From Mombasa to Maasailand

I've now been in Kenya for 3 weeks. The passing of time is so disorienting; it feels like months ago that I left Anchorage, and I feel at home in Kenya, but each day passes and before you know it it's a new month.
Last weekend Michelle and I went to Mombasa. It was a weekend both busy and relaxing. The streets of Mombasa are winding, confusing, and so very crowded. We spend about half of Saturday looking for a map of the city... a bit ironic. We stayed at the Jambo Paradise hotel in Mombasa, and that gave us the flexibility to visit both the northern and southern coasts. The beaches were the most beautiful ones I have ever seen. The Indian ocean is the perfect temperature for swimming, and is the brilliant turquoise color you always see in photos of paradise. To add to the picturesque image I'm sure is in your mind, imagine me riding a camel along the beach.
An 8 hour overnight bus ride later and we were back in Nairobi. Suddenly I only had two days left at Happy Life before leaving for Maasailand. Wednesday was Michelle's birthday so we celebrated by getting manicures and pedicures at a beauty shop along the street. The lady had never been to beauty school, but she made my feet look and feel as though they had never seen a speck of dust. That changed rather quickly.
Thursday morning came and I had to say goodbye to the babies. It was the most difficult to say bye to Sean, my favorite, who made huge improvements in his health while I was there. Then it was into the taxi and off to the next chapter of my adventure.
We drove northwest to Ngong, where I purchased six 5 ltr bottles of drinking water. Then we continued on and the road soon turned to dirt. We only got stuck on the road once on the way to my host family. The whole drive, despite the dust, I kept my window open because the scenery is breathtaking. I'm living just north of Ngong, at the start of the Rift Valley. The community is so spread out it almost appears from a distance as if nobody is living there at all. The landscape is full of acacia trees and lots of thorny bushes that continue as far as you can see, until they meet the mountains on the other side of the valley. The hills on the south side of the valley are sprinkled with windmills that supply power to Ngong. And my host mother, the most kind, warm, and inviting woman I've ever met, has a solar panel that allows her to have one light bulb in the evening when it gets dark. Rosemary, my Maasai mama, is the woman who started Roynasa (questionable spelling) primary school, where I'm teaching. She also has land for growing maize and beans, 5 cows, lots of goats, and too many chickens to count. The school is just next door to the  house, so in the mornings at 8am I walk across the garden and through a gate to the school. It is a single building with a wooden frame and metal sheet siding and roofing, and it's divided into 4 areas. The school started in 2009 with just one class, so the highest grade is 1. But each year the school will continue to grow as the students progress to the next level and as more young children come to be educated. Frdiday morning I was handed a piece of chalk and asked to teach science, "head, shoulders, knees and toes" proved very useful. I spent some time in each class on , it was challenging because there is such a stark language barrier between us, limited resources, not to mention that they are overcome with fascination at the color of my skin and just want to touch me all the time. But the staff (there are 4) have been so helpful and I'm sure I'll find my niche here just as I did at Happy Life. The next seven weeks are sure to fly by.
Yesterday evening Rosemary took me for a walk across the savanna and to the watering reservoir where the giraffes come to drink every day. When we first arrived there were none there, but as we waited their long necks and heads began to appear, and they slowly and cautiously walked towards the water. They are so beautiful; each step they take is deliberate and measured, you feel so small seeing them so close. I took so many photos, but I'm doubtful that they'll be able to convey the beauty of a family of giraffes bending down to drink water with acacia trees in the background during an African sunset.
There is so much that is running through my mind, I think I could write about just the last two days for hours. Internet here is more expensive and harder to get to than it was in Roysambu, although it is not uncommon to see an old Maasai man herding his goats and sheep to water across the bush while talking on his cell phone. Many people, if given the choice between shoes and a cell phone, will prefer to have the latter.