Arriving in Takaungu

I’m a couple days late writing this entry because it has been so busy settling in, but here it is:

As many people know, I love meeting new people. Within the first 5 minutes of arriving at my homestay, I met over 20 people. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and all I kept saying was “Jambo Jambo”. I will definitely be known as the Jambo gal here in Takaungu. Aisha is the head of the household, and she has SOOO many people living with her in her household. This includes: Aisha, her children, her nieces and nephews, her brother, her brother’s wife, and her mother (total of 12, not including me). The number of children in the house is 8, but there are always other children from around the community that will stop by and play and eat with the family. Aisha’s door is always open and everyone is always coming over to say hello, take a seat, and stay awhile to chat. Other people who stop by are selling food, such as mangoes, coconuts, already prepared traditional foods for this area, etc. I will definitely need an entire post dedicated to FOOD!!! So, get excited for that!

Two weeks prior to my arrival, Aisha and her family moved into a newly built house. I am told that it is much larger than her previous house (I have my own room, while the other rooms have 4 or 5 people in them). While they have officially moved into the new house, it is not totally complete yet. So, everyday there are workers at the house painting, putting down tiles, and working on their INDOOR plumbing!

Side note: I rode a motorcycle for the first time. There were three of us on the motorcycle. I was in a skirt. I was too busy holding on to even think about taking a picture of this momentous occasion, but the next time I will certainly get one or 2 or 500 pictures!

Kwaheri, which means ‘good-bye’ in Swahili!!! Pronounced: kwa-hairy

Explaining the pictures:

1. Mombasa airport! I took this picture from the plane!

2. Here is the creek that you take a small boat across with a guy that steers it with a long pole to the other side. The other side is the town of Kilifi! I had to go to this town to figure out internet.

3. Here is what one of the houses looks like in the village I am living in. The village is called Takaungu. 

4. Here is what my bedroom looks like! I'll post more pictures of it later! Yay for a mosquito net!

Hello to everyone back home :)