The restaurant/café that I walked into was called the “Suncross Café”. Wasn’t the cleanest of the nicest café you’d imagine, but it’s a typical café for ordinary people in Kenya. I ordered chai and rested a little after walking around the city. The waiters there and the chai they
served seriously saved me. I became friends with two of the workers there and we talked for about an hour (I guess that's okay for workers in Kenya). They advised me to not eat samosas on the bus when offered by people sitting nearby. I asked why, and then they said “because its usually drugged and used to steal tourists’ wallets and belongings”. Even besides that, they were really good to me and so I was going to give them a tip, but instead they said no and gave me a 5 shillings discount and said “we gave you a discount so you’d come again”. C’mon now, I almost teared up. Almost.
Snoop Dog
I only named this title this way because the bus to Mombasa was PIMPED OUT. I’ve never seen a bus with 5 different colors, purple lights, purple seats, and yellow carpets. Remember the movie “Soul Plane”? Well this was definitely Soul Bus, and more surprisingly, in Kenya. I’m pretty
sure it was imported and then madly fixed up by Kenyans. I later noticed that the bus had a Burberry sticker on the back window. Wow. Kenya..full of surprises.
Mombasa ain’t Nairobi
If the busy downtown city of Nairobi is similar to New York, Mombasa is comparable to Los Angeles or even Hawaii. Of course there’s the beach, but the people are much more relaxed and laid back. So laid back that the post office was only open until 1pm (and the lunch break is from 12-1, so technically it’s opened until 12pm). But the people were great. Quite different from Nairobi and far different from Delhi.
Lesson learned in Mombasa
The people in Mombasa taught me a valuable lesson; to mile. Its really a simple concept and we hardly think about it, but especially on foreign soil, it just might be the only asset you can rely on. It is hard at first, especially in an awkward situation or when people are staring at you from all directions, but it does work. Most the time, they’re just interested in what you’re about to do and why you’re here. Especially for Japan and other Asian countries, this should be no surprise because we do the exact same when we see foreigners in our countries.
So in Mombasa, I smiled and said “Jambo (hello)” a lot more than I did in Nairobi. Result, I felt more welcomed during the 2 hours there than in 8 days in India. I would describe all the nice people I met, but I would run out of time.
Mombasa
The city doesn’t have much tourist attractions or huge buildings. Reminds me of Redondo Beach (where I live), and that may be why I feel really comfortable. There are interesting buildings and markets however, that was perfect for my short stay there. I went to markets in the morning and to Fort Jesus around noon. Bunch of kids were playing soccer right outside of Fort Jesus, and they invited me to play when I was sitting on the side watching. Maaaaan that definitely would of made my day even better but I left my boots at Brian's so I couldn't..
I also completed a 3km trail by following arrows on the wall,
which was really awesome because I got to walk through some backstreets that I otherwise would not have passed by. Again, the people there were really welcoming and that itself made my short stay there much above my expectation.
たまには日本語
本来なら日本語をもっと頑張れなければ。。と思い日本語でのポストです。とは言ってもお題が思いつかないのでフリースタイルで。要するに思ったことはノープランで書きます。
①このブログってものを書いてるうちに自分に書いているのか、誰かに「伝えている」のか段々分からなくなってきました。自分の為に書いていたつもりだけど、もし自分宛なら今みたく敬語にする必要はないわけだし。よく分からないので急遽ですが「将来の自分宛」に書いていることにします。将来の彼は年上なので敬語ということで。
②突然ですが、やっぱり一人旅することに意味があると思います。集団でのバックパックと個人でのバックパックでは違いがいくつかあります。違いをリスト化してもキリがないので、一つだけ挙げると：人間、１対１の方が打ち明けやすい。そう、簡単なこと。友達と一緒だったら出会いの数は半減していたと思う。初デートの時、怖いからといって友達に｢一緒に来てくれ｣と頼みますか？そんな時の「連れ」は自分を守るための武器にすぎない。気マズくなったら音楽をつける。家族ゲンカの後は食事中テレビをつける。やめませんか！
受け入れられ、受け入れる為にはやっぱり１対１じゃないと難しい。。と思う。
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