6 down, 10 to go...

We are now into our 6th week in Kenya! We have spent the past 2 weeks in the beautiful massai mara land where we are living in the middle of nowhere in mud thatched houses on Olerai farm! We have done soo much and lot has happened since my last post so I've got a lot to write, I could be here all day!

Our last week on the coast at Msambweni was fantastic, we all couldn't actually believe how quickly our time there flew by! We all really got stuck into project work as we had a lot to do in a short space of time to make sure we got our classroom finished on time! But we did it and we were all so proud of the result and the kids were so happy with it! We painted a large mural on the wall of the staffroom block at the primary school which was 9 different flags from different continents, I didn't think it would look as good as it did, thankfully some of us are more artistic than others (me)! We also spent our final week doing the finishing touches to the classroom to make sure it was completely finished so the children could begin using it as soon as we left! On our final day at work, the children performed dances and songs in a leaving ceremony for us, they were really good, i really love the african music and dancing, they were obviously really appreciative of our help which made all the hard work worthwhile! Also, I performed the streetwise routine I had been teaching the dance class for the past couple of weeks and I was so impressed with how well they had learnt it, it went down a success, we performed it to Five's Song "If Ya Gonna Get Down". During my dance classes, the kids also taught me some african dancing which is very different to the dancing I know but I enjoyed it! After our first performance of the dance, we had to do it again for the opening ceremony of the classroom, the kids were so excited about it, and they really picked it up so well, I hope they continue to dance in the future. I was really quite sad when we had to say goodbye to Msambweni Primary school, the teachers, the classrooms, the builders we'd been working with and most importantly the kids! On wednesday of our last week, Vicky, Jenny and I had a really good day in Mombasa with one of Samson's friends called Becky, we went out for lunch and she took us to some markets to do some clothes shopping as I was rapidly running out of clothes after lots had gone missing, we had such good fun, I bought lots and barely spent a penny, each t-shirt was 30 shillings which is about 25p... bargain!! We had a really good day anyway! On our last night, we had a huuuuuuge feast with everyone we knew from the village and then we headed down to the beach for the last time for a bonfire which was really good fun, we played lots of stupid games around the fire and we just chilled and listened to and watched african singing and dancing. There is a boy called Fundi who lives in the village very near to our house who came down to the beach with us, he is the funniest dancer I have ever met in my life, he actually made my night! We had such a good laugh dancing with him, I'm going to miss him!! I'm also going to really miss Ali a little boy from the primary school who I've got to know really well, he's been writing me love letters and songs and making me rings! However it was time to move on, we said our goodbyes the next morning to Auntie and Siti who had been looking after us at the house, doing our washing and cooking for us and we said goodbye to the house we had called home for the past month and set off on the journey to Mombasa, where we then caught a coach to Nairobi! It was a nightmare journey, it took more than 8 hours on the coach so we were travelling altogether that day for more than 12 hours! Worse still, there was no air conditioning on the coach so it was unbareably hot! When we arrived in Nairobi, we were taken straight away to Karen (where the AV office is in Nairobi) to Ndiyo Campsite where we were met by the rest of the AV's who have been doing the other projects, they had arrived in Nairobi earlier that day so they had been waiting for us! It was really good to catch up with them all as we hadn't seen them since the induction course in Navaisha, and we got to find out more about the other projects that we would be doign which was really useful! That night, we went out to simba saloon, an african night club next to the famous carnivore restaurant which was a really good night, slept in tents!
We were up early the next morning and we had a very tearful goodbye with Samson who had been our group leader in Msambweni for the past month, he had been our best friend and we were all sad that we wouldn't be with him anymore but he had to take the next group to Msambweni! So our next project is in the Massai Mara at Olerai Farm so this is where we are now! It was a very bumpy journey to get there, and I loved it from the minute I arrived, we even saw some zebras! We spent our first weekend getting to know the place, exploring and meeting the workers of the farm!! Everyone was so welcoming and I am really excited about how different this project is going to be to Msambweni! We had a bit of a chaotic night on one of our first nights at Olerai, we were eating dinner and suddenly realised there was smoke coming from round the corner where the kitchen was, we ran round and the thatched roof of the kitchen had caught fire from a pressure lamp placed underneath it, we didn't think it was bad to begin with but it started getting worse and worse, we spent the next hour running with huge bottles of water to throw on the roof to out, at one point we thought the roof was going to fall in but we managed to put it out with the help of Tarquinn (the farm owner) and our sheer determination and strength, it was so scary at the time, but its something we can laugh about now, it was certainly a team building exercise, we're just glad it wasn't our bedrooms! So the project work here has been good, we are teaching at Emarti Primary School every morning, some are teaching maths and English but I am teaching Science to Standard 7 which I am really enjoying. From there, we go to work at the secondary school where we are doing building work on the admin block, we are also going to be doing some painting in another primary school and we are doing a bit of work at a tree nursery on the farm. Every day we have lunch at the Supa Mara Cafe, in Emarti Village, it is a very small and simply little cafe but its really cosy, Beatris the cook always cooks delicious food for us so we sit and eat and eat and eat and watch tv at the same time! Then in the afternoon, we go back and do some more work when we can be bothered (joke!) The past week of the project hasn't been as successful as we hoped due to the weather, its the rainy season in Kenya now so it absolutely poured it down for 2 days running so there was no way Charles Mbaabu (our kenya guide in Olerai) could drive us anywhere because it was so wet and muddy the car could not move anywhere, we tried to drive places a couple of times, but the car would get stuck so we all have to get out to push it and we end up getting covered in mud as a result...not very much fun!! but its all part of the experience, TIA as they say, we still managed to keep ourselves preoccupied however when we were stranded at the campsite, ive been eating so much here I have put on tonnes of weight so a couple of the girls and I have decided to do running around the cricket pitch that is next to our campsite, other than that we sit around and do nothing!!

So I'm currently writing this from Narok, the massai maras only town which is still a 2 hour drive from where we are living, we've had a really good weekend so far, we went to klub mahogany last night and experienced a proper kenyan night out which was certainly interesting, its good to see a bit of civilisation after being in the middle of nowhere for two weeks! We're staying in a nice hotel called the seasons, it's so good to be able to sleep in proper beds for 2 nights!! Anyway we're hoping the last 2 weeks left of this project will be more successful if the weather decides to be nice to us so we can manage to get our teaching and our building work done, we're also planning on hopefully doing a game drive at some point which should be good!
It's my 19th birthday a week today, I think we're planning on going to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club hotel for the day which is about a 20 minute drive from Olerai farm, so we're just going to chill out by the pool there for the day with some cocktails which will be nice!!

Will update in 2 weeks time!

4 weeks in!

I cannot actually believe it, we have already been in Kenya for 1 month! It has absolutely flown by, it definitely doesn't feel like we've been here this long! Still having the time of my life, loving every single minute of my time out here! Im currently sat in our house at Msambweni with only 3 days left here feeling quite sad that on friday we will have to leave all the children who we have grown so close to! Working at Msambweni Primary School has been amazingg, although our time here has gone so quickly, we have managed to get so much done and I feel like we've really made a difference, we've just got 3 days left to finish off the work that still needs to be done, which is quite a lot but I'm sure we will manage it!! I haven't done an update in a couple of weeks so I will briefly go through what we've been up to since I last posted...

Ali and I have been teaching one particular class at the primary school quite a few times now, we've been teaching them mainly maths but some english, and I didn't think I'd enjoy teaching them so much, it is a challenge at some times as some pupils don't understand but it is such a rewarding experience when the kids come up to you at the end of the lesson to thankyou and when they actually understand it! I'm very impressed with how well they all speak English, and how fascinated by us but how grateful they are that we are hear to help them. Aside from the teaching, I've been doing a dance class for the past week which has been so much fun, they've been teaching me some african dances whilst I've taught them a street routine which they have picked up so well, they were so excited and happy, it really made it all worthwhile, they are so good we are performing it to the whole school this week before we leave... which will be slightly scary.

So the past couple of weeks has been lots of hands on work, we finished off the plastering off our classroom, starting whitewashing all the walls, painting the classroom sky blue and lime green (which looks awesome) digging holes and planting lots of trees (very hard work!!) Normally, we only work until about 11 in the morning because its so hot so we spend the rest of our days chilling and relaxing and swimming on the gorgeous which is a 2 minute walk away. We've also been on some horrendous bike rides and some better bike rides, we've been to watch the kids in their sports day playing football and winning!! It just really feels like home here, I don't think any of us want to leave!! As well as working hard at work, we've also had a couple of really good weekends that I want to mention since I last posted. Last weekend, we went to mombasa, spent far too much money on eating out and matatus(local transport), we had some really nice meals, which makes a change to the food we eat everyday at the house, we spent the whole day saturday at mombasa waterpark which was such good fun, everyone got really burnt, it was so sunny, we went bowling aswell, got stuck in mombasa on sunday because the matatu driver had an accident.

This weekend has also been really good, we went to the popular tourist resort of Diani Beach where there were lots of mzungus (white people), the beach was so nice so we spent a lot of time there, then we went to the famous forty theives beach bar and friday night, we all had such a good time, Finn got bitten by a cat on our way out!! It could only happen to Finn, hes already got electrocuted and stung by a jellyfish!! After some really good weekends, we always looked forward to coming "home" to Msambweni!!

I'm also really loving the food out here, on our break times at work we have Mandazis which are just small snacks, but they are really nice, I also love the chapatis, but I'm getting a bit sick of rice, we eat it alllll the time!! Another reason I don't want to finish this project is because of Samson, I don't know how we're going to manage without him, he's like our best friends, hes one of us, although I won't miss him being on the phone all day!!

Anyway my time has run out on the computer, so will update as soon as I can!!