Mombasa Madness, then on to Kilifi...

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So saturday night in Mombasa became a Tequila fuelled orientation to Kenyan nightlife... after doing a bit of exploring, and finding a school canteen style restaurant which served the most amazing pizza, we decided to hit the town. We met Anthony, a volunteer who had arrived on wednesday, and joined some of the other volunteers who had already been in Mombasa a while for a "quick drink"... yeah, right. So we actually returned to the volunteer house at around 5 in the morning :-S, after dancing our little socks off to some really cool reggae in a nightclub called Tembo. We reached said nightclub by slightly unorthodox methods, but that's another story...

So after a very hungover orientation in the hotel, Jessica and I began our rather uncomfortable journey to Kilifi, a bit further up the coast from Mombasa. So there is so much to tell, but I will try to keep it brief due to the steadily rising Kenyan shilling counter which keeps flashing in the corner of my screen, but I may add to this later. The orphanage at Kilifi has about 20 children, and there is a school on site which children from outside the orphanage also attend... The orphanage is quite comfortable and the food is really good. The other girls were treated to fresh free range chicken on sunday... so fresh we actually saw the chicken walking around about 2 hours before dinner! I obviously stuck to rice.... The maddest thing here is definately Patrick, the security guard, who is armed with a bow and arrow! I am literally terrified to venture out after dark in case I get speared- there is something very primitive about this method of security!

As for the teaching, I seriously miss the interactive whiteboard! The chalk and talk method of teaching actually involves chalk... I have mainly been teaching English to class 6, which is equivilent to about year 10, but I have been known to turn my hand to a bit of science. The kids in my class are so fantastic, desperate to learn, and literally sit in absolute silence. Very different to back home. The school buildings are not as bad as some of the ones in Mombasa; it is basically one long hut separated into classrooms, with a roof but only half walls. Mornings have been spent teaching English, and in the afternoons they play sports- mainly volleyball and football, whilst we keep the little ones entertained. I taught my class how to play cricket because they had never heard of it before, and they absolutely loved it! They are so competitive, and the girls v boys cricket tournament got very stressful! I'm so chuffed to have taught them something that they will carry on enjoying after I have gone. The best bit about the school is the magic tea lady, who brings round a teapot with a neverending supply of tea (honestly, I have no idea how she does it!) and a huge bucket of doughnuts! Its the little things that make you smile...

So we have spent our evenings at the beach, which is literally at the end of the drive! The beach actually looks like paradise, with white sand lined with palm trees. We went for a swim in the sea yesterday, and the waves were enormous! You could be wading just up to your knees, and suddenly a wave would splash over your head! We sometimes then walk up to the Kilifi bay hotel for a cold Tusker beer, but last night we asked Sam Sam the tuk tuk man to drive us up to the Mnarani hotel for dinner, to make a change from whole chicken (including feet), beans, rice, cabbage and ugali. The hotel was sheer luxury, which we really appreciated after being in the orphanage for a few days... So we had dinner, a few glasses of wine, then returned to the orphanage via tuk tuk at around ten, to be greeted by someone who wasn't Patrick, but who was also brandishing a bow and arrow! Terrifying!

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