I wasn't living in a real moment
When the sky decided to pick me up
And throw me in the back
Behind the pink street light
My sister painted when she was drunk.
And I was shocked because she was still a child in my head.
We're all still children in our heads
Sometimes.
So please wind me up,
And maybe I'll get somewhere
Before this night is out
Before this year is out
Before my life is out
It goes that fast
Sometimes.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
when i couldn't sleep...
i need you now
but you're not here
i could cry out
but pointless things won't make you appear
i'm suddenly back
back in big trees
pulling at things i can't quite see
and you're somewhere
twenty minutes by car
i could drive there
but it seems so far.
but you're not here
i could cry out
but pointless things won't make you appear
i'm suddenly back
back in big trees
pulling at things i can't quite see
and you're somewhere
twenty minutes by car
i could drive there
but it seems so far.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Lost Here
i might be lost here,
in this vastness,
oceanside
pounding...pounding...
intoxicated by your influence
i am moving with these changes.
i feel like crying, and sometimes trying,
so alone yet so in love.
in this vastness,
oceanside
pounding...pounding...
intoxicated by your influence
i am moving with these changes.
i feel like crying, and sometimes trying,
so alone yet so in love.
Journal Entry 9: Up in the Air (almost over Paris) 28th July 2007
In about three hours I should be back in Ireland but only if we make our connecting flight to Dublin from London. We're cutting it ultra close though so if we get caught in long queues and over the top security checks we could be spending a night in London. I'm so dying for my bed, I really hope that doesn't happen.
It feels weird coming home after everything I've seen and done. It doesn't feel real. I'm not sure what does. I think about sitting drinking Tusker in Jawambe and it feels so dreamlike. Or so far away already. I really don't want to go back...in some ways. Seeing Kenya just opened up this door - and I've so much crap waiting for me in Dublin, eugh. But I'll go, and I'll deal - I'll fix what's broken and try some new ways. I now have a lot behid me that might help with things. But first I'd really love some Buffalo Wings.
Camara Team Kenya 2007
It feels weird coming home after everything I've seen and done. It doesn't feel real. I'm not sure what does. I think about sitting drinking Tusker in Jawambe and it feels so dreamlike. Or so far away already. I really don't want to go back...in some ways. Seeing Kenya just opened up this door - and I've so much crap waiting for me in Dublin, eugh. But I'll go, and I'll deal - I'll fix what's broken and try some new ways. I now have a lot behid me that might help with things. But first I'd really love some Buffalo Wings.
Camara Team Kenya 2007Journal Entry 8: Nairobi 18:40
I just had my first hot shower in a month. I feel like I might faint.
Journal Entry 7: On the Nairobi Express 27th July 2007
And so the end is very nigh. In less than 24 hours, all going to plan, we will be en route to London, Heathrow and then our homeland will beckon. Should be home around 6.30 tomorrow evening. Weird.
Right now I'm sitting in my first class cabin on my bed/seat with Maria sleeping above me on the train to Nairobi. It's fantastic. The train was scheduled to leave last night at 7pm. We were informed that it's fairly unreliable though. It left at around 8.30 so it wasn't too bad. In the meantime we stocked up on Tusker for the trip and I learned how to play the Jambo song off a busker at the station. His name is Leonard and he was so cool. I watched him play and noticed his strings were really awful. Must have been about ten years old, tied to his guitar like! I remembered I had a box of those DR strings in my case so I grabbed them and gave them to him. I'm really glad I thought of it, he was really happy with them. And I think it's nice that they'll go to good use.
Then we hopped on the train and it left the station. There was no electricity so the only light we had was from these battery powered lights they handed out. They didn't help much and went out after an hour. It was unbelievably hot when we first got on and there were mosquitos everywhere! They were massive and for the first time I felt myself getting bitten. I looked down at my arm where I felt a sligh pinch and saw this huge mosquito biting in. Ew!! It was freaky.
We went for dinner on the train which cost 700 shillings and was disgusting. After the meal the train stopped. At first I thought it was just at a station or something but after a while we realised it was some sort of problem. We sat there for about, hm, 4 hours before we finally started moving again.
In the meantime I got the guitar out and started playing some songs only to be interupted by loud banging on the wall next to us. Obviously people weren't too happy. We moved down to where the others were and had a bit of a singsong there. After a while we moved back down to where we had dinner earlier and played cards til the remaining lights ran out. One by one everyone left for bed leaving Eileen, Avril, Maria and me singing our drunken hearts out and discussing films til 4. It was brilliant!! Singing 80's classics on the train to Nairobi. How very surreal.
So far today has been good. I didn't have a great sleep but I still woke at nine and felt fairly refreshed so I got up and hung out with Avril and Tom for a while. We should be in at about 3. It'll be so weird leaving the group tomorrow, one month can be a long time when you're living in each other's pockets - and it felt a lot longer than that.
A little girl we passed by on the train.
Tom poses out the window of train to Nairobi.
Right now I'm sitting in my first class cabin on my bed/seat with Maria sleeping above me on the train to Nairobi. It's fantastic. The train was scheduled to leave last night at 7pm. We were informed that it's fairly unreliable though. It left at around 8.30 so it wasn't too bad. In the meantime we stocked up on Tusker for the trip and I learned how to play the Jambo song off a busker at the station. His name is Leonard and he was so cool. I watched him play and noticed his strings were really awful. Must have been about ten years old, tied to his guitar like! I remembered I had a box of those DR strings in my case so I grabbed them and gave them to him. I'm really glad I thought of it, he was really happy with them. And I think it's nice that they'll go to good use.
Then we hopped on the train and it left the station. There was no electricity so the only light we had was from these battery powered lights they handed out. They didn't help much and went out after an hour. It was unbelievably hot when we first got on and there were mosquitos everywhere! They were massive and for the first time I felt myself getting bitten. I looked down at my arm where I felt a sligh pinch and saw this huge mosquito biting in. Ew!! It was freaky.
We went for dinner on the train which cost 700 shillings and was disgusting. After the meal the train stopped. At first I thought it was just at a station or something but after a while we realised it was some sort of problem. We sat there for about, hm, 4 hours before we finally started moving again.
In the meantime I got the guitar out and started playing some songs only to be interupted by loud banging on the wall next to us. Obviously people weren't too happy. We moved down to where the others were and had a bit of a singsong there. After a while we moved back down to where we had dinner earlier and played cards til the remaining lights ran out. One by one everyone left for bed leaving Eileen, Avril, Maria and me singing our drunken hearts out and discussing films til 4. It was brilliant!! Singing 80's classics on the train to Nairobi. How very surreal.
So far today has been good. I didn't have a great sleep but I still woke at nine and felt fairly refreshed so I got up and hung out with Avril and Tom for a while. We should be in at about 3. It'll be so weird leaving the group tomorrow, one month can be a long time when you're living in each other's pockets - and it felt a lot longer than that.
A little girl we passed by on the train.
Tom poses out the window of train to Nairobi.Sidebar: The missing pages
So at this point my journal becomes quiet because I ended up spending two nights in the wonderful Agha Khan Hospital as Maria was admitted with severe dehydration. Colin was also admitted the following evening and we all enjoyed the comforts of the hospital. We watched Arrested Development on the dvd player loaned to us by the very thoughtful Mama Jawambe. We ate biscuits and crisps from the wonderful Nakumatt and even managed to fit in some classic Neighbours which was from totally the best time too. (Sky and Lana anyone?)
Colin relaxing on the cosy Agha Khan couch.
The others went on to our final destination, Malindi but sadly we did not make it. When Colin and Maria got out of hospital we had a few days to take it easy. We went to the Reef Hotel again, discovered somewhere even better than the Nakumatt, Dormans Coffee Shop, oh! and myself and Maria finished Harry Potter *sniff*.
Colin and June having a ball at the Reef Hotel.
Colin relaxing on the cosy Agha Khan couch.
Colin and June having a ball at the Reef Hotel.After a few days of rest, everyone seemed a lot better so on the Wednesday of the final week we all headed to Likoni Island to visit an orphanage there. It was a real eye opener meeting all these wonderful children who just had nothing but each other. And they were so happy! We were shown around the orphanage and the church which was part of it and met lots of people involved. It was really fantastic.
We were then shown the area they were hoping to use as a computer room in time. We couldn't believe it. It was literally just bricks and sand.
Overall, I was really happy that we went along to see the orphanage that day. I really learned a lot. It was very moving in so many ways. I almost got to play guitar with a gospel choir but couldn't manage to tune and ended up looking like a silly mzungu pop idol wannabe, hah.
We were then shown the area they were hoping to use as a computer room in time. We couldn't believe it. It was literally just bricks and sand.
Overall, I was really happy that we went along to see the orphanage that day. I really learned a lot. It was very moving in so many ways. I almost got to play guitar with a gospel choir but couldn't manage to tune and ended up looking like a silly mzungu pop idol wannabe, hah.
Journal Entry 6: Safari-tastic 21st July 2007
From the beginning of the trip to Boru and beforehand Kevin and Eileen thought it'd be a nice idea to maybe take a Safari trip whilst there as it was the perfect place to do so. In order to do it all properly we'd have to be up at 5.30 and there at 6.30. Because of the early start and the beginning of sickness for a few of the team, a few opted out but Kevin, Maria, Avril and myself decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
It nearly didn't happen the next morning due to tiredness, sickness, lack of transport, lack of time but we overcame all odds and managed to go on safari. It was by far one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We saw elephants, giraffes, buffalo, zebra, some ultra unusual birds, and I managed to spot a cheetah earlier on too.
We also had the most amazing breakfast in the lodge. My god I missed breakfasts like that. Anyway, the safari was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. I got some amazing photos, can't wait to show everyone at home. I really can't word properly how the trip made me feel - just driving along the red sandy road with my head out the top of the safari van seeing the most incredible things, feeling the most incredible things...it was just out of this world.
It nearly didn't happen the next morning due to tiredness, sickness, lack of transport, lack of time but we overcame all odds and managed to go on safari. It was by far one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We saw elephants, giraffes, buffalo, zebra, some ultra unusual birds, and I managed to spot a cheetah earlier on too.
We also had the most amazing breakfast in the lodge. My god I missed breakfasts like that. Anyway, the safari was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. I got some amazing photos, can't wait to show everyone at home. I really can't word properly how the trip made me feel - just driving along the red sandy road with my head out the top of the safari van seeing the most incredible things, feeling the most incredible things...it was just out of this world.
Journal Entry 5: Jawambe 21st July 2007
The past few days have been a bit dramatic and not too good. After our trip to Boru on Wednesday and Thursday a large bulk of the group became really sick. Tom and June had really bad stomach cramps and sickness, Avril had the same but she'd been feeling that way a little longer than the others. Yesterday Maria was complaining of dizziness when we were filming over at Ganjoni. We told Eileen and she told us to go home and rest (we were supposed to teach later on that day). Maria ended up fainting just as we got back to Jawambe but luckily Gary was around to help. I was so worried.
We brought her to the hospital later and they did some tests. Ruled out malaria thankfully but said she was dehydrated. They gave her medication anyway and she's on the mend. Colin also came down with a fever yesterday, shivering and generally unwell. He also went to the hospital and they also ruled out malaria. I was feeling a little dodgy last night myself but nothing on the scale of the others. I slept a lot and had an early night and I'm totally back to normal today. Today is the day of the MEWA ceremony and also the release of Harry Potter. Really hope they have it in the Nakumatt.
Boru
So, on Wednesday we went to Boru for two days. Boru is four hours outside Mombasa. It's very remote, a bit colder than Mombasa and full of snakes apparently, although we only saw the one Black Mamba, and it was dead. It was really cool to see another side of Kenya. We stayed in a sort of hostel type place, very basic down to the lectrine and infested with ants and things. I was a little freaked out. I was surprised when Kevin said we'd have hot water in the morning though, until he explained that the man who runs the place would come around with a bucket of hot water for us to wash with. Hah :p The place itself and location was really beautiful though.
On the first day Maria and myself taught in this gorgeous boarding school called Boru Girls Secondary School. It was such an amazing place. We had to drive for ages up the cliffs of Boru...it was really freaky, just kept getting higher and higher on this ultra bumpy road - a very long way down. The scenery from the school was just unreal. It was so picturesque. The girls there were so lovely. Afterwards we got talking to a few of them and swapped addresses so hopefully we'll keep in touch.
The teaching wasn't brilliant for us sadly. The teachers seemed a little unenthusiastic and quite a few of the computers stopped working throughout the class. We also only had three hours with them which is just nothing. The others continued the teaching the following day though and said that things went really well so I think they warmed to us in the end and gained something from the short experience.
We brought her to the hospital later and they did some tests. Ruled out malaria thankfully but said she was dehydrated. They gave her medication anyway and she's on the mend. Colin also came down with a fever yesterday, shivering and generally unwell. He also went to the hospital and they also ruled out malaria. I was feeling a little dodgy last night myself but nothing on the scale of the others. I slept a lot and had an early night and I'm totally back to normal today. Today is the day of the MEWA ceremony and also the release of Harry Potter. Really hope they have it in the Nakumatt.
Boru
So, on Wednesday we went to Boru for two days. Boru is four hours outside Mombasa. It's very remote, a bit colder than Mombasa and full of snakes apparently, although we only saw the one Black Mamba, and it was dead. It was really cool to see another side of Kenya. We stayed in a sort of hostel type place, very basic down to the lectrine and infested with ants and things. I was a little freaked out. I was surprised when Kevin said we'd have hot water in the morning though, until he explained that the man who runs the place would come around with a bucket of hot water for us to wash with. Hah :p The place itself and location was really beautiful though.
On the first day Maria and myself taught in this gorgeous boarding school called Boru Girls Secondary School. It was such an amazing place. We had to drive for ages up the cliffs of Boru...it was really freaky, just kept getting higher and higher on this ultra bumpy road - a very long way down. The scenery from the school was just unreal. It was so picturesque. The girls there were so lovely. Afterwards we got talking to a few of them and swapped addresses so hopefully we'll keep in touch.
The teaching wasn't brilliant for us sadly. The teachers seemed a little unenthusiastic and quite a few of the computers stopped working throughout the class. We also only had three hours with them which is just nothing. The others continued the teaching the following day though and said that things went really well so I think they warmed to us in the end and gained something from the short experience.
Journal Entry 4: Mbheni 17th July 2007
Back in Mbheni today randomly. The power was gone again in Central Girls School so we had to get the teachers to come here. Really annoying and extra tiring for everyone involved but at least we have the working computers here now and can get the course finished. I did Writer earlier and Charlie is doing Calc now. Craig is here too and he's doing some work for MEWA for Saturday.
I heard from Bob today. He's going to see Wallis Bird tonight. I'm jealous til I look around me. It was lovely hearing from him though. I like thinking of Ireland when I'm so far away. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, and eating some buffalo wings in the Woolshed. It's been raining since we left there.
16:01
Philip just picked me up from Mbheni. On our way to pick up the others now. Then myself and Maria will be heading to Ganjoni to talk to one of the computer teachers about web design. Sounds really interesting so I'm looking forward to that.
Our day ended well. Had lunch in the ever amazing Nakumatt. Myself, Tom and June have decided to write a song about it. It's THAT good. Back in school we did Wikipedia which went well as always. I had some really nice chats with some of the teachers which I really enjoyed. One was very inquisitive about Ireland. It was nice telling her about home.
I heard from Bob today. He's going to see Wallis Bird tonight. I'm jealous til I look around me. It was lovely hearing from him though. I like thinking of Ireland when I'm so far away. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, and eating some buffalo wings in the Woolshed. It's been raining since we left there.
16:01
Philip just picked me up from Mbheni. On our way to pick up the others now. Then myself and Maria will be heading to Ganjoni to talk to one of the computer teachers about web design. Sounds really interesting so I'm looking forward to that.
Our day ended well. Had lunch in the ever amazing Nakumatt. Myself, Tom and June have decided to write a song about it. It's THAT good. Back in school we did Wikipedia which went well as always. I had some really nice chats with some of the teachers which I really enjoyed. One was very inquisitive about Ireland. It was nice telling her about home.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Journal Entry 3: Central Girls Primary School, Mombasa - July 16th '07
The weekend off was really good. I felt great this morning, totally refreshed for a hard enough week ahead. This week we'll be working every day and travelling quite a bit too, so I am a little wary of that but looking forward to the challenge.
On Saturday night we headed out to the cinema and managed to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Totally didn't think we'd get to see it here, I am very content. We also found out the bookshop in the almighty Nakumatt will sell the new book on Saturday so that's me and Maria set for the next week. Can't wait.
We spent yesterday (Sunday) at the Reef Hotel overlooking the Ocean here in Mombasa. We took advantage of the hotel's large outdoor swimming pool and indoor table tennis and pool tables. The food was good afterwards although sadly the strawberry mousse was not the same as it was in the Grand Hotel on my first Holy Communion so my taking half a cake full before actually tasting it was probably a bad idea. I managed to off load most of it onto the others. June said it tasted like the lining of a sofa. She was right.
The day was really great though. We topped it off with a game of poker. We're all still learning and Charlie wasn't around so it was a little dodgy with Kevin's ever changing rules and Eileen wanting to show everyone her cards but after about ten games I feel we're really beginning to grasp it.
Today I'm back with Charlie and Maria and we're teaching in Central Girls Primary School in Mombasa. The people here are lovely, the children are the coolest, but sadly the computer room isn't great. Severe lack of sockets, ventilation and it's a really small and cramped room. The computer lab went down after lunch. We got back to the classroom after our break to find the power gone. Although we were used to long power cuts in Lamu it hasn't really happened as much here in Mombasa. And anytime it has done, it hasn't lasted more than twenty minutes. Anyway, we figured we'd do the assessment and then hopefully get onto writer once the power came back. The assessment went on for about a half an hour - still no power. About ten minutes after that we'd almost given up when the lights came back on. We told everyone to turn on their computers to find they still wouldn't start.
Not really sure what the problem was but I presume it was something to do with the surge protector that was only put in this morning. We couldn't fix the problem so had to cut the day short. Really disappointing and frustrating.
Jawambe 20:37
Playing cards now back in Jawambe. Had food in our new favourite place, the Nakumatt, hah. No chicken though so I wasn't happy about that. And I think them having Buffalo Wings on the menu is false advertising and is mean.
Tom and June show just how much they love the Nakumatt.
Tomorrow Maria and Tom are filming so I'll be teaching with Charlie and Craig. Hopefully that'll go alright. On Wednesday we'll be heading to Boru which is four hours away and fairly remote. It sounds really interesting and is meant to be nice so I'm really looking forward to that. I think it's great that we're getting to see so much of Kenya while here. The city, by the sea and the countryside - it's so interesting. Hopefully we'll also get to catch a safari while there.
On Thursday I've the day off although we'll be travelling back to Mombasa in the afternoon. On Friday I'm hoping to sit in on Maria and Tom filming in Ganjoni Primary School which is across the way from Jawambe. They'll be getting the children there to teach them what they know on the computers which should be fun. So that's pretty much the week ahead. Then on Saturday we've the MEWA ceremony, where we'll be handing out the certificates to all the teacher's we've taught so far so really looking forward to that and to seeing everyone again. Then we'll spend our last week in Malindi and hopefully get the train to Nairobi before heading home.
It's so strange to think that we'll be home in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the initial shock and strangeness of being back but god, I'm really going to miss this place. Everything still feels surreal. Sort of like I've been dreaming it all. Even Lamu seems so far away now, let alone Ireland. I can't wait to like, think about all of this properly. It's hard to get alone time now without feeling like I'm missing something.
On Saturday night we headed out to the cinema and managed to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Totally didn't think we'd get to see it here, I am very content. We also found out the bookshop in the almighty Nakumatt will sell the new book on Saturday so that's me and Maria set for the next week. Can't wait.
We spent yesterday (Sunday) at the Reef Hotel overlooking the Ocean here in Mombasa. We took advantage of the hotel's large outdoor swimming pool and indoor table tennis and pool tables. The food was good afterwards although sadly the strawberry mousse was not the same as it was in the Grand Hotel on my first Holy Communion so my taking half a cake full before actually tasting it was probably a bad idea. I managed to off load most of it onto the others. June said it tasted like the lining of a sofa. She was right.
The day was really great though. We topped it off with a game of poker. We're all still learning and Charlie wasn't around so it was a little dodgy with Kevin's ever changing rules and Eileen wanting to show everyone her cards but after about ten games I feel we're really beginning to grasp it.
Today I'm back with Charlie and Maria and we're teaching in Central Girls Primary School in Mombasa. The people here are lovely, the children are the coolest, but sadly the computer room isn't great. Severe lack of sockets, ventilation and it's a really small and cramped room. The computer lab went down after lunch. We got back to the classroom after our break to find the power gone. Although we were used to long power cuts in Lamu it hasn't really happened as much here in Mombasa. And anytime it has done, it hasn't lasted more than twenty minutes. Anyway, we figured we'd do the assessment and then hopefully get onto writer once the power came back. The assessment went on for about a half an hour - still no power. About ten minutes after that we'd almost given up when the lights came back on. We told everyone to turn on their computers to find they still wouldn't start.
Not really sure what the problem was but I presume it was something to do with the surge protector that was only put in this morning. We couldn't fix the problem so had to cut the day short. Really disappointing and frustrating.
Jawambe 20:37
Playing cards now back in Jawambe. Had food in our new favourite place, the Nakumatt, hah. No chicken though so I wasn't happy about that. And I think them having Buffalo Wings on the menu is false advertising and is mean.
Tom and June show just how much they love the Nakumatt.Tomorrow Maria and Tom are filming so I'll be teaching with Charlie and Craig. Hopefully that'll go alright. On Wednesday we'll be heading to Boru which is four hours away and fairly remote. It sounds really interesting and is meant to be nice so I'm really looking forward to that. I think it's great that we're getting to see so much of Kenya while here. The city, by the sea and the countryside - it's so interesting. Hopefully we'll also get to catch a safari while there.
On Thursday I've the day off although we'll be travelling back to Mombasa in the afternoon. On Friday I'm hoping to sit in on Maria and Tom filming in Ganjoni Primary School which is across the way from Jawambe. They'll be getting the children there to teach them what they know on the computers which should be fun. So that's pretty much the week ahead. Then on Saturday we've the MEWA ceremony, where we'll be handing out the certificates to all the teacher's we've taught so far so really looking forward to that and to seeing everyone again. Then we'll spend our last week in Malindi and hopefully get the train to Nairobi before heading home.
It's so strange to think that we'll be home in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the initial shock and strangeness of being back but god, I'm really going to miss this place. Everything still feels surreal. Sort of like I've been dreaming it all. Even Lamu seems so far away now, let alone Ireland. I can't wait to like, think about all of this properly. It's hard to get alone time now without feeling like I'm missing something.
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