Day 86 (11/28)
Today was another write-up day, so the majority was spent working on the papers, I got my results section done, but there is still so much to do. It was more or less a calm day. Last night, our camp sheep were outside the banda next to us and then all of a sudden they started sneezing/coughing and they will sit outside their door so you can’t open it, which is pretty funny.
As soon as the sun went down today there were swarms of termites in the chumba. Literally thousands all circling all around the lights, from the ceiling to the floor. It was the nastiest thing I’ve ever seen. We stayed away from the lights, and then after a while they started to drop their wings crawl around. So not only are they all over the floor now, their stupid little wings are lying around all creepy and gross. I had no idea that’s what termites even looked like. We all ate outside, in the dark, eventually they just went away but it was unbelievable.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Things I’m thankful for:
Family/friends supporting me
SFS Friends
Getting to travel after the program ends
This unique experience of studying abroad with SFS
The rain that is bringing new life to Kenya
Having awesome banda mates, and the uni-bed (all three beds pushed together for easy late night conversations, the mosquito nets separating us)
Having this opportunity to (semi) learn a new language, and experience a whole new culture
Having an unbelievably wonderful staff at camp who do whatever they can to make us feel at home, and always willing to talk to us and I love talking to them every day and learning more about them…I will miss them a lot
Being healthy
The internet, while in Kenya so that I can communicate with everyone
Clean water to drink, and awesome food to eat
Today, we played Frisbee for so long. I taught Abdi (one of the staff members) how to throw the Frisbee a certain way. He was pretty terrible at it but it was hilarious, I laughed the entire time he was playing with us. But I have to say, he can catch the Frisbee like no other, and he just jumps so high. And since the grass has begun to grow, the field has gotten less and less dusty so you don’t turn 5 shades darker when you play on the field.
And for dinner we had Taco Night again, it was so good. Quite a bit different from a real Thanksgiving dinner but can’t complain because it was so delicious.
Family/friends supporting me
SFS Friends
Getting to travel after the program ends
This unique experience of studying abroad with SFS
The rain that is bringing new life to Kenya
Having awesome banda mates, and the uni-bed (all three beds pushed together for easy late night conversations, the mosquito nets separating us)
Having this opportunity to (semi) learn a new language, and experience a whole new culture
Having an unbelievably wonderful staff at camp who do whatever they can to make us feel at home, and always willing to talk to us and I love talking to them every day and learning more about them…I will miss them a lot
Being healthy
The internet, while in Kenya so that I can communicate with everyone
Clean water to drink, and awesome food to eat
Today, we played Frisbee for so long. I taught Abdi (one of the staff members) how to throw the Frisbee a certain way. He was pretty terrible at it but it was hilarious, I laughed the entire time he was playing with us. But I have to say, he can catch the Frisbee like no other, and he just jumps so high. And since the grass has begun to grow, the field has gotten less and less dusty so you don’t turn 5 shades darker when you play on the field.
And for dinner we had Taco Night again, it was so good. Quite a bit different from a real Thanksgiving dinner but can’t complain because it was so delicious.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
7am...prime time for big hairy spiders
Day 82 (11/25)
This morning, around 7AM all 3 of us (Tiffany, Pal, and I) woke up to Lia yelling to Cecily “Get out of the banda, go through the back door.” They are 2 bandas down from us, and you can hear everything in the banda area, we didn’t know exactly what was going on but we knew something was in their banda.
Within about 3 seconds, we had ripped our mosquito nets from beneath the mattress, jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. All three of us peered around the corner and asked what was going on. Someone told us it was a huge spider…we all thought a monkey went into their banda, or a black mamba, or something.
Turns out Lia reached for her towel, and the spider must have been on the towel and it bit her. She said she could feel it’s fangs going through her skin…gross. She was fine, she got Benedryl and her hand was a little swollen but nothing too bad.
So, within a minute one of the staff members (Kioko, the center manager) came back carrying a walking stick. Meanwhile…Cecily was in her bed, in her mosquito net watching where the spider was going.
Kioko killed it, and the thing was huge, its abdomen had to be a couple inches long, and hairy with long legs. At breakfast, I was joking with him about it being a good start to the morning, and he said “a good start to the morning?! I’m a murder! What if Jesus was there?” It was really cute, and unexpected because they have to kill things that come into camp all the time.
The last two days we’ve been doing analysis of the data that we collected. Since our group had mostly interviews we’ve been putting it into a software (SPSS) which basically will compare everything, make charts, and more or less do whatever you need to compare results. And we’ve been working with a GIS software which works with the GPS points to make a map of where certain things are.
For the majority of the day we had meetings with Tome (the Professor in charge of our directed research aka DR) to discuss how we would use our data and deadlines on papers and whatnot.
Its continued to rain, off and on, literally the sky will be blue, and less than 50 feet away its pouring and the clouds are dark and gloomy. But this morning, it occurred to me that things have been getting exponentially growing and becoming more green overnight. It’s exciting to see areas that looked like they could never support any growth to areas that are healthy and blooming.
This morning, around 7AM all 3 of us (Tiffany, Pal, and I) woke up to Lia yelling to Cecily “Get out of the banda, go through the back door.” They are 2 bandas down from us, and you can hear everything in the banda area, we didn’t know exactly what was going on but we knew something was in their banda.
Within about 3 seconds, we had ripped our mosquito nets from beneath the mattress, jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. All three of us peered around the corner and asked what was going on. Someone told us it was a huge spider…we all thought a monkey went into their banda, or a black mamba, or something.
Turns out Lia reached for her towel, and the spider must have been on the towel and it bit her. She said she could feel it’s fangs going through her skin…gross. She was fine, she got Benedryl and her hand was a little swollen but nothing too bad.
So, within a minute one of the staff members (Kioko, the center manager) came back carrying a walking stick. Meanwhile…Cecily was in her bed, in her mosquito net watching where the spider was going.
Kioko killed it, and the thing was huge, its abdomen had to be a couple inches long, and hairy with long legs. At breakfast, I was joking with him about it being a good start to the morning, and he said “a good start to the morning?! I’m a murder! What if Jesus was there?” It was really cute, and unexpected because they have to kill things that come into camp all the time.
The last two days we’ve been doing analysis of the data that we collected. Since our group had mostly interviews we’ve been putting it into a software (SPSS) which basically will compare everything, make charts, and more or less do whatever you need to compare results. And we’ve been working with a GIS software which works with the GPS points to make a map of where certain things are.
For the majority of the day we had meetings with Tome (the Professor in charge of our directed research aka DR) to discuss how we would use our data and deadlines on papers and whatnot.
Its continued to rain, off and on, literally the sky will be blue, and less than 50 feet away its pouring and the clouds are dark and gloomy. But this morning, it occurred to me that things have been getting exponentially growing and becoming more green overnight. It’s exciting to see areas that looked like they could never support any growth to areas that are healthy and blooming.
Monday, November 23, 2009
i've never been happier to see an old man from massachusetts
11/23
Non-program day, we went to Loitokitok, but it was a non-market day so there wasn’t quite as much going on as usual. We went to the VCT (AIDs testing center that has a shop where people in the AIDs support group make things to help support themselves) again to check out their shop, and then walked around Loitokitok.
We happened across this hilarious mzungo (white person) named Nick from Norfolk, MA. Who has been living in Kenya for years, and we were just walking through this street, and all of a sudden we hear “wazungo (toursists), you are supposed to come over here and say hi to me!” So we stopped, laughed and went over to this man, drinking chai infront of a hardware store. He was very funny, and had something to say about everyone’s home state. It was shocking to see him, and he only had one leg too because he lost the other one to gangrene a few years ago! And then he told us about his "ugly kenyan wife", but he was just joking, he actually said she was the most beautiful person hes ever seen...he married her (twice haha).
We also saw the new peace corps volunteers that were staying in Loitokitok. They’ve only been here a few weeks, and I think they were a little shocked to see huge a big group of Americans in Kenya, most were pretty nice and stopped to talk to us.
The difference between attitudes in amazing. Everyone in Kenya waves, all the time. And seeing Americans not wave to us was strange, and I couldn’t help but think they were just rude. But in America no one stops to talk unless you know the other person, and it would be weird to wave to everyone. I can already tell that being home is going to get a lot of getting used to again.
Non-program day, we went to Loitokitok, but it was a non-market day so there wasn’t quite as much going on as usual. We went to the VCT (AIDs testing center that has a shop where people in the AIDs support group make things to help support themselves) again to check out their shop, and then walked around Loitokitok.
We happened across this hilarious mzungo (white person) named Nick from Norfolk, MA. Who has been living in Kenya for years, and we were just walking through this street, and all of a sudden we hear “wazungo (toursists), you are supposed to come over here and say hi to me!” So we stopped, laughed and went over to this man, drinking chai infront of a hardware store. He was very funny, and had something to say about everyone’s home state. It was shocking to see him, and he only had one leg too because he lost the other one to gangrene a few years ago! And then he told us about his "ugly kenyan wife", but he was just joking, he actually said she was the most beautiful person hes ever seen...he married her (twice haha).
We also saw the new peace corps volunteers that were staying in Loitokitok. They’ve only been here a few weeks, and I think they were a little shocked to see huge a big group of Americans in Kenya, most were pretty nice and stopped to talk to us.
The difference between attitudes in amazing. Everyone in Kenya waves, all the time. And seeing Americans not wave to us was strange, and I couldn’t help but think they were just rude. But in America no one stops to talk unless you know the other person, and it would be weird to wave to everyone. I can already tell that being home is going to get a lot of getting used to again.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
I'll be back on the 20th of December
As I'm posting this, I can hear local women celebrating something nearby in a Boma. I think it must be a birth or another type of big ceremony. Its really nice to be so close to the locals to be able to hear them when exciting things happen.
11/17
5th day of DR…went on the road to Tsavo, about an hour drive away, had Simon as my guide. I enjoyed it a lot. We switched e-mails and he wants me to send him postcards and things to let him know how he is doing and stuff like that, cute.
We finished by 11:30, had lunch. Then went to the community center, and waited for Sapaya for 40 minutes. There was a nice young man who spoke English, and most people did say hi to us. There was a drunk person singing the oddest little jig-like song but he was just walkin through town, and we hung out on a porch until Sapaya came to get us.
In the car as we were waiting for the other group to finish, we discussed Sapaya starting a roast meat place in America (I told him we didn’t really eat goat, so he wanted to start his own business). So the plan is for him to go in my suitcase, and we will write “strictly, do not open, and put on top of the rest of the luggage” and we will cut air holes in it, and that way he can breathe and tell when they are about to throw it he can jump so its easier. And they way if he’s on top of the luggage he won’t get squished either. It was hilarious, he knew it was rediculous but he made it sound so possible.
On the drive back, it rained and the roads were completely washed out and there was a river on the side of the road. I couldn’t believe how fast it washed out and how terrible the road became.
11/18
6th day of DR…it rained all night. The camp wasn’t too flooded but as soon as we woke up there was talk of how flooded the roads were and it might be difficult to get out to the sampling area. But everyone got ready as usual and we heard that Shem and Judy got stuck on their way to Nairobi for their days off, and Ngala and Martin got stuck trying to get KWS guards and guides. But we went out with Sapaya at 7 am.
We saw Simon, and Edson on the way in another car with Ngala, and we picked them up. And got Pastor Peter in Kimana. I was also in the front seat so the ride wasn’t too bad (it gets really bumpy the farther back you are.) Sapaya was funny, thinking that I was scared we would get stuck and things like that. At times we were going sideways, and it was funny as long as we kept moving forward. Good thing the tar roads are coming soon, for the main road in town, but the side roads will still be very bad. The soil just washes away so fast that the roads don't stay nice for more than one good rainy night.
We finally got to the first spot and I got out with Pastor Peter, who is very nice…I like him a lot and the first man we interviewed had to leave to go get his cattle. The bomas were pretty far apart and it gets SO hot in the sun that you don't even want to be in the sun for any longer then you have to be.
Not many people wanted to talk to us either…the Mbirikani clinic was doing interviews a couple days before and they were writing down false answers and taking ID cards which people didn’t like, so some people didn’t want to be interviewed. It was only until later did we realise what had happened, and then we had to explain to people that we were from a different place, and there to help them.
We also happened upon a group of men chillin under a tree, which is basically what men do here. It was pretty funny because they all had watches, none of them said the same time as the others and none were the correct time. But at least they had them ha.
We drove back and it wasn’t too bad on the way back. The same people we saw in the morning (stuck in the mud on their way to chyulu) were still there with one goat, and a large truck, drinking chai out of plastic bags and milk cups.
11/19
Non Program day…we celebrated thanksgiving today. We slept in til 9. Which was fantastic. There was a turkey trot at 9:15, Chris and I went down by the southern part of camp (by the stream) where it’s a lot more slippery after it rains. We went down there to watch people slip because it had been raining. No one fell but it came pretty close.
Brunch was at 10, we had omlets and cinnamon buns.
My mama came to thanksgiving, and so did quite a few of them. Along with some morans and a couple guides. There really isn’t anything to communicate, so I sat with her for a bit and played with her baby. Her husband is Kinyokou (who is a staff member at camp)
Then we started a slide show and they loved it. Everyone complied pictures from their home stays and animal pictures, which really entertained them for about 1.5 hours because they aren't used to seeing themselves in pictures. After we ate dinner and they had to leave to get home before dark.
We found out today that we can stay til the 19th!!!! I’m so so so excited. We are planning to go over to the coast, Mombasa, Lamu, Watamu, possibly Malindi, and Diani Beach. Snorkeling in the Indian Ocean, laying on the beach, boat trips through mangroves, and the only coastal forest in Kenya, Gede ruins.
11/22
The last few days we've been doing a few interviews (people have been coming to the camp, like key informants and people from local NGOs and people like that.) So we have about an hour of interviews and then the rest of the day to ourselves.
Other than that, not too much has been happening. It has been raining nightly. Its been about a week since we've seen our last snake...one went into a Banda (the door was open by accident) but someone saw it go in, so the staff could go and get it (Daniel ended up killing it). It was a spitting cobra, about 2-3 feet long.
We also had a spitting cobra in our fire pit hiding in the leaves. Unfortunately all the snakes found have to be killed because they are all deadly. But after the cobra was found in the fire pit, we burned all the leaves in it. That cobra was pretty big too..around 1-2 feet
There was also a big black momba by the chumba about a week or 2 ago. We watched the askaris (locals who are the camp guards) kill the snake, and it even made them nervous...
11/17
5th day of DR…went on the road to Tsavo, about an hour drive away, had Simon as my guide. I enjoyed it a lot. We switched e-mails and he wants me to send him postcards and things to let him know how he is doing and stuff like that, cute.
We finished by 11:30, had lunch. Then went to the community center, and waited for Sapaya for 40 minutes. There was a nice young man who spoke English, and most people did say hi to us. There was a drunk person singing the oddest little jig-like song but he was just walkin through town, and we hung out on a porch until Sapaya came to get us.
In the car as we were waiting for the other group to finish, we discussed Sapaya starting a roast meat place in America (I told him we didn’t really eat goat, so he wanted to start his own business). So the plan is for him to go in my suitcase, and we will write “strictly, do not open, and put on top of the rest of the luggage” and we will cut air holes in it, and that way he can breathe and tell when they are about to throw it he can jump so its easier. And they way if he’s on top of the luggage he won’t get squished either. It was hilarious, he knew it was rediculous but he made it sound so possible.
On the drive back, it rained and the roads were completely washed out and there was a river on the side of the road. I couldn’t believe how fast it washed out and how terrible the road became.
11/18
6th day of DR…it rained all night. The camp wasn’t too flooded but as soon as we woke up there was talk of how flooded the roads were and it might be difficult to get out to the sampling area. But everyone got ready as usual and we heard that Shem and Judy got stuck on their way to Nairobi for their days off, and Ngala and Martin got stuck trying to get KWS guards and guides. But we went out with Sapaya at 7 am.
We saw Simon, and Edson on the way in another car with Ngala, and we picked them up. And got Pastor Peter in Kimana. I was also in the front seat so the ride wasn’t too bad (it gets really bumpy the farther back you are.) Sapaya was funny, thinking that I was scared we would get stuck and things like that. At times we were going sideways, and it was funny as long as we kept moving forward. Good thing the tar roads are coming soon, for the main road in town, but the side roads will still be very bad. The soil just washes away so fast that the roads don't stay nice for more than one good rainy night.
We finally got to the first spot and I got out with Pastor Peter, who is very nice…I like him a lot and the first man we interviewed had to leave to go get his cattle. The bomas were pretty far apart and it gets SO hot in the sun that you don't even want to be in the sun for any longer then you have to be.
Not many people wanted to talk to us either…the Mbirikani clinic was doing interviews a couple days before and they were writing down false answers and taking ID cards which people didn’t like, so some people didn’t want to be interviewed. It was only until later did we realise what had happened, and then we had to explain to people that we were from a different place, and there to help them.
We also happened upon a group of men chillin under a tree, which is basically what men do here. It was pretty funny because they all had watches, none of them said the same time as the others and none were the correct time. But at least they had them ha.
We drove back and it wasn’t too bad on the way back. The same people we saw in the morning (stuck in the mud on their way to chyulu) were still there with one goat, and a large truck, drinking chai out of plastic bags and milk cups.
11/19
Non Program day…we celebrated thanksgiving today. We slept in til 9. Which was fantastic. There was a turkey trot at 9:15, Chris and I went down by the southern part of camp (by the stream) where it’s a lot more slippery after it rains. We went down there to watch people slip because it had been raining. No one fell but it came pretty close.
Brunch was at 10, we had omlets and cinnamon buns.
My mama came to thanksgiving, and so did quite a few of them. Along with some morans and a couple guides. There really isn’t anything to communicate, so I sat with her for a bit and played with her baby. Her husband is Kinyokou (who is a staff member at camp)
Then we started a slide show and they loved it. Everyone complied pictures from their home stays and animal pictures, which really entertained them for about 1.5 hours because they aren't used to seeing themselves in pictures. After we ate dinner and they had to leave to get home before dark.
We found out today that we can stay til the 19th!!!! I’m so so so excited. We are planning to go over to the coast, Mombasa, Lamu, Watamu, possibly Malindi, and Diani Beach. Snorkeling in the Indian Ocean, laying on the beach, boat trips through mangroves, and the only coastal forest in Kenya, Gede ruins.
11/22
The last few days we've been doing a few interviews (people have been coming to the camp, like key informants and people from local NGOs and people like that.) So we have about an hour of interviews and then the rest of the day to ourselves.
Other than that, not too much has been happening. It has been raining nightly. Its been about a week since we've seen our last snake...one went into a Banda (the door was open by accident) but someone saw it go in, so the staff could go and get it (Daniel ended up killing it). It was a spitting cobra, about 2-3 feet long.
We also had a spitting cobra in our fire pit hiding in the leaves. Unfortunately all the snakes found have to be killed because they are all deadly. But after the cobra was found in the fire pit, we burned all the leaves in it. That cobra was pretty big too..around 1-2 feet
There was also a big black momba by the chumba about a week or 2 ago. We watched the askaris (locals who are the camp guards) kill the snake, and it even made them nervous...
Finally the internet is working well enough to post a blog!
11/13
1st day of directed research (DR) was good. We met with the local guides that we will be working with. Went over all the questions with them to make sure they understood what we needed to ask, and finished with that around 11am. We did 3 interviews because it was the first day, and Kris and I were done at 12:30 and while we were waiting for the other group, we shopped and walked around Kimana, haha. (We all do 10 interviews daily, and go with one guide and us, and every day we go with a different guide, and then one person stays back to do data entry from the day before.)
The questionaire has questions about land use, and how the people feel about their group ranch being subdivided. Basically being community managed to privately managed (where people own their land). And then of course we ask how they think subdivision will effect their lives, wildlife, environment, and livestock. I can explain much more if anyone is interested when I get home.
11/14
2nd day of DR, I was with Edson, the local guide and we went around to the local Bomas by camp. We walked for a long time, we didn't finish til 4, and the other groups were done by 1. But it wasn't too bad, the Bomas were just far away, and some of them had no people so we had to go to the next one. The interviews generally went pretty well. There are always children crowding around you, and the guides have to shoo them away.
Also, women breast feed here for a long, long time, and they are not shy about it at all. Many times, in the middle of the interview, they just start breast feeding and its totally normal. The kids love to watch themselves in my sunglasses, and they love it if I write on them with my pen (not many people have pens here, and they think its awesome that it shows up on their skin.)
And sometimes, the older kids can read and write and occasionally they will read outloud as I'm writing answers. Usually they are really shy and won't speak to me, even in Swahili. Or they will laugh and run away because everyone thinks its funny to hear mzungo (tourists/while people) speak swahili or even english.
11/15
3rd day of DR…I stayed behind to do data entry. It took a few hours to do it all, we have a special program that we enter the data in, and it will analyze it for us. Then I ate lunch with the staff.
I was the only student that stayed behind that day, and when Abdi told me it was lunch time he said "Celena, its lunchhhhh time. But tell the cooks you are here because we eat African food hereee!" He is too funny. The cooks made them a huge pot of beans and corn (generally Africans eat only 1 dish, sometimes 2 at a meal, depending on what it is). And the food that the students get has a lot more options, but also has the staple food that the staff eat too.
11/16
4th day of DR…went with Innocent (a local guide, thats a nick name). We were done by 11:30. And we ended up meeting Daniel's (a staff member) wife, and we interviewed her, and she invited us to her house for lunch. The house was very nice, wooden (instead of cow dung/mud mixture) and had couches and a living room, with a china cabinet, which I've never seen in Kenya. But she made us rice and carrots, which was really cool because we never expected to meet his wife (her name is Diana).
Eariler in the day I watched a little kid pee in a rolley toy, put dirt in it, play in it and put his hands in his mouth…clean.
I forgot to mention that no children wear diapers. And usually the ones under 3 don't wear a shirt or pants either. Girls always wear skirts here, boys always wear pants too...its literally the only way to tell the difference between gender because everyone has shaved heads. Anyway, there are a lot of 1/2 naked children running around, very different from the US, and we've come across a lot of Bomas where the parents leave the children for hours to get water from a stream, or whatever they need to do...also very different from the US.
The drive back was long and dusty but we watched Wall-E when I got back. And hung out for the rest of the afternoon, just like we've done for most of the days since DR started. DR is pretty sweet.
1st day of directed research (DR) was good. We met with the local guides that we will be working with. Went over all the questions with them to make sure they understood what we needed to ask, and finished with that around 11am. We did 3 interviews because it was the first day, and Kris and I were done at 12:30 and while we were waiting for the other group, we shopped and walked around Kimana, haha. (We all do 10 interviews daily, and go with one guide and us, and every day we go with a different guide, and then one person stays back to do data entry from the day before.)
The questionaire has questions about land use, and how the people feel about their group ranch being subdivided. Basically being community managed to privately managed (where people own their land). And then of course we ask how they think subdivision will effect their lives, wildlife, environment, and livestock. I can explain much more if anyone is interested when I get home.
11/14
2nd day of DR, I was with Edson, the local guide and we went around to the local Bomas by camp. We walked for a long time, we didn't finish til 4, and the other groups were done by 1. But it wasn't too bad, the Bomas were just far away, and some of them had no people so we had to go to the next one. The interviews generally went pretty well. There are always children crowding around you, and the guides have to shoo them away.
Also, women breast feed here for a long, long time, and they are not shy about it at all. Many times, in the middle of the interview, they just start breast feeding and its totally normal. The kids love to watch themselves in my sunglasses, and they love it if I write on them with my pen (not many people have pens here, and they think its awesome that it shows up on their skin.)
And sometimes, the older kids can read and write and occasionally they will read outloud as I'm writing answers. Usually they are really shy and won't speak to me, even in Swahili. Or they will laugh and run away because everyone thinks its funny to hear mzungo (tourists/while people) speak swahili or even english.
11/15
3rd day of DR…I stayed behind to do data entry. It took a few hours to do it all, we have a special program that we enter the data in, and it will analyze it for us. Then I ate lunch with the staff.
I was the only student that stayed behind that day, and when Abdi told me it was lunch time he said "Celena, its lunchhhhh time. But tell the cooks you are here because we eat African food hereee!" He is too funny. The cooks made them a huge pot of beans and corn (generally Africans eat only 1 dish, sometimes 2 at a meal, depending on what it is). And the food that the students get has a lot more options, but also has the staple food that the staff eat too.
11/16
4th day of DR…went with Innocent (a local guide, thats a nick name). We were done by 11:30. And we ended up meeting Daniel's (a staff member) wife, and we interviewed her, and she invited us to her house for lunch. The house was very nice, wooden (instead of cow dung/mud mixture) and had couches and a living room, with a china cabinet, which I've never seen in Kenya. But she made us rice and carrots, which was really cool because we never expected to meet his wife (her name is Diana).
Eariler in the day I watched a little kid pee in a rolley toy, put dirt in it, play in it and put his hands in his mouth…clean.
I forgot to mention that no children wear diapers. And usually the ones under 3 don't wear a shirt or pants either. Girls always wear skirts here, boys always wear pants too...its literally the only way to tell the difference between gender because everyone has shaved heads. Anyway, there are a lot of 1/2 naked children running around, very different from the US, and we've come across a lot of Bomas where the parents leave the children for hours to get water from a stream, or whatever they need to do...also very different from the US.
The drive back was long and dusty but we watched Wall-E when I got back. And hung out for the rest of the afternoon, just like we've done for most of the days since DR started. DR is pretty sweet.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wow. Yes that really happened
Day 65 (11/8)
So we are all getting ready for the Directed Research part of the course. There will be lots of reading, writing 40 page papers, and field work. I’m excited.
Day 63 (11/6)
Today was a non-program day, first stop…recycled glass factory. The most amazing place ever. Sculptures everywhere, absolutely fantastic and beautiful. There is no way to describe it except like a dream of a magical world. I wish I could post pictures but the internet it too slow. They made so many things, all hand made and it was crazy. The best part is it is totally environmentally friendly and they only use recycled glass
The place is called kitengela glass factory, this is the website: www.kitengela-glass.com/ . They even ship to the US…check it out.
Next stop…ostrich resort. And it is just what it sounds like. An ostrich farm in resort farm. They have 700 ostriches and some are trained to be ridden. Others are slaughtered to turn into ostrich burgers. It was so awesome. I rode an ostrich, they have these blanket/saddle things on the ostrich and 2 men are holding either side of you, and they sort of hold the ostrich too. There is this round pen, and you get on, go around once and you basically have to go where ever the ostrich goes. They are SO strong, and fast. He started to run in the same spot each time around, and you have to lean really far back so you don’t slide down their necks. But it was a lot of fun!
And…we got ostrich burgers, ostrich tastes like beef. It’s a red meat, the burger almost tasted like meatballs. It was really good.
Day 60 (11/3)
Today I was MOD, so I was responsible for helping the professors if needed, and run RAP, which basically just lets everyone know what goes on for the next day/announcements.
We woke up at 5:45 for cook crew…and then left camp by 7 to get to Hells Gate. There we went to Lake Naivaisha, first stop was at a Kenya Wildlife Service base and we had to walk down the muddiest, slippery trail to get to the lake. A lot of people got there, and had to walk right back because it took them so long.
We got to Hells Gate, and took a tour of the geothermal plant they have there…which was really interesting because its in the middle of the National Park and the ways that they keep it environmentally friendly.
The geography of the park is also really interesting with cliffs everywhere. We really only saw buffalo.
It rained the whole day and it was really interesting trying to game drive and then it would start to pour and we would have to close the hatches, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world, especially while we are moving…you have to basically shift the roof around, that are slabs of metal, and they connect to the roof in different ways.
Day 59 (11/2)
We had a few guest lecturers this morning, and then in the afternoon Arthur (one of our cooks…he is hilarious) gave us a cooking lesson as a group. Then we went on a game drive.
First stop was Baboon cliff…one of the girls put down her Nalgene on a bench and out of nowhere a Baboon ran in-between all us and grabbed her Nalgene and ran down the cliffs. He brushed up against some people and I could have reached down to touch him. About a second after he grabbed it, some of the staff started to sprint with rocks in their hands ready to get him…the whole scene was hilarious and it happened in about 2 seconds.
We drove around, and saw lots of baby zebras, rhinos, buffalo, and everything is so brilliantly green and beautiful. There was also a ton of flamingoes, and marabou storks which are HUGE and sorta creepy with red faces and like 9 foot wingspan. We could walk up to the lake and take pictures which was pretty cool.
On the last part of the game drive we saw a LEOPARD. Officially I have seen the Big 5. Elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, lion…traditionally the 5 hardest animals to kill. It was so cute, just sleeping on a tree branch, got up, looked at us and then went back to sleep. It blended in so well that it was hard to see even when we knew where it was. But they are so magnificent and beautiful that he was breath taking.
We also saw zebras fighting, black-backed jackals tearing apart a carcass.
We brought some staff with us...Ki-Pez is my favorite. He knows very little English but he knows my name, and he says “verrrry good America” for everything, and sometimes wears a cowboy hat to compliment his Maasai outfits. And Fred came with us too…he knows a lot more English and comes up with the funniest stories about lions and elephants.
Day 58 (11/1)
We left for Lake Nakuru, and stopped twice on the way. It was cold and raining so our first stop was an overlook, that we couldn’t see very far out into, and the second stop it was raining so hard we didn’t get out of the car and had a little mini lecture over the car radios haha.
We went through Nairobi, sort of on the outskirts, but we could see a lot of the city, and it’s a lot of large buildings, parks, and it looked like a nice city…except for the level of violence. They have a lot of round-a-bouts, and surprisingly this time there was no traffic.
Cecily played a little boma game that included everyone. The men competed for status, and then they randomly picked wives, the number depended on how they well they did in the competition. And then the wives randomly picked the number of children they would have. And, the family was given cows based on the husband’s status. The whole thing was hilarious. And it got even better when the girls were given “children” made out of tape and sticks…we had to have them with us all day and if Cecily checked and we didn’t have them we would lose them. Also, other wives were allowed to steal them if we left them out. Some “babies” got stolen, and the wives also had a little contest…we leg wrestled haha, I can’t even describe it.
Lake Nakuru’s base had Baboons and Vervets crawling all over it and the Baboons all had babies. So adorable but some were HUGE and a little scary but they were more or less harmless.
We stayed at a “hostel” which was actually a campsite. With a kitchen, running water, electricity (except when there was a country wide black out…twice within 3 days). And of course the trash pit had a troop of huge Baboons.
Long story short my family ended up losing the Boma game.
So we are all getting ready for the Directed Research part of the course. There will be lots of reading, writing 40 page papers, and field work. I’m excited.
Day 63 (11/6)
Today was a non-program day, first stop…recycled glass factory. The most amazing place ever. Sculptures everywhere, absolutely fantastic and beautiful. There is no way to describe it except like a dream of a magical world. I wish I could post pictures but the internet it too slow. They made so many things, all hand made and it was crazy. The best part is it is totally environmentally friendly and they only use recycled glass
The place is called kitengela glass factory, this is the website: www.kitengela-glass.com/ . They even ship to the US…check it out.
Next stop…ostrich resort. And it is just what it sounds like. An ostrich farm in resort farm. They have 700 ostriches and some are trained to be ridden. Others are slaughtered to turn into ostrich burgers. It was so awesome. I rode an ostrich, they have these blanket/saddle things on the ostrich and 2 men are holding either side of you, and they sort of hold the ostrich too. There is this round pen, and you get on, go around once and you basically have to go where ever the ostrich goes. They are SO strong, and fast. He started to run in the same spot each time around, and you have to lean really far back so you don’t slide down their necks. But it was a lot of fun!
And…we got ostrich burgers, ostrich tastes like beef. It’s a red meat, the burger almost tasted like meatballs. It was really good.
Day 60 (11/3)
Today I was MOD, so I was responsible for helping the professors if needed, and run RAP, which basically just lets everyone know what goes on for the next day/announcements.
We woke up at 5:45 for cook crew…and then left camp by 7 to get to Hells Gate. There we went to Lake Naivaisha, first stop was at a Kenya Wildlife Service base and we had to walk down the muddiest, slippery trail to get to the lake. A lot of people got there, and had to walk right back because it took them so long.
We got to Hells Gate, and took a tour of the geothermal plant they have there…which was really interesting because its in the middle of the National Park and the ways that they keep it environmentally friendly.
The geography of the park is also really interesting with cliffs everywhere. We really only saw buffalo.
It rained the whole day and it was really interesting trying to game drive and then it would start to pour and we would have to close the hatches, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world, especially while we are moving…you have to basically shift the roof around, that are slabs of metal, and they connect to the roof in different ways.
Day 59 (11/2)
We had a few guest lecturers this morning, and then in the afternoon Arthur (one of our cooks…he is hilarious) gave us a cooking lesson as a group. Then we went on a game drive.
First stop was Baboon cliff…one of the girls put down her Nalgene on a bench and out of nowhere a Baboon ran in-between all us and grabbed her Nalgene and ran down the cliffs. He brushed up against some people and I could have reached down to touch him. About a second after he grabbed it, some of the staff started to sprint with rocks in their hands ready to get him…the whole scene was hilarious and it happened in about 2 seconds.
We drove around, and saw lots of baby zebras, rhinos, buffalo, and everything is so brilliantly green and beautiful. There was also a ton of flamingoes, and marabou storks which are HUGE and sorta creepy with red faces and like 9 foot wingspan. We could walk up to the lake and take pictures which was pretty cool.
On the last part of the game drive we saw a LEOPARD. Officially I have seen the Big 5. Elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, lion…traditionally the 5 hardest animals to kill. It was so cute, just sleeping on a tree branch, got up, looked at us and then went back to sleep. It blended in so well that it was hard to see even when we knew where it was. But they are so magnificent and beautiful that he was breath taking.
We also saw zebras fighting, black-backed jackals tearing apart a carcass.
We brought some staff with us...Ki-Pez is my favorite. He knows very little English but he knows my name, and he says “verrrry good America” for everything, and sometimes wears a cowboy hat to compliment his Maasai outfits. And Fred came with us too…he knows a lot more English and comes up with the funniest stories about lions and elephants.
Day 58 (11/1)
We left for Lake Nakuru, and stopped twice on the way. It was cold and raining so our first stop was an overlook, that we couldn’t see very far out into, and the second stop it was raining so hard we didn’t get out of the car and had a little mini lecture over the car radios haha.
We went through Nairobi, sort of on the outskirts, but we could see a lot of the city, and it’s a lot of large buildings, parks, and it looked like a nice city…except for the level of violence. They have a lot of round-a-bouts, and surprisingly this time there was no traffic.
Cecily played a little boma game that included everyone. The men competed for status, and then they randomly picked wives, the number depended on how they well they did in the competition. And then the wives randomly picked the number of children they would have. And, the family was given cows based on the husband’s status. The whole thing was hilarious. And it got even better when the girls were given “children” made out of tape and sticks…we had to have them with us all day and if Cecily checked and we didn’t have them we would lose them. Also, other wives were allowed to steal them if we left them out. Some “babies” got stolen, and the wives also had a little contest…we leg wrestled haha, I can’t even describe it.
Lake Nakuru’s base had Baboons and Vervets crawling all over it and the Baboons all had babies. So adorable but some were HUGE and a little scary but they were more or less harmless.
We stayed at a “hostel” which was actually a campsite. With a kitchen, running water, electricity (except when there was a country wide black out…twice within 3 days). And of course the trash pit had a troop of huge Baboons.
Long story short my family ended up losing the Boma game.
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