It's 90 degrees and humid today and, you know the best part, it's NOVEMBER. I'm beyond belief. This morning I awoke, as always, to the brays of donkeys outside my window. The sound has become one of the worst. They bay like they've seen a donkey slaughterer when, in reality, they've just seen a female donkey they'd like to spend the day with. Anyhow, I awoke to a nice chorus of those this morning. I got up, pulled off my mosquito net, sat up, literally peeling my sweaty body of the sheets, and stretched until I found the motivation for breakfast.
I threw on my favorite tie-dye dress (it's pink and purple and green with brown :)) over my shortest sleeping shorts and sports bra (a usually days sleeping outfit). I grabbed my house keys and coin purse, blotted the sweat from my face in the small pink mirror I bought down the street for a ridiculous price (kama 200 shillings, about 2.50US.) and wandered down the stairs.
Throwing on my sandals I walked outside to the small shop across the alley (alleys here are about 3 feet across, enough for a donkey to fit) and bought an egg and a bag of bread. Upon entering the kitchen at the house, it became french toast with the addition of some syrup I magically found at the Jesus store (a one-aisle grocery store which has made its nickname for having an amazing selection as far as Kenya is concerned). After breakfast I cleaned my dishes up (Kenyans don't use soap, just rinse, dry and use again), then headed upstairs to lie in bed a little longer before planning out the day.
We are in Lamu now, an island on the coast of Kenya, and we live in Lamu Town, a small town on the island. Everyone's research focuses on their areas of interest. My initial research idea was on integrated education in Kenya, a new system of education which blends traditional Muslim education (madrasa) and Western education (KK-standard 8, then class 1-4). I was excited about that idea, but everytime I would sit down to gather references and contacts for that research, I was lead in contrasting directions. Slowly I realized that, because of my dreadlocks, I had a wealth of knowledge on interpretations of Rastafarianism in Kenya. People were constantly telling me about what they believe (lots of it not in line with traditional Rastafarianism) and about what had lead them to those beliefs. I abandoned my original idea for this other one that kinda slapped me in the face, and has taken me in interesting directions since then. I'm enjoying the topic because its related closely to me on an artificial level, but moreso because I'm getting to have intimate conversations with local people who believe differently than I do.
So today was a chill day. Despite my initial motivation (up and about at 7:00!), sun showers kept me quietly and contently distracted most of the day. When they stopped, one of my housemates and I decided to make...MAC AND CHEESE. It wasn't ours, it was our friend Reed's, but we felt we should eat it before ants took a complete toll. Ants are in everything here so the shock of eating ant-infested things has passed, however it always seems better to eat the food as soon as you notice the ants (it's like the 5-second rule...). We happily munched on the below-par mac and cheese, cleaned up, then chatted around the table for a good hour or so before heading out to work on more research...which, today, consisted of walking around town and observing...somedays are not meant to be workdays :)
Now we're here at the local internet spot. We pay about two cents/minute to use the internet and it's pretty reliable with good people to chat with.
I'm not sure what we'll be up to tonight. It's pretty slow in the town after 8:30ish. There is a *cinema* we still have to check out down the road. Other evening activities include bonfires with local friends, a trip to the bar for a Tusker (Kenyan brew), a walk down the beach, a trip to the Jesus store for Old Jamaica (my favorite candy bar here..chocolate+raisins), a street movie ($1 DVDs which contain up to 30 semi-new-releases and are wildly unreliable), and more!
All the purest good energy and love from Kenya!
Afya na baraka! (Health and blessings!)
Katia! Your journey sounds amazing! We have a couple pictures we want to send you. What would be a good email address? The pictures are of Kindle and Diesel---They went on the internet when you first left and were reading the Mombasa site. :) Sending love and prayers to you. We can talk stars and dark night skies when you return...Love, Kelly and Dan
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