Nimelewa Sana (but not really)

As I sit here writing to you, I am slightly tired, in a moderately good mood, and ready for the most productive weekend I think I may have in my time here. Now, let's piece our way through this statement so that you all get some idea of what's on my mind...
Now that we've been in Nairobi for over a month (and of course only have a few weeks left) I seem to have finally found myself a number of really cool people to hang out with. I've gone out with them a few times, hung out, and had a really great time in general with them. Last night, we (a number of students) started the evening at a friend's host family's bar, where we had drinks with Swahili teachers, and tried to get their actual life stories (some of them seem to enjoy pushing the boundaries of what they can tell us, what we understand, and what we actually believe), despite not really accomplishing much in that regard. From there, one of my friends from the program, her host brother, and I all went out and met up with some of my new friends for what ended up being a very fun evening, full of dancing, talking, and wandering around near where I stayed with my parents when we were in Nairobi. So, the "slightly tired" part can be attributed to the fact that I only got three hours of sleep last night. The night was unfortunately also slightly dampened by the pickpocket that managed to get my phone, my friend's phone, and her money. It's not a huge deal, just sort of a pain to find ways to contact everyone... so for the few of you that had sent me texts via google, I'll let you know my new number shortly. This "happy go lucky" sort of attitude is also a pretty useful outlook to have on a morning like this (by which I mean one where I woke up 7 hours earlier than I otherwise would) because I am at school right now waiting for a meeting with an advisor that doesn't seem to be coming in today.

Part of my study program is a month at the end during which the students perform research on basically anything they could want to research, though most topics are related to the program's theme of health and community development. On the one hand, this seems like an incredible opportunity to look into some really interesting matters, and the program has provided us with all kinds of connections and potentially valuable resources to use for our projects. On the other hand, though, nothing here seems to be the least bit organized, and even when you can be "absolutely" sure that something is going to happen, or that someone will be at a certain place at a certain time, and then you confirm another 3 times just to make sure, it still doesn't seem to happen. So, here we are a few weeks away from the beginning of this research period, and we were finally given the opportunity to meet with one of these really great professors from University of Nairobi who has provided us with a fantastic lecture series over the past weeks, and we were told to come to school today (Saturday) no later than 8 am mzungu time (aka actually on time, or maybe a little early). Well, now it's 10 'till 9, and he definitely has somewhere else to be in 10 minutes. Rumor has it he accidentally threw his keys out the window this morning (and hence, couldn't make it), but... well.... really? So there you have it: in a pretty good mood (a good night, and I'm in Kenya!), a bit tired, and ready to do a lot of thinking about research-related things, especially if I don't end up getting the guidance here that seems to linger perpetually just beyond my fingertips.

Now, let's backtrack a little bit. As I recall, I had provided you all with a brief overview of Shirazi, the rural coastal village where we stayed for a week. Well, after our week there we returned to Mombasa, where we stayed for another couple of days for a few lectures, guest visits, and time to wander around and discover Kenya's second city. Mombasa is a city whose complexity and beauty I can hardly begin to describe here, what with the swahili culture, muslim influence, white sand beaches, gorgeous architechture, and fascinating history. We stayed in Old Town (the most pretty part in my opinion, even if it was full of other wazungu), which is full of slightly dilapidated buildings with beautiful Arabic architecture, that looked absolutely beautiful, even when you really couldn't see it very well because of sweat running into your eyes.

Also, one of Adrienne's friends from high school, Morgan, has been a godsend as far as contacts are concerned... Luckily for me, Morgan is a truly delightful person who everyone here remembers very fondly from when she did this same program a few years ago. So, for my time in Mombasa, I had a family, extended family, and important/knowledgeable friends to show me around and give me a break from all the lovely whites. For those of you with facebook, there may/may not be pictures up. So, in a nutshell, Mombasa consisted of beauty, beach, sweat, Shamsa's wonderful family, going out, and the best food I've had in Kenya. I think I might just go back soon.

I don't remember if I mentioned this in my last post, but my last night in Shirazi I stupidly sat out on the dock on the Indian ocean with all my village friends for a few hours. I knew I was getting bitten a little, but had no idea what would come of it... The result? No less than a week and a half of what I thought might just be the worst chicken pox imaginable. Turns out, there are these little things called "Usubi" which are like sand flies, or sea flies, or something of the like. What you need to know is that they are tiny, numerous near the ocean at night, and SOSO itchy. So somehow, the heat and sweat of Mombasa made the itchiness pretty unbearable.

So, back to Nairobi to find the old swing of things, new friends, pollution, bearable climate, and all that work that the program hid from us during the first half of our time here. Oh, and did I mention danger? In the past week our group has experienced two muggings (one of which involved a gun) and two pickpocketing incidents. Great.

All in all, things are good. Dealing with Americans in the States is a real bummer, but let's face it: when is it not? On that note, I'm off to study swahili for my oral exam in a few days. How well that works remains to be seen.