Another month down. Time goes buy so fast here its hard to believe I have almost been in Kenya for a whole year. The month of April has I guess been the most emotional for me so far. I became home sick for the first time recently. This I suppose is pretty impressive, to be away from home in a very different country for almost a year before getting homesick. How I best describe my feelings is comparing it to a transatlantic voyage, stuck in the middle of the ocean and both home and my destination seem so far away. Stuck in the middle, thats how I feel one year down 15 months to go. This will soon pass though, as time moves on as it has been ever so rapidly. To make this even easier I have random parties and upcoming events in the not so distant future to look forward to. The month of April like past months was a blast for the most part. A good friend of mine Rich came to visit from the Western Province. Me him and Nick raged in Mombasa for a few nights. It was nice leaving Diani for the first time since before Christmas, I affectionately refer to Diani as the “blackhole” for this reason. Mombasa was a lot of fun, we went to the casino and all won money which was almost as nice as the Amaretto and Johnny Black I was drinking all night. The next day we raced go-karts and ate at the best sushi place in Kenya (still not good by American standards….god I miss real sushi!). The following day we went back to Diani and rented Malti and Adrian’s old house. It was nice to have a real house to call mine even if it was just for the weekend. We partied Friday night and had a pre-party Saturday. Rich got to experience real Diani life as we spent nearly the whole weekend at 40 Thieves. This past weekend was another crazy one. Friday night we went up to a place called Tiwi Beach where they were having a big Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Unfortunately the rainy season decided to begin on Friday night and our $15 tents did not hold up in the downpour. Saturday I played Frisbee all day despite not really sleeping. It was a lot of fun though, I forgot how much I miss competitive sports. Saturday night was forecasted to be a epic night in Diani so Nick and I sucked it up and went back for the nights festivities. We were not disappointed, it was definitely one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time. Tons of people were in town for the holiday, 40’s was crazy and we partied there until 3 then headed over to a new surprisingly nice western style club called Full Moon where we all danced our asses off till 6am. Having a new bar in a town with really only one is a huge deal. I hope they will do good things with it, it has potential.
Work has sucked as of late and has been the source of much of my stress and frustrations. I have been advised by Peace Corps to abandon my water project, meaning giving up on everything I have worked on thus far. I am pretty much starting Peace Corps over again now. I will be working on marketing my schools coco wood furniture and will try to have a marketing strategy drawn up in the next couple weeks. I am not particularly excited about doing this because rather then make money for an organization I am all but sure is corrupt, I would rather spend my time helping the students and the community. I have been trying to start a “Business Club” at the school. It would be a free business class for any interested students or staff members taught by myself. This would allow me to help people at a grassroots level and actually be able to see the difference I am making. Unfortunately the school board is against this idea as the put it today, I am there to be the Marketing Manager not to be a teacher. So yea, we will see how this all goes.
Once again such is life in Peace Corps. The difficulties and obstacles I am trying to overcome are not unique to me. And as for being homesick sometimes I just feel like a bitch for even thinking that way. I live in a amazing place and have amazing friends (although they are becoming fewer and fewer). While I do miss friends, family, American convenience and food; I have it much better than most and cant complain. Lastly a quick shout out to Trix and Cara. Trix is a 19 year old dive instructor / self proclaimed mayor of Diani and she can and will drink anyone under the table. Cara has been an asset to our dynasty of a quiz team with her extensive knowledge of British pop-culture and she is also the best dancer in Diani.
That’s it for now, miss everyone and that awesome country you are living in filled with delicious and diverse food that you are probably taking for granted as we speak. If anyone wants help my homesickness COME VISIT ME! I still have 15 months left. Love you all!
Dino