Its Tuesday I haven't been on line for a really long time. Sorry. We are in Mombasa now. We've been here for a few days. I really like it here. Its fast pace but like Hawai'i like with the palm trees and the beach's. I swam in the Indian Ocean. It was warm and has whiter, thinner sand than the beach's in Hawai'i. It was extremely shallow and was for a long way out. Women go in either a swimsuit, under garments, or in clothes. The men, either in swim trunks or underwear. And then theres the few who are in speedos and really don't need to be(yeah that was a joke). On the first day we went, we went with Steve, the photographer, three Kenyan kids hes friends with, the two Ugandan boys, Wasswa and Paddy, and all the girls in our group but Bailey. Because we were with like five black guys, none of us girls were really bothered. The second time we went, it was just all the girls but Juli, Gideon, one of the Kenyan kids Steve is friends with. Gideon, the only Kenyan, went on a walk up the beach with Kelsey and Aria, so the rest of us were left alone. All these men were trying to talk to us and get our attention. It was funny and extremely creepy.
Steve the photographer is very nice, very helpful and knowledgeable. The Ugandans he brought is so kind, funny, and incredibly smart. Paddy is going to a very good university in Uganda. It is supposed to be one of the best. Waswa is sixteen and is in form two I think which is sophomore year for us in America. They are both a part of Steve's foundation where orphans in Uganda are given a home, a mom, and free education. Dream Home I think its called. I think it is amazing what Steve does. Steve was telling a few of us the other day that they rarely have problems with the kids acting up in school or getting in fights. Nobody messes with them because they all watch out for each other. The older kids watch out for the younger kids. Everyone knows if you start something with one student from Dream Home, you start something with all the kids at Dream Home. How he runs the house so its like that, blows my mind.
We had to change hotels, if you could even call the ACK a hotel. It was more like a hostel. Bailey and I somehow ended up with a quad. The floor was concrete. Anyone could have broken in, the windows glass was already broken and no longer there. The bed had a sheet and just a sheet. Oh yeah and a misquito net that had so many holes, that it didn't even make a difference. I was eaten alive. And I'm sure the killer, gigantic ants got me too. The bathroom had to be the best part. There was no handle to get out, so you pound on the door thinking you are locked in. The other person has to push the door in. Still concrete floor, a shower tub, where the fosset didn't work. Above the tub was a spout thing. It was extremely necessary I took I shower, I turned on the spout, and a drizzle came out. And of course, it was cold. Luckily they had a pool...with no chlorine. Nah, but the pool was definitely the best part. The sad part was that it looked so cute from the outside.
The hotel we moved to, Castle Royal Hotel, was beautiful. Full equip with a TV, a fan, air conditioning (which we hadn't seen in quite awhile), a good size bathroom, a nice working toilet, and connecting door for Isabelle Juli Bailey and me. It was in a good place in town. Casablanca was right down the street, although we never got to go. Casablanca was known for its many prostitutes, I really wanted to see it. I heard it was a club too. But whatevs, I saw my fair share of prostitutes.
If I had never been to Kenya and I saw prostitutes I would just think they are easy girls with nothing better to do, but after my experience in Africa, I realize, they honestly don't have anything else they can do. And in Kenya, you got to go what you got to do to make money. Of course prostitutes are looked down upon but at least they are doing something about not having money.
Speaking of club, Robin let us go to one with the Kwacha Afrika group. We all had so much fun, you were supposed to be 18, so Evans, the Kwacha Afrika group leader, told the bouncer that we were dumb Americans and didn't know to bring out ID. They played Mzungu(white people music) at the beginning but then started to play like Swahili Kenyan hip hop music, which I like so I didn't mind. This one song they played was like a remix of a gospel song. And don't get me wrong, I like gospel music but I dont like to go to clubs and dance to gospel music, but it was all G.
In Mombasa, with the Kwacha JUMPers we went to a few out reachs. I think they may be one of my favorite things we did on the trip. We went to a village and they blared hip music and everyone started coming out. We all danced, then they had a dance contest for the little kids. It was amazing, the little girls were doing like Tahitian but wayyy better. And the boys, they were just thrusting their pelvic. It was so funny. They performed in Swahili so we didn't understand but it was still amazing. The effect they had was so obvious. They had the whole community join in.
Mombasa was one of my favorite places for sure.