Hot hot hot!!

Do kinda feel that a pic of Enrique would be quite fitting here but I will resist!!

This afternoon I took my class around campus to measure the temperature in different spots. We started off with ice, then moved to the swimming pool. Those of you who have swam in the swimming pool here will agree that at times it does feel like ice! We all sat on the edge with our thermometers in the pool....as I had flip flops on I thought it fitting to dangle my feet in the pool. It was hot today! 12 children then followed suit, or asked to.....as they all had their shoes and socks on I suggested they put a hand in....or jokingly, suggested maybe a nose! I could not believe when suddenly there were 12 little noses in the pool! So sweet! The kids loved it, and was so funny! Fortunately none of them fell in, and they all seemed quite refreshed afterwards! On the Astro turf we measured 51 degrees C so they soon dried off. It is crazy hot today!! Have new respect for the children who have to run around playing hockey on it. No wonder Kenyan runners are so successful!

How Kenya has changed me...

The other day I was in the shower and realised that there were quite a few spiders...now, rewind a few months and I would have been out like a shot, calling for help!! I hardly batted an eyelid and this made me smile as I thought of how brave I had become. Hahahaha you really have to do a before and after comparison to describe me as brave!!

A few examples:
Geckos have become my friends-is quite easy to love them when they eat mozzies.
Camping is no longer an absolute no chance possibility when going away.
I am no longer a veggie....not even close. No excuses either actually  as veggie food is great here, but the 4 days that I lived in Africa as a veggie I did get a lot of hassle and stick!
My driving has def changed....cutting people up is no longer a thing to worry about...instead it's watching out for traffic coming towards you in your own lane, fog lights blinding you, baboons crossing in front of you...

Major exception to the new brave Hannah was my first Kenyan cockroach sighting....in my bath. I shrieked and ran out...came back a few hours later and fortunately there have been no future sightings. There are def a few areas where I refuse to become fully Africanised.....still wear heels every day, still love nail varnish, still won't have pets, still hate mozzie nets and try to avoid them as much as poss but I do feel the change is very admirable!!

Kenyan sweetness

The last few weeks have been filled with experiences of Kenya that despite some rather crazy things happening, are endearing and kinda refreshing....

I went to the cinema and for once was really late so got to see the trailers! When they finished, on came the national anthem! Sadly no-one stood up which I have heard is the normal thing (there was only about 6 of us in the cinema and I wasn't going to lead the standing-I thought my friend was joking about it!), thought this was incredibly sweet!

Next followed our school trip to the Railway Museum. It was on this day that my job really felt poles apart from working in the UK. I don't think we saw any signs of keep off, or out of bounds...the kids were completely free to jump all over the trains, climb on the roofs.....at times I couldn't watch!! Amazingly we returned with no casualties.

Yesterday to conclude our Kenyan History topic in school our year group held a Jamhuri day. It was so fun! The kids dressed up in traditional Kenyan clothes, brought in various flags and cakes decorated with the Kenyan colours and we celebrated! We had a Masai jumping competition for the boys to prove their strength whilst the girls hummed and did a shoulder dance, entered a spear (ruler!) throwing and long jump contest and tried to learn the anthem and had Kenyan quizzes. This was after monkeys jumped over the roof and played in the trees at lunchtime (not so keen on the warthogs at the mo-one gave me quite a fright the other day, and they have gotten huge, they are absolute beasts!) and so despite the crazy storms that have been disturbing our sleep the last few nights (I have never heard such loud thunder) I am feeling rather endeared to Kenya at the mo! The fact that our mini half term break has just started may also be a contributing factor...and the fact that in about 12 hours I will be on my way to the airport to pick up my dear older brother, yay!!