Silvi left me - she finished her internship and took a flight yesterday night... Sweety, I wish you a great time in Europe and then an even better back to Mexico!!!
I'm so lonely and bored alone in that flat. Yesterday after I got home I decided to move to Silvi's room, it feels better. It's much friendlier.
Looking forward to having a new flatmate now... Who's coming? ;-)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Another day in Paradise
28th October 2007
I've got just back from the Paradise. I wish I could have stayed for longer. 5 days were enough to fall in love with the land of beauty, 7 hours bus-ride from Nairobi. The name of the place is Eldoret, it's in West Kenya, in Rift Valley. Mountins all around, highlands, green, green and green again. The air is clean, everything is so quiet and calm.
Hehe, I've not seen so many donkeys all in my life before like I have seen there in Rift Valley :-)
I was visiting there one of my babies, LC Moi (our AIESEC office at Moi University). I went to support and coach them, to give them some motivation to go on and reach their goasl - but actually it's me who's got motivation and inspiration from this place and these people. I'm truly amazed. 2 campuses (Main and Chepkoilel), with more than 40 committed, intelligent and lovely members. A structure that can ensure the growth for the next few years. A culture that is positive and inspiring.
And all without those facilities that all our other offices have: LC Moi is able to work without having an office, landline phone, computer, and being 40 kms from Eldoret town. Being so far - this is why the Main Campus is called "the city in the jungle". Chep campus is also about 20 minutes from the town by matatu. I just wish they get at least an office and a computer soon - I want to see how they would grow that way!
My 5 days at Moi University was wonderful - I had the chance to meet all the members, talk to them, party with them, play with them... I was sleeping at Yvonne's and Ruth's room, my meals were usually provided by Emily, Liz, Linda, Yvonne and Ruth, but I was also taken for supper by the boys around - everyone wanted to have a chat with me, it was so nice! We had a big bash on Friday night - after getting a smiley face by some Smirnoff vodka, we had the chance to try some local unicum: fermented pineapple!!! Since then Liz is extremely proud of herself getting to make me high :-P
We also had a day for teambuilding with the whole LC, all the members from Main and Chep together. I felt like being a part of this LC, wow! It was a happy day, a very happy one.
I've got 4 new Kenyan names, for different tribes: kalenjin (Chepchirchir), luo (Akinyi - this one means "born in the early morning"), maasai (Sana) and I've got a luya name as well, but that was on Friday night and I can't remember :-P My favs are Chepchirchir and Akinyi, I still couldn't choose which one to use.
I travelled back to Nairobi today. It was an hour from campus to town, then 7,5 hours from Eldoret to Nairobi - it's all soo beautiful, I don't mind this long bus-ride at all. The roads are terrible though. But it's part of the experience.
And I think I'm getting back to Eldoret soon. Of course because of this LC and its people, but also because of myself. The whole trip has given me something new that I can't yet explain (I still have to reflect on it), I just feel.
The last few weeks have made me realize some more things as well, which are having an impact on me, I feel. One thing is that I've managed to talk with Agi, my best friend almost every day (except from my days in Eldoret). And I feel like she's being here with me. Such a strange, but good feeling. Makes me feel kinda safe.
Another thing is that I think I've found something I wasn't looking for cos I couldn't believe it exists: I've found my freedom in a relationship. I think I'm in love while the "freedom fighter me" is satisfied. I can have my own life, my own time and I can really be myself - a healthy balance between him, me and us.
And one more important point: I've just been made to realize that I haven't seen, haven't lived in this country, Kenya so far. Don't you understand? I have only lived in Nairobi. Even there, it's only been the MC office and my flat. I haven't seen anything more yet, tho it's been 5 months that I'm here by now. Finally I've got a long list of sites I need to experience - in and out of Nairobi. And this is getting to be a personal priority now.
My swahili is getting to be better every day. I know I have to spend more time with consciously studying it, but I started to form and understand not just words, but also some simple sentences by now. I still have my goal: speaking swahili on "good" level by the time I finish my MC term here.
By tomorrow the race is starting: Pioneers conference in less than 2 weeks from now. I expect the 2 craziest week of this quarter. And it'll be a great testing for me: how much have I learnt staying calm and believing that everything will go on the right way at the end of the day? Lets see.
I've got just back from the Paradise. I wish I could have stayed for longer. 5 days were enough to fall in love with the land of beauty, 7 hours bus-ride from Nairobi. The name of the place is Eldoret, it's in West Kenya, in Rift Valley. Mountins all around, highlands, green, green and green again. The air is clean, everything is so quiet and calm.
Hehe, I've not seen so many donkeys all in my life before like I have seen there in Rift Valley :-)
I was visiting there one of my babies, LC Moi (our AIESEC office at Moi University). I went to support and coach them, to give them some motivation to go on and reach their goasl - but actually it's me who's got motivation and inspiration from this place and these people. I'm truly amazed. 2 campuses (Main and Chepkoilel), with more than 40 committed, intelligent and lovely members. A structure that can ensure the growth for the next few years. A culture that is positive and inspiring.
And all without those facilities that all our other offices have: LC Moi is able to work without having an office, landline phone, computer, and being 40 kms from Eldoret town. Being so far - this is why the Main Campus is called "the city in the jungle". Chep campus is also about 20 minutes from the town by matatu. I just wish they get at least an office and a computer soon - I want to see how they would grow that way!
My 5 days at Moi University was wonderful - I had the chance to meet all the members, talk to them, party with them, play with them... I was sleeping at Yvonne's and Ruth's room, my meals were usually provided by Emily, Liz, Linda, Yvonne and Ruth, but I was also taken for supper by the boys around - everyone wanted to have a chat with me, it was so nice! We had a big bash on Friday night - after getting a smiley face by some Smirnoff vodka, we had the chance to try some local unicum: fermented pineapple!!! Since then Liz is extremely proud of herself getting to make me high :-P
We also had a day for teambuilding with the whole LC, all the members from Main and Chep together. I felt like being a part of this LC, wow! It was a happy day, a very happy one.
I've got 4 new Kenyan names, for different tribes: kalenjin (Chepchirchir), luo (Akinyi - this one means "born in the early morning"), maasai (Sana) and I've got a luya name as well, but that was on Friday night and I can't remember :-P My favs are Chepchirchir and Akinyi, I still couldn't choose which one to use.
I travelled back to Nairobi today. It was an hour from campus to town, then 7,5 hours from Eldoret to Nairobi - it's all soo beautiful, I don't mind this long bus-ride at all. The roads are terrible though. But it's part of the experience.
And I think I'm getting back to Eldoret soon. Of course because of this LC and its people, but also because of myself. The whole trip has given me something new that I can't yet explain (I still have to reflect on it), I just feel.
The last few weeks have made me realize some more things as well, which are having an impact on me, I feel. One thing is that I've managed to talk with Agi, my best friend almost every day (except from my days in Eldoret). And I feel like she's being here with me. Such a strange, but good feeling. Makes me feel kinda safe.
Another thing is that I think I've found something I wasn't looking for cos I couldn't believe it exists: I've found my freedom in a relationship. I think I'm in love while the "freedom fighter me" is satisfied. I can have my own life, my own time and I can really be myself - a healthy balance between him, me and us.
And one more important point: I've just been made to realize that I haven't seen, haven't lived in this country, Kenya so far. Don't you understand? I have only lived in Nairobi. Even there, it's only been the MC office and my flat. I haven't seen anything more yet, tho it's been 5 months that I'm here by now. Finally I've got a long list of sites I need to experience - in and out of Nairobi. And this is getting to be a personal priority now.
My swahili is getting to be better every day. I know I have to spend more time with consciously studying it, but I started to form and understand not just words, but also some simple sentences by now. I still have my goal: speaking swahili on "good" level by the time I finish my MC term here.
By tomorrow the race is starting: Pioneers conference in less than 2 weeks from now. I expect the 2 craziest week of this quarter. And it'll be a great testing for me: how much have I learnt staying calm and believing that everything will go on the right way at the end of the day? Lets see.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The world is mine
I have such a strange feeling... I can't really exlain. Just loads of random thoughts in my head, making me so confused.
JC is leaving Kenya tomorrow early morning. It has become so natural that he's around, I will miss him a lot. I remember, at IC he didn't even remember me (tho we met before at a conference in Hungary) and now I feel he's a kinda good friend of mine. We've spent quite much time together during this week, talked a lot about different topics, not just about AIESEC - somehow he has become one of "us Kenyans".
Another thing is that I've just gone through some photos that I have on my laptop - and I've found the ones Attis and Petra has sent to me not long ago... they're engaged now! I'm so happy for them. But it's so strange - Attis is my bigbro, Petra is my mentee, I love both of them so much. And I really really wanted this to happen with them - it's just so shocking that 2 of my best friends are tying together their lives.
"The world is mine" - this is the song that is going on now on my winamp. Yes, it is really so. I just don't know sometimes what to do with this big freedom. I was talking with my best friend, Agi about this today - growing up for me is about to learn how to handle the freedom I have in my life. So many opportunities open, so many roads to take, so free, so free - I can choose whatever I want. I can choose what kind of life I want to live.
My mum and dad brought me up in a way that they never told me what my next step should be, what I was supposed to do. They always trusted my own decisions. And I'm here, I even think I've become a kinda good person... But I've never been thinking before about this enormous freedom I have.
And especially now that I'm 5000 kms away from home - this is not the place I was grown up, I have to learn loads and loads of things again. But now all on my own basically, tho people around me help me a lot, it depends totally on me how I live this experience. It's me to decide when to wake up in the morning, what to eat, how to manage each day of my life.
And I don't even have to take the right decisions all the time, cos life is not about always being right. I love Edyson's claim: "I wasn't wrong, I just discovered 10000 ways how it does not work." I have to think that sometimes I just want to discover when I'm chosing a risky and unknown path instead of an easy and simple solution for a question or challenge.
I've just realized it yesterday that if I follow my plans, I won't move back to Hungary within the next 2,5 years at least. The world is really mine.
Sometimes I miss Budapest a little bit. I don't feel I want to go home, I just wish sometimes that Budapest could come here, I would walk a bit on the streets, take the tram on the Nagykorut, have a lunch with some friends between Oktogon and Nyugati at that small chinese restaurant, drink a bottle of Debroi Cuvee, then pick up a box of Turorudi and get back to Nairobi...
Hehe, I have to get used to a very strange picture: it will be hot in Nairobi at Christmas time! Seriously, when we've been talking about Christmas with the guys not long ago, I could see Nairobi in snow and cold in my imagination, people in big coats, etc - and then I just realized, that hey, the Kenyan "winter" has just passed, yess, July was pretty cold, and I have to picture a sunny and hot Christmas in my head. Tho I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it a lot.
We had a nice nyama choma today with my MC, JC, and Douglas - pictures below.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Pump it
I should be sleeping now... it's 2am again and i'm still working. I just can't help - I had a mind block in the afternoon, I couldn't finish what I had planned for today, and my ideas are coming during night-time, after a big pot of coffee. Even now I'm facing the 11 competencies of the Global Competency Model and trying to come up with some cool new ideas on how my members can develop these competencies...
Crazy-smiley two weeks have been on their way since last week.
I had 3 days for LC visits just right in the neighbourhood, hehe, LC Nairobi is soooo close to the MC office. Though I have to mention, I decided that I will enjoy the same benefits as the others during their LC visits, and I'm not going to the MC office at all :-P Ok, I couldn't keep it 100%, but still... And I enjoyed my time so much with these guys!!! I decided that I'll go to LC visits much more often during my term, cos it's the biggest fun and, by the way, the biggest impact.
Next week I'm going to visit LC Moi - Eldoret, prepare, am coming! :-)
And then JC, our beloved Africa Director arrived for country visit on Saturday... Since then our life is a bit messed up - not in a bad way though, just different then usually, and basically I had to replan my whole week. I don't mind it at all!
JC's visit has come as a blessing on us - his approach is extremely supportive, trying to help us as much as possible. He's also realized how much potential AIESEC Kenya has - and he's got very practical ideas on how we can tap into this potential. I can't wait to see the end results of this term and team... I'd love to see us getting the global excellence award in Brasil, at next IC!
Tomorrow is my first faci team meeting for the conference Pioneers 2007 - with 14 facis from 5 different countries. And this time the facis from the other 4 countries are not trainees, currently they are placed in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, so I will have a big challenge to solve called distance. Tho I have a big confidence in the team - I know all of them are very competent and committed guys, so I believe we can make it.
JC has made me realize something: if there is one thing missing now around us, is the hype. The hype for all that we're doing. We as a team have the hype but not yet been able to pass it on. "Hype up your life" could be the new motto - ehh, I like it, I like it ;-)
Crazy-smiley two weeks have been on their way since last week.
I had 3 days for LC visits just right in the neighbourhood, hehe, LC Nairobi is soooo close to the MC office. Though I have to mention, I decided that I will enjoy the same benefits as the others during their LC visits, and I'm not going to the MC office at all :-P Ok, I couldn't keep it 100%, but still... And I enjoyed my time so much with these guys!!! I decided that I'll go to LC visits much more often during my term, cos it's the biggest fun and, by the way, the biggest impact.
Next week I'm going to visit LC Moi - Eldoret, prepare, am coming! :-)
And then JC, our beloved Africa Director arrived for country visit on Saturday... Since then our life is a bit messed up - not in a bad way though, just different then usually, and basically I had to replan my whole week. I don't mind it at all!
JC's visit has come as a blessing on us - his approach is extremely supportive, trying to help us as much as possible. He's also realized how much potential AIESEC Kenya has - and he's got very practical ideas on how we can tap into this potential. I can't wait to see the end results of this term and team... I'd love to see us getting the global excellence award in Brasil, at next IC!
Tomorrow is my first faci team meeting for the conference Pioneers 2007 - with 14 facis from 5 different countries. And this time the facis from the other 4 countries are not trainees, currently they are placed in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, so I will have a big challenge to solve called distance. Tho I have a big confidence in the team - I know all of them are very competent and committed guys, so I believe we can make it.
JC has made me realize something: if there is one thing missing now around us, is the hype. The hype for all that we're doing. We as a team have the hype but not yet been able to pass it on. "Hype up your life" could be the new motto - ehh, I like it, I like it ;-)
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Mad world
There is a movie that I have to watch again and again since I've seen it for the first time - its title is "What the bleep do we know about the world?". Today evening just after arriving home, having some kinda dinner, I felt like I have to watch it again.
It's giving me a sense of mistery. The main idea of the movie is that "instead of thinking of things we have to think of possibilities". I won't go deeper to what the movie is about, but this idea always makes me think, always gives me some inspiration - to discover those possibilities.
I have always believed: impossible is nothing and nothing is impossible. But I still have to open my mind to understand things can happen in a way I don't expect. Things can happen in a way I don't know about. And I don't just have to learn new and new ways of approaching what's around me, I don't just have to bring in different perspectives - I have to be so extremely open that I get closer to possibilities I've never thought of. It's out of what I can imagine. Yet.
A few days ago I was told about the history of the Rainmakers. A bit of African culture, beliefs. When Audi first told me about the Rainmakers, I thought he was joking and finding out the whole idea at that very moment. Then I have come to understand that it's a kinda myth. It will sound wierd but I'm asking myself: where myths are coming from? How can we know that they're not real?
The ancient Greek believed Zeus was crying and that caused rain. These African tribes believed that the Rainmakers were controlling the weather. Modern science explains the whole thing in a very different way. But how do we know that they're right? And that it's not the Rainmakers causing the rain?
---
Last week I've developed a new approach to my work:
1. I'm taking off a few hours during daytime, just to refresh my mind - this way I can avoid my mind-block (which usually happens between 5 and 6 pm), and I can stay productive late evenings.
2. I'm spending more time with people and giving more time for myself. Sounds controversial, but this means that I'm spending more time actively with people, not just saying "hi, how're you" when they enter the office - and when I need to be alone, I consciously go out of accessibility. This helps me to get new ideas and reflect more on them.
3. I've started to visualize more what I'm working on. I've started to use flipcharts in the office and even at home - so when I'm creating something, I see a big picture and can find out how it'll look like at the end of the day.
I don't know wether it'll help me getting my results - but at least, I enjoy. It keeps me more creative - and that's how I am.
---
I have no new photos cos I've lost my camera in Turkey. I need to get a new one but I face some challenges regarding that, so it'll take some time.
It's giving me a sense of mistery. The main idea of the movie is that "instead of thinking of things we have to think of possibilities". I won't go deeper to what the movie is about, but this idea always makes me think, always gives me some inspiration - to discover those possibilities.
I have always believed: impossible is nothing and nothing is impossible. But I still have to open my mind to understand things can happen in a way I don't expect. Things can happen in a way I don't know about. And I don't just have to learn new and new ways of approaching what's around me, I don't just have to bring in different perspectives - I have to be so extremely open that I get closer to possibilities I've never thought of. It's out of what I can imagine. Yet.
A few days ago I was told about the history of the Rainmakers. A bit of African culture, beliefs. When Audi first told me about the Rainmakers, I thought he was joking and finding out the whole idea at that very moment. Then I have come to understand that it's a kinda myth. It will sound wierd but I'm asking myself: where myths are coming from? How can we know that they're not real?
The ancient Greek believed Zeus was crying and that caused rain. These African tribes believed that the Rainmakers were controlling the weather. Modern science explains the whole thing in a very different way. But how do we know that they're right? And that it's not the Rainmakers causing the rain?
---
Last week I've developed a new approach to my work:
1. I'm taking off a few hours during daytime, just to refresh my mind - this way I can avoid my mind-block (which usually happens between 5 and 6 pm), and I can stay productive late evenings.
2. I'm spending more time with people and giving more time for myself. Sounds controversial, but this means that I'm spending more time actively with people, not just saying "hi, how're you" when they enter the office - and when I need to be alone, I consciously go out of accessibility. This helps me to get new ideas and reflect more on them.
3. I've started to visualize more what I'm working on. I've started to use flipcharts in the office and even at home - so when I'm creating something, I see a big picture and can find out how it'll look like at the end of the day.
I don't know wether it'll help me getting my results - but at least, I enjoy. It keeps me more creative - and that's how I am.
---
I have no new photos cos I've lost my camera in Turkey. I need to get a new one but I face some challenges regarding that, so it'll take some time.
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