Officially settled.

Its been over a week now and Kenya is definitely growing on me every day. Photos coming very shortly! As you all know I only take photos with the old 'vintage' film camera, so one more shot and I can get it developed (some will show various kids blurred faces, as they couldn't figure out how to work this strange camera with no screen)
Anyway, here's some of the interesting activities I've done thus far:

• About 10 minutes walk and a matatu-ride away from the flat is Bamburi Beach. Absolutely beautiful beach with golden sand similar to the Gold Coast, but with coral reefs that surround the beach and look like they go on for miles. Some parts of the shore is seaweed-dense, so the swimmable parts are filled with teenagers and families wanting to cool off from the heat. I got there with a good book and my discman, but only to be approached by many potential kenyan suitors who wish to hold my hand and take long walks on the beach with me. After (sometimes harshly) telling them I do not wish to be married to them and have their babies and oh, go on their fishing boat for a reasonable price, I found a good spot and chilled out. I did end up chatting to a decent kenyan bloke who played an acoustic guitar and thought he was Jack Johnson. He told me all about the area and was eager to teach me swahili words. I may have found myself a swahili teacher every time I step on that beach now!
• Went to Haller Wildlife Park yesterday. It was pretty much a kenyan version of a zoo. Lots of wild animals roaming around and just a stone wall between you and them. It used to be a limestone mining site but then this dude Haller came along and thought 'If I put some bushes there and a large lake there, animals could soo live here'. And it worked out pretty well.
• Old Town. You may have seen parts of this interesting place in the movie Inception with the dreamy Leo. There's lots of old buildings and car/people chases (in the movie). Ngeri and her brother took me to one of the oldest swahili restaurants in Mombasa and we had fried fish with rice and this nice curry. I forgot to mention it's incredibly rude if you don't wash your hands before eating over here so every restaurant/cafe/fast food joint have one near the tables. And all soft drinks come in retro 'curvy' glass bottles (once you're finished with the bottle, the restaurant/cafe/fast food joint bags them all up, sends them back to the factory where they sterilise them and re-fill for more soft-drink useage. Talk about funky recycling!)

Anyway, I have been up to lots more - including buying longer shorts because aparently my mid-thigh running shorts make some people uncomfortable (they obviously haven't been accustomed to butt-cheek shorts here yet) - but I am tired after 5 hours of lessons today and need to chill out and read the Harry Potter book that one of the little boys said I must read.

Hope all is well over in Australasia (including Melbourne, heard about that shake!!) and i'm glad Karise won The Voice because she reminds me of Janis.

P.s. thanks for the cd's Wills, have kept me sane on the 1 hour matatu rides to the pool every day.

Over and Out,
Beth