Last week was our big school trip to the coast. 3 teachers and 56 students travelled to Mombasa. We boarded the train at 2am. As the train travelled along my students could not take their eyes off the windows even though it was dark. One boy very innocently asked me "Madam, what is that?" (in reference to the lights) I had to explain to him that it was called a town. At this point I realized that this trip truly was going to be great exposure and experience for many of the students.
We arrived in Mombasa at 10am on and began our tour of Mombasa. We showed them ocean and they were totally amazed by such a large body of water. We took them across on the ferry and many of the students were fearing the water but I held their hand and we made it across. We did a walking tour of Mombasa and went to the historical site called Fort Jesus in the afternoon. We stayed in a nice school in Mombasa. We slept in the classrooms and the girls insisted that I stayed with them because they were fearing the boys. I had to laugh a little because I don't think any 9-12th grade students would be begging their teacher to remain in the same room as them. It just shows a big cultural difference as well as their learned behavior to fear males. The first night the girls wanted to lights to be left on. I thought it was because they were scared but then they told me "Madam, we want the lights on because we have never slept in a place with lights and we want to enjoy them as much as possible, so please let us sleep with them on." I knew it was a waste of electricity but how could I deny them, so we slept with the lights on.
On Friday we took the students by local matatu to Halla Park. The students loved bargaining for the matatu price and they were so excited about the ride. I seriously think it may have been some of their first times in a matatu (vehicle). They were telling me it was so enjoyable yet I don't know what is enjoyable about having 21 people in a 13 passenger vehicle. Halla Park is a local park with a lot of Kenyan wildlife. It is not quite the same as seeing them in Tsavo National Park but it was good to teach the students about the ecosystems and the animals. In the afternoon we took the students to the beach. It was all of the students first time to swim in the ocean. It was challenging to convince the girls that it was okay to go in their shorts and t-shirts. They were so nervous about the boys seeing their legs. They are a bit more conservative, but once I got them used to the idea of going out "naked" we had a great time. Most of the students tried to swim. They other teachers had to drag me and a few other students out of the water...it was like we became fish. Some of my Peace Corps friends meet us at the beach. The students were so surprised to see how white my friends were. I taught a few of them how to sign their names so they could communicate with my friends. They were a bit shy at first but after we left they were asking me so many questions about Deaf culture and how to sign things. It was great exposure for my students. Now they are trying to sign to me across the school yard and it makes me smile.
Saturday we went to Kensalt, which is a salt factory. We saw how they make salt from the brine and how they processes it and package it. Then we went to see the harbor and the ships coming in at the docks. From there we went to the Mombasa Agricultural Show, which is basically like a state fair. On Sunday we took the students to a large city church and then to the supermarket. The students were totally amazed by the supermarket. Some of them starring at their receipts for 10 mins trying to figure it out. They had never seen a store with so much in it. In the village we only have very small dukas (shops) or we go the market.
We arrived back home on the train at 4am Monday morning. I rested on Monday and school started on Tuesday. We all began term 3 slightly exhausted but the trip to Mombasa was excellent. It was great exposure for the students, we had a lot of fun, and we learned a lot. Term 3 had now begun and I know it will go fast. One week has already gone by. This weekend I am at a volunteer celebration in Nairobi, next weekend I am going to one of the teachers homes, and the following weekend I have immersion Kiswahili class.
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