It’s strange how you can feel at home in so many different places.

As I drove away from the airport last Thursday, I was surprised to feel like I was coming back to such a familiar place. Here are a few highlights from my first weekend settling into the city:

Fuego + an Airport = not good

For those who haven’t heard, Nairobi’s International Airport burned down. This is a big deal, as Nairobi serves as the major transportation and financial hub for all of East Africa. After exiting a 747 aircraft on a trolley stairwell, passengers take a bus to immigration (a tent), then baggage claim (another tent), and finally airport services (several more tents). You feel as if you’ve crashed US AID’s low budget wedding at the airport. Allocate 1.5-2 extra hours to pass through the confusion.

My 27^th Birthday

   

This was a birthday celebrated unlike any other before:

• Woke up under a mosquito net in KENYA
• Had a bucket shower, ate Mombassa style fried dough & popped a malaria pill
• Took a matatu (a beat up 14 person van that makes stops along the highway) to a City Hopper (larger bus) to the expat favored YaYa Shopping Center for a birthday coffee, wifi, liters of water & a Safaricom SIM card
• Paid the Kiva team at the office a visit, ate stewed beans & rice for lunch (70 cents) and walked home down a dusty dirt road before dark
• Taxied to an Indian Restaurant to have dinner with my manager and several others I didn’t know—Nairobi is truly a hub of entrepreneurs and interesting folks focused on innovative approaches to tackling the issue of poverty—those at dinner were founders or a part of organizations such as EatOut (local version of Yelp), Bridge Intl Acadamies (low cost schools in Kenyan slums), WSUP Enterprises (clean water and sanitation products and services), and Remote Cycle (mobile payment collection & reporting).
• Taxied home with a driver who discussed his feelings about quitting smoking 2 days ago

While I appreciated having the day to spend time by myself in a new city, it was also wonderful to know that so many were thinking about me in different parts of the globe- thank you to everyone who sent emails/texts/videos/instagrams/skype calls/facebook posts and most of all, a wonderful “Portable Birthday Kit Envelope” (mom, you’re the best) – the love was overwhelming and truly made the world seem like a small place.

Yom Kippur a la Nairobi

On Yom Kippur this year, I found myself at the only synagogue in all of East Africa. (400 Jews in Kenya, 150 of them in Nairobi) The grounds are absolutely beautiful, and the lush trees, shaded benches, and gorgeous flowers make it an oasis within the chaotic city. Orthodox shul from 8:30am to 3pm was certainly a new experience for me, but with it came different ways of reflecting on the year past and how to do things better next year. A member challenged attendees to think beyond their own grumbling stomachs as she spoke about the millions of displaced Somalis living in Kenya and neighboring countries experiencing similar hunger pangs every day because they don’t have enough to eat.

Lastly, I’ll share the list of Judaism’s Eight Types of Charity which I came across on Yom Kippur. It is ranked in order of importance:

8) When donations are given grudgingly.

7) When one gives less than he should, but does so cheerfully.

6) When one gives directly to the poor upon being asked.

5) When one gives directly to the poor without being asked.

4) When the recipient is aware of the donor’s identity, but the donor does not know the identity of the recipient.

3) When the donor is aware of the recipient’s identity, but the recipient is unaware of the source.

2) When the donor and recipient are unknown to each other.

1) The highest form of charity is to help sustain a person before they become impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by extending a suitable loan, or by helping them find employment or establish themselves in business so as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others.

An interesting way to approach thinking about the different types of volunteer work and charity I’ll do in the year to come!