"Jambo!" from Kenya!

Jambo everybody!

I've just popped into an internet cafe here in downtown Mombasa. Kenya is beautiful but hot, and the people are extremely kind. It's been a great few days here. My first impression of the country wasn't the best as I was greeted exiting my taxi by a mother asking me to help her feed the starving child strapped to her back. However, I met my group the morning of the 22nd, and then settled down with my host family later that day. It's been smooth sailing ever since.

We live about a half-hour matatu ride from downtown Mombasa in a suburb called Barumbi Bamburi. It has semi-paved roads, but it is almost precisely what I stereotypically imagined a Kenyan village to look like. My host family is great, led by its retiree patriarch Steven, who can talk endlessly about Kenyan culture and the world. The host mother Rosa has been extremely attentive to us, and there is even a grandson running around named Austen. I'm boarding there with two other Canadians, but I have a solo room because I'm the only male volunteer in the house. Apparently running water is sporadic at the house so I had to bathe myself from a basin this morning. Water is an issue here and it is difficult to remain hydrated. Sleeping under a mosquito net is also kinda cool, and fortunately we are missing the heavy mosquito season. It is hot 24/7, but we are lucky in Mombasa because the heat is tempered by a cool sea breeze from the coast.

So far we haven't really got down to work because we are still settling in. The Kenyan volunteers we will be working with have given us the brief introduction to the public transit system here. Matatus are a study in dangerous elegance. Thousands of these snub-nosed vans zip around the rural and city roads shouting their destinations to passers-by. You flag them down, hop in, and they zip off again. Road lanes are anathema to these drivers. Sidewalks double as road space, oncoming traffic is a mere inconvenience and pedestrians must have a sixth sense to avoid getting hit. I've never felt as scared and awed at a driving experience as when I was riding shotgun in a matatu.

After some orientation sessions, we meet the kids from the community centre later today and work begins in earnest on Monday. Even still, I have found enough time to try picking up Swahili and have been testing out the language on my homestay, much to their delight. It's been quite the trip already so I can't imagine what the rest of it will entail.

As it stands, it looks like I will have the opportunity to post more online than I thought. Apparently there is an internet cafe close to where I will be working. If things go as planned, I will be looking to post pictures ASAP.

Thank you all once again for all the support. Keep an eye out for my postings! Kwa heri!