Working, teaching and traveling in Kenya and Switzerland

“Flight 801 to Nairobi please proceed to gate one. Flight 801 to Nairobi, gate one.” Hearing this after the three warning chimes, I’m up. It’s been a long flight from Toronto to Rome, Rome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and now onto Nairobi, Kenya. Just yesterday I was at home, and now 15 hours later I’m half way across the world. Flight never ceases to amaze me.

Stepping off the plane onto the tarmac I was welcomed by the cool fresh air and sun shining. Looking out to the horizon I saw the city blanketed in morning mist as the green hills beyond peeked through. The lush greenery surrounding the airport and the cool air were unexpected since my last visit to the continent, back in March, was to Ghana, and a scorching 36 degree heat met me upon arrival.

Sitting up from the three empty seats I’ve made into a bed, a faded blue colour from years of use, I take a minute to listen to the sounds of the world. Ethiopian is such a unique sounding language with a beautiful alphabet that inspires me to explore this country more. Yet, as I sit listening to the sounds of the airport it’s time for me to start heading towards my boarding gate. I’ll have to come back here one day.

Its summer, my report cards are done and essays are marked, the grade 12 students I’ve been teaching have all passed, and I’m back on the road. For the last few months I’ve been busy teaching, training for my Me to We trip, working as a standardized patient (a fake patient for med school student exams), keeping on top of Borderless Travels, and enjoying time spent at home with friends and family.

As the days have been getting longer so has my urge to travel, it’s time for summer work. Usually I work and travel in the summer months, being an unemployed teacher during July and August I try to find more exciting ways to pay my bills, although unemployment insurance does have its attractions.

Luckily, I’ve found what I think is the best travel job in the world and so I’ll be starting my summer off working in Kenya with Me to We. At Me to We I work as a trips facilitator and for the next two weeks I’ll be taking a group of Canadian students on a cross cultural experience to learn, work, volunteer, and experience Kenya, its people and its culture.

While in country I’ll be working alongside an amazing team of individuals to cultivate each participants learning experience so that they can go home with a new perspective of the world, and the tools to make positive changes they want to see in it.

For me, this is only the beginning of an amazing summer abroad. Planning my work and travel summer takes a while, and usually doesn’t come together until the last minute. Just after the New Year I start looking and applying for summer work online. Usually, I apply to several jobs that I find or hear about, and try to secure at least a couple of options before finalizing my plans.

As the year progresses my plans start to come together and this year is no different. With a week in between jobs I’ll be leaving Kenya for a short vacation in Canadian cottage country with my family followed by a summer teaching contract in Switzerland.

I try not to get too excited about the plans ahead and prefer to focus on the here and now. This means that I’ve met my current saving goals, secured a job for the summer, and look forward to using my summer salary to explore Europe for a few weeks/months. Where? I have a rough idea but you’ll have to stay tuned to find out 😀

Happy Travels,

Yak