the last day of work

Kenya - July2

Sopa! (Hello!)     

       

Today was the last day at the worksite. We finally finished the foundation for the library with everyone putting in a lot of blood, sweat and tears, literally (don’t worry though, everybody’s doing well!). The day ended with a celebratory ceremony, where Shani, the chief and the treasurer of the Oloika Sub-location spoke to the community about gratitude, the mixing of cultures and the future of Shompole. Following the ceremony, we trekked to the ‘market’ where we bought gifts to support the community. They were selling everything from machetes to intricate bracelets, and with the help of Shani’s wife, Namelok, we bargained for good prices on our gifts. Apparently there is a culture of bargaining in Kenya, where it is expected that the buyer bargain with the seller before buying the item. It was a great day!

On a different note, yesterday was the last group of homestays. The entire homestay experience was amazing! The kids sang/danced/jumped for hours and everyone in the ‘boma’, or the homestead, were unfailingly polite and kind. We all had chai tea (which was sugary and delicious) before eating a wonderful dinner of rice, cabbage and potatoes. By eight o’ clock, the sun went down and the singing began. A lot of the Maasai songs involve jumping, sometimes for several minutes, and also a lot of clapping and call-and-response. We sang a few popular songs like Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Sunshine, You Are My Sunshine’. Ethan, Shaun and Mr. Sanchez’s group were treated to stories under the stars and an impromptu rap battle. Also, we had a translator all along, so we could ask any questions that came up. In the center of the boma were many, many, many goats, sheep and in some cases, even cows and donkeys. When morning came, we all got a chance to milk goats, which was a very interesting experience. In most groups, either the children or the elders of the boma gave us our Maasai names. We exchanged gifts, thanked each other for the wonderful night we all had and headed back to camp to journal about this intense experience.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Maasai lodge, where we will rest before heading to the Mara.

‘Night.

Nashya (Karen) and Malodjé (Maddy)

P.S. Karen’s name means ‘Rain’, and that she’s productive and makes people happy.

P.P.S. Maddy is not exactly sure that this was her Maasai name/the correct spelling of it but it means ‘The Sacred One’.

P.P.S. from Mr. Clarke: we'll be back in Nairobi this evening and will be able to post some more photos.