About yesterday

Yesterday I spent my day at the hair dresser Felix’s studio with 3 other girls because we all were in need of a hair cut. Felix took once look at the ends of my hair and made a very terrified face and just asked “how long was it really since you cut it”. I didn’t think it looked that bad but I must admit it feels a lot nicer now. Once of the girls shaved of most of the hair on one side so that it was just about 1 cm left and then left the rest of her hair really long. It looked awesome, maybe one day I’ll get the courage to try that.

The rest of the day was spent in the gym and resting in my room to prepare for one more night out. Unlike the night at Double Inn this night sucked. We went to a place called the Loft, it is not even nearly as cozy, the music was awful and everyone there was about 12 years old and no one was over 170 cm… Making me the tallest one there. Never the Loft again!

Just wanted to tell you the good news!

I can get my black Acne jeans over my fat ass once again! I just brought them here because I wished that maybe Kenya could help me get back into them since they are my favorite pair of jeans. After a couple of months here I realized that was not going to happen so I stopped trying them on every week. After gaining a couple of kilos due to excessive eating magic has happened and I, of some weird reason, can wear them again

Last night we went to a nightclub called Double Inn (don’t know if I’ve told you about that place before) and had an amazing night. A true girls night out, 10 or 12 girls singing and dancing all night, gossiping and all of us being awesomely hot in high heels and black dresses.

Kiswahili

I’ve learnt a bit more Kiswahili now, but the lessons are getting harder and harder and we now have to try to speak it and use the language a bit more which is really hard. Today we had an especially exhausting lesson were we walked all the way to Java and practiced ordering cookies and milkshakes.

Here are some new useful things to know:

Kuva = To kill

Jinga = Stupid

Nene = Fatt (which is a very nice thing to call someone here in Kenya)

Wewe ni nene = You are fatt (the ultimate compliment)

Mti = Three

Weka takataka hapa = Put the garbage here

Kila kitu sawasawa = Everything is fine

Punda = Donkey

Punda milia = Zebra

Wewe ni nyota = You are a star

When our car broke down on the way to Mara airfield

It said smack and then the oil was poring out.

My sister broke down too.

My weekend

Well I’m still sick and as I said I missed the walk up Mt Longonot, but still my weekend wasn’t too bad. Saturday was spent alone at the school sleeping and watching movies and I even had my own little hike to the Yaya shopping center and back which took me about 2 hours and on the way back I got to start using my newly bought boots that I intend to walk up Mt Kenya in. In the evening, after the others had washed of about six layers of Kenyan dust, we watched Hipp Hipp and I laughed so bad that I woke up the day after with muscle pain in my stomach. I love real Skånska, the others always say I speak real hillbilly Skånska which makes me sound like I’m coming straight from the farm but compared to Kajan on Hipp Hipp even the guys and girls from Stockholm have to agree that my Skånska isn’t that bad. After that it was P3 Guldgalan on SVTworld, which made us even more homesick due to all the good music we are missing while being here since Spotify doesn’t work here.

Sunday was also mostly spent in bed, my cold just won’t go away. But at least I got a break from school in the evening since it was Elsa’s birthday and we were going out to eat at an Italian restaurant near school to celebrate it. Pasta with seafood…. MMmmmm.

We also got our new schedules for this term yesterday. I want my old schedule back! Last term I almost no lessons, now I have at least three every day… Actually I’m quite happy that I get something to do, maybe I’ll even get homework to do, because last term it really felt like I most of the time had no school at all and learnt nothing.

More news from Kenya

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12245334

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12256620

Mt. Longonot

Due to the fact that I’m still sick I will miss the walk up Longonot tomorrow. Longonot is an old volcano with a crater at the top that I would have gotten the opportunity to walk around if it wasn’t for this stupid infection. I’ll just have to force someone to go with me another time.

So tomorrow will be spent all by my self at the boarding with a pile of homework. Fun… At least Hipp Hipp is starting tomorrow at SVTworld to cheer me up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Longonot

Pictures from the Mara, taken by my dad

Pictures from a Masai Market

When my family was here we went to the Masai Market at Village Market so that they could do some shopping. I feel sorry for all the vendors who had to endure my sister and her bargaining skills. She really sees it as a sport, where she always have to win.

The market

The monster

Third time’s the charm

So after a sleepless and quite painful night I was once again sent to Nairobi Hospital and doctor Rupani. He most bee as tired of seeing me as I am of seeing the pictures of him and the president that covers his walls. I found out after a couple of hours that it is some throat infection, again, so now I’m on antibiotics, again. The absolute worst part about today was when a horrid little Kenyan dwarf was supposed to take a blood test on me. In Sweden they respect that even big girls can cry due to fear of needles and blood (a part of the crying was also from the fact that everything hurt) but what did this little Kenyan dude care he showed me the needle anyway even though I’d told him not to.

I’ve had a fantastic first week back here at the boarding and an even better weekend and now it seems like I have to pay the price for my happiness, again. I don’t know if it is I who has a crapy immune system or if it is just that this country is bad for my health.

// We’ve started a game quite like cluedo that will go on until everyone except one person is dead, which can take the rest of this semester. Everyone got a name, a place and a thing and you have to get the person to the place and get him or her to hold the thing to kill them. When you’ve killed your person you get his or hers person and have to kill that person instead. That goes on until you have all notes with the names of the people or you’re dead. //

Picnic in the bush

During one of our game drives in Masai Mara we stoped in the bushes to have a little picnic. It was kind of an awesome thing to do after you’ve just seen a hippo walking around.

Lunch boxes

Me reading

My dad has a zog, which came in handy when we were supposed to open the passion fruits

Weird things in Kenya part 3

Me

and the fact that there are donkeys in the shops

Masai Mara airport/field/strip

Here are some photos from when my family and I flew from Masai Mara to Mombasa

The airport, the bungalow is the tax-free

This is the plane we thought we were going with

This is the airplane that we went with, a bit smaller

Boarding the plane

Kenya from above

Weird things in Kenya part 2

There are goats in the restaurants

Mmmmm…. Lobster.

Last days of my holiday with my family

Pole pole means slowly slowly

Third and forth of January in Lamu

Lamu is from now on my favorite place in Kenya. So far I have been nowhere here that could compare to it. The long beautiful sandy Sheala Beach, the labyrinths between the houses, the pundas (Kiswahili for donkeys), the fact that this island actually has some culture and history and the seafood are all things that makes it differ from Kenya’s mainland. If you get the chance, do as Ghandi and visit Lamu. Even better, visit it twice and to the Muslims it is as good as if you’ve visited Mecca!

Fifth and sixth in Nairobi

Plane ride back to Nairobi and Serena Hotels on the fifth, dinner at a really good Chinese restaurant and then straight to bed and then on the sixth we visited Junction and the jewelry store called Kazuri and then went to my school to drop of all my bags. Then it was time to say bye bye and see you in five months to my family.

// I don’t want a goat any more, now I want a donkey //

Weird things in Kenya

In Kenya they have rabbits in the nativity scene.

Related? Naaaa.... maybe

Christmas Eve with my sister

A Kenyan Song!

Jambo, Jambo Bwana,	Hello, Hello Sir,
Habari gani,	How are you,
Mzuri sana.	Very fine.
Wageni, mwakaribishwa,	Foreigners, you're welcome,
Kenya yetu Hakuna Matata.	In our Kenya there is no problem.
Kenya nchi nzuri,	Kenya is a beautiful country,
Hakuna Matata.	There is no problem.
Nchi ya maajabu	A wonderful country
Hakuna Matata.	There is no problem.
Nchi yenye amani,	A peaceful country,
Hakuna Matata.	There is no problem.
Hakuna Matata,	There is no problem,
Hakuna Matata.	There is no problem.
Watu wote,	Everybody,
Hakuna Matata,	There is no problem,
Wakaribishwa,	Are welcome,
Hakuna Matata.	There is no problem.
Hakuna Matata,	There is no problem,
Hakuna Matata. (mpaka mwisho)	There is no problem. (till end)

Days in Mombasa

29/12

We left Mara Leisure camp at 10 and headed for a game drive in the area around Mara airstrip/field (can’t really call it airport) but when we could see the airfield in the distance suddenly the car jumped over a bump in the road and the oil tank burst open and everything inside flooded out. Our guide looked like he was having a minor break down. Thankfully a Polish couple came to our rescue and drove us to the airfield where we dumped our luggage and went to the nearest camp to find dinner.

At 14.50 our plane landed, it was a tiny tinny one-propeller airplane and we were the only passengers. I had a quick thought that I would probably die on that plane either when we crashed or due to the fact that I badly needed to use the bathroom and there where none in sight. Two hours over a beautiful landscape, most of it completely deserted by the look of it. Mountains (Kilimanjaro in the distance), hills, rivers, open plains of grass, forests and much more painted the picture which is Kenya. The flight was very pleasant. When we got to Mombasa we were picked up by our guide and driven to Serova White Sands.

30/12

Today we had got a guided tour in Mombasa starting with a handicraft market followed by a Hindu temple and a walk through old town Mombasa.

30+ degrees, humid air, a light breeze and sun, sun and more sun all day.

31/12

5.20 my alarm rang to wake me up for the snorkeling tour, TIRED! It took all day but it was worth it since I got to see dolphins. When our little home built boat, with us and a family of really annoying Ugandans, where going through the canal to the Marine park they (the dolphins) swam right up to us.

The reefs we swam by were nice with a lot of fish but you could see what all the environmental problems in Kenya are doing to them. Whole parts of the reef were dead or dying.

For lunch we stopped at an island, previously used by the Arabs for slave trade, and were served freshly caught crab, lobster and fish. After that we headed back to the mainland, the hotel and the awaiting New Years dinner.

They had built up a huge enclosed area outside, almost on the beach, with tables, an enormous buffet and a stage. We ate, drank, looked at the performances and tried to stay awake until 24.00 and we succeeded. People danced and looked at the firework but we just went to our rooms and passed out after the long day.