Mombasa Madness

Now that I'm here on the coast, I can't believe that I ever complained about the heat in Nairobi. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, people on the coast call Nairobi COLD! And Nairobi weather I'd say is comparable to midwest summers. I had been warned it would be hot here, but I had no idea how hot and humid and unrelenting it is. We usually "shower" (bucket bath... remember the no running water part?) twice a day just to wash off the sweat. Then as soon as you dry yourself, you start sweating again! And fans are few and far between. We have one in our main room, but that's it (and don't even ask about air conditioning). It's a good sign that it's hot if Kenyans complain about the heat -- in Nairobi you'd walk down the street in a tank top and capris and pass by Kenyan after Kenyan in full suits and long pants and long sleeves and sometimes even jackets! It's unbelievable. Even more unbelievable is that, amidst all the heat, people continue to drink hot tea throughout the day! At my house we drink it at least twice a day, steaming hot tea made with whole milk instead of water, and lots of sugar. Not to mention the fact that all meals three meals a day are hot as well. The food is good at my new house though, which is nice considering the quanities they like to serve me. :)

Life at my internsihp is, once again, a whole separate world. I work at an organization called Old Town Development Forum (Jumbe) and, as its name suggests, it operates in an area of Mombasa called Old Town where all the buildings are protected historical structures from the Portugese and Arabs centuries ago. It definitely has more of an old, small-town feel to it, although it is nevertheless always bustling with activity. Much of Old Town is occupied by Muslims, and therefore most of the women my organization serves cover themselves completely, some even covering their whole face but their eyes. I have no idea how they survive in the heat. The woman I spend most of my time with is Asha, who's 24, and she's taken me to her house several times for lunch (which is about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour break here). She, however, has gone to the upstairs apartment to cook for her uncle and left me with all her aunties and cousins and periodic guests downstairs. It's been really fun, and interesting, to get to know these women and how they live. Lunch is great, and very filling, and all the women eat with their hands (well, one hand), which is very common on the coast. As for work itself... I don't know if you could really call what I've been doing work. There hardly seems to be anything for Asha -- basically the only person who ever comes into the office -- to do, much less work for me. For now I'm just going with it though, and perhaps an opportunity will arise. In the meantime, there's plenty of observing to be done all around me.

I'm still absolutely loving life with my host family, and already I know I won't want to leave to go back to Nairobi! Yesterday I went to the beach with two of my host sisters and brother and cousin and we took 5 of the grandkids (ages 2, 3, 4, 6 and 10), and we had so much fun! The beach is absolutely beautiful, with white sand, palm trees, blue sky and lots of sun. Too much actually...my shoulders are burnt to a crisp today. The beach was filled with young guys playing soccer, people chatting in the shade, and men guiding camels down the shore offering to give rides. We were playing in the water all afternoon until the sun started to set at about 6:30 and we had to go home. We live basically just across the road from the Indian Ocean (just far enough not to feel the breeze), so it was just a quick walk there. The water is shallow for a long ways so you can walk out really far, and because it's so shallow the water is really warm. It felt great not to be hot for a whole afternoon!

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day to all the McConnons! I missed you guys this week, and I'll be missing you even more on Saturday. I hope the party goes well, and don't have to much fun without me! (Especially with the helium balloons, Fran and Cecelia.)
And all you in Madison and Minnesota (and Iowa), I want spring break stories!
Can't wait to hear from you!