Hello, crew! Lets start Mackin' in Kenya!
While preparing to and living in the costal village of Malindi, Kenya as a short term missionary under SIM, I plan on updating this space with any sort of musings, processings and stories. I have yet to learn how accessible email will be. However, keeping this blog going seems to be a great way to get the story of Kenya and Ellie 'out there'. So...lets giddyup!
In attempt to grasp the Malindi I will be encountering, I did a little digging into the village's past. Just incase you missed the AP World History course on Malindi, Kenya, here is a refresher on the major influences on the Eastern coast of Kenya.
Funfacts about those who have gone before me to Malindi*:
*paraphrased from several Wikipedia pages, http://www.justkenya.org/kenya/malindi/malindi-history.asp, and http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=08®ion=afa#/Key-Events
While preparing to and living in the costal village of Malindi, Kenya as a short term missionary under SIM, I plan on updating this space with any sort of musings, processings and stories. I have yet to learn how accessible email will be. However, keeping this blog going seems to be a great way to get the story of Kenya and Ellie 'out there'. So...lets giddyup!
In attempt to grasp the Malindi I will be encountering, I did a little digging into the village's past. Just incase you missed the AP World History course on Malindi, Kenya, here is a refresher on the major influences on the Eastern coast of Kenya.
Funfacts about those who have gone before me to Malindi*:
- 700s-800s- Arab traders mobilize Islam down the Eastern coast of Africa
- 1300s- Swahili village of Malindi is recognized as an international, sophisticated trading port
- A Swahili-Arab subculture pervades the port
- 1414- Chinese, led by the "tiger walking" Zheng He, arrive in Malindi!
- made land during an exhibition commissioned by the Ming Dynasty in pursuit of the Jianwen Emperor, the escaped predecessor .
- In a relatively diplomatic exchange the Chinese traded fine porcelain and gold for a Giraffe, thought to be a deity-ohh lala!
- 1498- April 15th, Vasco da Gama, the first explorer to reach India by sea, is welcomed by the Sultan of Malindi; the Portuguese center of influence on Eastern Africa is born.
- Vasco da Gama is a member of St. James of the Sword, Catholic militaristic mission organization affirmed by Pope Alexander III
- 1500s- Malindi becomes a major supply station for the Portuguese
- 1666- Oromo people take over Malindi. Arab traders and Portugese influence localizes in Mumbasa, 120 Km south.
- 1670s-mid 1800s- Malindi nearly ceases to exist due to skirmishes between the Oromo, Masai and Somali people in the region
- 1861- Sultan of Zanzibar reestablishes Malindi!!!woooWOOOOO
- 1920s and 1930s- Malindi becomes a tourist destination for Europeans:) Hola, Dobry den, Ciao, Guttentag, Hei, Bonjour, Goddag, Ola, Hallo:)
- Ernest Hemmingway gets his kicks by wrangling marlin, sailfish and wahoo while staying the village
- 1960s-2013- popular tourist destination for several western European countries, but most popular with the ITALIANS!
*paraphrased from several Wikipedia pages, http://www.justkenya.org/kenya/malindi/malindi-history.asp, and http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=08®ion=afa#/Key-Events
