Mombasa Day 1

Woke up at Fred’s Apt and took a shower, yes a shower, a nice one too.  Still a cold shower, tho there is an option to warm the water but takes like 30 minutes.  They only take cold showers.  Took my time getting ready.  Played some guitar and sang in the living room with the porch door open.  Despite the rain there was a beautiful breeze coming in and the birds singing.  Fred came from work about 10 and picked me up.  We went downtown Mombasa and walked around.  Went to the jeweler to check the rings and to get them engraved.  We then went to several shops…one that gave me ideas for presents for home but Fred said tomorrow (Tues) we will go to a much better shop and we can at least compare.  Then every shoe shop in the city to try and find Fred some wedding shoes to go with his all white suit.

He then took me to the Indian Ocean which is no distance at all from downtown.  I took some quick pics but will visit later because it was raining.  So cool seeing another ocean though.  We went for some authentic Swahili food with a coastal twist using coconuts and such, it was very good.  Reminded me more of Indian food:  rice with chicken and sauce that was a bit sweet and a bit spicy.  He then did some work while I wrote part of this in his work truck.  We then went to yet another part of town and finally found some shoes.  It was fun watching him negotiate pricing, which I would expect in a local shop but this was a nice shoe store.  It worked though.  He used the money that Joe gave me to give him.  

Finally Sharon was off work and rode the fairy so we picked her up.  She said she had to ride 4 Matata’s (vans that are taxi’s but much crazier) just to get to the fairy.  That is crazy.  They just kept stopping short of where she needed to go.  We then met up with the wedding coordinator.  Wow, not getting me too excited about a future wedding, Lord willing.  Haha.  “This isn’t the right shade of yellow or green…well yellow is ok, but bring me a different green tomorrow” & “What if it rains?  Tents?  No, they are already rented…” and more.  Very stressful sounding.  Chances taken when planning an outside wedding though.  Especially made more difficult when I’m standing there hearing all this in Swanglish:  some Swahili and some English.  Haha.  I have been every part of a wedding, literally, that a guy could be besides the groom.  Now I’m getting a glimpse at even that part of it.  I tried to help the best I could.

Now I’m writing this again from my room and will post it tomorrow (Tues) at some point from the Café.  I just got to watch Da Bears 2^nd quarter as they charged ahead of the Vikings.  I’m too tired though to stay up and watch the second half.  Hope they win.  Tomorrow Fred told me to bring my trunks and Mask/Snorkel…sounds like the Indian Ocean is about to have a Mzungu in it.  Yes!

P.S.  I saved The Animal Game from our Game Night at my apartment weeks ago on my camera and have watched it almost every day here in Kenya.  It has made me laugh and helped me not feel so alone here.  Looking forward to seeing my new Calvary friends again next week, as we resume Game Night!

In Christ,
KYLE