Swim, drink and be merry (warning though, don't swim and drink)

Jambo, fellow mzungus :)

Right now: Sitting in a little cyber cafe in Old Town with an old-school bottle of coke and lots of muslim teens watching rap videos on Youtube. Don't know if it's because i'm in holiday mode, or in a foreign country but there is so much shocking things happen to my senses every minute of the day that I end up crashing into bed early with all energy completely drained. I guess i've had a lot of time to think about how things are different to home (i.e. talking to strangers on the street is encouraged here), how people live on such little money (around $3 a day) and what you want to change when you eventually get home. I think coming to a place like Kenya makes you look deep inside and realise what you should really be doing with your life. I think its finally hit home.

Anyway, enough deep and meaningful stuff for now! Here's some things that i've been doing:

• Sometimes I buy some mangos from one of the street carts, cut them open and eat them on the beach or the college oval where men practise soccer. Its messy but sooo good.
• Only had a couple of classes on Friday, and they were from the cerebal palsy and deaf schools. To be honest I was scared of teaching disabled children how to swim, as they have different rules and physical restrictions, and being in the water is all physical. I had nothing to be scared about, the kids were so beautiful and only wanted to relax in the water. I forget how good it is to feel weightless in the water. Even just giving them goggles and holding things underwater was fun for them. My favourite group were the deaf children. Being half-deaf myself I found I could connect with them real quickly. I didn't need to shout or yell at them, and found I could use my vast 'charaze' skills to teach them ("Don't jump" was shown by hand movements, deep water good, shallow water hurt head!). Was one of the best experiences i've had as a teacher.
• Njeri, Jenny (ex-volunteer), her boyfriend and I had drinks after work at this little rooftop bar above a busy mall. Cheap drinks ($4 cocktails!), laughing and bad dancing.
• Was going to Tsavo East and West for a safari this weekend but the other volunteers changed their minds (it'll be too expensive just on my own, so joining a group next weekend).
• Went with Jenny to visit an orphanage she used to volunteer with. About 45 kids - babys to teens - in the one house, its like a giant family. The older kids loved listening to my discman (The Black Keys and Kings of Leon were the favourites) and the little ones stroked my hair and played with necklaces. Very cute kids and well behaved. The people who run the place are legends, it can't be easy.

Security situation is interesting.. So the news is that two men were detained in Nairobi with information on terrorist attacks planned for Mombasa this week. The police then found 15kg of bomb stuff in Mombasa and its been a bit unsettled here. The popular westerner hangouts, like City Mall Bamburi and Nyali Cineplex have already got good security so thats ok. Its the places at night like nightclubs/pubs that people are worried about. In May the Bella Vista Club was bombed and thats a pretty popular bar for young people. So for now, not drinking out on the town or staying out later than 7 on my own, for now at least. Was really looking forward to going up north to Lamu but its just too risky at the moment. I'd rather have my life than see a funky little beach town. I'm going to go down to Tiwi Beach or Malindi instead.

So thats about it for now. Photos coming in on Wednesday..can't wait!

Kwaheri,
Beth