Experiences of a Lifetime!

These last couple of weeks have been full of exciting new adventures. To start, two weeks ago I went home with my supervisor for the weekend. Life outside of the compound is completely different. I had such an amazing time and learned a ton. Mrs. Catherine and her husband John poured gallons of wisdom into me over the weekend. It was also great getting to spend more time with her children. On Sat., Catherine took me to her shags (the place where she grew up). Her parents are such kind people and they live on a farm. Her father showed me around his coffee field and explained the process of growing and making coffee. The coffee plants seemed to stretch on forever. He also has rows of banana trees and yellow passion fruit. He also has a few cows that provide the milk and allow him to sell the excess in town. Everything on his farm is self-sufficient. Even the cooking gas is produced in a manure well. Catherine taught me how to cook a few Kenyan meals and the weekend flew by very quickly.

            This last weekend we went to Mombasa. Being at the coast was a blast. We stayed at a house that was literally feet away from the beach. We did some touring of the city and I got to take my first Matatu ride! The scenery on the beach was gorgeous and my friend, Nigel, went with me so that I could take a swim in the Indian Ocean. Just a side note, the Indian Ocean is very warm! Our plan was to walk about a kilometer down the beach and explore a small reef and then swim back as the tide came in. However, we didn’t time the tide right and it was already coming in before we made it to the reef. So unfortunately we didn’t get to see it, but we did get a nice long swim in!  It was breathtaking being out in the Ocean away from everything. About 3-4 kilometers away from us was a huge reef that stretches out and protects the shore from the huge waves. From where we were, I could hear and see the waves crashing up against the reef. It was probably the highlight of my trip to the coast. 

          The rest of this week we have been busy in the classroom because the term ends on Wednesday. Sorry that this update is very broad, but some things are impossible to put into words without writing a book!