Where to begin.... so much had happened since my last post. After an amazingly scenic drive from Nairobi I am currently living in a town called Loitokitok located on the Tanzanian border at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The drive was an adventure of its own. We started in Nairobi (possibly the dirtiest city on earth), after driving through what I could only describe as several "Trenchtowns" we were in Lion King like savannas complete with the famous Flat-Topped Acacia Trees, Giraffes and Ostriches. After only a few hours we were in beautiful mountains passing by tribes of Masai when I finally got my first view of the great Kilimanjaro. Over a week into my stay here, seeing that mountain everyday does not get old. It is truly beautiful, especially for someone who spent his whole life on the East Coast. My town is on the base of the mountain and still almost 7,000 ft. in elevation (I am reminded of this everyday when I walk to and from class). I am staying with a host family and will be till I leave here in July. My family is great, I have 2 kakas(brothers), 2 dadas(sisters) a mama and a baba (father). I have taught my brothers and the other boys in the neighborhood American Football and regularly have games, by the way someone needs to tell Urban there is some serious talent down here. Life here as you can imagine is considerably different. The food is pretty bad, lots of starch and fat, except for the fruit which is amazing and cheap. I LOVE PASSION FRUIT. My bathroom experience consists of bucket baths and what is literally a whole in the ground you squat over. This confuses me, people here have TV's and cell phones but somehow are content with a hole in the ground for a toilet? It is way colder than I prepared for here, 40's at night maybe a high of 80 during the day. A typical day for me consists of language class from 8-12. Classes are held in peoples backyards which is strange but kind of cool. We have off for lunch till 2 which we eat at local hoteli's (hotel/restaurants). After lunch I have SED (Small Enterprise Development) training till 5. We have a 6:30 curfew because the town gets sketchy at night but I always find time for a few beers at our favorite bar before dark. The beer situation is awesome!! Tusker is the most popular and a tasty brew but we also have Guinness Foreign Extra which is a little more robust than regular Guinness and a hefty 6.5% alcohol. Allsops however might be my favorite, it taste very similar to Tusker but is a full 1% stronger and 20 schillings cheaper (after all I am a volunteer on a tight budget). All the beers come in big 500ml bottles and cost between $1-1.50 US, yea its pretty sweet!! Well that's is for tonight big day tomorrow, WORLD CUP TIME!! Miss you all!
Dino