And I got it! I just didn't know it would be white sand, instead of white snow! I know I pretty much a month late but here's how the holidays went, Kenya style...
I met up with a few volunteers about a week before Christmas. Some people had boyfriends/girlfriends come in from America so we had a grand old time in Nairobi. We went to a place, Village Market, which may very well be the most western place in East Africa. Shisha, pool, bowling, waterpark, food, fountains, yep it's all there. After some bowling and clubbing, some of us set off the next day for Loitoktok. Loitoktok is the closest thing to "home" I'll ever get in Kenya. Of course it doesn't compare to my real home and real family but, hey, work with whacha got right? My brother met me at the stage and Baba met me at the road to the house. Everyone was excited to see me and I was excited to see everyone. Mama made my favorites (green grams and chapati) and I basically sat in the house for two days watching music videos with my brother and sister. It was a completely different place since it had rained substantially in the four months I had been gone. The Loitoktok I remember was a dusty nemesis that threatened to leave me dirty each time I tried to walk out of the door. This Loitoktok was green and bright and I even got to see our full shamba (farm), which was much bigger than I originally thought.
Even though the fam tried to guilt trip me into staying through Christmas, I was too excited to get to the coast for it to work. I left with another volunteer, Lee Ann, on Wednesday and headed to Mombasa where we met up with some other volunteers at a "hostel". I put it in quotes because it's really just a house with a bunch of beds in it. The owners were really nice and cool though and I would remember that bunk bed fondly in the days to come...
After a quick stop in Mombasa for a couple of nights, we headed to One Love Island. There was a volunteer who just COS'd (finished his service) from there so we had a few connections and were able to rent the island for 2,000 shillings per night per person including food. That's about $22 per person for a private island, not too shabby :-) Now we were sleeping in tents and the shower/bathroom situation was a bit precarious but it was beautiful and I woke up Christmas morning and had a sunrise swim in the Indian Ocean. We had such a great time that most of us stayed a second night on the island and I'm so glad I did, the food was AMAZING! All the food is cooked by this guy's mom on the mainland and then brought over by boat. I think I had 5 pieces of fish that day. YUM. Christmas day was more fun and games and water play.
After Christmas, we headed to Diani Beach, where we stayed until New Years. We stayed in our tents again at a place called Stilts, which, incidentally, is across the street from the main bar in the area. Pretty much the days went like this:
7AM: Wake up in tent because it's blazing hot on the coast and the tent is like an oven
7:05: Find a cool place to sleep
9: Wake up, eat breakfast go to beach
12:Wake up from nap on beach, go to lunch, go back to beach
5: Shower from day at beach, go to dinner
9: Go to club, dance in ocean, go to bed
Life can be hard sometimes, ya know?
Two volunteers had rented a little apartment not too far from where we were staying and were gracious enough to host us and cook some really good meals. After about day 2 of the tent, I realized that I am not, nor will ever be, a tent girl no matter how much I would like to be. I like beds. And pillows. And structures that keep monkeys and ants away. All in all, the week was great and New Years was definitely one I will always remember. This is, of course, the cliff's notes version and those of you who were lucky enough to receive phone calls from me while at the club (sorry about that!) probably can fill in where I've left things out. It certainly wasn't as great as a holiday season in the States with family but it definitely wasn't too bad either.
