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