Mombasa, Kenya!

Thursday 19 January 2006

We're in Kenya!!

Over the past two days we've been based in Ngutuni Lodge, a couple hour bumpy dusty
drive from Mombasa port.  This wooden lodge blends within 11 or 13 thousand square
kilometers of savannah filled with all variety of animals.  On our two safari
adventures, we saw plenty of elephants and zebras, several wart hogs, scads of
water buffalo, a pride of lions sleeping last night, a pride of lions hunting this
morning, a few ostriches, several distant giraffes, and a momma cheetah and two
cubs.

I've not gotten pictures online yet.

Last night featured a performance by Peter Band, who encouraged a lot of audience
participation and really had the place groovin' singin' joyfully celebrating life. 
Peter loves and chats easily with everyone in encouraging tones of a grandfather
with heaps of children all seeking a moment with him.

Before this adventure, we spent a day in Seychelles, on Mahi island.

For $50, I went scuba diving with Francois, my stuffed rabbit and several Japanese
passengers from the ship.  We saw lots of different fish.  Black fish, yellow fish,
black and white striped fish, little orange and white spotted fish, an eel, several
sea cucumbers, and several star fish.

It took me a bit of effort to keep my ears equalized, and near the end of the dive
I had to keep blowing my nose to keep it clear.  Good thing I practiced that during
my training back in Japan!  It turns out I had tried too hard to equalize and had
some bleeding in my sinus cavity.  Upon ascent, I hawked up some blood with mucus,
which floated brightly in the water.  The ship doctor gave me some antibiotics,
anti-inflamitories, and some ear drops.  Everything is a-okay, no worries. 
Hakunamatata, as we say in Swahili.

Before Seychelles, we crossed the Indian ocean from Singapore.  Most of the nights
were cloudy, and most of the main events were held inside, due to rain:

1) Happy New Year!!  We had planned for everything to be on the top deck by the
pools, with a slide show of past voyages, and a big countdown to the end of 2005,
but ended up down in Broadway Show Lounge, the biggest room on the ship.  One of
the passengers read a poem for his wife; their wedding anniversary is New Year's
Day.

2) The Fruits Party was held the day after Singapore; it was rained off the top
deck down to the Topaz Dining Room, the other biggest room on the ship.  During
this party, I was part of the group who danced hula under Kellie's tutelage; she's
from Hawaii and taught about 8 of us how to do a simple dance called Hukilau.  I
didn't know all the moves represent everyday life in Hawaii!

The Fruits Party featured mango, star fruit, dragon fruit, dragon eyes, oranges,
pineapple, apples, pears, durians, and coconuts as beverages.  My favorite were the
dragon eyes, some of which I stuffed into my shorts pocket for later consumption.

3) The Coming of Age Summer Festival was something I did not help plan, nor attend,
so I only know a couple things: Traditionally, Japanese who turn 20 during a year
celebrate near the beginning of the year.  And, it got rained out from the top
deck.

There have been a variety of fun / interesting things on the ship..

(A) We've started teaching our classes!  I am teaching classes M and N (of classes
A-Z), right in the middle of the pile of students.  This voyage I again have one
really genki (*) class, and one pretty shy class.

      (*) I believe every language has a word that should be
      ported to other languages.  In Japanese, the word is genki.
      It means energetic / cheerful / healthy / excited.

      (In Spanish, the word is hay, pronounced "I" and means
      "there is" or "there are."   In Swahili, the word is
      "Jambo" a delightful word used as a greeting.)

My genki class named themselves Fantastic Rabbits, partially in honor of Francois. 
They've all been talkative in class, and are planning to perform an English version
of a play we will call "Peach Boy," which will be based on a Japanese fable about a
boy who is born in a peach.

My shy class named themselves Fighting Goats because it sounds like 52 in English
and Japanese.  We've been working on ordering in bars and meeting new people.

(B) We met Chiaki something from Japan, who has lived in Nairobi, Kenya for about
18 years, after leaving Japan in search of something more fulfilling in her life. 
She bought a house in a slum and started a school!  It began with just a few
students and now helps about 130 kids every day.  She showed us pictures of her
library and was thrilled when we said we could give her a bunch of books that had
been donated during the 49th voyage!  (Thanks, Kris!!!)

(C) The GET Teachers have been working more closely with the Communication
Coordinators (CCs) on this voyage than my last voyage. At least, that's my
impression; I know all their names this time, which I couldn't say last time so
early in the voyage.  For fun, I attended one of the CC meetings, and learned some
new vocabulary in Japanese.  Yobi means extra.  The others are rarely used: 1st
Seating and 2nd Seating at mealtimes.

(D) I've been taking a lot more Rob-Time this voyage.  I've finished reading two
novels and am beginning another book (Dale Carnegie's classic _How to Win Friends
and Influence People_).  This voyage I've been getting a lot more sleep, and have
been better able to teach classes each day!

(E) I left Francois on the table in the safari lodge.  Fortunately, it was noticed
and given to me immediately by one of the wait staff. Whew!

(F) I found the dragon eye fruits in my shorts pocket a couple days after I placed
them there. They were quite edible, but tasted just a bit fermented.  I enjoyed
them all.