A few of my favorite things...

This weekend I decided to head into town and take pictures of some of my favorite things in Mombasa. Here's a sample...

Alleys upon alleys of shops at the market. It's a shopper's heaven...just don't take a wrong turn.

Fresh produce. Sweet potatoes and bananas and green oranges. Oh my!

You know that line in the movie Sense & Sensibility (the version with Emma Thompson) when Colonel Branden says (with that fabulous voice of his) of India, "The air is full of spices." Well, that's true of Mombasa, too.

When billboards just aren't enough...

I also stopped by the butchers. I don't think they get many visitors because they got quite excited when I wandered in...and stayed. Where other shop owners pressed me to buy things these guys were just excited to show me what they had been chopping up. As a result, I got to see a whole goat carcass, a half goat carcass, a goat head, some goat feet and a goat stomach. Yum. One butcher didn't want me to take a picture of him unless I was in it. So I (crazily) entrusted my camera to one of the guys. They were all very excited to see me walk around behind the counter and hold a sticky (yes, with blood) knife over a pile of goat heads. I had to suspend all concerns I've ever had about sanitation (and there are many) to smile for the camera. The sad thing is that the nice man who took the picture didn't really know how to use it so I ended up with a blur of colors. Oh well, I think the mental images will stay with me forever. Here's one of the guys holding some cow feet. You can see intestines hanging in the back.


Today I went to visit the Mombasa branch. I'm technically within their boundaries and should have been going there all along. I saw Kenneth (the previous Changamwe branch president) and his wife, Caroline. It was SO good to see them. After church Louis invited me to their house in Diani for dinner. We had yummy spaghetti and chocolate cake. I didn't realize how much I missed cake. Before heading back I went down and took a walk on the beach. Oh how I love the Indian ocean! The pictures certainly don't do it justice but here are a couple of them anyway. The second pic is the back of the Pope's house. Beautiful, eh? The weekend really could not have been better.