Further Updates

Finally I have gotten back to an internet cafe! These past weeks have been full of energy as well as exhaustion. Let me give you an update on what we have been up to:

The Routine: It seems as though the longer we are here, the less of an adventure our time here becomes. This is not to say that it is not full of surprises or good times. Yet, nothing really shocks me anymore. Things I would have thought to be appalling or absurd have somehow drifted to the "oh thats normal" part of my brain.

Things I've gotten used to that normally might have freaked me out/made me uncomfortable:

1. Driving on the "left" side of the road - or ALL sides of the road: Technically, Kenyan law has insisted on left side driving. However, due to either impatience or simply habit, all driver drive on every side of the road. This means that even when there is oncoming traffic, a matatu driver will insist on passing a car in front of him, then swirving back to the left, narrowly escaping death. In the beginning of the trip, this seemed quite crazy to me. But now, I see it as the way things are here. Some more information on driving in Kenya:
- Simply avoid driving yourself if you have to
- There are no stop signs because people negleted to follow them. Thus, speed bumps are the substite. This is not fun when you are a tall person riding a matatu. Expect to smack your head against the top of the van every time.

2. Getting bugs and boo boos shown to me every second of the day by the children: For those of you who know me well, I'm not a bug person nor am I a blood person -
both gross me out equally. Or should I say grossed me out. The children pick up weird red beatles and smash poisoness catapillars all the time, then proceed to show me what they've caught or what they've killed. In the same way they show me their cuts and bruises. I've successfully learned NOT to get freaked out when either of these events occur. I even fix the boo boos and TOUCH the bugs!

3. Bugs in the kitchen and living area: Its Kenya. There are cockroaches everywhere. I am still GROSSED out by them, yet I've learned to live with them in harmony. I simply avoid going into the kitchen and have grown accustomed to seeing the little things running around the floors throughout the rest of the house.

4. Cold Showers: There is NO hot water anywhere. Why would there be? We are in Mombasa, Kenya - right along the equator. Even so, no matter how hot it is, I always used to love taking warm showers. I've developed a rather successful system for getting into the shower every day despite the coldness (Something - I have to give credit where it's due - Hannah told me to do) - Do the Hokey Pokey. That's right. One limb at a time. Sometimes I even hum the song. I have definitely gotten used to the cold showers, but when I come home, I am definitely looking forward to a hot one.

5. Washing my clothes in a bucket: When I went to college, I had to learn how to use a washer and dryer. When I went to Kenya, I had to learn how to wash my clothes in a bucket. This is SO tiring and I have to say - I definitely don't like it. BUT I've gotten used to it and it's a pretty good workout. Handwashing clothing and carrying children all day will definitely keep me in shape for lacrosse season! The good thing about the heat here is that the clothes dry really fast in our rooms. Although I gotta say, I will never take a washer and dryer for granted again.

One thing I will definitely miss about Kenya is the fresh food. There are a few supermarkets, but most people buy their food on the streets or at the open markets - or raise their own animals. Several personal examples:

1. I am walking into the school which has a chicken coop. For some reason on that day, there were no chickens in the coop anymore. Another one of the volunteers named Scott (from Minnesota), runs over to me and says "I just watched a chicken get slaughtered." Sure enough, lunch was Ugali complete with roasted chicken.

2. One day, I walked into Jacob's (the man we are staying with) apartment apparently right past a box of live crabs. Not noticing the crabs at first, I sit down on the couch to take a short nap. Suddenly, I here Jacob call my name right behind me. He is dangling a live crab right in my face! Obviously I freaked out because it was ALIVE and MOVING. But I must say, that crab was delicious.


Those are a few things that I've definitely gotten used to. Now I'll tell you a little bit about some of the activities we've done so far.

Old Town: Old Town is an old town. Shocker. But it's only one street long and it reminds me of italian architecture. It's really beautiful and there are several shops along the road filled with african art such as paintings and wood carvings.

Motorcylce Riding: Grace mentioned the motorcycle rides we have taken. She failed to mention, however, my two unfortunate experiences with them. Perhaps it was to spare me the embarrassment. However, they make for good short stories so I will tell you myself.

1. I've learned NOT to get off the right side of a motorcycle. These drivers, though they carry people around for the entire day, fail to cover their mufflers. Apparently mufflers are hot - something I didn't know (in my defense, how could I know? I've never been on a motorcylce before). My leg touched the muffler for a second at the longest and burned my skin realllllly bad. Don't worry. It's healing properly. I bought burn cream and everything! (Something I failed to bring in my first aid kit because I never considered getting burned).

2. I have fallen off a motorcycle... when it was NOT moving. Hannah and I decided to ride a motorcycle together to the school. Therefore, there were three people to ride the motorcycle (the driver, hannah, and I for those of you who are slow to realize this). Hannah successfully hopped on the bike. I however tried to use hannah as a cruch to get on. Yet she, instead of bracing herself to help me, decided to lean backwards so I slid off the back of the bike. We were surrounded by about 7 Kenyan men who all though it was very comical that a foreigner did not know how to mount a bike properly. Oh well. Now I know. Don't use Hannah as a crutch.

Diani Beach: Diani Beach is the place where all the European tourists go. We go to a place called "40 Thieves" which is the only public area on Diani. The beaches are pure white and the water is a beautiful turquoise blue. The only bad thing about it is that the locals constantly follow you around to sell you items such as jewelry, shells, and cloth. We have learned to ignore most of them. However, I am still not used to ignoring someone when they say hello to me as I always think it's a bit rude. I guess this is just reflective of the manners I was taught back home (haha thanks mom and dad). But no. If you ever come to Kenya, learn to ignore certain people. Even if they are simply saying "Jambo!"

As far as the school goes, I think we are all struggling with the fact that we can only do so much. We've grown attached to many of the kids and it will be very hard to have to leave. We are trying to enjoy every minute of it though and while trying to make the best of their situtations.

Today we took each of our favorite kids to Haller Park - a nature trail in Bamburi. It's sort of like a zoo, but it doesn't feel like one because you are actually in the wilderness. I'm sure if you are really curious, you could google it. The kids LOVED it. However, I decided to take a 4 year old - Ishmael - and this proved to be difficult. Before the park, we had taken them all out to lunch and let them have whatever they wanted. This may have been a bad idea for Ishmael. All he wanted were fries and soda - and me being the oblivious 19 year old who just wanted to give him anything allowed this. Well apparently a bunch of fries and soda doesn't sit well with a 4 year old kid - especially one who is not usually used to having fries and soda. Once we got to Haller Park, all he did was complain about his stomach and then told me he had to poop. We were pretty far into the park and there were no bathrooms. So George (one of the older kids that we decided to take with us) and I took Ishmael to a tree whe he proceeded to take off all his clothes and go to the bathroom. And let me just say - he sure did have to go. Thankfully, he felt better afterwards and really enjoyed all the animals. Towards the end of the day, I took him to a real bathroom where he was able to go again. This time I was able to handle the situation better. I guess that's one more thing I'm not grossed out about anymore: little kids pooping.

George, Caleb, and Ishmael all had a really good day overall. I think Grace, Hannah, and I had equally as much fun if not more fun than they did. Its amazing how seeing kids happy makes you happy. We definitely plan on sponsoring kids when we go back home and also plan to continually send resources and money to Destiny Garden School.

Next weekend we will be going on a 2 day and 1 night safari. We will certainly keep you posted on further events throughout the trip. As for me, I need to go scratch my bug bites until they get huge, shower for the second time today, and take a nap. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Until Next Time,

Melissa