Series 3 Landie

Got back from yet another R&R on the coast of Kenya with Simba. The vacation was lovely but once again beset with adventure. We were going to drive the 6-8 hours down to the coast from Nairobi in a borrowed series 3 Land Rover (this thing is literally 65 years old which we named Nuks. As you can see, there is no roof or windows except for the canvas tarp, no 5th gear, it is painted matte black, and is just a BEAST. When we finally got out of Nairobi and passed the 50km of crappy roads on the detour from the still-under-construction-main road, and finally hit the smooth tarmac, something in the engine went BANG. We pulled over - the water pump had broken, causing the fan to come un-welded from the pump and slash the coils of the radiator. Fun times! The water had leaked out all over the road and there was no way we were going to be able to fix this thing without a new radiator coil, new water pump, and a welding machine which is a 2 day job. Here is a pic of the tow truck owner looking at the engine.

Simba tried to flag down a truck to give him a lift back to the transit town so he could sort out a tow truck, but after about 5 trucks, no one stopped for him. I tried next figuring they would stop for a white chick, and lo and behold, the first truck I waved down slammed on its brakes for me! I read my book "A Passage to India" by E.M. Forester (LOVELY book - apparently there is a Merchant Ivory movie based on the book, and I'm going to try to see it over the holidays) in the front seat of the Landie while Simba went to the town to sort out a tow truck, and 45 mins later another Land Rover pickup which had been converted into a tow truck came to rescue us. This vehicle was almost as old as our was! Here is a pic of us being towed back to Nairobi.

Eager to get to the coast, we decided to still try to drive down, so Simba called the father of his assistant in Juba (who is also from Nairobi) who owns a rental car business, and he managed to deliver a car to Simba's house and we were off once again, made it to the coast, and spent a week relaxing. We stayed in a cottage with gorgeous sunrise views of the Indian Ocean and a kitchen which allowed us to cook prawns, calamari, and fish bought fresh from local fisherman in the mornings. One morning we cleaned and marinated a fish and put it in the fridge while we went down to the beach. When we got back, we found that the several families of Evil Ninja Cats who hover around the place scrounging for food (as can be seen in the front of the following pic) had BROKEN IN to the cottage, OPENED the fridge, and ATE ALL THE FISH!!! NOOOOO!!!! Other than that Diani Beach was fantastic and I could absolutely live in this place. If only I had even an spark of a chance of having a job that would be satisfying for more than a few months and good for my career... anyway I am back in Sudantastic Juba and will be once again working my butt off until the holidays.

Peace

mushroom farming

How mushrooms are farmed in Kisumu, Kenya was explained to me yesterday and I thought it was pretty darn cool:

1. Lay an empty pint-size whiskey bottle on its side. Cut a piece off of a mushroom, and rub it on or place it on a piece of agar (the substance that's inside petri dishes). Place the mushroom spore agar inside the bottle. After awhile, you will begin to see spores growing on the agar.

2. Once the spores cover the piece of agar, scoop it out of the bottle and mix several pieces of the mushroom-agar into a 5-kilo bag of millet that has been soaked in water. The spores will feed even more off of the millet, and you'll see them multiplying like crazy.

3. Take a 4-foot piece of plastic sheeting and roll it together, making a tube. Fill the bottom with banana leaves, cassava leaves, dirt, etc - basically compost or detritus. Pour several bags of the mushroom spore millet into the tube. Take a large sterilized knife and make cuts all over the plastic tube.

4. Mushrooms will begin growing out the sides of the tube where you made the cuts. Harvest and enjoy!

typhoid schmyphoid

So I flew to Nairobi on Saturday because I had been sick for a few days and it wasn't getting better with Amoxicilin.

I have been dating someone, and he took fabulous care of me while I was sick. Brought me food, brought me back to the clinic, stayed with me until my fever broke, drove me to the airport. There are good guys in the world after all!

Oh yeah, and I tested positive for typhoid on a rapid test kit. Whoopsies! But no worries, I went to a hospital here in Nairobi, they did tests on my blood and other bodily fluids which I will not mention here, and the typhoid was not enough for them to diagnose me, but it was a pretty nasty viral infection. So I'm souped up on Cipro and feeling fine now. And the moral of the story? Go to the clinic the FIRST time I get sick (remember, back in October?) instead of self-diagnosing and self-medicating and having the same thing come back a month later. Duh.

So I'm in Nairobi for the next week, until I fly back to the states on the 20th. I'm staying with a colleague of mine that works in our Nairobi office, and I have to say it was really nice to recuperate in a place with a down comforter and a bathtub.

OH and remember the guy twirling the 6-foot baton up the road in Juba from a couple weeks ago? I forgot to mention that I saw him again twirling his baton on World AIDS Day. Turns out he is the leader of a brass marching band that played that day. I almost fell over when I saw that. Sometimes there is order to the universe and things do make sense - they're just not revealed to us initially.

Pics of Kenya

lashings and nairobi

The other day I was driving down airport road near our office when I passed this dude marching up the middle of the street carrying a 6-foot baton like the leader of a marching band. He was marching, high knees, left hand on hip, twirling the thing around up the hill. Never a dull moment in Juba. An even less dull moment was last week when a certain member of our staff was driving on a motorbike, and got splashed by another vehicle. He proceeded to chase the vehicle all the way across town to the UN compound (the car realized they were being followed so started driving really fast) where he got out of the car and started yelling at the passengers telling them that they needed to come with him to the police station in order to be lashed. Yes, lashed. That is the law in Southern Sudan as the penalty for splashing someone. The other vehicle, I might add, was carrying expat women. Wouldn't you love to have someone yelling at you in broken English that you needed to be hit with a cane for accidently splashing them? Yeah. I know I would appreciate it.

I'm in Nairobi right now on R&R staying at a friend's flat getting a dose of city life before heading down to Mombasa (Diani beach) for a few days of sun. I never guessed Nairobi would be so, well, gorgeous. There are trees and flowers everywhere, things like hot water work, no crazy boda-bodas zipping around (although matatu drivers are just as bad), and the restaurants are fabulous. We went out on Saturday night to this place called Casablanca to dance and hang out, and it was sooooo nice - they have these divan-like beds with cushions where you can lounge on and have your drinks or hookah, and mini-bonfires outside on enormous metal dishes. So lovely. Yesterday one of my friends took me to get a facial - first one I've ever had, and it was fabulous. Going back today for a massage and a pedicure. Everyone needs a bit of pampering sometimes ;) I may have to make a ritual of spending a day at a spa whenever I come here on R&R from Juba.

I have to say, it took me a full 2 days to adjust to being out of Sudan - waking up on my own time and not to roosters or generators or kids crying, not having to grab onto the overhead handle when riding in the car in order to not get bounced around, receiving food in a restaurant that is actually what you ordered and what the menu describes, and ice cream. oh my god ice cream. I didn't fully realize how tired I was until this past week, because it kind of creeps up on you. Juba is hard. It's mentally and emotionally draining which if you're me takes itself out on the body - not getting proper rest and losing weight. The first night here I slept until 2pm the next day. I certainly can feel myself unwinding. Now that my ankle is better I can start playing touch rugby again when I get back to Juba, which will do wonders to relieve stress.

Much love