Myself and a few others decided to check out a baptist church in the area! I was the only one from our compound, so I met the others around 10:15 am and we grabbed a sketchy cab to the 10:30 service! I was worried about how they would receive us (we've seen a few cases of racism since arriving) but I was pleasantly surprised! We got there a few minutes early and were greeted with smiles and "karibu!" (=welcome!). I was so energized the second I walked in! There was background soulful music playing before the service and people were flocking into the chapel! After the formal welcome and prayer they broke into dance and song! And I was sooooo excited when the first song was "Trading my Sorrows" and I knew every word and sang it like I meant it (just like everyone else)! haha A song in swahili came next and I tried my darn'dest to pronounce every syllable (the words were posted in the bulletin) but struggled a bit. It was neat to see every person genuinely inspired; even the little kids seemed to be having a blast and participating in the service!
An interesting part was a prayer tucked somewhere in the service, lasting HONESTLY over 15 minutes. I wish I could claim to have stayed attentive the entire time but it got a slight bit repetitive, yet the individual giving the prayer was sooo enthusiastic! Not a single word spoken during the service was without energy, everything was with a rejuvenated spirit! It was refreshing (and reminded me of Mount Caramel!) :)
Then they gave a formal invitation to all the visitors -even as far as passing around a microphone so we could give our names and where we were from! Normally, I might have felt a little uncomfortable with this, but I really appreciated it in this setting! For the first time I really WAS a foreigner and I really DID feel out of my element, so to know that they appreciated our presence was so powerful!
The sermon was wonderful and actually done by a visiting pastor from Chicago (but who lives in Nairobi now)! After the service ended we were on our way shuttling out of the chapel when some people snagged us and wanted to invite us to tea or juice. We didn't want to be rude so we sat down and chatted with a few Kenyans (although, my weary stomach avoided any foreign beverage).
The rest of the crew from my compound had gone to explore a local market in Mombasa and I had hoped to catch a tuktuk so I could meet up with them. First I had to stop at a nearby development with banks/atms because I had some problems getting money off of my debit card (which has been a frightening headache!) The casinos actually have the best exchange rates, so I stepped in there to see if they would be able to give my useable currency (none of the atms have worked yet). As I was waiting at the counter, an intense wave of sickly uncomfort spread upon me and I abruptly asked for my card back and rushed for a tuktuk back to our compound (a distance normally walkable).
I took a couple hour nap and woke up feeling still a little off kilter. The crew had all decided to go get dinner at a restaurant nearby. I initially decided that I should lay low and try to recoup as fast as possible, but I was convinced to give it a try. I was really glad I did and was happy to see some familiar types of food (and managed to stomach two pieces of pizza!) We had a great time and the restaurant was RIGHT up next to the ocean. When we returned back home it was a different story and that pizza began to not sit so well with me. So I put my good sleeping skills to work and hopped into bed.
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