I'm Incubating Fruit Flies!!!!

I had heard about fruit flies laying eggs in your clothes in this area of Kenya--it's true!!  This morning I was feeling an ache under my arm pit.  When I got home today I decided to check it out because it was reaaaaly sore.  I looked in the mirror and noticed a large lump. STOP READING NOW IF YOU DONT WANT TO HEAR THE GORY DETAILS!  I gave it a little squeeze and out popped a worm.  WTF!  It was the size of a baby caterpillar.  I coundn't stomp it fast enough. Sooooo disgusting.  On Tuesday the maid had hung my clothes to dry on the line so I guess it nested then.  Tough my supervisor says it normally takes 7 days and I must have gotten it in Nairobi.  Whatever.  It was there and it was squirming.  Karibu Kenya.  I am truly initiated now.

My first initation was in Loitokituk with all the red dust.  It was the consistency of powdered sugar and could permeate a pair of wool hiking socks in just a few hours.  I'm still living with the foot fungus that caused.  Even the best manicure could not remove all the black grunge under my nails.

Well that's two things.  Number three will certainly be a lulu.  Probably get broadsided by a camel in the bush this weekend!  Stay tuned.

A Moth to the Flame

8/23/2100 9:09 pm
I am sitting here in the dark watching a moth circle the candle on the table.  Twice it has had it's wings singed.  Dumb sucker!  Guess God forgot to give it a brain.

I was all set to take my shower, overjoyed that the hot water gadget had been fixed today.  Tested the water--yep it was hot.  Got buck naked and hopped in and the power went out.  I fumbled in the pitch black back to my bedroom for my pjs and here I am.  So with a full battery and money on my modem, here's an update.

It's hard to believe that graduation was last week.  The Ambassador is on the right.

A local band entertained us at his residence.

Yummy treats to celebrate the day.

The next morning it was off the Maralel with my sponsor Laura.  It was a harrowing two day off-road trip in her abused Suzuki.  We dodged elephants, zebra and camels.  We stopped overnight in Nynauki and headed out again the next morning.  This is truly the wild west of Kenya. 

I spent the first couple of nights with her while waiting for my house to be ready.  The first morning here I get a text from my friend and fellow Peace Corps buddy in Maralel, Martin. "They're shooting someone!"  Turns out there was an escaped convict and they did shoot at him before he surrendered in the street.  Then on a walk, one of Laura's dogs bit a child so it was off to the clinic for tetanus and medicine.  Nasty bite and when the father gets back it could be hell to pay.

Now Im settled into a lovely two bedroom house on a Catholic Church compound for the next 3 months.  I have to leave because Father will be having company for the holidays in MY house.  Im hoping to charm him into letting me stay here.  I will even volunteer to move out for the holidays IF I can move back in.

This is Samburu country.  This means most of the town is nomadic, also known as pastoral.  They herd their livestock in search of food and water.  Since depending on the time of year both can be scarce, drinking is a favorite pasttime for both men and women.  While the men are away, they drink.  While the men are away the women drink.  Samburu also culturally accept that men will have many women and the women also have many men.  So lots of tots roaming around but the father's do accept responsibility for them.  Depending on economic status determines how well they are cared for.

Most people have more than one job.  They have a full time one which means they work at it a few hours a day and then a part time one for the other hours a day.  Accepted practice.  Nobody works very hard and if it rains all bets are off.  The rest of the day is cancelled. 

There are no paved roads, only wide sandy streets that become flowing gullys when it does rain--like today.  We were watching a drunk woman run stark naked down the street and a storm blew in and the streets turned into flowing mud.  The police did manage to subdue the woman and take her away.

The other night I was walking Martin to my locked compound gate after dinner.  The night watchman, a Samburu, let him out. I tried to introduce myself but he did not speak Swahili.  I turned and left with my flashlight and walked back to my house.  When I approached my door and turned off my flashlight, I saw a glimmer of light behind me.  I turned around and saw this huuuuuuuuuuuge amazon in red plaid cape with a flashlight shining it on me.  It looked like an eerie apparition.  I almost peed my pants!!!! It was the watchman making sure I got home okay.  I now know his name and how to address him in Samburu.

Im still spending time settling into my place and buying the things I need (gas stove top, dishes, towels and food supplies) and go into the office for a few hours each morning.  I am working for an organization that has several camel preservation projects in the Turkana region further north.  In fact, we will be heading to "the bush" on Saturday for me to see the projects.  It is another 8 hours off-road from here.   They receive funding from various US charities to raise camels, train Samburu on care of the camels and breeding and other assorted community based projects.  It is my job to analyze their financial position and create a strategic plan for each project.

Im sooooooooo happy to have sunshine again and no more incessant dust.  It is in the 80s each day but when the sun goes down you need a jacket.  In "the bush" you can add another 20 degrees.  Hello suntan.  Who ever heard of being in Kenya and no tan, right?

I'll share a few more pics--the last for a while since I was sharing a camera cord and my buddy Matt is not here.

My host family in Loitokitok at our farewell picnic.

My little Leyian giving me a kiss.  Not something the average Kenyan does.

My pal Matt at graduation.  He is near Mombassa now.

My friend Stacy always stealing a smoke from me.

My friend Jenn that I will visit in Mombassa during the holidays.

Adopted children Breezie (Left) and Andrea (right).  We all shadowed together with Louis.

That's all for now.  Battery getting low and skeeters are buzzing.  Still no power so time for bed.

ALL THE LATEST NEWS

Sunday 26 June  7:42pm
Its so hard to remember all the little things that happen each day.  Keeping a journal seems such an onerous task when you have 12 hour days and then must study Kiswahili at night. Im going to try to fill in some of the gaps and post this when I can.  The internet cafe is very iffy.  Seems you just get logged on and type a few words and the power goes out.  At least you dont have to pay when that occurs.
My day begins with a quick splash of warm water on my face at 7am, followed by a gulp of coffee when Mama doesnt insist that today is chai day. Im in my boots slogging through the forest (ala corn field) on my way to class at 7:30. It usually begins with 2-4 hours of language. What a way to start the day!! My brain hasnt had to function at that hour in many years.  We did have an informal language exam last week and out of 10 sections I am in #3.  Im okay with that since I will NEVER strive to be top dog in Kiswahili. Then we have a chai break at 10:30 followed by more language for two hours.  We usually break for lunch at 12:30 for an hour then have culture orientation sessions for the afternoon.  We finish at 5 and by the time I trudge back through the forest it is 5:45 when I arrive home.

I usually help prepare dinner or sometimes even fix it for the family.  My family consists of Mama Janet who is quite the entrepreneur.  She is a farmer, owns a preschool and is treasurer of her church.  Her son Haron, his wife Grace, two children Lyian (age 4) and Simaloi(4 months) also live in the home.  Actually they have a house next door but at the present with Grace nursing, Haron and Leyian are staying in their house and Grace and Simaloi in the main house.  They are a very loving family--always smiling, singing and taking care not to interrupt me so I can study.  We had previously been having dinner at 9:30 after Mama returned home from delivering milk but that was sooooooo not working for me. Going to bed at 10pm on a full tummy does not make for a good sleep or bright mind in the am.  So we had a little chat yesterday and now dinner is at 8pm. After dinner is my bucket bath with hot water in a room the size of a broom closet.  I have become an expert at sudzing up and splashing off in 15 minutes!  Then its bedtime and Mama waits for me to turn out my light before she flips the main switch to turn off the power in the house. Every kilowatt counts.

This is the gate into my house.

This is Grace in the outdoor kitchen.

This is Leyian with his cousin Ashley.

This is Mama (white blouse) entertaining her gal pals after church.

We live on a large farm with cows, chickens, goats and sheep.They also have a german shepherd that has six 3 week old puppies.  Haron runs the farm and loves every second of it. Its a new experience waking up to the crowing cock and mooing cows.  If only that would happen at a decent hour instead of 4:30am.

It's cold here--around 40 at night and if we have a sunny day it will rise to 72. Im told July is the coldest month with rainy days. Guess those red dusty fields and roads will become quite a challenge.  Im sure to experience slipping and sliding in some cow pies in the weeks ahead.
Dinner is usually ugali (they dont make me eat it) with a steamed mix of spinach and cabbage called sukumawiki--literal translation stretch the week. Then there is a stew with beef, potatoes and bananas.  The amount of food they can eat at one sitting would make a sumo wrestler weep.  Thankfully they have let me serve my own plate.  If I did all the cow milking, corn plowing with an ox, goat milking and chicken shack cleaning they did in one day I would need all those carbs too.  And they are verrrrry skinny.  When I cooked I made spaghetti with all fresh ingredients and it was a hit.  I also introduced them to black pepper as their food is quite bland with only salt.  Now they want pepper on everything.  I also made fried chicken with mashed potatoes one night which they declared finger lickin.  I DID NOT watch them slaughter the chicken in the back yard.


We have had countless hours of health instruction running the gamut from STDs to the alcohol content of local booze (fatal if you drink the home brew) to dont pet the house animals.  As if we didnt get the message we are getting a round of rabies shots, malaria shots, flu vac, typhoid and deworming inspection next week.  That ought to be interesting.
A few asides worth mentioning: If you send me a package, dont write "food" on the customs label--it will never arrive. Neither will anything marked "computer items." Writing "Jesus loves you" all over the package deters thievery as most people are Christian here.  Every package WILL be opened before delivery so its best to mark the label as used clothing and put some old stuff in the box for good measure.

Tuesday June 28,2011 6:28 pm
I learned my first Kiswahili cuss word today.  Here's the back story.  We were in a culture class last week and the instructors were role playing various cultural oddities that we needed to be aware of.  One was a demonstration of how homeless street kids will attempt to rob you.  They dont use a weapon.  Instead they approach you with piles of shit in each hand and will demand money or a shit lashing.  I dont need to tell you how many people do not argue with this one.  If fact no one knows of anyone that didnt just throw down the shillings and high tail it.  I asked my language instructor for the the translation in class today since they had conducted their demo in english. Thus the word for the day is mafi.

Sunday July 3, 2011  4:43 pm
Returned a few hours ago from Outward Bound (the camp) where we sometimes have classes but this time it was for our overnight celebration of the 4th holiday.  We have class all day on the 4th. We have cabins which sleep 12 people each but the best thing about camp is having hot showers and real flush toilets.  The hot water just keeps running like at home and you can even shave your legs! Im holding off on doing that since I want to see if my hair will get long enough to braid.  We did manage to have baked chicken instead of Kenyan style stew and even had a huuuuuuge bonfire after dinner.  We had a couple of kegs sent down from Nairobi and since we had been alcohol deprived for 3 weeks, there were some serious hangovers this morning.  It was a nice bonding break.

I found out my assignment will be in Maralel which is waaaay north and I will be working with camels among other IGAs (income generating activities) with a US group called Pear Innovation.  They have numerous projects covering 150km from Maralel north.  Luckily they have a nice Land Rover to cover the territory so I wont have to slog in a matatu. I will be responsible for establishing business plans for each IGA and implementing the plans.  This is in the province of Samburu which has its own language.  I havent even got the full hang of Swahili and now will also have to learn Samburu.  You can imagine the choice words I have about that!!!! WTF.

To get ready for our projects at our new site, we are practicing here with local businesses that have requested assistance.  I have been working with a bee farmer who has been making honey for 15 years as a hobby and now wants it to be a real business.  I also spent time with a chicken co-op of 30 women that have 1000 chicken layers.  They have a nice business going for organic eggs and think they could make more money switching to broilers. I finished the cost analysis and will be telling them tomorrow to stick with the eggs.  Im constantly astounded how Kenyans can have so little and work so hard to make something with that little bit of something.  Most have truly slaved at trying to have a solid business and 99% have had their dreams and work dissolve by some corrupt person, system or organization.  But they get back up from that red dusty shamba and try again. 

This is the bee farmer in the middle and our instructor on the right.

The upcoming general elections in August are all the talk now since half of the ins will become outs.  Peace Corps has already been spreading the word that we will be evacuated at the first sign of violence.   They did this six years ago and have only been back in Kenya since 2008.  The timing would suck because it would be right at the end of our training when we would be heading off to our sites.  All is quiet for now.
Two big scandals that are in the news here are how the elected ministers (like senators) have now been forced to pay taxes on their income.  It was in the new constitution but not being enforced.  Now that its an election year, those who want to be reelected are paying up for the past 2 years owed and others are griping and saying they will go to the courts for final ruling.

The other scandal involves the embezzlement of $5 billion KS from the Kenyan education fund.  The education chief fled to London, was extradited back to Kenya but no action has yet been taken against him.
Everyday I see the cute kids walking to their schools.  They go six days a week for 10 hours a day.  Everyone has shaved heads and uniforms that indicate their school and grade.  They love shouting out "how are you" in perfect queen's english and accent.  They particularly like when you respond in Swahili "nipe tano" (gimme five). To think that the money that would have been used for their education has vanished is disgusting.

These are kids who cant afford the free education, ala school books and uniforms.
Check out the home made cars.  The wheels are assorted bottle caps with sticks for axles. Clever huh?

Sunday 24 July 2011 10:43 am
What is the color of Kenya? Is it the aubergine skin of the people in Mombassa? Perhaps the orange-brown hue of those living on the border with Tanzania?  Sometimes it almost seems the color of the ripe coffee beans that hang from the trees in the small groves nearby.  Then there are the colors of the lesos (tablecloth sized wrap skirts) that would rival the variety of colors of the butterflies wings.  So many hues of orange, red, blue and green.  Or maybe Kenya is the color of its soil?  Orange-red clay color of the inland areas of Marundu or the tawny brown of the Loitokitok region?  Or it could be the color of the trees--the massive graying baobabs that dot the landscape dying from drought, branches reaching to the heavens as if to beg for just a shower so they may live one more day. It's the night sky so bright with twinkling stars that one can walk without a light to guide the way.  Even in the desolation Kenya still wakens each day with a sense of hope.
The sounds of Kenya? The rooster that crows at 4:30am, cows lowing to be milked at 6am, goats and sheep bleating for a walk in the pasture, puppies whining for food as the day begins.  It is also the thrashing in unison of women beating a massive heap of bean stalks into mulch with long branches  to be sold at the market and singing familiar folk songs all the while.  It's the slap slap of wet clothes being dipped and redipped into plastic basins of water on the ground to rinse the remaining suds before hanging on the line to air dry.  It's the gentle hymn being sung as one washes the endless pile of dishes outside on the dirt floor that is considered a kitchen.  It's the joyful choirs and congregation singing in unsion to be heard across the village for hours on Sunday morning. It's the stillness of the night where you hear the corn swaying in a gentle breeze and an owl announcing the darkness. It's the sound of a peaceful spirit that praises each day as a new blessing to be cherished.
These are the colors and sounds of Kenya.


‎Sunday, ‎July ‎24, ‎2011 8:16pm
It's been a long day of study and dealing with a stomach bug.  I think it was the milk that had not been boiled before I used it in my coffee.  Everything ingested has to be thoroughly cooked, boiled and purified to prevent things like this.  My family is distressed that I am sick and I bet the milk will burn my tongue in the morning.

I wanted to bring you up to date on my last nine days on the road.  It was designed as a break of sorts and a chance to shadow an existing volunteer. The entire group headed to Taveta which is a border town of Tanzania. It was a harrowing four hour matatu ride on unpaved dusty roads.  It is large in comparison to my present location, bustling with a busy market of good brought on big semis from across the border.  It was interesting to see so many different fruits and meat varieties that are not available to me here.  Many more interesting shops with crazy names and I hope to post those pictures as well. We stayed in a comparatively nice hotel that had a real bathroom of sorts.  By that I mean there was a working (sometimes) toilet and a shower with hot water (sometimes). The "of sorts" part is that you could shave your legs, poo and shower all in the same 3x4 space.  You needed to plan the adventure or you would have to wipe down the shower water from the toilet before using it.  The food was tailored to the Americans so we thoroughly enjoyed our traditional fare of fried chicken, fresh veggies and tomato salad. It was a treat not to have everything cooked together stew-style that we have been used to.  They even had a pleasant patio bar that allowed us to have a few drinks after class each day.

This is the patio bar area

This is the selection of various beans in the market

Women selling fruit in the market

I have no idea what she sells

No clue what you can buy here either. It was never open.


While there we visited various projects that were started with help from other organizations: a fish farm that raised tilapia in 10x10 ponds, an HIV/AIDS agrofarm that housed, fed and provided for a group of infected people while raising farm products to sell.  We helped them plant banana trees, pineapple trees and an assortment of herbs.  We also visited the local hospital to tour a recently opened  Domestic Violence Clinic.  I imagine that the worst clinic in Appalachia looks like a university hospital in comparison.  They were very proud to finally have this clinic opened and staffed by volunteers that have received no educational degrees but only a six week course relating to trauma intake.  At least it provides a safe haven for women before they return to the same abusive situation.  After four days here we divided into small groups of 5-6 to hit the road to meet our volunteer for shadowing.

My group of five headed to meet Louis in Maungu.It was also a four hour, two matatu ride over the same dusty roadways.  Maungu is literally a truck stop for trucks travelling the route from Nairobi to Mombassa.  This truck stop is the sole income source for the town.  It is so drought stricken that there is no water in the town most of the time and it must be hauled in containers by donkeys from a town 10 miles away.

Louis is the quintessential volunteer.  He is also a minimalist and very cheap.  That is of note as you hear the rest of the story.  Louis met us at the matatu stop to show us to our hotel he had selected for us.  It was right in the center of the truck stop strip so we could watch all the action that befalls such places.  We went to inspect our rooms and were shown the first option.  It was a row of five separate rooms that contained a single bed and chair. You shared the outside toilet and a community shower. I walked around inside and then noticed there was no lock on the door.  Clearly these were "hourly" options.  Louis hadn't even noticed.  Plan B was a set of single self contained rooms which meant they had a separate toilet/shower and a locking door.  Easily two inches of cobwebs hung from the ceilings, mosquito nets were gray from the road dust and mold grew from every tile in the shower/bath.  There was no running water but we were told they would bring it for us to bucket bathe each night.  With no other known options we settled into our $4/nite lodging.  There was NO WAY I was going to sleep on those sheets so I eased my sleeping bag on top of them, stripped the blanket from the bed and it became the carpet for my room.  I prayed the spiders would not fall from their webs as I closed my eyes for the night.

The next morning we sat on the front patio of the hotel for breakfast of chai and eggs as the dusty town awoke with the truck drivers.  As the big rigs ambled down the roadway, they created a massive cloud of sand and grayish dust that covered everything--our table, eggs and chai.  We learned to deal with it as there was no other option. Before the day was out our hair, clothing and face were coated with a film of the road that had to be scrubbed away in the evening bucket bath.Louis took us on a tour of his tiny village and gave us the lay of the 10 mile dustbowl.

This is the truck stop town area.

This is where we stayed on the highway where the trucks blew us with dust.

We attended a meeting with the local minister (like a mayor) and he raved about how much help Louis had been in his community. Louis then wanted us to visit another group "Wildlife Works" that is a partnering group in his community.  He said it was a short walk.  Three miles later, sunburned and covered with dust we arrived at their site.  Boy are they living a fat life.  They have a compound that looks like something out of Swiss Family Robinson with a stunning mountaintop vista to eat, sleep and work.  They even have satellite tv and internet.  What else would you expect from a group from South Africa.  They are doing great things though and have been in Kenya for 10 years.  Their main project is developing a carbon credit program for forest areas in Kenya.  So far so good and the first payments to landowners and the community will occur this September.  It has taken them all this time to get the project up and running.  The main difficulty is convincing the landowners to practice conservation for a future payoff.  The drought has made farming very difficult so they have resorted to making charcoal from some of the larger trees in the forest--thus ravaging it.  Then there are the elephants that are always roaming in search of water and create their own havoc. With the first payoff hopefully the remaining farmers will join the crowd. In case you don't know about carbon credits, it's a way for companies that have polluted the environment to make nice by investing in projects that are eco-friendly.
Wildlife Works has also started some other very promising projects.  One is a small clothing factory that uses organically made cloth.  African designers send their designs to be fashioned from the organic fabrics.  Michelle Obama and Bono have been seen wearing some of the designs made here.  The factory just received a nice contract from Puma to make a Spring collection of casual wear so they are expanding the factory.  Another project is to make charcoal from brush instead of trees.  This project has just completed the test phase and now they are ready to gear up production to supply several local large hotels that cater to the safari tourists. They have also created several huge greenhouses that will grow herbs and small vegetables that do not require large amounts of water.  They have fashioned a drip irrigation system that makes use of every drop of the precious water.  These projects will hopefully replace the prostitute trade that is the main economy.

Ingenuity is everywhere.  The workers that are employed and live on the property had created a checkers game from wood.  The playing pieces were bottle caps.

As we hitched a ride back to town we were shown a new project growing jojoba bushes in various groves.  Apparently elephants don't like the smell of it and will detour areas where it grows.  They hope to plant them in the forest to keep the elephants out and steer them toward the man-made watering holes.  They will also harvest the oil from the bushes to sell to lotion factories.  Clever huh?

Back in town we were famished as Louis has no sense of time--just like a Kenyan.  It was 2:30 and he showed us to his favorite spot.  He refuses to pay for any meal that costs more than 50KS (that's 50 cents!)  It was the usual dumpy spot and the food was okay.  In all fairness, you can usually eat a pretty decent meal for about $2-3.  Next we were off for another short walk to supervise the ping pong team he had started.  4 miles later we were at the school and the kids whipped our butts.  They made it to the finals last year.  I refused to walk the 4 miles back so we flagged down a matatu and hopped aboard.  It was overcrowded as usual so one of our group hung on to the outside open door for the ride down the road.

We had previously scoped out a hoteli on a back street.  We noticed it because it was one of the very few green spaces with lovely landscaping and an enclosed compound.  We took our grimy selves there for dinner.  The owner was a Kenyan Somali (meaning his family was from Somalia but he was raised in Kenya) and a Muslim.  He regaled us with his tales of why Kenya is in such a sad state (we are all corrupt) and the desperation in finding water for his 2000 head of livestock.  He loves Peace Corps and Americans and soon began plying us with unlimited beer as his guests.  He was a genial host even if he seemed to be breeding mosquitos inside his dining room.  We actually put our feet up on our chairs so we could kill them before they bit and I used my lighter to torch them midair.  He laughed and said we were "sweet meat" for them and invited us to be his guest for dinner so he could kill his best lamb for us.  Of course we accepted. His wife prepared a feast for us that first night and it was clearly the best food we have eaten in this country.  Even though it wasn't served until 10pm we were sufficiently boozed up not to mind.

Back at the truck stop inn we had them heat some water for our bucket baths and tossed most of the night with the activity from the rent-by-the-hour rooms.  In the morning we all gave our nasty clothes to the chamber maid to wash for us.  A real bargain at 20 cents an item.  Louis arrived at 10am and we headed to the ministers office to help him with his reusable sanitary pad project.

The local teenage girls can not afford sanitary pads so when they have their period, they just stay home from school and some don't even bother to return to school at all.  We fashioned sanitary pads in the shape of the disposable ones made from sheets.  They have a pocket where we cut towel strips to be inserted.  They we sewed snaps so the side flaps could be closed around the lower part of the panty.  We made 60 of these so each girl could have two each.  They can then make extra ones on their own.  At least they had one to use and a spare.

When we had visited a women's HIV group sponsored by the local Catholic Church (yep, these are the women who work the truck stop) one woman had brought her toddler to the bead-making project.  This is an attempt to provide an alternative income by making necklaces and bracelets. The toddler was crawling around on the concrete floor with a huuuuuuge towel tucked inside his pants as a diaper.  So while making the sanitary pads I had the idea to make a reusable pamper.  So I used the same sheets but the bottom sheet with the elastic corners.  It was the same principle as before with a pocket to insert the towel strips and snaps on the side and in the crotch.  I only had time to make one but they were overjoyed at now having an option and a pattern to follow.  Boy are American babies spoiled!

After another bucket bath it was time to return to the local hoteli for the slaughtered lamb feast.  What a treat!  There was definitely grilled lamb cooked by the new chef the owner had hired followed by amazing fresh veggies and grilled beef.  It was some of the best food we had had so far.  Once again he plied us with booze and regaled us with stories of how he is looking for his third wife.  His other wives don't want any more children and he wants to have 18.  Of course he is Muslim and having four wives is actually a sign of prosperity.  He also told us how it is important to beat each wife to make sure she stays faithful and keeps a good house. We had a cross-cultural discussion about how that would not work in America and he said he was glad he didn't live there.  As we were leaving he gave us a beer for a nightcap and hugs all around.  He announced to the group that I would make a good fourth wife.  I cheerfully told him that wouldn't quite work for me because I didn't take too kindly to being beaten.

The next morning we decided to go rogue and head to Mombassa.  We got quasi approval from the powers above and negotiated a matatu ride at 7am.  It was a four hour ride along the paved roadway.  We did see some grazing elephants and giraffes enroute.  It was amazing to watch the dust become real earth and trees with leaves as we approached the coast.

Mombassa is New York City on steroids.  Everything is hyperactive.  The marketplace has a stall for every possible ware, fruit and vegetable.  The smells and cacophony were overwhelming compared to the quiet village life we were accustomed to.  Mombassa is equally Muslim and Christian so that was a new sight as well.

Our first mission was to find a hotel.  We headed to the place where the other volunteers were staying but it was full.  So Louis took us to where he usually stays.  You know where this story is going right?  I was nominated to go check out the room while everyone else stayed outside.  We were going to get two rooms for two people each and sneak the other two peeps in to share. That would mean three girls in a room and three guys in the other.  The first room we saw was on the third floor, up some really rickety stairs.  The guy opened the door for us to look inside and an overwhelming stench of mildew wafted up my nose.  I almost hurled on the spot.  Louis said "this looks good." It had two twin beds and a bathroom almost identical to the truck stop.  I shook my head "no" and headed down the steps.  We stopped at another room on the first floor (more expensive obviously) that had one double bed with the same kind of bathroom.  I shook a no to that one too.  I told Louis he may not mind sharing a double bed but the other dudes were not interested in a cuddle. When we were back on the street I gave the details to the others  and we trekked off to continue our search.  We went to Louis' Plan B hotel (meaning no other options so I have to pay more) and settled on two rooms with two twins each. Girls don't mind sharing but Louis agreed to sleep in his sleeping bag on the floor.
With that accomplished, we hit streets for more sights, sounds and smells.

  No time for real sightseeing since we really wanted to enjoy the warm weather at the beach.  When we got there the tide was still out but we were told it would be coming back soon.  It was amazing to see a waterless beach for almost half a mile!  Within the hour, sure enough the tide returned with warm lapping waves.  It was barely crowded and we ordered some lunch from one of the beach vendors and settled in the sand to watch the canoes and people having camel rides. Yep real camels on the beach pooping beside all the discarded trash from lunches unfinished and muslim women wading fully clothed in the tepid surf.

After a few hours of sun, we headed back to the hoteli for a shower and night out.  That cold shower was a shock so I went to the desk clerk to ask about some hot water.  She scrunched up her nose and brow and said "You want hot water? (like I was asking for snow!) We don't have any of that."  So that was a really quick real shower with cold water.
 
We split up for dinner to join other groups based on what we wanted for dinner.  I joined the seafood group and we headed back to the beach.  The matatu let us out about half a mile from the restaurant and we started hoofin it.  It was pitch black dark with no street lights.  The working girls were everywhere and cruising cars willing to pay for some action.  We had a lot of offers but quickened our pace.  It was a lovely seaside place with ocean patio and surprisingly detailed menu.  Most of us ordered the seafood platter which had mystery fish, octopus, squid, shrimp and mussels.  I swear they sent someone out to catch that shit because we waited three hours for it to show up on the table.  It was a notch above okay but a seafood treat nevertheless.

Back at our hotel, one of the girls in our group had gone with the pizza crowd. Bad decision.   She was in the toilet puking her guts out and spent the rest of the evening talking to Ralph on the big white phone.  To hear that all night was enough to make you want to hurl.  She was green for most of the 5 hour ride home.

So now it's back to our weekly routine of class, study, dust and schedules.  It won't be long till we are in Nairobi again getting ready to celebrate our freedom.  We are already making plans for some fun times before we all split to the wind.

‎Sunday, ‎August ‎07, ‎2011  8:53 pm
I PASSED SWAHILI!!!! It was a tough couple of weeks counting down to our exam this past Friday but I won't even mention how many hours I spent studying and now it's over. So 13 of us celebrated by going on a one day safari to Amboselli Game Preserve for the day on Saturday.  I had to get up at 5am and walk in the dark to meet Stacy for the walk to our matatu.  Boy is your depth perception off in pitch black.  Even though it was a path I had taken dozens of times over the past weeks, it is totally different in the dark.  Even with a head lamp trying to guide the dusty path, I felt like a drunk every time I stepped in a hole or a foot deep patch of the red dirt soft as confectioners sugar.  I usually trod through the forest and take the path by a church.  When I got to the church, the gate was padlocked.  I wasn't even going to go back the long way around.  I considered my options.  I could scale the gate (8 ft) or crawl through the barb wire fence.  I chose the barb wire fence and crawled along until I found a section someone else had used before and squeezed through.  If I was a fatso it would have been a no go.  I was dusty but unscathed and trekked on.  I was waiting on the corner of the dirt road for Stacy and it was so black I could not even see my hand in front of my face.  I heard someone coming near and decided to stand up in case I needed to haul ass in a hurry.  It was one of the local police with an M16 who rightfully wanted to know what I was doing.  I explained and he said he would walk me up the hill closer to her house.  I'm thinking, nice guy but not so fast.  The whole time he is asking me for money.  Karibu Kenya.  This was one instance when I was glad we had the Peace Corps line to throw back and it worked.

It took about an hour over unpaved, car eating potholes and we were there.  Our matatu hit one big bump and then there was a constant clunking that sounded ominous.  Inside the park we were treated to lions, elephants, giraffes, wildebeasts and zebras.  It was the first time ever I wish I had a fancy camera with a telephoto lens.  Most animals were close enough for my little Canon but lions like to snooze and stalk their prey.  Others in my group got some amazing shots.  Our driver said in the 10 years he has been coming to the park this was his first time seeing lions.

The weather turned nice and sunny and we stopped for lunch at a four star safari camp.  I was immediately homesick.  It was magnificent!  It was the Kenya of the movies.  Pool, cabanas, outdoor tables, fabulous plants, thatched roof huts and uniformed staff on a casting call for Out of Africa.  I wanted to check in and stay for a while.  It being the end of high season, it was full of safari-seeking Aussies and Germans,  We must have looked like a group of homeless people to them.  We had a good laugh as we joined them on the pool chaises in our scruffy, dirty sandals, long pants, hoodies and backpacks.  We reminded ourselves that they are the tourists and we actually LIVE here.

Visiting a Maasai Village in the park

These are the mud huts where they live.  They are built by the women and last up to 10 years.


Remember that ominous clunk?  While we were having lunch our driver headed off to get it looked at.  It seems his wheel had gotten bent in that pothole and had to be removed and replaced.  Two hours later he was back.  We were pissed to lose that drive time but it sure beats a breakdown in the dark.  We headed off for more viewing and ended up hauling ass back to town to arrive just as it got dark.  It was an awesome day!

Next week is our last here.  We will depart on Sunday for Nairobi for a few days of class before we are officially sworn in as "volunteers" on Thursday at a big ceremony at the American Ambassador's residence.  Then we will all disperse with our sponsors to various parts of Kenya.
We have placed our bets on who we will lose this week because they did not pass the language exam.  We are betting on four people so will see how it goes.

Tuesday 8/16.2011 8:25 pm
Well we lost three people last week.  Our bets were right.  We are now in Nairobi and tomorrow is our official swearing in ceremony with the Ambassador.  On Thursday morning we all depart.  It will take two days for me to arrive at my site in Maralel and fortunately my sponsor is here to take me and all my crap with her.  Im ready for the real work to begin.  She says the International Camel Derby is this weekend so I wont miss it after all. Should be exciting!