Mad 2 days. New accomodation, road accidents, getting lost, first day, phone stolen/lost, sunburn and safari.

If you check the site about half an hour after this blog was posted I should have loads of pictures AND a couple of videos online.

Right, so after my last blog we went to the accomodation. It's mint, it's a lovely flat with loads of room. 4 bedrooms with 4 beds in each. 11 of us living there ATM. It's quite nice actually, I didn't expect it.

So then we get taken to the project. I'm with Bungle on mine (the only guy here over 23 I'm sure....) It's about a 30-40 minute drive, which in a matatus (minivan that are everywhere that work a bit like buses) is very dangerous lol!! They crash all the time because they are all in such a rush. Tuktuk's are the best! Think a golf cart thingy that you drive round the course. They are everywhere as well. My friend got flipped over in one last night!

Anyway on the way to the porject we go through Bamburi. It's a market town so it's quite poor, but there are a couple of sites on the way which are just massive piles of rubbish and goats round them eating, and street kids looking through it to try and find anything to sell :(

I've found out recently the orphanage I am working at has been voted the best in Kenya. It was the one that Jeremy Kyle featured on his show, so it has had loads of donations of clothes, toys, pens, everything!! No-one seems to have given much money so a lot of it is being sold to raise money for medication etc... I've given Oliver's clothes to another home because this one just doesn't need them.

21 kids in total. 4 of them DON'T have HIV. Youngest is 18 months, oldest is 7. The routine consists of breakfast, lessons at 9-12, lunch and play 12-2:30, lessons 2:30 - 5, then tea. My working hours are flexible. Can even stay over if I want. When I come in at 9 I will clean for a couple of hours (today I dusted celing fans and mopped out the place), then chill out a bit, then help the kids with lunch and play with them. Then if you need to get off to go to the bank you can or you can just do whatever needs doing (I usually take the babies for a walk) until you want to go home.

The first day was rubbish, I just didn't know what to think. But today was amazing as I didn't feel like a stranger or an outsider anymore. The kids are amazing, and I will get pictures online ASAP as soon as I get another PC with a f***ing USB cable attachment. Computers are really crap round here.

Yeah so the projects cool, and the matatus and tuktuks for transport are dangerous, crazy, but fun! (Don't worry mum)

Mombasa in general is very safe, even though people are begging all over etc... and everything is so cheap. 130 shillings = 1 quid. 50 shillings for a SIM card, 10 shillings for a text home or here. 120 shilluings for a 5 litre bottle of water, 25 shillings for a 30-40 minute trip to work!!! Thats like 15p. Everything is so cheap!

Caught the sun a bit today, so I've got reddish cheeks - Idiot I am.

Although Bungle is on my project and I met him the first day and he's been in my room all the time and he's amazing guy...he's just too old to be decent mates with :) but the people I spent the first couple of days with (Chuck, Emer and Kirsty) remain my mates and us 4 are off on safari Friday morning until Sunday night. It cost 15000 shillings which is about 115 quid...I couldn't really afford that but I might manage and if not, I'll just use my credit card a bit...who wants to go to Kenya and NOT to safari!!!

Mine and Kirsty's expensive phones both went missing, even though I've been using my old phone, and we've no idea how, and it happened inbetween leaving our hotel and getting to the flat and I have no idea whether I lost it or it was nicked, but I'm pissed off because I liked that phone and will have to buy a new one when I get home.

So I'm OK for now. Keep the texts and messages coming, and will you email me and let me know how things are going at home/work/college/uni. What's the weather like because its bloody hot and humid here!!! Nov/Dec/Jan are the hottest months and even the Mama's (the kenyan women who work at the home) were saying it was hot today.

Missing (most of) you :)