Camping in Mombasa

It's been a while since my last post. I'm currently sitting in another volunteer's house in Kilifi. My house is still not ready. I looked at the house last week. When my principal saw the door and the windows, she demanded that they replace the bars on the windows and add a heavy metal door. The entire house is smaller than my parents' kitchen. . . . But. . . I really don't need anything bigger. I think it is an awesome house, and I couldn't be happier with it.

My school is named Pwani Secondary School for the Deaf. Pwani is a word in swahili meaning "coast" or "coastal" depending on the context. We are only two forms (grades) strong, though the form 1 (9th grade) students have yet to arrive. My students were only
taught a third of last year's material in mathematics, and have yet to begin form 1 chemistry or physics. I have a lot on my plate. At least I don't have to look for service projects, right?

There are some things I am having to get use to here in the Kenyan schools. One of them being every time students see me carrying books, they run up to me and grab the books from me and take them from me.
Also, when the 5 foot tall deputy head master sees me carrying (even one book) his will call a student to carry it for me. School politics is another thing that takes some getting use to. I'll just leave it at that. I'd rather not explain this right now.

There was no electricity (or running water) today at school. Let me rephrase that: there was no electricity in Kilifi today. Roughly, every Tuesday and Thursday the town of Kilifi thinks it's a great idea to save a little by cutting the power. I foresee this messing with
future lab experiments.

I'm going to Mombasa on Saturday with public health volunteer, Pat. We are going to meet up with Jon, an ICT volunteer, to go camping near the beach just south of Mombasa. Another volunteer, in the business
sector, is working with a campsite. I excited about meeting other Peace Corps volunteers and seeing more of Kenya. I'm also looking forward to taking a dip in the ocean. The Indian Ocean feels great
around Kilifi and Mombasa.

One last note:
My older brother, Chris, graduates with his doctorate degree in May. I'm so proud of him. But I think I'm most proud of him because he doesn't care about the title the degree brings. The coming title doesn't seem to be going to his head. Chris is a great friend of mine, and I often wish he could be in Kenya to experience all these new things with me. I can't wait to share a pitcher with him when I return to the States. I also hope we can travel abroad together
sometime in the future.