My Kenya Bucket List

I've been trying very hard to write a weekly post to keep myself thinking creatively, and to keep all of you reading this in the loop of my loopyness.

Nothing too profound has happened this week, except for the fact that I feel more normal in an out-of-control tuk tuk, I feel more settled at the office, and I feel more at home in my 'home'.

For this week, I have decided to make a bucket list. I have now made it past the month mark! This whole month felt like two weeks.  So to remind myself of all that I want to get out of this experience and milk it for all that it's worth, I created a lofty list of things I may or may not accomplish while I'm here. Who knows if I will ever get another chance to see Africa.

 1. Learn more about curriculum development in the Madrasa ECE system, as well as NGO challenges on the ground (I'm learning every day!
 2. Gain/improve skills in report and proposal writing, budgeting, and research
3. Lead an entire/or many workshop(s)
4. Visit slum schools/Madrasas
5. Visit / put in volunteer hours at Glad’s house – a local NGO for street children
6. Visit SOS Children’s Village (It's very close-by)
7. Learn local recipes
8. Go to Lamu (Mainly because everyone is talking about it).
9. See the big 5 (Elephants, Cheetas, Buffalo, Lions,  Rhinos – but I also want to see hippos, giraffes, zebras, gazelles)
10.  Dance with the elephants (My supervisor promised me this, the second I landed on Mombasan soil, and I am still not sure what he means by it)
11. Take a mosque tour (There seems to be more mosques per capita than any other city - and they are all so beautiful)
12. Order a beer in Swahili  *Done!* ( Now you see where my priorities lie...)
13. Play soccer/Frisbee with the kids (I totally forgot to pack my frisbee, oh no!)
14.See a traditional dance
15. Go to the Mombasa Carnival (Around November 1st)
16.  Haggle , Swahili style  (I have a good teacher, so I'm almost there)
17. Go jetskiing in the Indian Ocean
18. Go swimming in the Indian Ocean (I've dipped my toes in, but that doesn't count)
19.   Take a matatu, alone!
20. Visit Uganda and Tanzania MRCs (Madrasa Resource Centres)

   

       This is a work in progress, and I will most definitely add more as I learn about new opportunities, things to do, places to see, etc.  And for all you back home, I totally recommend making a bucket list -I mean it doesn't have to be a bucket list in the sense that doomsday 2012 is in fact upon us- but it's pretty fun and motivating!

      p.s. In terms of doomsday, I think as Canadians we are totally immune.  If any of you have ever seen a disaster movie and they show a map of affected areas in the movie, Canada is spared every time!  (i.e. Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, Contagion, to name a few).