Rainy Season

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When the word "Kenya" is mentioned, the weather most people think of is hot, dry and sunny. However once May comes round and rainy season kicks in, it is a completely different story. We had a few odd showers when I first arrived but over the weekend I witnessed some of the heaviest, longest rains and worst flooding I could possibly imagine! It was literally bucketing it down! I cannot describe how loud and heavy the rain was without you seeing and hearing it! Unfortunately not only did the Lamu trip get cancelled due to lack of interest but on Sunday Lucy and I were planning to take the kids from our orphanage to the beach - didn't quite work out as we would have liked. To get into New Hope at all we had to wade through knee high water (that was mixed with the local sewage system by this point) and when we finally got inside we were soaked to the skin. We still had our picnic indoors and played some games with the kids but beach day was scrapped.
Managed to get into Old Town again on Saturday which was good and bought a reggae-style African shirt! We also found a lovely Swahili coffee house which was well-tested! Saturday was Bob Marley's Anniversary (I assume for birthday but could be for his death) so a few of us went to a local reggae night which was fun.
Not much else has been happening really. Pete and Sanne have left, a new girl called Laura arrived and there are two new volunteers at New Hope which is cool - only met them briefly though. I've started to discover that in order to really enjoy a new culture you need just a few little home comforts to appreciate it - so I've bought myself a jar of peanut butter, a jar of mayonnaise and some olives! Such a treat!
We Brits may complain about the rain but believe me, you ain't seen nothing yet!

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Photos

Commuting to Work
This is the "path" that runs outside New Hope. Are we in Mombasa or Venice?!

Is It Still Raining?
The outlook was bleak as we headed into Old Town

Cool Dudes
Shebe, Ngau and Juma keeping it real

The Girls
Faith, Lucy, Mercy and Rosie at lunch time

Comments

[JC]

i didnt no a comment should have a title?
Looks awesome out there and wading through the streets must be pretty fun, do people drive when its flooded like that? I kinda know what it must feel like tho, we were in a race the other day, on the start line and it hailed really badly so we had to bail out. That sucked. Whats the meat like there, is loads of goat?? sounds like your pretty busy tho which is kewl. Glad to hear you liked the lined A4 note from the heart - i felt i was too special for the book. lots of love JC

[Maggie/Mum]

Peanut butter and olives?!
Glad to hear your stomach is still working well and food still features prominently in your blogs!! We've had a lot of rain here too, but it does look a bit ordinary compared with the Mombasa rainy season! You didn't take any wellies, did you? email on way too... xxxx

[Dave]

I'm singing in the...
good day to you sir. you're account of the rain mixing with the sewage brings forth interesting images about a new and altogether more upsetting form of 'Poo Sticks' you could play with the kids when its too wet to do anything else... just a thought. life is floating along here, though not to the same level as your place; its been raining the last few days now fairly consistently which is a bit of a dampener on the revision-sunk-spirits of kids at KAs, Spud is the only guy i run into who is far too churrpey about a lack of examiniations. i might burn his house down to compensate. really missing you here man, its very odd not having you here, and its even more odd not spending at least every other fri/sat night in your house. your parents must be loving it. keep safe bro.

[Sam]

rain!!
Bonjour chum! That rain sounds amazing the sewage part doesn't dsound that great though, i really hope that you are looking after yourself, dont eat anything that is moving lol. nothing much is happening round here, i'm one week away from finishing my first year at uni i cant believe how scary it is, its gone way too quickly! take care my dear x x x

[Katie]

Woah
The rain sounds intense, I'm glad it's mostly over now. The reggae night must have been awesome, do they have many interesting themed nights going on? Are volunteers arriving and leaving a lot, or do they stay around for quite a while after they arrive? How many friends do you have over there at the moment? I went to the gym with Liz and Dave the other day, and he was saying how strange it is not having been in our house for ages, which is so true! Spud pops in from time to time to steal and return your DVDs (um, i mean...uh-oh!) and he was going to come to my party except he was busy, but it feels like I've lost four or five brothers in one go, as I haven't seen Dave, Jack, or anyone else in ages either! It's really strange only having mum and dad to contend with in shotgunning the lounge on Fridays! Hehe. Anyway I've just spoken to you on the phone so I don't have that much else to say, and I'd better get back to some maths revision really! Love you xxxxxx

[Alice and Catherine]

Floodier!!!
It sounds like it's getting floodier and floodier! (Winnie the pooh quote) Really glad to hear that you're well. Youth club has been wierdly quiet... Can't think why!?! We hope the sun will shine soon! Lots of love, Catherine, Bob, Stew, Reg and Alice x

[Mark]

You rock!
Hey Ben, I just found your blog through Google (I am writing up my report on New Hope now and am looking for the New Hope web address). Your blog is fantastic! Listen - I am sorry about your photos - I cannot believe the card got corrupted. Did you get my email with my photos? Check out http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.julien/ - there are some nice photos of you and the children. I look forward to reading more of your blogs - please say hi to everyone - I miss you all! Best wishes, Mark.

[Fiona Massie]

Hope you havent been washed away!
Dear Ben, Sorry we havent said Hi yet . Have just read your blog entries and are impressed with how you seem to have settled in and got stuck it.Its an amazing experience for you and a great chance to bless others. Rainy season proper is something we havent experienced ourselves so far but have seen the warm rain showers that have cleared 5 mins later. We spent a fortnight at Diani one year and went to Ali Babas for dinner one night - very enjoyable. The Colobus monkey sanctuary there is also worth a visit. Sorry to hear Lamu got cancelled - really hope you can get there sometime ,its fantastic. We may be coming over to Kenya later this summer to help build a secondary shool in the north of the country. Keep up the good work Ben and God bless (Mungu Akubariki)....Ray and Fiona