Alive and well in Mombasa

Going through customs in Nairobi goes something like this:
Us: Hi, is this customs?
Customs lady: Yes.
Us: so...what do we need to do?
Customs lady: Are you continuring on from here?
Us: yes, to Mombasa.
Customs lady: the terminal to the left. Hurry. (she points and we run)

They don't even make you take your shoes off before you get on the plane. It's great.

Our first day on Mombasa is almost complete, and I've been functioning on about 3 hours of sleep on various flights since Saturday and five hours of sleep before the call to prayer at 5:30 this morning. Walking through the streets today following the assistant director, Ali, like confused little ducklings, we heard "jambo, wanafunzi! Jambo!" (Hi, students! Hi!) on every corner. It's true we stick out like sore thumbs. We wear ankle-length skirts, pants for the guys, and high-cut t-shirts, which pegs us somewhere between tourists (do I even need to describe them?) and locals (because, well, we're for the most part much paler than they are, we don't wear jeans and tank tops or traditional wrapped lengths of cloth like some of them do, and we don't wear robes and headscarves like the rest.)

the girls' apartment has views of the Indian Ocean from most of the rooms. My bed has a blue mosquito net which makes me feel like a princess. We can use the water to shower but not to drink, and the lights are harsh fluorescent. It's a gorgeous old building, painted white with middle-eastern-looking detailing around the roof and on the stairs. There's a parrot in the extra bathrooms down the hall which squawks all night and all day, and the shower has a broken window, which means that my shower this morning, aside from being one of the three most refreshing showers I've taken in my life (I could feel every ounce of travel dirt from the last two days and humid sweat from last night seep away), also had the most beautiful view of any shower I've ever used.

Today, after our tour of Mombasa, traditional Kenyan lunch and health and safety lectures, we got the books. I'd almost forgotten I was here to study, but the books were a startling reminder; there were about 7 of them and they were HEAVY. But they also look amazing, especially the swahili book; we start our swahili lessons tomorrow.

I'm sorry for the scattered post, but, as I said, I'm a bit tired. I'll try to post once more before we leave Mombasa, and after that I don't know when I'll be able to again.