Merry Christmas- Dicken's Style

Merry Christmas, from the year of our Lord 1850.

New Chainsaw

This is one way to spend a saturday...

Before:

After:

Drawing

I always mean to draw more, because I think that's the best way to get better at it, and I'd love to be better at it.

So, I've decided to throw maybe 1 a week up on the blog. The idea being that hopefully they will get better and better.

For my first one, I choose a picture of myself, because pictures of yourself never look like how you think you look, so no matter how it turned out, I wouldn't be too displeased.

And with that, I bring you the inspiration and the attempt!

Charleston, SC

Thanksgiving

So, I drove back from SC to OH for thanksgiving, with Francine.

And here are some pictures from my family's thanksgiving.

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!

virology

So... today I had to take care of a virus that they had down in the virology lab.

I'm sure it won't be funny the 20th time I have to do it, but right now, it's hilarious.

Odd happenings today

So, here are just some tidbits from today that I thought I'd share.

I was walking down to the SupaDuka, to buy some flour and milk and stuff. And when I'm checking out, the lady who runs the place (who usually has a small calculator to sum up my purchases) whips out a TI-83plus calculator. I mean, this thing can do graphing and everything. I didn't buy near enough to be able to use the functions of this calculator. She told me that a student at Kijabe boy's school was taking a test today, and had traded her calculators for the day, because he wasn't allowed to use that fancy one on the test.

As I was walking back to my flat, I did a little accidental time travelling. Something about walking back with groceries took me back to when I was a little kid. I'd visit my grandmother maybe once a week, and we'd walk to the grocery store, buy lunch, and head back. I'm not sure what it was, but something about walking back triggered those old memories. Maybe because after I was done buying regular things at the grocery, I let myself pick out a treat (an ice cold coke). It was just an odd thought, I'm pretty sure my grandmother never imagined that I'd be getting groceries in Africa.

I plan on having an entry about the books I've been reading soon, but I'll share this short story first. I've been reading a lot of science fiction. I stole a book of Heinlein's short stories from my friend Noah before I left. So... a lot of them are about space travel, and such. 

Anyway, today I was cooking dinner for myself, and the thought just hit me, "I can't believe I'm in outer space." Now, I'm sure my mind started that off with thinking "I can't believe I'm in africa." but I guess unconcious desire gets the best of all of us.

Finland

So, new things always happening in africa. I have a roommate. (He's actually been here about 5 days, and in leaving in another 5) He's a 45 year old doctor from Finland, and I've had some interesting conversations with him. His name is Hannu.

Basically, talking to him has been like a Finland history 501 class (I know, high level). I think I know most everything about Finland's history, and I'm just ready to meet another Finnish person, so that I can wow them with all my knowledge.

Hannu told me a story about how he went to the cafeteria and just ordered Ugali, and he hated it. Now, ugali is delicious, just not by itself, so basically, he just ate a big pile of corn-flour and water, with nothing else. at least the meal only set him back $0.30.

Also, my next entry will be a great one, about my adventure-filled trip into nairobi.

Sports (Not related to Huey Lewis)

So... I've taken to playing a number of sports here in Kijabe. I'll give you the list.

Tuesday: Touch Rugby, I've never played rugby before, but I'm getting the hang out it. It seems easy enough, pass the ball, run around. It'd probably help if I had cleats, I might buy a cheap pair in nairobi.

Thursday: Indoor Soccer. This is probably my favorite, soccer in the gym at RVA, they've got small goals to play with, and it's usually 6 on 6. Very intense, very active, and my lack of cleats doesn't hinder.

Sunday: Basketball. There's a group of Kenyan guys who I've started playing basketball with. My basketball career starts about 5 months ago, playing with carl or john liberatore. But let me tell you, in Kenya, I'm great. I sink every shot, I put up pretty good defense, I can even dunk, and once I torn down the basketball rim, a la Shaq. (Those last 2 aren't true, but I'm not that bad)

Also, on Sunday I found some people who play Ultimate. It's not exactly a high quality game that they play, but at least I've found somewhere to throw a disc around.

Also, last weekend I went mountain biking. My neighbor is big into mountain biking, and has an extra bike, so he let me ride it as we went down some trails around kijabe. It was great, I'll go and take a picture and post it sometime. I never knew mountain biking was such a blast. We biked to a nearby village (called Old Kijabe Town) and the kids would run after us, for up to 2 kilometers practically. Anyway, we took a break, and one of the kids was a young girl, probably like 12 years old, wearing a hand-me-down shirt, in the middle of this poor town, and the shirt said "Nothing's better than shopping."

Kinda makes you wonder about the life of clothes huh? Talking with my neighbor he said you also see a lot of t-shirts for the teams that didn't win the big games. (Since T-shirt guys make "winning team" shirts for both sides so they can sell them right after the game) Maybe all those Ohio State College championship shirts are around here somewhere.

An addition

Also crazy,

a pack of ramen noodles costs like $0.60. One single serving, can you believe it?

For that same price I could go down to the hospital's cafeteria and get a huge plate of ugali and vegetables, and that would take me about the same 2 minutes it would take to cook the noodles.

oh what a world!

things that make you go "hmmmm"

So, I've decided to list some of the odds things I've run into living here.

In Kenya, cars drive down the left side of the street. This also translates to how people walk down the street, or on sidewalks, or in the hospital, wherever. Up until this last week, I was constantly bumping into people, and in other people's way just because I was on the wrong side of the hall. I think I've got this problem fixed.

Also, everyday around 11, everybody in the hospital gets tea. People come around to every department with a giant thermos full of tea. The tea here is somewhat odd, it's like regular black tea, but it's made with hot milk instead of hot water. I've come to like it, but not as much as everyone else.

Kenya's national language is English, everyone learns it in school, that is, everyone who goes to school. But the language of the East African Union is Swahili, and so everyone knows swahili. I know a little swahili, and I'm working on learning more, but I've noticed a lot of people will mix the two together, speaking half enligsh, half swahili sentances. It's crazy.

I went into nairobi a lot this week, on business I guess. I rode a small bus in to nairobi. One of these buses is called a Matatu, and they're like small 15 passenger things, that sometimes get more like 19 passengers. And the road to nairobi is bumpy, so it was like cedar point, but less expensive.

In Nairobi, the names of the fast food places are hilarious. Right next to the Taco Club, there were 3 places, Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, and Creamy Inn (for ice cream). I ended up eating at a small resturant (I went to nairobi with my boss, and he knows the town pretty well) and I had fish with ugali and french beans (which are what they call green beans). It was great.

Well, hopefully more updates to follow, and I guess some pictures, because everyone loves pictures, and this entry only had words.

Pictures

I've posted a few pictures to facebook, you  can check them out here.

Taking in and expending calories.

So... I thought I'd explained everything about Kenya in my last entry, coke in glass bottles, it's great. But, I figure everyone wants to know a little more.

Well, here's a picture of the view I was talking about, you can compare it to the Willamette Valley (from the Oregon trail), and you'll see just how right I was.

(Maybe you can't tell, but there is a mountain in the background, actually it's a dormant volcano! That's might be interesting in blog posts to come)

So... here's what's new, I've still got no roommate, so it's just me, making a mess of the place. I've been cooking most of my meals myself, usually it's just something like grilled onions, garlic, and beans. (Maybe it's for the best I don't have a roommate). There's a small cafeteria-type place at the hospital, and sometimes I go there for lunch, where I can get about as much african food as I want for about a dollar. Like the other day, I ended up getting ugali (which is like mashed potatoes, but made from corn flour), anyway, I had ugali, beef stew, vegetables (think cole slaw minus mayonnaise), chapati, mandazi, and a coke. I went a little overboard, but I love those foods! 

And as I walked out with my two plates into the dinning room everyone was looking at me, possibly because I was the only white guy, and I was eating by myself, but also, equally as possible because I was embodying the american spirit of Joey Chestnut, and wolfing down 2 huge plates of food with a ton of hot sauce.

I also played basketball with some kenyans the other day, and then just yesterday I found a pick up soccer game with some of the staff from the hospital over at the RVA gym. (To explain, RVA is Rift Valley Academy, a large, really nice boarding school that's also in the village of Kijabe. Kijabe really only has the hospital and RVA.) Anyway, it was nice to meet some of the people who work at the hospital, as most of my time is spent in the IT dungeon. But more on that in a later update!!! (maybe!)

Pazhalsta Kenya!

So here I am in Kenya, finally settled down enough to write a blog post. I figure you have to be pretty well settled down to start ignoring things like the ironing and cooking to write a blog post.

But here I am, in Kijabe, exploring the town, eating sour porridge, drinking tea. Maybe a little update on my life: I'm staying in a three bedroom flat, and nobody else is occupying it at the time, so it's just me, and it's very spacious, and has a great kitchen. I'll have a roommate by tomorrow though, and he'll be here a week, but the flat is great.

The best part? It's on the 3rd floor, and the living room has a large window that looks out onto the rift valley. I wake up every morning, and look outside and it looks like I just beat the Oregon Trail.

Today I was shown around the town by one of my co-workers, we took a walk around the surrounding area and saw some baboons. Apparently, they're like deer in ohio, in the morning they might be there eating the grass on your lawn. (or in the case of the baboon, eating the onions you planted.) Anyway, if anyone's sending me a package, one of those lazer guns from the movie Congo would be nice. 

Also, how great is it that my favorite drink of all time, Coca-Cola, is available everywhere! (And it's so cheap here! and comes in glass bottles. We should all be so lucky)