Katika Mombasa.
greetings from warm and sweltering mombasa. it is wonderful to finally be here. i arrived in town around 1pm saturday afternoon and was soon swept back into east african life. all it took was the scent of diesel exhaust mixed with burning coconut husks, dust, and charcoal for me to know that i was back in familiar territory. it is an weird combination of scents for sure, but i trust that those who've traveled this territory before know the smell all too well. somehow i find the mixture oddly comforting.
our housing is pretty unbelievable. we're located right on the ocean in a big-old-hulking concrete-bunker of a building. it isn't the fanciest of places; rust and mildew are evidence of the effect mombasa's heat and humidity have on buildings. if you scrub away the dirt, it isn't too hard to imagine how grand this whole area must've looked back in its glory days. i lucked out and got a private room with a slice of ocean views and the roofscape of old town. most of the 12 people in our group are up on the third floor. the family that has owned the place for generations lives on the second and the other guys, plus the teaching assistant, live on the first floor.
there isn't much to report yet . . . no whacked out adventures of any sort to speak of. (despite their wonderful airport, the dutch continue to creep me out, but that is an entirely different story.) classes seem like they should be okay, 8-12 every morning in a breeze filled room with the ocean crashing against the shore 2-3 floors below us. while it feels very much like a dream, the essay i need to write for tomorrow reminds me that this i'm very much expected to be wide awake and not awash in a tropical daze.
baadaye. . .
ps having this written entirely in lowercase letters is not me trying to be hip and /or trendy. it is a purely functional choice given that the shift key on this keyboard is more or less busted.
pps i will try to get picture uploaded to go with this and other posts if i can figure out how to do so. while it is a bit frustrating not to be able to automatically upload things, the fact that i'm able to use the internet here (in an old store front facing a street shared by cars, motorbikes, and donkey carts) is pretty remarkable.
our housing is pretty unbelievable. we're located right on the ocean in a big-old-hulking concrete-bunker of a building. it isn't the fanciest of places; rust and mildew are evidence of the effect mombasa's heat and humidity have on buildings. if you scrub away the dirt, it isn't too hard to imagine how grand this whole area must've looked back in its glory days. i lucked out and got a private room with a slice of ocean views and the roofscape of old town. most of the 12 people in our group are up on the third floor. the family that has owned the place for generations lives on the second and the other guys, plus the teaching assistant, live on the first floor.
there isn't much to report yet . . . no whacked out adventures of any sort to speak of. (despite their wonderful airport, the dutch continue to creep me out, but that is an entirely different story.) classes seem like they should be okay, 8-12 every morning in a breeze filled room with the ocean crashing against the shore 2-3 floors below us. while it feels very much like a dream, the essay i need to write for tomorrow reminds me that this i'm very much expected to be wide awake and not awash in a tropical daze.
baadaye. . .
ps having this written entirely in lowercase letters is not me trying to be hip and /or trendy. it is a purely functional choice given that the shift key on this keyboard is more or less busted.
pps i will try to get picture uploaded to go with this and other posts if i can figure out how to do so. while it is a bit frustrating not to be able to automatically upload things, the fact that i'm able to use the internet here (in an old store front facing a street shared by cars, motorbikes, and donkey carts) is pretty remarkable.
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