A Life of Incredible Privilege!

I've talked about before, both in this blog and my one from Korea, but it bears another entry. Sometimes the magnitude of my privilege in life simply comes crashing over me, leaving me breathless.

The first time I remember it happening was on Semester at Sea, that incredible 100-day voyage that drop kicked me out of my comfort zone and opened my eyes to the huge, beautiful, heartbreaking, incredible, unfair, awesome world we live in. One of my favorite quotes from Larry Meredith's farewell speech was: "Voyages are no guarantee of new vision. But, just for a moment, when the usual cultural cues are missing or rearranged, when the full force of liberal education is pressed up against our prejudices, when what we are seeing no longer matches what we are feeling...transformation may be possible."

And transformation is what happened.

I can divide my life, and with it my hopes and aspirations and dreams and measures of satisfaction, neatly into "before SAS" and "after SAS." Quite simply it changed everything. And, perhaps, one of the biggest changes, was in my ability to recognize my life and my privilege for what it was: absolutely incredible. I have done and seen more in my 27.5 years than many people could dare to hope to in their entire life, and I really do try to take time to remember and appreciate that. Fairly frequently I stop to just take a moment to appreciate the moment I'm living and the steps and stumbles in my life that led me to that point.

Last weekend, our trip to the coast was basically one gigantic reminder of what an absurdly amazing life I lead. It was absolutely the best beach vacation I've ever taken, and probably overall the best vacation I've ever had. And all that in just three days!

A couple of months ago I met the lovely Jess (through Chris and Elaine, no surprise) and she's just the greatest. She reminds me of a mixture of Renee and Shannon, two of my favorite people in the world, and I just knew we'd be fast friends. Then she admitted that she had internet stalked me before we met and the rest is history, haha. In celebration of her birthday, she organized an incredible trip and I JUMPED at the opportunity to join. I think when most people think of Kenya, their mind immediately jumps to savannahs and elephants/lions/rhinos/etc, and rarely to the hundreds of kilometers of gorgeous coastline along the Indian Ocean. I'll tell you what...the coast is not to be missed.

Chris, Clayton and I took Friday off, and headed to the airport straight from work on Thursday. We met Michael (Jess and Ben's roommate) while waiting for our flight in the tiny domestic terminal at Kenyatta Airport. Fly540 is basically an East African Southwest/JetBlue so our tickets were only about $160 round trip. The flight was just about 50 minutes long, and we got biscuits, coffee/tea/juice, and time to peruse the pretty hilarious Fly540 inflight magazine. Once we landed we met up with Andrew, a short-term Nairobi resident who was introduced to Chris through a friend. We busted out some games, and killed the hour between our flight landing, and the flight with the rest of our friends on board. Eventually, Jess, her boyfriend Ben, and Kelly (Michael's girlfriend who flew in from Rwanda for the weekend) arrived and we were ready to go. Thanks to Nairobi Expat Social, I had been connected with a driver who worked on the coast who brought his safari van out to pick us all up in one go. 

Watamu, where we were staying, is about 115km (72mi) north of Mombasa. If you look at the map above, Watamu is basically at the first little notch out of the coastline under Malindi. Since the vast majority of the trip takes place on small, unlit, country roads (albeit with WAY better paving than we had any right to expect) it took us just over two hours to actually make it to the Watamu Treehouse. After turning off the main strip in Watamu, you have to take a little road through the woods which looks pretty much exactly like the opening credits to a horror movie, but it is SO worth it.

This place. Dude. There are no words. It is absolutely a piece of art. The complex consists of two towers, connected by a sky bridge about 30 feet off the ground. They were conceived/designed by Nani Croze, a German-born artist and conservationist who helped found Kitengela Glass, and other artisans. When we unloaded from the van, groggy after our sleepy van ride, we were greeted by an askari (security guard) armed to the teeth with...a bow and arrow? Random. I guess it made me feel safer?

The first half hour or so was spent just wandering around the house, mouths agape, as we climbed endless flights of crazy staircases, marveled at the beautiful stained glass (including a single window composed of blues, greens, and yellows that goes up THREE stories), and called dibs on various beds. There are four rooms, each outfitted with a huge California King sized bed, as well as a rooftop bed in its own little covered nook.  After some initial exploring of the house, Jess, Ben, Michael, Kelly, Andrew, and I headed off in search of the beach. The house is about a 7-minute walk down a little jungle path, which was...fun?...in the pitch black. Thankfully, I had brought a flashlight and Andrew and Kelly each had a headlamp. Totally useful. While walking down the path, the trees start to fall away and the sounds of the ocean get louder. The dirt turns to soft, fine sand, and all of a sudden, you're face to face with the black expanse of the Indian Ocean. 

Nothing makes me feel quite so small, or quite so calm, as the ocean. We each pulled up a patch of sand and hung out for a while, breathing in the warm sea air and looking at the smattering of stars that peeked out from behind clouds. After a bit I headed back up to the house alone. (Note to self: Do not stop halfway back to the house, in the middle of the woods, and turn off your flashlight "just to see how dark it is." Its dark. And there are sounds. And you watch too many horror movies. Trust me.) Clayton had a bunch of work to do over the weekend and I was in he and Chris's room until about 3:00am that night finishing stuff I needed to do for work as well. I fell asleep, swathed in mosquito netting, to the sound of waves and monkeys.

One of the interesting things about the Treehouse is that there are no windows, only frames that overlook ocean, forest, and coconut plantations. Around 7:00am the sun (and sound of birds and monkeys) drew me out of bed and I made my way from the lizard tower over to the main tower, where our house help was setting up for breakfast. I walked around taking pictures of the incredible architecture as I waited for the other sleepy members of our party to emerge.

The bridge connecting our tower and the main tower was, in fact, firm.

Stained glass!

Only slightly terrifying. These were hidden all over the place.

Stairs going up into the main tower.

The bottom of our tower.

Stained glass from the outside.

Jungle pathway to the beach.

Oh, you know, just another creepy statue with a glass face.

Ok, I freely admit that this one was kind of cool.

Looking towards our tower from the main tower.

Nope, terrifying.

Looking back towards the main tower from our tower.

Princess bed. The teensie steps on the left go up to Andrew's loft room.

Pretty mosaics.

View of our tower from the rooftop. 

Gorgeous.

The steps were basically out of Dr. Seuss. 

Ocean cut out.

Chris and Clayton's room. Incredible.

View from their bed.

More crazy stairs.

The common room/dining room/lounge area.

Main tower with early morning sunlight.

I really love stained glass.

So this three story window was kind of my jam.

Main floor of the main tower.

Oh, you know, just a giant eye-shaped stained glass window in the bathroom.

I demand that all future bathrooms have windows this fun.

How about a dragon creepster holding on to your shower?

Sunny daaaay!

Just beautiful.

These stairs basically beg for someone to fall down them.

Can't imagine a better place to eat breakfast.

Did I mention a THREE STORY STAINED GLASS WINDOW?!

Cause it was incredible. 

The house comes with a cook (we had the incredible William), a house boy (awesome Sammy who treated us so well), and a housekeeper (the lovely Winnie). You can choose to bring your own food or have them shop for you. Jess made a list beforehand and had them shop and stock some essentials, and then they basically just went out each day to get the stuff we needed for that day's meals. The food was incredible. Everything was super fresh and made to order. Breakfasts were made up of scrambled and sunny side up eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and fresh fruits. Lunches...my lord..incredible. Friday we had toasted cheese sandwiches with bacon and tomatoes, salad, and fruit salad (with only the best and most amazing fruits included: mango, pineapple, apples, passion fruit, and a touch of papaya). Saturday was sandwiches and sides again, while Sunday was prawn salad with avocados and carrots, and a SIX KILO (13+ pound) red snapper. It was the largest fish I've ever eaten. Dinners were also mind-blowing. Friday we had fresh-caught fried calamari and delicious crabs (made better, like anything would be, with the addition of Old Bay that Jess brought because she's a mid-Atlantic girl at heart, just like me!) with home made french fries and salads. Saturday we ate some of the biggest prawns I've ever seen (they were monstrous) and fresh fish and delicious curried veggies. GAH it was incredible. I didn't eat a single thing the entire weekend that I didn't like.

Ready for dinner!
Andrew, Chris, Kelly, Michael, Ben, Jess, Me, Clayton
(Photo credit: Andrew/Sammy)

Jess and Ben are ready to ruuuuuuummmmbllllleeeeeee.
(Photo credit: Kelly)

They were basically the size of kittens.
(Photo credit: Andrew)

Family dinner!
Michael, Ben, Jess, Me, Clayton, Kelly, Chris (stuffing his face), Eliza, Andrew
(Photo credit: Eliza)

Winnie knows the way to our hearts. Food.
(Photo credit: Eliza)

Out. Of. Con. Trol.
(Photo credit: Eliza)

Also, it had crazy teeth and a tongue like a human. Too much.
(Photo credit: Eliza)

Friday was stunning. It was about 86*F and sunny, with constant cooling breezes coming off the ocean, so you never got overheated. We walked down to the beach after breakfast, and spent the morning there. The water was clear and warm, or as Andrew described it, "You walk in the shallows and it is like bath water. Then you walk out a little deeper and it becomes...slightly cooler bath water." As I said before, the sad was really fine and white, with some seaweed debris, but not a lot. The difference in beach size between high and low tide is MASSIVE. In the water, there are patches of seaweed, but you can get around them easily. The water is turquoise, blue, and green, depending on the depth and bottom conditions. Incredible. I ended up texting Eliza that we had a spot open (a couple was unable to come, but we had paid extra for their spots already) and convinced her to rashly book a flight out to join us for the weekend. Totes worth it.

Perfect.

After spending a few hours cooking in the sun (and about 3 hours bobbing in the water) we walked back up to the house for lunch and a nap. Then it was time to head back to the beach, lounge on the many built-in couches in main tower, play games, and generally just feel your stress melting away (except for Clayton who was working during all of this...wonk WONK). Mid-afternoon the power went out, which didn't crimp anyone's style except for Clayton who needed to use his computer to finish up his work. We played Settlers of Catan until it got too difficult to see the cards. At that point we scrapped the game, grabbed some (quickly warming) drinks, and headed up to the rooftop to watch the sunset. Amazing. After stuffing our faces with crab and calamari, we headed back to the roof where we were treated to a (no exaggeration) breath-taking view of the stars.

Laughing and loving the view.
(Photo credit: Andrew)

Yeah, pretty much suns it up, hahahah.
(Photo credit: Ben)

Gorgeous sunset.

Amazing ending to a great day.

Ignore the crazy wind/sea hair!
Chris, Andrew, Kelly, Clayton, Jess, Ben, Me

Fading light over the ocean.

I've seen lots of incredible sights in my life, and taken a just a ton of pictures. But some of my favorite memories are centered on moments that are impossible to capture on film/memory card. Truly seeing the stars for the first time in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when they shut off all the lights on the MV Explorer. Checking out the firefly colonies along the banks of the river in Kuala Selangor....these are memories that I cherish all the more because I don't have photos of them. The hours we spent star gazing from the roof of our treehouse in Watamu join the ranks of one of the most uniquely beautiful, memorable, and impossible to photograph times of my life.  Just the sound of the ocean, and thousands upon thousands of stars sprinkled all over the sky. I even convinced Clayton to leave his computer for a few minutes to appreciate the insane life we lead. It was perfect. Eventually, Kelly pulled out her iPad and used an app called Star Walk, which was absolutely AWESOME. You basically point your iPad at a section of sky and it shows you the names of all the stars/planets/constellations you see. It was VERY cool. 

A little while later, some people headed down to the beach to stargaze there, and I did some reading while waiting for Eliza to arrive from the airport. She got in around 11:30pm, ate the food we had saved for her, and everyone headed to bed soon after.

Once again, I was up soon after the sun on Saturday, but didn't really mind it. Saturday was overcast, but still warm, so we decided to head down to the beach after lunch. Once we got there and saw the BLACK clouds rolling in from the ocean I slightly regretted my decision. We got about 30 minutes before the downpours started and we headed back up to the house to shower and play games. After a quick break for a PHENOMENAL lunch, there was more game playing, reading and relaxation. Sunset drinks on the roof, dinner, more games...you just can't go wrong. I ended up crashing early, and did not regret a second of it.

Maybe not exactly beach weather...

Chris was adamant that a sand castle be built. DAMN THE WEATHER.

Until it started to pour and we all fled.

More games? Don't mind if we do.
(Photo credit: Eliza)

Rain cleared up in time for another beautiful sunset.

Which, thankfully, Eliza was there to enjoy this time!

Ugh, I love.

Last rays.

Sunday morning had some pretty crazy weather in the beginning: sun, rain, concurrent sun and torrential downpouds, clouds, but it cleared up after breakfast and we were able to head back down to the beach to cook some more. Clayton and Chris built an insane sand pit throne. Ben tried hunting with a spear. You know...the yooj.

Views of the ocean from the roof.
(Photo credit: Kelly)

I want to go to there.
(Photo credit: Kelly)

Time to hit the beach!
(Photo credit: Andrew)

Clayton and Chris getting down to the basics of sand throne building.

Amazing.
(Photo credit: Eliza)

And now Clayton takes over the throne, haha.
(Photo credit: Chris)

Do we REALLY have to leave today?!?
(Photo credit: Andrew)

I love everything about this photo. Chris in the sand throne. Clayton having just speared a coconut. Its phenomenal.
(Photo credit: Andrew)

We eventually made our way back up to the house for a delicious last meal and a look around the Kitengela shop before it was time to pile back into the safari van for the 2 hour ride back to Mombasa. And as we sped along, with the day turning tonight, all I could do was take a beat to appreciate this life of incredible privilege, and the amazing people I get to share it with.