Hello all!
I'm back on the island of Lamu, we came back on the 24th from Mombasa via matatu, plane, and boat. 5 other girls and I are here in Lamu, and most of us are living in the same house we stayed in before, renting rooms. I've been loving living there and cooking our own meals, even though our kitchen is ant, spider, cockroach, and now mice infested... It's unbelievably hot here, and it takes way too much effort to leave the house. Consequently we've gone to the beach a few times already since we've been here in two weeks lol there is a beautiful beach a little down the island in the town of Shella, which is the European touristy town separate from the traditional Swahili town where we are staying (and I like much better). But Shella does have a yoga studio! We went last weekend and it was one of the best classes I've ever been to, we're going again tonight. And the other day when we were walking on the beach there were two camels, just chillin, I love Africa :)
My research was a tiny bit set back when my laptop was stolen (along with my camera and phone) but I'm still on track. Today I had a wonderful interview with a teacher at the local girls primary school. My project is evolving from an examination of the influence of Islam on girls education into an analysis on female education in the context of development and its need for foreign aid... a lot thanks to my current reading material, the End of Poverty, by Jeffrey Sachs, which I suggest everyone should read.
Other news. Kailee Cailyn Christine and Michael and I are putting a deposit down on a house in Denver! just one block from DU's campus (and the gym which is good). I also registered for classes a few days ago, I'm taking an International Studies class, Spanish, Cultural Anthropology, an education class, and an honors seminar on human and animal rights which i'm so excited about!
The internet cafe is about to close for Friday midday prayers, so peace out
Salaam.
R
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Yes rasta!
Hello again from around the world!
I am back in Mombasa now, we arrived here Monday night, the 4th, and went straight to our host families. I am living with a family only about a 15 minute walk from the SIT office. My family is very nice and pretty quiet like me so we’re getting along really well so far. The father works as an engineer for the Mombasa Port Authority. The mother is named Rukia and she stays at home, like most Muslim mothers. They have two older kids who live close by, the daughter is in hairdressing school right now, and I’m not sure what the son does. There are three younger kids at home, a 10 year old boy, a 3 year old girl (who I’m obsessed with), and a 12 year old niece whose parents are deceased. They have a live in maid which is typical of Muslim families. They live in a small two-bedroom apartment in port Authority housing, and I share one bedroom with the two girls. Also typical of an average middle-class Kenyan family, the TV is always on, and in this particular family it stays between Kenyan soap operas (which are the worst things filmed I’ve ever seen in my life) and the National Geographic Channel, which I’m becoming more and more obsessed with every day lol
So far I love all the Swahili food I’ve had so far here, except one dish called ugali which is a corn and flour Styrofoam life food. Swahili people usually eat seated on the floor without utensils, which I love, and as Muslims they only eat with their right hands (left hands are used for cleaning oneself after using the bathroom; side note: they don’t use toilet paper, they pour water to clean, which is supposed to be much more sanitary than toilet paper). Anyway I’m getting very good at eating with just one hand which is super fun and actually a lot more effective than a fork lol My favorite Swahili food is a staple called chapati, which are like tortillas and people eat them with just about everything. They also drink tea constantly which makes me really happy.
I was sad to leave Lamu, I really like it there! I am going to return there for my month long independent research project (after these three weeks in Mombasa). We were living together in one house and had Swahili classes every day, but other than that had a fair amount of free time. Lamu is very chill and relaxed; there are no cars, only donkeys. I had one donkey ride, probably about 45 minutes, and that was about enough haha not like a horse. Donkeys and stray cats fill the tiny streets, and both make noises I’ve never heard from either before it’s insane. Side note, the children here scream like I’ve never heard before (consequently mothers are capable of ignoring like I’ve never seen haha) My favorite thing about Lamu is it’s waterfront which is filled with traditional fishing boats, called downs, which have one slanted mainsail. There are no tall buildings in Lamue and people are very friendly.
A few days into our stay in Lamu there was a small city council election. After the results were announced people celebrated by playing drums and dancing in the streets until early in the morning, so we joined. It was such a cool experience that I have definitely never been a part of in the states. Later that week it was my birthday! Most of the island seemed to know about it which was awesome and weird lol It was a pretty epic night and I’m SO glad I got to spend my 21st on an African island instead of home!
Our last weekend in Lamu we took a dhow trip to Kiwayu, a smaller, more remote island north of Lamu which was probably the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. On the way there the boom broke on our sail, which would have been stressful anywhere but Africa haha We slept under an open thatched roof on the beach on Kiwayu, and we snorkeled, fished (I didn’t catch anything and I lost a hook; the Spencer family curse lives on) and swam in the waves of the Indian Ocean, which is the warmest ocean water I’ve ever been in, even warmer than Mexico, and it’s more salty than any other ocean (I think) so you float incredibly easily. When we were fishing we cooked what we caught right on the boat and they were amazing, and I ate fish eyes which were actually really good, except when you pull them out they kind of pull the brains behind it so you just have to ignore that haha I got slightly burnt, the first time yet this trip, which amazes me because I’ve barely worn sunscreen. I also never wear bugspray and have gotten like 3 mosquito bites the entire trip lol
On the way back to Mombasa we saw what I think is called a buffalo spider which I can’t even begin to explain so Google that shit, it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life and if I woke up with that in my bed or something I’d probably have a heart attack and die. I’ve also seen a grasshopper about half the size of my outstretched hand, a spider the size of my fist in our bathroom, giant ass cockroaches, and a stick bug (or twig bug or something like that I can’t remember what they’re called exactly) which was awesome because I’ve always wanted to see one in person!
So anyway, now we having classes everyday and life is fairly uneventful. I’m recovering from a cold that I got in Lamu, mainly from lack of sleep lol
Peace and love!
R
I am back in Mombasa now, we arrived here Monday night, the 4th, and went straight to our host families. I am living with a family only about a 15 minute walk from the SIT office. My family is very nice and pretty quiet like me so we’re getting along really well so far. The father works as an engineer for the Mombasa Port Authority. The mother is named Rukia and she stays at home, like most Muslim mothers. They have two older kids who live close by, the daughter is in hairdressing school right now, and I’m not sure what the son does. There are three younger kids at home, a 10 year old boy, a 3 year old girl (who I’m obsessed with), and a 12 year old niece whose parents are deceased. They have a live in maid which is typical of Muslim families. They live in a small two-bedroom apartment in port Authority housing, and I share one bedroom with the two girls. Also typical of an average middle-class Kenyan family, the TV is always on, and in this particular family it stays between Kenyan soap operas (which are the worst things filmed I’ve ever seen in my life) and the National Geographic Channel, which I’m becoming more and more obsessed with every day lol
So far I love all the Swahili food I’ve had so far here, except one dish called ugali which is a corn and flour Styrofoam life food. Swahili people usually eat seated on the floor without utensils, which I love, and as Muslims they only eat with their right hands (left hands are used for cleaning oneself after using the bathroom; side note: they don’t use toilet paper, they pour water to clean, which is supposed to be much more sanitary than toilet paper). Anyway I’m getting very good at eating with just one hand which is super fun and actually a lot more effective than a fork lol My favorite Swahili food is a staple called chapati, which are like tortillas and people eat them with just about everything. They also drink tea constantly which makes me really happy.
I was sad to leave Lamu, I really like it there! I am going to return there for my month long independent research project (after these three weeks in Mombasa). We were living together in one house and had Swahili classes every day, but other than that had a fair amount of free time. Lamu is very chill and relaxed; there are no cars, only donkeys. I had one donkey ride, probably about 45 minutes, and that was about enough haha not like a horse. Donkeys and stray cats fill the tiny streets, and both make noises I’ve never heard from either before it’s insane. Side note, the children here scream like I’ve never heard before (consequently mothers are capable of ignoring like I’ve never seen haha) My favorite thing about Lamu is it’s waterfront which is filled with traditional fishing boats, called downs, which have one slanted mainsail. There are no tall buildings in Lamue and people are very friendly.
A few days into our stay in Lamu there was a small city council election. After the results were announced people celebrated by playing drums and dancing in the streets until early in the morning, so we joined. It was such a cool experience that I have definitely never been a part of in the states. Later that week it was my birthday! Most of the island seemed to know about it which was awesome and weird lol It was a pretty epic night and I’m SO glad I got to spend my 21st on an African island instead of home!
Our last weekend in Lamu we took a dhow trip to Kiwayu, a smaller, more remote island north of Lamu which was probably the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. On the way there the boom broke on our sail, which would have been stressful anywhere but Africa haha We slept under an open thatched roof on the beach on Kiwayu, and we snorkeled, fished (I didn’t catch anything and I lost a hook; the Spencer family curse lives on) and swam in the waves of the Indian Ocean, which is the warmest ocean water I’ve ever been in, even warmer than Mexico, and it’s more salty than any other ocean (I think) so you float incredibly easily. When we were fishing we cooked what we caught right on the boat and they were amazing, and I ate fish eyes which were actually really good, except when you pull them out they kind of pull the brains behind it so you just have to ignore that haha I got slightly burnt, the first time yet this trip, which amazes me because I’ve barely worn sunscreen. I also never wear bugspray and have gotten like 3 mosquito bites the entire trip lol
On the way back to Mombasa we saw what I think is called a buffalo spider which I can’t even begin to explain so Google that shit, it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life and if I woke up with that in my bed or something I’d probably have a heart attack and die. I’ve also seen a grasshopper about half the size of my outstretched hand, a spider the size of my fist in our bathroom, giant ass cockroaches, and a stick bug (or twig bug or something like that I can’t remember what they’re called exactly) which was awesome because I’ve always wanted to see one in person!
So anyway, now we having classes everyday and life is fairly uneventful. I’m recovering from a cold that I got in Lamu, mainly from lack of sleep lol
Peace and love!
R
Monday, September 20, 2010
Asante sana squashed banana
Hamjambo tena (hello again everybody)! I wanted to do a real post for once so you guys can actually have an idea of what I’m doing lol
So, this has been my trip thus far:
On August 27th I departed Denver with Lauren, another girl from DU on my program, and we arrived in Mombasa on the 29th. We stayed in Mombasa in rooms above the SIT (my program; it stands for School for International Training) office for about 5 days doing orientation and getting to know the staff. Our Academic Director is a man named Athman Lali Omar who is fascinating and has led a ridiculous awesome life. Ali Sharriff is Athman’s right hand man and is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. We went snorkeling and he stayed in the water for 10 minutes before he got scared lol. Reuben is our Swahili teacher and is fantastic and hilarious.
After the first days in Mombasa we took a matatu (in Kenya there are buses like we are familiar with but they are only between big cities; matatus are like vans that can legally hold up to 13 people, before the law passed it was like 22 but the thing should really only hold like 9, and they are the main and usually only public transportation in Kenyan cities) to a tiny village called Mgange in the Taita Hills region. Kenyans complain that Taita is insanely cold, and everyone there wears like fleeces during the day, but it was a lot like Washington and I loved it. They thought we were crazy for not being cold. It is nestled between beautiful rocky mountains with some of the most beautiful and, more significantly, extremely varied vegetation I have ever seen. We stayed in Taita for a little over a week with host families. I stayed with a single mother, Hilda, and her two kids Florence, 14, and Anton, 10. People in Taita are Swahili but primarily Catholic, which is why they have such Anglo names. In Taita we helped to build the foundation of a library at a one of the two primary schools, where I also got to teach a few times during the week which was amazing. We also climbed the neighboring mountain, from which, on a clear day, you can see Kilimanjaro, but unfortunately it was too foggy that day.
After Taita we drove to Tsavo park, which is the largest park in Kenya (roughly the size of Israel apparently) and did a safari for a day. We stayed in a beautiful game lodge (with baboons walking freely around the property) and stuffed our faces with the amazing food (every day I appreciate how much money I’m not spending by being on this program) and we saw elephants, lions, giraffes, antelope, dik diks (the cutest miniature deer thing in the world), warthogs, ostriches, a cheetah, water buffalo, the bird that Zazu is in the Lion King… And there was a watering hole in front of our lodge and an observation level that you could go down to and just watch the animals from like 10 feet away, and we saw probably 60 elephants, 4 herds, all come to the water at the same time and it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. I didn’t have my camera on me, but couldn’t pull myself away, but everyone else took a million pictures so I will steal them lol
After Tsavo we drove to Milindi, a town on the coast north of Mombasa and stayed there for the night before flying to the island of Lamu a little more north. Lamu is a small island, probably 90% Muslim, donkeys everywhere (there are only 3 cars on the entire island and they are all government I think) that bray for like 10 minutes at a time, and all explode at every call to prayer during the day (the 5:30 call to prayer in the morning wakes everyone up every day except for me hahaha). We are doing intensive Swahili classes for the next three weeks here; we start at 7 in the morning, go till lunch, then meet with tutors in the evening. My tutor’s name is Husna; she is a Muslim mother of one plus three from her deceased brother, probably around 45 years old, who owns a shop and I think some property that she rents out. She is very nice and I learned that she used to be a teacher for nine years. A couple of days ago I cooked dinner with her and her daughters. Today she said my Kiswahili is improving a lot and I felt so much better because she always talks so fast and I can't follow what she is saying!
Ok now I will attempt to add pictures...I'm not sure how it will work with this slow internet connect but we'll see lol
Salama na mapenzi (peace and love)
R
Hamjambo tena (hello again everybody)! I wanted to do a real post for once so you guys can actually have an idea of what I’m doing lol
So, this has been my trip thus far:
On August 27th I departed Denver with Lauren, another girl from DU on my program, and we arrived in Mombasa on the 29th. We stayed in Mombasa in rooms above the SIT (my program; it stands for School for International Training) office for about 5 days doing orientation and getting to know the staff. Our Academic Director is a man named Athman Lali Omar who is fascinating and has led a ridiculous awesome life. Ali Sharriff is Athman’s right hand man and is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. We went snorkeling and he stayed in the water for 10 minutes before he got scared lol. Reuben is our Swahili teacher and is fantastic and hilarious.
After the first days in Mombasa we took a matatu (in Kenya there are buses like we are familiar with but they are only between big cities; matatus are like vans that can legally hold up to 13 people, before the law passed it was like 22 but the thing should really only hold like 9, and they are the main and usually only public transportation in Kenyan cities) to a tiny village called Mgange in the Taita Hills region. Kenyans complain that Taita is insanely cold, and everyone there wears like fleeces during the day, but it was a lot like Washington and I loved it. They thought we were crazy for not being cold. It is nestled between beautiful rocky mountains with some of the most beautiful and, more significantly, extremely varied vegetation I have ever seen. We stayed in Taita for a little over a week with host families. I stayed with a single mother, Hilda, and her two kids Florence, 14, and Anton, 10. People in Taita are Swahili but primarily Catholic, which is why they have such Anglo names. In Taita we helped to build the foundation of a library at a one of the two primary schools, where I also got to teach a few times during the week which was amazing. We also climbed the neighboring mountain, from which, on a clear day, you can see Kilimanjaro, but unfortunately it was too foggy that day.
After Taita we drove to Tsavo park, which is the largest park in Kenya (roughly the size of Israel apparently) and did a safari for a day. We stayed in a beautiful game lodge (with baboons walking freely around the property) and stuffed our faces with the amazing food (every day I appreciate how much money I’m not spending by being on this program) and we saw elephants, lions, giraffes, antelope, dik diks (the cutest miniature deer thing in the world), warthogs, ostriches, a cheetah, water buffalo, the bird that Zazu is in the Lion King… And there was a watering hole in front of our lodge and an observation level that you could go down to and just watch the animals from like 10 feet away, and we saw probably 60 elephants, 4 herds, all come to the water at the same time and it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. I didn’t have my camera on me, but couldn’t pull myself away, but everyone else took a million pictures so I will steal them lol
After Tsavo we drove to Milindi, a town on the coast north of Mombasa and stayed there for the night before flying to the island of Lamu a little more north. Lamu is a small island, probably 90% Muslim, donkeys everywhere (there are only 3 cars on the entire island and they are all government I think) that bray for like 10 minutes at a time, and all explode at every call to prayer during the day (the 5:30 call to prayer in the morning wakes everyone up every day except for me hahaha). We are doing intensive Swahili classes for the next three weeks here; we start at 7 in the morning, go till lunch, then meet with tutors in the evening. My tutor’s name is Husna; she is a Muslim mother of one plus three from her deceased brother, probably around 45 years old, who owns a shop and I think some property that she rents out. She is very nice and I learned that she used to be a teacher for nine years. A couple of days ago I cooked dinner with her and her daughters. Today she said my Kiswahili is improving a lot and I felt so much better because she always talks so fast and I can't follow what she is saying!
Ok now I will attempt to add pictures...I'm not sure how it will work with this slow internet connect but we'll see lol
Salama na mapenzi (peace and love)
R
Monday, August 30, 2010
africa
jambo family and friends!
well it took me three days (with zero sleep) to get here but i made it! unfortunately it was cloudy when we flew over north africa so i didn't get to see any landscape, but now i am in mombasa with the ocean and it's beautiful! the weather is actually pretty nice, sunny but not too hot, a little humid, but usually a little breezy too.it's the middle of ramadan right now so there are a lot more women out on the streets than normally, according to our director, athman, who is awesome. he's an african studies expert (a fulbright scholar from yale) and very sweet. our assistant director is named ali and is also SO sweet and adorable. we are currently living in the rooms above our program office, which is convenient for now, but we will only be here through friday, i think. none of us really know what is going on, africans are very relaxed, and when we asked our directs about plans and schedules they just say oh don't worry we'll get to that lol
so far all the food i've had is delicious, so great news for me! (great success!) lots of rice and meat and seafood, perfect. the exchange rate is about 10 kenyan shillings to one us cent, so everything is super cheap! which i am soooo happy about haha
we leave on friday for a rural homestay north of mombasa. the village is higher in elevation so i actually need to go buy some warm clothes (which our packing list failed to mention)
R
well it took me three days (with zero sleep) to get here but i made it! unfortunately it was cloudy when we flew over north africa so i didn't get to see any landscape, but now i am in mombasa with the ocean and it's beautiful! the weather is actually pretty nice, sunny but not too hot, a little humid, but usually a little breezy too.it's the middle of ramadan right now so there are a lot more women out on the streets than normally, according to our director, athman, who is awesome. he's an african studies expert (a fulbright scholar from yale) and very sweet. our assistant director is named ali and is also SO sweet and adorable. we are currently living in the rooms above our program office, which is convenient for now, but we will only be here through friday, i think. none of us really know what is going on, africans are very relaxed, and when we asked our directs about plans and schedules they just say oh don't worry we'll get to that lol
so far all the food i've had is delicious, so great news for me! (great success!) lots of rice and meat and seafood, perfect. the exchange rate is about 10 kenyan shillings to one us cent, so everything is super cheap! which i am soooo happy about haha
we leave on friday for a rural homestay north of mombasa. the village is higher in elevation so i actually need to go buy some warm clothes (which our packing list failed to mention)
R
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day of Departure
My August has probably been the most hectic month of my life. I finished working at Gymboree, which I totally miss. I saw Laura get married in Tahoe, I flew to Spokane, and this week I have been scrambling to get everything done because I leave TONIGHT for Kenya and I think I'm ready. This is the first time I've had internet all week so hopefully there wasn't anything else I had to do on it hahaha
Hopefully I'll update this soon! Wish me luck!
Hugs,
R
Hopefully I'll update this soon! Wish me luck!
Hugs,
R
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Hola!
This is my first post as the trekking kiwi. In a little less than a month I will be heading to Mombasa, Kenya, for 15 weeks, and I invite my friends and family to follow this and know what the hell is going on in my life. Enjoy!
"Spend the years of learning squandering courage for years of wandering."
Samuel Beckett
"Spend the years of learning squandering courage for years of wandering."
Samuel Beckett
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