The beautiful coast of kenya

“Are you sure that this is the Bemm’s door?” -Me

“Yes, just knock on it…just do it.” -Reika

“But it sounds like young british guys.” -Me

“It has to be their door…just knock”. -Reika

“knock, knock, knock.”

As I slowly watched the door opened I quickly realized that this was def. not the Bemm’s door. We were greeted by two very happy British guy’s. I paused for a second, tried to look inside, looked back at Reika, and then looked back inside. I then asked, “Ummm…are the Bemms here.” They looked at each other and then looked back at me. “Nope. Sorry. You wanna come in for a drink?” “Reika and I both politely refused and told them we were supposed to be on babysitting duty, but had gotten a little lost. They laughed, looked at us as if we were crazy, pointed us in the right direction to room D4, and then chased us out the door begging us, “please, please, please don’t go.” Our supervisor and the rest of the adults got a HUGE kick out of this story, especially considering the fact that they were probably the only two other people staying at the resort that just happened to be around our age…and of course it was their door that we knocked on.

This past week Reika and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the coast with all of the long-term WGM families. Amy asked us if we would like to go and help with the children’s program and organize family game night as well. There’s no way we were going to say no to going to the beach and staying in an all-inclusive resort.

Our day started at 9:30 with all of the children. Reika was put with the ten 3-5 year olds, and I had six of the 6-10 year olds. Luckily we did not have to organize the daily schedule because three women from the states flew over just to help with the children’s program. They had everything perfectly planned out. It was nice to be able to assist and not plan. They had brought great crafts, snack, games, and stories with them. The theme for the week was Sonquest rain forest. We made butterflies, sock monkeys, frog and monkey tic tac toe pads, rain sticks, and more. They were so creative and fun. The children really seemed to enjoy them as well. I forgot how funny 10 year old boys can be. I felt like I was laughing the entire time while working with them.

After lunch Reika and I were given free time until dinner. This time consisted of a whole lot of laying and walking on the beach with our new friend’s Stephen and Todd. They are also VIA's/WGM working at Tenwek. We have seen them a lot around the compound, but never really had the chance to get to know them. Immediately after lunch we went straight to the beach where we gathered a few chairs in the sun for Reika and I, and a few chairs in the shade for Stephen and Todd. None of us could get over how great the constant breeze was. The trade winds were amazing. We were also given free access to the kayaks, paddle boats, and wind surfing. The ocean was filled with eels, crabs, and different kinds of fish. There were even camels walking up and down the beach. Lets just say we never got bored. Reika and I are now sporting our amazingly intense one-piece tan lines. I don’t believe I have had such an intense one-piece tan line since I was about 10 years old. It’s pretty awesome.

Around 6 we would head up to our ocean front room where we would get ready for dinner. All our meals were all you can eat buffets. We were so full all the time. After dinner Reika and I split up and helped babysit some of the different families so that the parents could enjoy each other. One of the night we also planned the family game night. This was not hard considering I grew up going to a family camp every summer and had a whole list full of games to play. The first game we played was to have everyone line up from youngest to oldest without talking. This was very funny to watch. Our second game was the human knot. We split everyone up into groups of about fifteen people and had them all cross and connect arms. Once this was accomplished they had to figure out how to get back into a circle without letting go hands. I just about died of laughter watching my supervisor and her husband try to figure out how to figure out the puzzle. The last game we played was we had them all stay in these same groups and I gave them three completely random words. Each group had to come up with a skit in only 5min. having to do something with the three words. Everyone seemed to get a huge kick out of this game. It was a huge success and Reika and I really enjoyed planning it.

Around 10 every night we would go by the pool to watch the evening show. These shows consisted of belly/tribal dancers, Kenyan acrobats, a musical, and there was even a show that had something to do with guys/midgets dressed in leotards, and wigs (I did stay long for that show…I’m still trying to figure out what the heck was going on). After the show Reika, Stephen, and I went to the beach. We would pull the long chairs down to the ocean and watch the billions of stars. We would pick out the northern cross (which you can only see from the equator), little and big dipper, and more. It was beautiful. The shooting stars never seemed to stop. We probably stayed there for a few hours. We asked each other life questions, shared our fears, our goals, and favorite things in life.