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Countdown to GIM Kenya: Leaving Chicago Tomorrow Afternoon

Tomorrow, me and about 30 classmates will be jumping on a plane and jet-setting out of Chicago and finally heading to Kenya, where we’ve all be excited to go for the last 10 weeks. While two or three of my classmates have visited Kenya before, for most of us it will be our first time in the country. To commemorate this special experience, one of our class leaders has been sending out a series of countdown emails, each filled with pictures and words to describe the trip.

Here below is the countdown from the last six days.

Day 6. With a surface area of 68,800 square kilometres (26,600 sq mi), Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake by area, and it is the largest tropicallake in the world. Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake by surface area (Only Lake Superior in North America is larger.) Lake Victoria occupies a shallow depression in the East African Plateau, and has a maximum depth of 84 metres (276 ft) and an average depth of 20 metres (66 ft). Its catchment area covers 184,000 square kilometres (71,040 sq mi). The lake has a shoreline of 4,828 kilometres (3,000 mi), with islands constituting 3.7% of this length,^[2] and is divided among three countries: Kenya (6% or 4,100 km²/1,600 sq mi), Uganda (45% or 31,000 km²/12,000 sq mi) and Tanzania (49% or 33,700 km²/13,000 sq mi).^[3] Lake Victoria supports Africa’s largest inland fishery.^[4

Day 5. Asante class!  It’s been a fun quarter and the most fun part is only 5 days away!  Congratulations on completing the last class and let’s get ready for our Kenyan adventure! Hakuna Matata!

Day 4. (No text)

Day 3. The Maasai (also Masai) are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the most well known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa.^[3] They speak Maa,^[3] a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer, and are also educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania: Swahili and English. The Maasai population has been variously estimated as 377,089 from the 1989 Census^[1] or as 453,000 language speakers in Kenya in 1994^[2] and 430,000 in Tanzania in 1993^[2] with a total estimated as “approaching 900,000”^[3] Estimates of the respective Maasai populations in both countries are complicated by the remote locations of many villages, and their semi-nomadic nature.

Day 2. Something we might run into in Kenya! 🙂  We are all most there!  Don’t forget time change tonight, and good luck with the last finals!

Day 1. Congrats on being done with winter quarter!  Kenya in less than 24 hrs!  Don’t forget to start taking your malarone.  See you all tomorrow at 12:45!

Stay tuned for more updates on GIM Kenya!