In Kenya for 2 weeks already...

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The sound of birds chirping was my alarm clock this morning…. It’s June 22nd, and I flew out of the U.S. 2 weeks ago. When I first arrived in Kenya… I stayed in Nairobi one night with a family I had just met. The next day I met my friend Jason at the bus stop and we were off to Mombassa- the beach! After an 19 hour plane ride, the 8 hour bus journey to the coast wasn’t even that bad. The coast was beautiful!!! We stayed at a little resort near the beach called African Dream Cottages. They were very nice!! ( & about 40 dollars per night—pretty pricy by Kenyan standards) While on the coast we swam in the ocean, walked the beautiful white beaches and even rode a camel! We ventured into OLD TOWN, which was really neat… everything was built in like the 1400’s. We also got a tour of Fort Jesus museum. We toured the huge Mombassa Market that is over 300 years old. I love the markets here in Kenya… just imagine every vegetable and fruit, nut, grain and seed you can think of and multiply them by thousands… women and men selling everything from stinky fried fish to beautifully colored fabrics. Young girls walking with baskets of fruits upon their heads. Babies crawling on the ground and children running and playing. The sounds, the colors, and the smells, indescribable. We enjoyed some sweetened baobob seeds. The 18 hour overnight bus ride back from Mombassa to Kabula was tiring and not very enjoyable. However, once I stepped of the bus onto Kabula soil – it was worth it! I was home…. Sweet memories of last year came flooding back to me, and everything was familiar. The dirt road, the homes, the people, the marketplace…. Kabula…beloved Kabula. It was so amazing running into the people I haven’t seen in a whole year! Everyone gave warm welcomes and friendly handshakes and hugs! That first evening back in Kabula we slaughtered a chicken! Jason actually did the killing- but I did most of the rest. We made chapatti (moist flat bread) and sukuma wiki (cooked kale) to go with it! At Jason’s we cooked everything on three stones over a fire. The food was so wonderful!!!!!! With our hot meal—we drank hot chai!' (As we would do with every single meal thereafter… haha! )
Anyway, I have been to St. Elizabeth’s school and found out some really great news… I will be tell you about soon! For now, I’m off to drink some chai!

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