I've just spent the past four days in the Cappadoccia region in central Turkey, based in a small town called Goreme. It has been very interesting to say the least...I am now on a 12 hour (groan!) bus to Istanbul with my left eye practically swollen shut. As my brother Soren said on the phone last night, the medical ailments I've suffered on this trip are biblical. He thinks it's the world and my battered body telling me to go home. I can't really disagree with him at this point as currently I would classify myself as a hot mess. I'm encroaching on Lohan territory!
First, let me finish my thoughts on Tarsus. The week I spent with Oriana and Matt was great. Not only was it awesome to get to spend so much time with them but it was nice feeling like a normal person again with all the creature comforts of home. I reaquainted myself with my internet addiction by watching lonely island videos on YouTube (Oriana helped me rediscover the hilarity that is "mother lover" and it has been running through my head non stop for days, which is needless to say outrageously innapropriate!) Much time was also spent obsessing over their two cats-gracie and ghengis (as in khan)-and the twenty or so other cats that live in their complex. Where they live is really a cat colony because a woman who also lives there and is even more cat obsessed than I am brings strays from all over Tarsus to live on campus. It's ridiculous but amazing. I think all the Turks around there were amused by my constant singing of meows to the cats. Turkey has also helped re-ignite my love affair with caffeine. And bread. And cheese. At this point I think it's inevitable that I'm coming home a little bit fat!
Another interesting experience I had in Tarsus was my Turkish haircut. I am now fully rocking a Turkish mullet. The haidresser was hillarious and aggressively washed, chopped, blewdry, and hairsprayed me all for about 15bucks (sure beats the 80 bucks I pay in Toronto!) To top it all off, I got to observe the absurd hairstyling requested by a middle aged women. Do you know what I mean when I say hair that is circa 1980's Tiffany's "I think we're alone now?" Let me set the scene: bleach blonde hair with black roots that has been permed and hairsprayed so that it is crusty, accompanied by poofy bangs that have been teased into a waterfall like formation. It was amazing. At first Oriana and I maybe thought it was a joke but it was serious, dead serious. She topped this look off with some thickly applied blueish eyeshadow and painted nails and was off!
All this Turkish pampering was in preparation for Oriana's Grade 8 grad ceremony that she was emceeing. I think it's safe to say that grade 8s in any country or culture are a little bit horrible. The parents at the grad were a little bit horible too! Dressed to the nines in hooker heels and skin tight short dresses. This is a look Oriana calls "nouveau riche." You know what I always say: money can't buy taste!
Oriana took me to old town in Tarsus which is beautiful. This is apparently where all Turkish movies are filmed because everything looks like it could be pre WWI. On the way we passed "the road to Rome" which is part of an old stone road built over a thousand years ago. It's crazy how much antiquity there is around here, and it's all displayed so casually as if it's no big deal. It's like "oh there's the bridge where Antony and Cleopatra met. Yawn."
My last day in Tarsus, Oriana and I took the train into Adana for the day to take in some sights and visit the big mosque they have there. It's called Sabanci Merle Cami and was built by the richest man in Turkey. The mosque was incredible. It can fit 20000 worshippers inside. Some say it's even better than the famous blue mosque in Istanbul but I'll have to wait and judge for myself. While there, a Turkish woman striked up a conversation with us, and while Oriana's Turkish is pretty decent, neither if us really had a clue what she was saying. Her solution to us not understanding? Moving closer to my face and talking louder. It seems Turks love to "close talk."
We finished off our day in Adana by meeting Matt and having dinner at a Chinese restaurant along with ghengis the cat in his little cat carrier who had just been shaved! Poor guy, he was feeling a bit ashamed of his new look so we were careful not to acknowledge it too much-you know how sensitive cats' egos are!
Sataurday I took the bus to Goreme. The drive from Tarsus to the Capadoccia region was beautiful.
Sunflowers are in bloom now and there were thousands and thousands of them along the road. I love sunflowers so much, mostly because they remind me of my dad. They were his favourite flower and he always used to grow them in our front garden. They often grew taller than him and we would pose beside them to get our pictures taken. Some of the landscape along the way was more like what I picture
Switzerland to be like, what with mountains and evergreens etc.
Pulling into Goreme is an experience hard to describe. The landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen before. And after exploring the area for the past few days I can definitely say I put it up there with Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Plains of Jars in Laos, and Hampi in southern India. It's like a fairy tale with all of these rock formations called fairy chimneys. The fairy chimneys are huge phallic-like rock columns and pyramids that were formed when a volcano erupted thousands of years ago. What makes them even more awesome is that during the Byzantine era the rocks were cut and carved to make houses and churhes. I can definitely understand why Oriana and Matt chose to get married there because the surroundings are so incredibly romantic, with all the hotels and hostels placed inside the caves. Other than Paris, it's probably the most romantic place I've been.
My first night there I discovered a cute Turkish cafe called Nazar Borek. I immediately bonded over a beautiful dog named Snoopy with two German women and admired an Asian American couple with a very precocious 2 year old doing math problems with the sugar cubes on the table. I then made fast friends with the owner Refik, who speaks every language you can imagine, and who gave me amazing traveling advice for the area. I ended up going back there everyday for the good company and good coffee. Advice from locals is invaluable!
My second day I went to the open air museum which houses a whole bunch of cave/rock churches with religious frescos from over a thousand years ago. Afterwards I attempted to walk to one of the valleys for a hike but ended up getting a little sidetracked. More than a little actually. A man with a broken foot, a pitbull, and his cousin rolled by me in a cart and horse and asked where I was headed. They told me to hop in and that they would drop me there. I normally wouldn't agree to something like this, but as I wrote in an earlier blog, I no longer have any concept of what's appropriate or not. So...much I'm sure to my mothers dismay, I got in the cart. They ended up showing me their village Ortahisar and taking me for lunch before then taking me to this amazing church out in the Pancarlik valley. After I explored the church and took photos I watched as they chain smoked, ate watermellon and downed two bottles of local wine with some village friends all while we listened to Turkish music. It was one of those "where the hell am I and what am I doing?" moments of my trip. It's all part of the experience I suppose and for the record I never felt unsafe as there were a few other tourists around. On our way back to their little town it started pouring rain though and the man wanted to show me more sites on horseback, with both him and I on the same horse. This is where I drew the line. There is no way I wanted to cozy up to a random Turkish man on horesback. I lost my patience a bit and told him I was just going to head back to my hostel. So, I hopped in a taxi and took an expensive ride the couple of km's back to Goreme. Thank god for taxis! I went back to Refik's cafe and we drank coffee while I vented.
My third day I headed south to explore one of the many underground cities, Kaymakli. Being down in the tunnels was a little claustrophobic, although not quite as bad as the army tunnels in southern Vietnam. The layout and design of the underground cities is really complex, so I was glad for once that there were plenty of tourists around so I couldn't lose my way. I can't really imagine many things scarier then getting lost down there. There were diferent kinds of rooms-kitchen, food storage, living quarters, air shafts, and wineries. Apparently the depth of the tunnels is perfect for making wine. Although some think the cities are 4000 years old, historians definitely know that Christians used and lived in them during the 6th and 7th century when the Persian and Arabic armies were trying to off them. Crazy stuff!
On my way back to Goreme, I got dropped off in Uchisar, the town before, in order to walk through the pigeon valley. Again, the valley was unbelievably beautiful with so much greenery and flowers in bloom. Luckily, at the beginning of the walk I came across a Turkish guy named Moustafa who walks the valley everyday so I could follow his lead because there are no signs whatsoever and lots of turn offs. The walk was a good two hour hike up and down and I did it in flip flops and short shorts which I wouldn't recomend to anyone, but I managed.
My last day I ended up doing an even crazier hike (again in flip flops!) from Goreme through the red and rose valleys to the next town over, Cavusin. This walk too was incredible because it's the best place to see all types of fairy chimneys and you climb high up to many different look out points where you can see all of the surrounding valleys. Just incredible. Once I have access to a computer I will post some pictures, although I'm not sure that photos really do the place justice. I think I hiked for about four hours, but half of it I did with a nice Italian woman named Renata which I'm happy about because for the first while I didn't see another soul and I was having day dreams that I was going to end up like the guy James Franco played in 127 hours!
Now I am half way through my 12 hour stint to Istanbul. At the half way point I almost had a meltdown as everyone got off the bus and I didn't know what was going on or what to do as absolutely NO ONE speaks a word of English here. Not one word. In the 21 countries I've been to in my life I have never been anywhere where no one speaks a word of English. Oh well, I figured it out (kinda) eventually.
Now I'm sitting here half watching a Turkish dating game show, which is only marginally better than Turkish Idol which was on at my hostel last night. My eye is killing me, but aparently Istanbul has really good (and expensive) eye doctors, so I'll try and get sorted there. 5 nights in Istanbul and then it's off to London for my reunion with my Mum! Which also means I'll be two more flights from home! Hurrah!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Turk-a-lurk-y!
Goodbye Africa, hello Eastern Europe/Middle East (I'll let you decide where to put Turkey.)
Unfortunately, Mombasa was not quite as nice weather wise as I was hoping it to be. It rained all four days that I was there so instead of working on my tan and frolicking in the sea, I think I gained about ten lbs on account of the hotel buffet (it's the cheapness in me-"might as well get my moneys worth!") and watched the most random selection of movies on Kenyan tv ever-think Zack Efron Disney films, Canadian documentaries about serial killer Willie Picton and just about everything in between.
Observing the couples at my hotel proved to be rather interesting, for lack of a better word. 80% of them were comprised of 65 year old white men with 25 year old Kenyan women and the other 20% were 55 year old white women with 30 year old Kenyan men. Then there was me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that.
One thing I am quite happy to leave back in Kenya is Celine Dion. The obsession Kenyans have with her is outta control. If I never hear "my heart will go on" or "the power of love" ever again, it'll be too soon. I thought I had escaped it after leaving the piped in music at my hotel, but then my seat mate on my 9 hour "deluxe" bus ride back to Nairobi had "cause I'm your laaaaddddyyyyy, and you are my maaaannn" as her ringtone. Wowza.
My last order of business in Nairobi was a final meal at java house, a trip to Nakumatt for Kenyan coffee and tubs of vaseline (20 shillings a pop!) and a viewing of the hangover part 2 which was pretty funny. I really can't get enough of zack galifinaskis. Check him out on the cover of rolling stone this month. Priceless.
As a Canadian whose done my fair share of flying, I thought that there was no airline in the world that could rival the awfulness that is Air Canada. And then I flew Egypt Air. Hooo boy. The sexism displayed by the staff was almost shocking and the breakfast of a boiled hot dog and cup of chocolate pudding left something to be desired. Think about how fast you know I eat (any meal can be conquered in 4 minutes) and then think about the flight attendant pretty much tapping his toe in the aisle waiting to collect my tray! It was however the first flight of my life where I actually passed out unconscious and slept for a bit. I didn't even wake up when we touched down on the runway. I guess that says how tired I am.
I experienced a little pang of disapointment while flying through Cairo. I know I made the right decision canceling my week in Egypt but feeling that amazing dry heat hit me and seeing the sand on the runway made me a bit sad. Oh well. I will make it back there on another trip in the future.
After five months as a dirtbag vagabond making my way through too many cultures to count, I no longer possess any awareness in regards to social graces and what is and isn't inapropriate in public. For instance, I told a Kenyan "beach boy" who wouldn't stop harrassing me that I wished he would go into the ocean and drown, among other things I'm too ashamed to repeat in polite company. And while at the Cairo airport I spent a good 15 minutes applying different lotions to each part of my battered body-feet, legs, hands, arms, shoulders, face-in an environment where every woman is in a hajib and all the men are praying on little carpets in the airport corridors. Appropriate? Probably not. But I am way too worn out at this point to observe cultural sensitivities. Maybe that makes me a shitty traveller, but come on! I've put up with a lot haven't I? (here is where I remind you that I was vomitted on on a bus in India).
After flying into Istanbul and catching a local plane to Adana, Oriana and Matt picked me up at the airport and drove me back to where they live in Tarsis which is a smallish town close to the Mediterranean in the south eastern part of turkey. Oriana teaches at the American school here and Matt works at the American military base. They have a really nice set up here, living in a nice apartment on campus and managed to get me my own apartment while I stay with them, so life is very good! This is the first time on this trip where I really feel like I'm on holiday and not traveling, if you'll allow me to separate the two.
My first morning, Matt, Oriana, and their friend Christy took me out to the beach in a place called Kizkalesi which means childrens castle in Turkish. It's called this because there is an amazing ruined castle out in the middle of the sea. The story goes that some king built the castle out on the sea for his daughter in order to protect her from her doomed fate. The castle is 450 meters off the beach and we swam out to it to explore which was quite the mission considering the horrible shape I'm in an the strength of the current.
This was the first time I'd been to the Mediterranean sea in almost exactly ten years. My first time was when I was 18 and went to visit my brother Soren in Spain and we swam in Malaga. The sea is wonderful and refreshing but unfortunately had a lot more garbage in it then one would like! The drive back was cool as there are ancient ruins strewn all over the place and along the side of the highway. We stopped and checked out an old ampitheatre which was just uncovered not that long ago and is from the time of Marcus Orilius, the roman emporor. Pretty crazy stuff.
The Turkish presidential elections were on Sunday and their president got re-elected. There is a major divide in Turkey regarding religion. The population here is 98% Muslim but a huge portion of them believe stongly in having a secular democracy which means not allowing women to wear headscarves in the public sector. Many others however, as I'm sure you can imagine, disagree. It's an interesting issue.
Yesterday Oriana had the day off work so we tool the train into a bigger city called Mersin and went to the mall all day which was hillarious. I haven't been in a proper mall in months and months. It was strange seeing starbucks and la senza and a lot of other western stores (but awesome to buy European brands for much cheaper!) The women here are serious about fashion and are all very glamorous. I'm sure it'll only get better once I'm in Istanbul. (I'm so excited for the shopping possibilities there despite not having any money!)
The food has been really good. They have this kind if gelato-esque ice cream here which is to die for. And the hummus. Oh my god. I've never tasted something so good!
So far I really like Turkey. It's a funny mix of modernity with very old fashioned and conservative(borderline insane) values. People are friendly and are really proud of their country. They keep asking me what I think about it here and what I like about their country. The men aren't too hard to deal with either. I definitely get stared at but everyone has been very respectful. As for Turkey's attempt to get into the EU, I don't think that will ever happen. Despite the changes they've made to become more democratic, they still deny the large minority of Kurds who live here any rights whatsoever, and there is no freedom of the press (you are not allowed to speak badly about Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey post WW1).
Sometime on the weekend I'm going to head north and check out an area called Cappadoccia which is where Oriana and Matt got married. It looks absolutely beautiful so I'm very excited. After that I'm going to head into Istanbul and spend the rest of my time there which I think will be incredible. I've only ever heard amazing things about that city, so I'm pumped. Less than two weeks now until I rendezvous with my mum in London! Until next time.
p.s. For those not on facebook, here is the link to my Kenya photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.998369727037.2490712.13604583&l=c4870dc864
Unfortunately, Mombasa was not quite as nice weather wise as I was hoping it to be. It rained all four days that I was there so instead of working on my tan and frolicking in the sea, I think I gained about ten lbs on account of the hotel buffet (it's the cheapness in me-"might as well get my moneys worth!") and watched the most random selection of movies on Kenyan tv ever-think Zack Efron Disney films, Canadian documentaries about serial killer Willie Picton and just about everything in between.
Observing the couples at my hotel proved to be rather interesting, for lack of a better word. 80% of them were comprised of 65 year old white men with 25 year old Kenyan women and the other 20% were 55 year old white women with 30 year old Kenyan men. Then there was me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that.
One thing I am quite happy to leave back in Kenya is Celine Dion. The obsession Kenyans have with her is outta control. If I never hear "my heart will go on" or "the power of love" ever again, it'll be too soon. I thought I had escaped it after leaving the piped in music at my hotel, but then my seat mate on my 9 hour "deluxe" bus ride back to Nairobi had "cause I'm your laaaaddddyyyyy, and you are my maaaannn" as her ringtone. Wowza.
My last order of business in Nairobi was a final meal at java house, a trip to Nakumatt for Kenyan coffee and tubs of vaseline (20 shillings a pop!) and a viewing of the hangover part 2 which was pretty funny. I really can't get enough of zack galifinaskis. Check him out on the cover of rolling stone this month. Priceless.
As a Canadian whose done my fair share of flying, I thought that there was no airline in the world that could rival the awfulness that is Air Canada. And then I flew Egypt Air. Hooo boy. The sexism displayed by the staff was almost shocking and the breakfast of a boiled hot dog and cup of chocolate pudding left something to be desired. Think about how fast you know I eat (any meal can be conquered in 4 minutes) and then think about the flight attendant pretty much tapping his toe in the aisle waiting to collect my tray! It was however the first flight of my life where I actually passed out unconscious and slept for a bit. I didn't even wake up when we touched down on the runway. I guess that says how tired I am.
I experienced a little pang of disapointment while flying through Cairo. I know I made the right decision canceling my week in Egypt but feeling that amazing dry heat hit me and seeing the sand on the runway made me a bit sad. Oh well. I will make it back there on another trip in the future.
After five months as a dirtbag vagabond making my way through too many cultures to count, I no longer possess any awareness in regards to social graces and what is and isn't inapropriate in public. For instance, I told a Kenyan "beach boy" who wouldn't stop harrassing me that I wished he would go into the ocean and drown, among other things I'm too ashamed to repeat in polite company. And while at the Cairo airport I spent a good 15 minutes applying different lotions to each part of my battered body-feet, legs, hands, arms, shoulders, face-in an environment where every woman is in a hajib and all the men are praying on little carpets in the airport corridors. Appropriate? Probably not. But I am way too worn out at this point to observe cultural sensitivities. Maybe that makes me a shitty traveller, but come on! I've put up with a lot haven't I? (here is where I remind you that I was vomitted on on a bus in India).
After flying into Istanbul and catching a local plane to Adana, Oriana and Matt picked me up at the airport and drove me back to where they live in Tarsis which is a smallish town close to the Mediterranean in the south eastern part of turkey. Oriana teaches at the American school here and Matt works at the American military base. They have a really nice set up here, living in a nice apartment on campus and managed to get me my own apartment while I stay with them, so life is very good! This is the first time on this trip where I really feel like I'm on holiday and not traveling, if you'll allow me to separate the two.
My first morning, Matt, Oriana, and their friend Christy took me out to the beach in a place called Kizkalesi which means childrens castle in Turkish. It's called this because there is an amazing ruined castle out in the middle of the sea. The story goes that some king built the castle out on the sea for his daughter in order to protect her from her doomed fate. The castle is 450 meters off the beach and we swam out to it to explore which was quite the mission considering the horrible shape I'm in an the strength of the current.
This was the first time I'd been to the Mediterranean sea in almost exactly ten years. My first time was when I was 18 and went to visit my brother Soren in Spain and we swam in Malaga. The sea is wonderful and refreshing but unfortunately had a lot more garbage in it then one would like! The drive back was cool as there are ancient ruins strewn all over the place and along the side of the highway. We stopped and checked out an old ampitheatre which was just uncovered not that long ago and is from the time of Marcus Orilius, the roman emporor. Pretty crazy stuff.
The Turkish presidential elections were on Sunday and their president got re-elected. There is a major divide in Turkey regarding religion. The population here is 98% Muslim but a huge portion of them believe stongly in having a secular democracy which means not allowing women to wear headscarves in the public sector. Many others however, as I'm sure you can imagine, disagree. It's an interesting issue.
Yesterday Oriana had the day off work so we tool the train into a bigger city called Mersin and went to the mall all day which was hillarious. I haven't been in a proper mall in months and months. It was strange seeing starbucks and la senza and a lot of other western stores (but awesome to buy European brands for much cheaper!) The women here are serious about fashion and are all very glamorous. I'm sure it'll only get better once I'm in Istanbul. (I'm so excited for the shopping possibilities there despite not having any money!)
The food has been really good. They have this kind if gelato-esque ice cream here which is to die for. And the hummus. Oh my god. I've never tasted something so good!
So far I really like Turkey. It's a funny mix of modernity with very old fashioned and conservative(borderline insane) values. People are friendly and are really proud of their country. They keep asking me what I think about it here and what I like about their country. The men aren't too hard to deal with either. I definitely get stared at but everyone has been very respectful. As for Turkey's attempt to get into the EU, I don't think that will ever happen. Despite the changes they've made to become more democratic, they still deny the large minority of Kurds who live here any rights whatsoever, and there is no freedom of the press (you are not allowed to speak badly about Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey post WW1).
Sometime on the weekend I'm going to head north and check out an area called Cappadoccia which is where Oriana and Matt got married. It looks absolutely beautiful so I'm very excited. After that I'm going to head into Istanbul and spend the rest of my time there which I think will be incredible. I've only ever heard amazing things about that city, so I'm pumped. Less than two weeks now until I rendezvous with my mum in London! Until next time.
p.s. For those not on facebook, here is the link to my Kenya photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.998369727037.2490712.13604583&l=c4870dc864
Sunday, June 5, 2011
African allergies and Mombasa
Well well. Less than a week to go until I trade this continent in for yet another. The past two weeks have been interesting and have had their ups and downs. I always forget that this is a place of extremes and that if you aren't on top of the world, you're usually totally miserable. So Let's get the miserable part out of the way first: it seems as though I have become allergic to Kenya, or at least to something in Peter and Anne's house because two weeks ago I developed a batch of brutal hives that have made me want to rip my skin off my body. I feel like a diseased circus freak, but I'm hoping that it'll all be made better by the powers of the indian ocean which is where I'm headed today for my last five days. Seriously, the ocean soothes the soul, so why not debilitating allergic reactions too?
Despite my unwavering love for Kenya, it hasn't been all that I hoped for this time around because of some unexpected stress and issues I didn't ever imagine having to deal with. But those are things that should be left for real conversations and not the blog. So let's move on shall we?
Now for the good stuff. When I haven't been scratching at my skin or watching the first three seasons of Dexter which I bought for three bucks from a Nakuru bootlegger, I've spent my time at the two schools, the two children's homes, and at home with Anne doing "women's work." Last weekend I took 8 of the kids from the old children's home to town and out for a luxurious lunch at gilanis, the Indian supermarket restaurant, which was so much fun. Those kids know how to eat!
Two days ago was my last day in kirengero and the nakuru area and I spent it out at mission in action children's home. The new building is almost ready and the kids from nyota have already moved in. Tess has a job there for the summer doing laundry and another "kid" from the old home, Simon, is teaching at the mission school. I cant tell you how amazing it is to see these kids that Ive known for five years grow into responsible young adults. They are amazing. I also got to say goodbye to joseph who just broke his arm playing football! I hate saying goodbye but the smile on that kids face when he sees me makes it all better.
My Last night in the village I cooked a big dinner for peter, Anne, and the four kids. I made spaghetti with tomato primavera sauce. Kim, their nephew who is living with them, said it was a meal he would never forget! We finished off the meal with a little cake I bought and some hot chocolate that they all had to add more sugar to to make drinkable! Kenyans and their crazy sweet tooth!
I'm happy to say that during my time with Anne, I learnt how to make ugali all by myself (ugali, or as I like to call it "uugs," is the staple food in Kenya and is made from boiling maize flour with water and stirring it until it becomes hard as a rock. I despise it.) I was in charge of the four dogs-Rooney, Drogba, Julie, and Chiko-who became my best friends on account of me giving them treats whenever I could. When I left yesterday morning, Rooney followed me out to the highway which broke my heart. I love that puppy!
The ride to Nairobi yesterday was actually enjoyable, as I saw zebras and baboons roaming on the side of the highway. Sometimes the beauty of this country is so overwhelming it knocks you on your ass. I spent last night in my favourite budget hotel in Nairobi, The Terminal, and am happy to report that the guys at the front desk remembered me. I'm not so happy though that I forgot it was karaoke night at the restaurant across the street as I had to listen to bad renditions of Mariah Carey's "Hero" and the early 90s classic "it must have been love" for hours. Actually I didn't mind so much, it's all part of nbo's charm, something which I took full advantage of yesterday (ie: hot shower, java house, bartering at the outdoor market for earrings and of course nakumatt).
Currently I'm sitting on the 8 hour "deluxe" bus ride to Mombasa, deluxe because you get a soda, some cookies, and they play Shania twain and Celine Dion music videos as well as straight to DVD action films. My bum is going numb and I just told an Indian teenager in front of me that I didn't pay 1600 shilling to watch him grope his girlfriend all day. The road is brutal but the ride is cheap and since the hotel I'm going to stay at is expensive, I guess it will all be worth it.
Hopefully by the time I post this, I'll be by the ocean. I'll update once I get to turkey on Friday. I'll be there for two and a half weeks and am super pumped. The first week I'm spending out east in Adana with my dear old friend Oriana and her husband Matt. I missed their wedding in April so I'm hoping this reunion will make up for it. The rest of the time I'm not sure what I'm going to do other than explore Istanbul and go somewhere on the Mediterranean. Then it'll be off to London to meet my mum which I am so excited about I can barely contain myself. It will have been 5 and a half months since we've seen each other and being the true mamas girl that I am, the reunion will be so sweet! Until next time!
P.S. Scroll down to see some photos I just posted!
Despite my unwavering love for Kenya, it hasn't been all that I hoped for this time around because of some unexpected stress and issues I didn't ever imagine having to deal with. But those are things that should be left for real conversations and not the blog. So let's move on shall we?
Now for the good stuff. When I haven't been scratching at my skin or watching the first three seasons of Dexter which I bought for three bucks from a Nakuru bootlegger, I've spent my time at the two schools, the two children's homes, and at home with Anne doing "women's work." Last weekend I took 8 of the kids from the old children's home to town and out for a luxurious lunch at gilanis, the Indian supermarket restaurant, which was so much fun. Those kids know how to eat!
Two days ago was my last day in kirengero and the nakuru area and I spent it out at mission in action children's home. The new building is almost ready and the kids from nyota have already moved in. Tess has a job there for the summer doing laundry and another "kid" from the old home, Simon, is teaching at the mission school. I cant tell you how amazing it is to see these kids that Ive known for five years grow into responsible young adults. They are amazing. I also got to say goodbye to joseph who just broke his arm playing football! I hate saying goodbye but the smile on that kids face when he sees me makes it all better.
My Last night in the village I cooked a big dinner for peter, Anne, and the four kids. I made spaghetti with tomato primavera sauce. Kim, their nephew who is living with them, said it was a meal he would never forget! We finished off the meal with a little cake I bought and some hot chocolate that they all had to add more sugar to to make drinkable! Kenyans and their crazy sweet tooth!
I'm happy to say that during my time with Anne, I learnt how to make ugali all by myself (ugali, or as I like to call it "uugs," is the staple food in Kenya and is made from boiling maize flour with water and stirring it until it becomes hard as a rock. I despise it.) I was in charge of the four dogs-Rooney, Drogba, Julie, and Chiko-who became my best friends on account of me giving them treats whenever I could. When I left yesterday morning, Rooney followed me out to the highway which broke my heart. I love that puppy!
The ride to Nairobi yesterday was actually enjoyable, as I saw zebras and baboons roaming on the side of the highway. Sometimes the beauty of this country is so overwhelming it knocks you on your ass. I spent last night in my favourite budget hotel in Nairobi, The Terminal, and am happy to report that the guys at the front desk remembered me. I'm not so happy though that I forgot it was karaoke night at the restaurant across the street as I had to listen to bad renditions of Mariah Carey's "Hero" and the early 90s classic "it must have been love" for hours. Actually I didn't mind so much, it's all part of nbo's charm, something which I took full advantage of yesterday (ie: hot shower, java house, bartering at the outdoor market for earrings and of course nakumatt).
Currently I'm sitting on the 8 hour "deluxe" bus ride to Mombasa, deluxe because you get a soda, some cookies, and they play Shania twain and Celine Dion music videos as well as straight to DVD action films. My bum is going numb and I just told an Indian teenager in front of me that I didn't pay 1600 shilling to watch him grope his girlfriend all day. The road is brutal but the ride is cheap and since the hotel I'm going to stay at is expensive, I guess it will all be worth it.
Hopefully by the time I post this, I'll be by the ocean. I'll update once I get to turkey on Friday. I'll be there for two and a half weeks and am super pumped. The first week I'm spending out east in Adana with my dear old friend Oriana and her husband Matt. I missed their wedding in April so I'm hoping this reunion will make up for it. The rest of the time I'm not sure what I'm going to do other than explore Istanbul and go somewhere on the Mediterranean. Then it'll be off to London to meet my mum which I am so excited about I can barely contain myself. It will have been 5 and a half months since we've seen each other and being the true mamas girl that I am, the reunion will be so sweet! Until next time!
P.S. Scroll down to see some photos I just posted!
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