I love animals

This past weekend I went to the Masai Mara to do a little safari for the weekend. You know, no matter how many times I go to game parks and see animals, I really never get tired of seeing them. You would think it would lose the novelty, but that never happens.

So a group of us (Michael the intern, Mike MacHarg, Andrea, Shannon, and Melissa) left on Friday via prop plane. Let me just say I am not a fan of the prop plane. I am not a huge fan of flying, let alone getting into a little puddle jumper and trusting that the pilots have no desire to die. Of course we get on the plane and a woman tells me that the airline we are flying (Air Kenya) has one of the worst records in all of Africa. Great, thanks for sharing.

We arrive in the Mara around 4pm, Shannon and Mike having taken the earlier flight. We are picked up by the Intrepids folks (the tent camp where we are staying), and immediately go out on safari. Have to take advantage of the daylight hours I suppose. And it was a good thing we went out, we were able to spot a cheetah, some lions, an elephant, a sable cat (not sure exactly what that is, but it was pretty), and assorted deer-like animals. As the sun set, we headed back to the camp. The camp itself was a lot like a place I stayed with Emily when she and I were in Kruger. It was sort of a luxury tent camp. The tents were huge, with running water (hot), and lights, nice beds, etc. I bunked with Andrea, who is the other Accenture intern working on a PEPFAR project. That evening we had some yummy dinner and drinks, and then called it an early evening because of the day that awaited us on Saturday.

You know, when you are on vacation, even if it is just for a weekend, it is no fun to have to get up at 6am. Even if it is to go and see animals. But, the early bird catches the worm, or in our case, the early muzungu (which is me - the white person) catches the lions with their babies eating a zebra. It was so amazing, the little lion cubs had these huge bellies from all of the food they had eaten. We must have watched the lions for a good hour, and then we saw some elephants, some wildebeests, another cheetah, more lions, so many animals, I just cannot remember everything we saw. We ate breakfast in the middle of the park, we just sat down in the middle of some wildebeests and ate. Of course I couldn't help myself, I tried to stalk and catch some, but I am just not fast enough.

Anyway, I won't try to write down the entire weekend, suffice to say that I saw some amazing animals throughout the rest of the weekend (including the wildebeest migration across a river including 2 being eaten by crocs, and loads of hippos, even hippos having sex! naughty hippos!), loads of relaxation, sun, food, and good times with new friends. An amazing adventure.

Up next . . . camel derby!

Al Jazerra

Here in Kenya, I get to watch Al Jazeera on cable. It is all programming in English, the anchors are from the UK, the reporeters are very international. I think in the US we have this mis-conception that Al Jazeera is the terrorist network, that any crazy can get on and make threats, that the journalism is flawed. I have found that it is a pretty good news network, very globally focused (i.e. reporting from all over the place a la BBC news), and fairly impartial (of course you can read the negative sub-text when they start talking about Israel). It is far better than Fox News (shocking), and I would rate it up there with the BBC. Worth a watch.

Indian Influences

So I am beginning to understand the full reach of the sub-continent here in Africa. It is sort of insane, anyone that claims that it is the US and the UK that are driving things here needs to do a little check on our Indian friends. Here are just a few examples:

1) Bollywood movies - So they are everywhere. At the movie theater down the road, there are at least 2-3 movies going at a time from India.
2) TV - I was just in Zambia, staying at the Taj hotel (notice, an Indian chain), and there were at least 5 channels on TV that were Hindi language. In Kenya, there is one station here that does Hindi programming.
3) Cuisine - Let's just start with the fact that I can get more amazing Indian food here than in many other places in the world. I can even get Indian Chinese at this market 10 minutes from my house. As part of 'staple' Kenyan food, they serve chapatties with meals here. You can buy all sorts of Indian foodstuffs at the grocery market.
4) Property / business ownership - Almost all of the major malls here are Indian owned. And the business are mostly Indian owned as well. Went to drop my dry cleaning off - Indian. Went to buy some shoes - Indian. Went to the specialty grocer - Indian. Bakery? Indian.

Yes yes, the US does have a pretty long reach, and the British created this whole mess, but the Indians are coming on strong (and for the food, I thank them).

So much to write, so little time

I am absolutely horrible about keeping up with this blog. I guess it has to do with the fact that this is not a vacation like my last trip. I am here to work, which these days includes 3 different jobs. I am doing World Vision full time, and then Loblaw's and Sears on an ad hoc basis. My goal is to eliminate extra-curricular work by the middle of August, so less than a month.

I am in Zambia right now, after having spent one little week in Kenya after my jaunt off to London. I returned to Kenya with an intern, and it is good to have someone else around. Makes things more interesting. He is a good kid, but definitely a kid. He has that excitable nature which means he is full of energy. And from Northern Ireland, so has a good accent going for him.

I spent the past weekend in Livingstone, back with my old volunteer project and seeing friends. I had the most amazing experience when I went back to my school. I got there a bit after class had begun, and they were all taking their test. I walked into the classroom, and when they saw me, they all started yelling 'Teacher, teacher' and jumped up to hug me and kiss me. They were so genuinely excited to see me and showed such real emotion, it moved me. Anyway, I spent the day with my kids. The rest of the weekend was nice, I saw some friends at the market, went to a compound to see a woman I was visiting who is HIV+ with 9 kids (she is doing very well, she has planted a garden to provide food for her family), saw Alex (a boy I was helping - also HIV + - I carried him to a clinic the last time I was there - it is good to seem him happy and strong). I also saw friends on the volunteer staff, we went to Vic Falls, had dinner, went to some old haunts. All in all a wonderful weekend.

Now I am in Lusaka for a meeting with World Vision. I am always amazed at how international they are. There is a guy from El Salvador, a woman from Canada, a woman from the US, 2 Australians, a guy from Malawi, a guy from Zambia, a guy from Swaziland, and a guy from India. Quite the crew. The off to Kenya on Thursday, and then the weekend on safari at the Mara. My dance card is pretty darn full . . .

New British slang

1) Mardy bum - aka Stroppy cow - apparently a phrase you use to describe a woman that is upset.
2) Apples and pears - stairs (cockney rhyming slang)
3) Shattered - to be really tired (I'm shattered)

More to come . . .

Hiking the volcano

So on the 5th of July, I went with some friends (including Mike from Vandy) to hike up this volcano (inactive) and then walk around the crater. I proved 2 things with that little adventure: 1) I am out of shape (or at least very not used to the altitude). I huffed and puffed all the way up. To make matters worse, there was a high school class that made it up and most of the way down my the time I was half way. 2) I have a massive fear of heights. We were up pretty high, and the trail around the crater is a pretty steep dropoff. I couldn't make it all the way around once the path really narrowed. I had to turn around and go back.

I did get to see a water buffalo, which was cool. And the pictures are great, but heights, not so much. Proves I won't be hiking up Kilimanjaro!

Rain, rain go away!

After two weeks of living in Nairobi, where I think "Africa, sunny, warm goodness" I am left with almost a week of rain.

First, the 4th of July. Being an expat really makes you more patriotic. A bunch of us got together for what we had thought was going to be a fantastic BBQ to celebrate our nation's birth. So I get home, improvise Rice Krispy Treats (marshmallows are not the same here, not as fluffy, and mixed pink and white), and head over to my friend Aine's apartment complex. It had been on and off raining all day (after a wonderful sunny week), and at about 6pm, when we are supposed to start, it pours down rain. For a 5 minute walk across the way, it literally was like someone turned on the shower. Nedless to day we had to change our plans, so the guy that owns the restaurant at the apartment complex let us borrow the kitchen. It ended up turning out great. I got to use all sorts of fun kitchen equipment, the food was great, and a little bit of drunken antics. All in all a good time.

Now I am in London, and it has rained here all week. I spent the first part of the week in training (which was surprisingly good), and now I am now working out of the World Vision office in the UK. The intern started working for me this week, his name is Michael and he is from Northern Ireland. Like all folks from the UK, I could listen to him talk all day. What is is about Americans and their love for the foreign accent (i.e. British)? I am so sick of the rain, I don't know how people put up with it. I am going crazy!

Sometimes it feels like . . .

I have not left the U.S. Yesterday, on the ride home from work, I stopped off at this Italian Food Store. And it was fully stocked with all sorts of products from Italy. They even had the most amazing selection of cheeses and meats, better than some shops I have seen in the U.S. So I picked up some cheese and a bottle of wine, headed home, made dinner for some friends here, and it felt like just any old day in the U.S. Surreal! I am going to have to do a better job at finding ways to interact with the local community. Toto, I don't think we're in Zambia anymore!

Settling into my new life

I think I am starting to feel at home. I moved out of my creepy house in Karen (the Deerfield of Nairobi - I was in a 5 bedroom, 2 story house by myself) into my new apartment in the Bucktown of Nairobi on Saturday. I have a 2 bedroom place in Westlands - the name of the complex is Pinnacle Apartments. There is 24 hour security, very safe location, good locks on the doors. And it has a full kitchen and a small balcony.

Anyway, I have connected with all of the Accenture people here, plus my friend from Vandy (Mike). On Saturday I went out with everyone after I moved in. We did an art show at the museum for modern art, then late lunch. On Sunday I got to meet up with a friend of a friend (Paul), and we went to a village outside of Nairobi (Gatundu) where a friend of his was preaching. It was a Pentacostal church (I had never been before), and let's just say it was different. Lots of singing and dancing. The little kids were fascinated, and climbed all over me, touching my hair, touching my hands, it was crazy. Lots of fun photos. And after church, since we were the special guests, they made lunch for us. It was so much food (and lots of things I don't eat - meat stew, Oxtail).

Sunday night, out to Casablanca (a bar in Hurlingham) with Mike and the Accumen Fund folks to watch the Euro 2008 match between Germany and Spain. Viva Espana! So exciting that they won. All in all, a very good weekend.

And now there are more folks from World Vision living in my apartment complex, so we are doing a pot luck dinner at my place tonight. It is a great experience so far. Soon I will sign up for Swahili classes and I will find volunteer work and I will be on my way!