South Carolina

I'm visiting Francine down in South Carolina, and I figured I should be a little creative while I'm here. So, today I went around shooting a video with my new camera, as well as taking some still photos.

The video is on the way, but I figured I'd post some stills while they're hot.

This is the battery park, on the end of Charleston, on the fancy side of town.

And these are just some of the brightly coloured houses around Charleston!

Back in the USA

So, I'm back in the USA now, and I figured I'd update this blog from both sides of the atlantic.

I really enjoyed working with everyone in Kijabe. That hospital has a great group of people, ex-pats and kenyans, who work really hard. I've attached a picture of the IT crew, from my time there. Great people, and I hope to return sometime soon.




So, for now I'm in the states, but I still hope to be involved with Kijabe, and with hospital system software in a big way. But this blog might take a turn describing my life in the US, so don't expect Africa only updates!

Talking with doctors

I ran into a doctor today while I was fixing a computer in the Business Office, and after I fixed it, the doctor and I had this exchange:

Doctor: "Wow, how did you do that? That's a rare skill around here!"
Alan: "Well, I learned by breaking a lot of computers as a kid, but now I can fix them too."
Doctor: "Yeah, I guess I use to break a lot of bones! Hahaha!"

The Weekend

So, what better thing to do while abroad than have a big 4th of July party?!

On Thursday and Friday, Scott and I were cooking up a storm. We made 4 pizzas, 2 pies (1 apple, 1 banana), strawberry shortcake, and brownies. It was quite the event. Also, I had my friend Mark Harris send me an American Flag, so we could put that up. We invited a bunch of people, and the US citizens only slightly had the majority. We also invited some of the Kenyan guys we worked with. I even had some American friends come a clinic from 3 hours away!

I was going to try to make some home-made fireworks, but was a little too busy to find the right ingredients. Still, that party was a big success. The night started off, with Scott and I still in the kitchen trying to put the finishing touches on a couple pizzas, with our friend Victor helping. All the girls were just sitting in the living room talking. Then one of the Kenyan guys Scott works with, Edwin, came in, and was pretty shocked. He said that if this was an African party, all the girls would be in the kitchen, and the guys would be sitting around talking. Oh well, somebody's gotta make those pies, and I'm not going to trust anyone else!

As the night went on, we played a couple of games of Mafia, which everyone enjoyed, and picked up pretty quickly. (Also, even thought I wasn't mafia, I still accidentally killed most of my fellow citizens, maybe I'm terrible at that game.)

The next day, I went into Nairobi with Edwin, and the 2 girls who had come from 3 hours away. (We went to Nairobi to put them on a bus back to where they had come from. They've only been here a couple of weeks, and it was actually a big effort to make the trip to Kijabe.) Then Edwin and I had coffee in the city center, and just walked around Nairobi. Then I called up some friends of friends who live in Nairobi, and went over to their house.

I had a great time, we had lunch together, and then sat around and talked. It was a very restful and relaxing saturday, after such a busy friday. I caught the matatu back to Kijabe around 5 pm, and got to sleep early. Sunday was filled with more sitting around and relaxing, as well as a game of ultimate with the RVA students. Then I sat around reading BBC's live update feed of the Wimbledon final, what a game!

So, you're maybe thinking, 'Alan, you had a 4th of July party on the 3rd? what's the deal?' Well, here's what's what. Friday is a better day for everyone here, and I'm already like 10 hours off from US time, anyway. Also, I thought, since I was going into nairobi on the 4th, maybe I could stop by the US embassy. (our tax dollars should go towards all our embassies throwing big parties for our independence right?) But the embassy had their big celebration on the Friday too! So, I figure I made the right choice.

Late for lunch

So, today I went for lunch at the hospital cafeteria...

But today I was busy until about 3pm, so I had a late lunch. I thought, well, at least there won't be a long line. But the flip side of "no long line" is "no food". They had only chapatis and samosas. So I had 3 of each, and made a giant sandwich out of it, filled with hot sauce. It wasn't that bad an idea in the end.

So, the quotes going with this entry are:

Necessity is the mother of invention.

and

Hunger is the best seasoning.

Food Photos

I've added another facebook album of pictures! mostly things I've cooked or eaten while I've been here.

The link: Facebook food photos!

But for you, loyal blog reader, I've attached a special picture of my swahili teacher Edward.

Happy birthday to Joe

This entry gets dedicated to my friend Joe Kobalka, who shares my birthday, and helped to send me a bunch of data dvds in the mail.

Ah, a birthday, and my gift to you is an entry filled with pictures!

This is Dr. Hannu Lintula, my old Finnish roommate. He's gone back to Finland, where this time of year, it's light outside 24 hours a day.

This is Scott Talon, my new roommate and medical student from Texas, who just got here a couple of days ago, to replace the hole in my heart that Hannu left. He's an all around good guy.

So, what did I do for my birthday? Well, I caught a ride into Nairobi with an accountant and his wife I know here (they were just going in to buy some things, so it worked out great), and we went to a bunch of places in the shopping district of Nairobi. Some of these places are very beautiful, and hopefully I'll get some pictures of them before I leave.

Then we went downtown, and ate at this Hong Kong resturant. It was pretty good, also, I bought a piece of chocolate cake at a Java house, to enjoy later! (as shown in the first picture of this entry, and as to be shown in the last picture as well!)

After returning, I juggled for some of the kids around here, and then we ended up hiding all my juggling balls and looking around for them. Then a family who lives near us, the Davis's invited Scott (my roommate) and I over for dinner. So we ate chili with them, and had some good conversation. Mr. Davis let me borrow some books, which I'm anxious to read. Then Scott and I headed off for indoor soccer. Soccer was a blast, it always is. Now I'm back here writing this entry and letting you guys know what's up!

And as promised, one more picture of this piece of cake!