The past two days have been relaxing. It was a great opportunity to catch up on the few touristy things we still wanted to do and spend some time at the beach. Wednesday, Joel, Trisha, Jenna, Megan and I went to get some supplies for the reconstruction of the orphanage. It was a 15 minute walk to a small town hardware shop. I really felt like I was in the middle of nowhere Kenya in this place! It wasn’t by any means threatening, we could just tell people here don’t usually, if ever, see mzungu’s (white people) here. After bartering with the owner for supplies, we came out with 4 buckets of white paint, 3 small one liter cans of blue, red, and yellow paint, 2 large paint brushes, and 5 small ones for about 3200 Kenyan shillings. That is about 35 or so US dollars, not bad! Once we arrived back at the orphanage we began the task of painting the newly cemented walls. Sevanas, an Elective Africa employee helped us get started. He kept adding way too much water to the primer though, so it took quite a few coats to get a solid base. There was no ladder to be found, so he improvised with stacking two benches vertically and climbing up them! There were quite a few times that I thought he was going to just come crashing down and spill all the paint. It was really nice to be able to help out more at the orphanage/school. I really enjoy the people who work there, they are so nice! As soon as we walk in they scurry around setting chairs behind us to sit down in. I have so much appreciation for all the time, money, and work Joel has spent here trying to make a difference in these children’s lives.
Putting cement on the walls
He decided to start painting right above me :) notice his "ladder"
After spending half the day painting, it was time for the beach! Joel, Megan, Chelsea and I made the short trek down to Nyali Beach for possibly the last time. Megan and I really wanted to ride the camel before we left, so we did that right away. It was so much fun! I know I have a picture of me doing this when I was little, but that was at a zoo… and this is the Indian Ocean. The rest of the time was just spent lying in the sun. I was just about to doze off when BAM! Sand went flying and looking to my left I now had an African boy sitting sideways between Megan and I. He hit the side of Megan’s head and went flying over top of her to land right between us. He just sat there dumbfounded like he had no idea what happened either. Megan was ok and the boy kept coming back apologizing over and over. He kept saying, “Madam, Madam I am so sorry! I was doing exercises!” Needless to say he was forgiven and now it’s just another funny story to add to countless others this trip.
I didn’t go to the hospital today; I am waiting to do the evening shift on Friday. I’m hoping that staying up until 3am or so right before we leave will help put me back on a good sleeping schedule for home. I can’t believe I only have a couple days left! It’s truly bittersweet.
Thursday!
I was able to sleep in for once! At 9 am Jenna, Megan, Trisha and I rode the van to the hospital. There was a lady we found out about through a doctor at the hospital who does henna tattoos, so we wanted to get some done before we left. Her apartment was only about a block from the hospital so that was convenient! She was very nice and did such a great job for 200 Kenyan shillings! That’s only about 4 American dollars. I got my right foot and left arm done and the rest of the day was spent trying to let it dry.
At 1:30 pm we decided to go back to Old Town Mombasa to get some last minute souvenirs! I have gotten really good at bargaining—Dad you would be proud! Everything I bought was at least half of what they were asking for initially. For about 15 dollars I finally had all the gifts I wanted to bring home. While waiting for the other people in our group to head back to the van we ran into an obnoxious Kenyan “tour guide” right outside of Fort Jesus. I think he was attracted to the 4 white girls with henna tattoos and he would just not go away! Of course he was harmless, but kept insisting we hang out with him sometime. Yeah right. First of all anyone who introduces himself to you as Captain Midnight obviously isn’t sane and we might be tourists, but we aren’t stupid J
Thursday night was sort of our going away party before we fly back Saturday. It was really fun; I’m going to miss being so close to all the people on this trip. We will definitely have to have a reunion this semester! And Joel! You better come to South Dakota for pub crawl like you promised!
Friday will be my last day/night at the hospital, it’s almost surreal. I have so many mixed feelings about it I don’t even know how to explain. I will do one last blog post on Saturday morning and then back to the US it is!
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