I'm still feeling like an Arabian Princess here. I love this place! I highly recommend a week in Lamu for anyone who needs a break. As they say, if you can't relax here, you can't relax anywhere. I was relaxed before I even hit the dock! I'm still so relaxed I can hardly think of anything to tell you about. Plus, my belly is full. They like to feed Arabian Princesses here. I just hope I can fit into the dress that I have to wear for the big wedding on Saturday :)
Tomorrow, the Arabian Princess and her entourage get to take a boat, then a bus to Mombasa. Should be interesting, anyway!
If you're my facebook friend, I'm sure you've seen some photos already. If you're not my facebook friend and you want to see pictures, write a comment or send me an email :) I'm way too relaxed to post pictures twice... don't Princesses usually have PR people to do that sort of thing for them?
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Arabian Nights
Anyway, I'm sitting on the little roof-top veranda in an old Swahili house, catching the cool breezes off the Indian Ocean. Life is tough.
We flew here from Nairobi this morning. When we arrived at the airstrip at about 12:30, someone from this lovely house was here to meet us. There was one guy, and he indicated that two more were waiting outside the airstrip gate. I was like, "man, 3 guys to meet three of us...?!" But I soon realized why...
... it was a little walk to the dock. There, we boarded a really cool old dhow and motored across the channel to Lamu. We were serenaded by the captain, and I think he even started reciting some poetry to me, once he saw that I understood some Arabic! And once we got to the other side of the channel and hopped off the dhow, I realized why there were three guys to meet us: one for each suitcase! It was a relatively long walk, in the heat of the day, to our little house, in the shadow of the Fort. And it was the heat of the day, so we were all rather sweaty by the time we got here. I would have been a bit of a puddle had I had to carry my own bag (though my travel rule of thumb is never to travel with more stuff than I can carry for 45 minutes!).
After settling into our rooms, having our "welcome" drink of fresh passion fruit juice, we went for a wander through the town. There are only a handful of motorized vehicles on the island - a tractor to carry the garbage away, a car for the Commissioner of the area, and a couple of motorbikes. Otherwise, it's footing or riding on the back of a donkey! Idyllic, no?
Going by foot is relaxing and wonderful - you just have to watch where you step because the donkeys really do seem to run the town! We stopped at a little waterfront place to eat some lunch, went into a few shops, marveled at the tiny windy narrow allies and lanes and coral walls, and chatted with lots of people along the way. This evening we went out again to get some supper, again on the seaside. I was a bit worried that it would be way too hot here... but so far, so good! The breezes are just beautiful!
More pictures and stories to come!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Citified
I had such a great day today! It started off with some wireless internet action, followed by a walk to a real mall, where I window shopped, drank some coffee, and got a real hair cut! Then I walked over to a friend's house where we took her kids to swimming lessons. After watching the kids splash around in the pool for a while, my friend dropped me off at another mall. Where I did some more window shopping, bought some apples, a SIM card for my parents (who should be landing on this fair continent in about 8 hours!), and met some more dear friends at Java House. Really, have I mentioned how much I love the city?!
And it was really wonderful to get together with good friends today, and catch up after not having seen them in so long! But we still had SO much to talk about - I'm sure we could have sat there for hours and hours and hours... but we are in a city, so we couldn't actually be out all that late :( I guess there are a few down-sides to living in a city!
And it was really wonderful to get together with good friends today, and catch up after not having seen them in so long! But we still had SO much to talk about - I'm sure we could have sat there for hours and hours and hours... but we are in a city, so we couldn't actually be out all that late :( I guess there are a few down-sides to living in a city!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
In Nairobi
I had a fantastic time in Entebbe with my buddies, being "auntie" to Thing 1 and Thing 2. I was reminded of how much I like to cook for people who appreciate good food! I was busy in the kitchen every day, making yummy stuff like teriyaki pork chops and avocado juice and baking chocolate cake! It's so nice to have nice ingredients to cook with that didn't cost an arm and a leg, and even nicer to have a pack of people to eat it all up! Thing 1, Thing 2 and Mama Thing were very appreciative of whatever I cooked for them! It reminded me of my call to culinate. Anyway, I'm not much good at bathing dogs or any other household chores, so at least I could contribute by cooking and washing dishes!
I had to leave bright and early this morning, though, to fly to Nairobi, where I am currently awaiting the arrival of my parents! Then we're off to the coast! We're doing a whole coastal tour, punctuated by helping my dear friend get married in the middle of it all :) I can't wait! Hopefully all the arrangements we made will go smoothly, and nothing too serious will go wrong! And hopefully in a few days, I'll be able to post some pictures of paradise :)
I had to leave bright and early this morning, though, to fly to Nairobi, where I am currently awaiting the arrival of my parents! Then we're off to the coast! We're doing a whole coastal tour, punctuated by helping my dear friend get married in the middle of it all :) I can't wait! Hopefully all the arrangements we made will go smoothly, and nothing too serious will go wrong! And hopefully in a few days, I'll be able to post some pictures of paradise :)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Going to the Dogs
Even the dogs got involved in the aforementioned historic occasion!
Not only was George Clooney around, but Pantek the King of Southern Dogs was in attendance to cast his vote!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
On the cusp of history
I'm sure you have all been reading the news, so you know all about this. But tomorrow voting begins - the first step in the formation of the world's 193rd country! Rather an historic event, don't you think?
There's a ton about it on the news. Go and read some and look at the pictures. And pray for these folks while you're doing so.
Thanks.
There's a ton about it on the news. Go and read some and look at the pictures. And pray for these folks while you're doing so.
Thanks.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A little fun
Grace had to go to Kampala to pick up a passport yesterday, so of course, I tagged along! We didn't spent much time in town, but we did stop for a little tea break along the way.
Seriously, life in Africa is tough. I didn't have any Christmas Stollen over the holidays, so I had to have a slice of almond strudel at this fancy schmancy cafe in Kampala (next to the US Embassy, of course!).
Grace, being a good American, had to have a cherry pie:
I think it's probably a good thing I don't live in a "real" city like this. I would probably spend too much money! Much better to keep me tucked away in a tukel somewhere and just let me out on occasion!
We also stopped at a butcher and bought some pork! Sausages and pork chops!
One thing that I've been noticing lately, though, is that the closer something seems to my own culture, the harder it is to deal with when things are quite what you expect. For example, I've been noticing that everywhere I go, things move really, really S S S S L L L L L O O O O O W. I don't think they move any slower than they do in other parts of Africa. But in other parts, like back in Jb, everything is SO different, that you just expect things to be slow, or you expect that if you go into a restaurant, they won't have what's on the menu, or that things just won't be predictable. But if everything, on the surface, looks like "home", then I find myself automatically switching into "home" mode, and having certain expectations of things being a certain way.
And then when reality doesn't live up to those expectations, I get disappointed. So in fact, I think I may have been harsh and somewhat judgemental sometimes when I hear people who live in these wonderfully developed big cities. I hear them complain constantly about how terrible things are... like the fact that their coffee took 15 minutes to arrive at their table, or they went to the butcher and they were out of bacon. My village mind says, "Stop complaining! At least you have a butcher!".
But I'm starting to understand how you can actually feel more "culture stress" when you expect things to be like home. I think I don't suffer much culture stress, generally speaking, because I just always expect things to be different in Jb. I mean, in Jb, everything right on the surface is different. So I don't expect it to be predictable or for things to work as they do in other parts of the world! I think that's probably a good thing.
And those are my thoughts for the day. Thanks for listening.
Grace, being a good American, had to have a cherry pie:
We also stopped at a butcher and bought some pork! Sausages and pork chops!
One thing that I've been noticing lately, though, is that the closer something seems to my own culture, the harder it is to deal with when things are quite what you expect. For example, I've been noticing that everywhere I go, things move really, really S S S S L L L L L O O O O O W. I don't think they move any slower than they do in other parts of Africa. But in other parts, like back in Jb, everything is SO different, that you just expect things to be slow, or you expect that if you go into a restaurant, they won't have what's on the menu, or that things just won't be predictable. But if everything, on the surface, looks like "home", then I find myself automatically switching into "home" mode, and having certain expectations of things being a certain way.
And then when reality doesn't live up to those expectations, I get disappointed. So in fact, I think I may have been harsh and somewhat judgemental sometimes when I hear people who live in these wonderfully developed big cities. I hear them complain constantly about how terrible things are... like the fact that their coffee took 15 minutes to arrive at their table, or they went to the butcher and they were out of bacon. My village mind says, "Stop complaining! At least you have a butcher!".
But I'm starting to understand how you can actually feel more "culture stress" when you expect things to be like home. I think I don't suffer much culture stress, generally speaking, because I just always expect things to be different in Jb. I mean, in Jb, everything right on the surface is different. So I don't expect it to be predictable or for things to work as they do in other parts of the world! I think that's probably a good thing.
And those are my thoughts for the day. Thanks for listening.
A Tale of Two Chacos
I came to the office here in Entebbe once again today. Mostly to use the Internet. But it's kind of nice to put on a nice dress and have a bit of "routine". Otherwise I fear I would get BORED! And I have been doing a bit of work - checking some donor reports, sending some electronic copies of books to various people who need them... stuff like that.
But I've also just been enjoying reading other blogs, facebook and lots and lots of news.
It would be more enjoyable though, if my foot didn't hurt. I scratched a mosquito bite yesterday evening, and woke up this morning with a wee bit of, um, well, yucky stuff running out of it! But I shall spare you the details... I just want to make you all remember that living over here isn't ALL fun and games :)
See the band-aid? Under there is something pretty ugly. But notice the Chacos? Shall I tell you a story?
It all began last year, when my Chacos began falling apart. I know! Chacos aren't supposed to fall apart! Luckily, Chacos offers a great warranty service, which becomes even better when you buy them from Mountain Equipment Co-Op! So I took my falling apart Chacos to MEC to see if they could help me repair them. A good pair of sandals in these parts are like... well... like water or air! They become a part of you. Anyway, MEC told me that they would just give me a new pair of Chacos to replace the ones that were falling apart after only one year of wear. Great! But not so great, because this was January in Canada. I was just happy that they had a pair somewhere in the back that were my size. But they weren't the beautiful double strap toe huggers that I was trading in. Instead, they were these:
(socks not included, by the way, and I must say that these are NOT my feet in them. even in the middle of the forest with only the lions around, I have not worn socks with Chacos). But I faithfully wore my dear black one strap sandals for quite some time... though always still missing my dear two strapped toe huggers.
And then...
... There were these two wonderful young women who were staying with our friends in Kbng when we went to visit last week. One of them had beautiful black two strapped toe huggin' Chacos. I complimented her on her sandals and told her my sad tale of my beautiful toe huggers that I loved. Without missing a beat, she asked, "What size do you wear?"
Turns out, we were wearing the same size of Chacos. Right then and there, she took them off her feet and gave them to me! I was like, "Seriously?" Yup. Seriously. I gave her my one strappies to cover her feet with, and it was amazing how well they fit both of us! So thank you, Jenna, for the shoes! Each time I put them on my feet (which is pretty much every day, and probably will be every day for the next (hopefully 2 - 3 years!), I shall say a little prayer for you :)
But I've also just been enjoying reading other blogs, facebook and lots and lots of news.
It would be more enjoyable though, if my foot didn't hurt. I scratched a mosquito bite yesterday evening, and woke up this morning with a wee bit of, um, well, yucky stuff running out of it! But I shall spare you the details... I just want to make you all remember that living over here isn't ALL fun and games :)
It all began last year, when my Chacos began falling apart. I know! Chacos aren't supposed to fall apart! Luckily, Chacos offers a great warranty service, which becomes even better when you buy them from Mountain Equipment Co-Op! So I took my falling apart Chacos to MEC to see if they could help me repair them. A good pair of sandals in these parts are like... well... like water or air! They become a part of you. Anyway, MEC told me that they would just give me a new pair of Chacos to replace the ones that were falling apart after only one year of wear. Great! But not so great, because this was January in Canada. I was just happy that they had a pair somewhere in the back that were my size. But they weren't the beautiful double strap toe huggers that I was trading in. Instead, they were these:
And then...
... There were these two wonderful young women who were staying with our friends in Kbng when we went to visit last week. One of them had beautiful black two strapped toe huggin' Chacos. I complimented her on her sandals and told her my sad tale of my beautiful toe huggers that I loved. Without missing a beat, she asked, "What size do you wear?"
Turns out, we were wearing the same size of Chacos. Right then and there, she took them off her feet and gave them to me! I was like, "Seriously?" Yup. Seriously. I gave her my one strappies to cover her feet with, and it was amazing how well they fit both of us! So thank you, Jenna, for the shoes! Each time I put them on my feet (which is pretty much every day, and probably will be every day for the next (hopefully 2 - 3 years!), I shall say a little prayer for you :)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
New Years!
Since I've been using this blog as a memoire of my second ever holiday season away from my family, just thought I'd mention what I did on New Years Eve. I went shopping. Yup, I got a trip to the big city! Bright lights, big city! My colleague sent me a text around 10am, saying, "I'm at the bus park to go pick up the truck in Kampala... wanna come?!" Have I mentioned how much I love cities? Of course I wanted to come! So I quickly grabbed my purse, put on my hiking shoes, and walked up the hill to the bus park - conveniently only a 5 minute walk from here.
Squashed in a little mini-bus (like a matatu, if you know what Nairobi mini-busses are like) for the next hour, I regaled R with stories of lions and elephants and village folks. Very exciting stuff, I tell you. But really, I was just so excited to be going to the city!
On the way into town, R mentioned that we would have to take a boda, rather than a taxi, to make it to the actual garage where the truck was being worked on. He must have seen the look of panic and fear in my eyes, because we never did end up on bodas. Bodas, by the way, are motorcycle taxis. You get on the back of a motorcycle with some random unknown driver, and try not to scream as you careen through the craziest traffic in the middle of the city. With no helmet, of course. I've been on two in my life. One was in Entebbe, where there's hardly any traffic, and once in Kampala a few years ago. People here ride them all the time, but man, it is NOT for the faint hearted. I'd feel bad for any boda driver who got ME on the back - I'd be clutching him so tightly and screaming in his ear the whole way... call me a chicken, I know, but I've seen WAY too many bodas on the ground and bodies being carried away from them on this continent to feel very safe. I did have a very pleasant experience on a bicycle boda in Western Kenya once, but a bike can only go so fast... and the only things in that part of the world to hit were chickens and goats, not lorries, potholes, busses, taxis, pedestrians...
Anyway, dear R found us a way to take another taxi, and not have to take a boda. Thankfully. We found our truck with no problems, and she was purring like a kitten. Happily serviced and ready for the long drive back across the border. And ready to be loaded up with new stuff!
We spent the rest of the day happily spending money for the office! Fans, building supplies and PAPER! We filled the entire box of the Hilux with paper - cardstock in a myriad of colours, as well as plain copy paper. It's a fraction of the cost here as it is up there. And now I can print more books when I get back there! I was SO happy to find such good paper... and was just praying that it wouldn't rain on the way home with all that paper in the back!
Of course, we had to toast to the new year with real lattes in "to-go" cups, and some real fast food (french fries and chicken sandwiches, served in little cardboard boxes!). I also got some cute little planters which will travel back home in the truck. I'm determined to start an herb garden once I get back next month! The traffic was awful, there was hardly any space to walk on the sidewalks between all the people, shops and stuff being sold on the streets, I nearly got hit by a few taxis and bodas, while wandering in the shadow of huge concrete buildings, and we spent lots of money which wasn't ours (it was all office supplies that we were buying!). What more could a girl ask for in a holiday?
Once I got home, Grace and I had dinner with a couple of visitors, which was great. They had a plane to catch that night, though, and Grace wanted to go to bed early. So I sat and ate "lunch" with my family back home! They were enjoying the New Year's Even lunch, and I sat at the table with them via the webcam and skype! I LOVE technology! At midnight, the city went nuts with fireworks and music and shouting people. I couldn't see any of it, though, because the house here is a bit down in a valley. But I sure did hear it, and I wished myself a very happy new year!
So now I can wish you all a very happy new year, as well!
Squashed in a little mini-bus (like a matatu, if you know what Nairobi mini-busses are like) for the next hour, I regaled R with stories of lions and elephants and village folks. Very exciting stuff, I tell you. But really, I was just so excited to be going to the city!
On the way into town, R mentioned that we would have to take a boda, rather than a taxi, to make it to the actual garage where the truck was being worked on. He must have seen the look of panic and fear in my eyes, because we never did end up on bodas. Bodas, by the way, are motorcycle taxis. You get on the back of a motorcycle with some random unknown driver, and try not to scream as you careen through the craziest traffic in the middle of the city. With no helmet, of course. I've been on two in my life. One was in Entebbe, where there's hardly any traffic, and once in Kampala a few years ago. People here ride them all the time, but man, it is NOT for the faint hearted. I'd feel bad for any boda driver who got ME on the back - I'd be clutching him so tightly and screaming in his ear the whole way... call me a chicken, I know, but I've seen WAY too many bodas on the ground and bodies being carried away from them on this continent to feel very safe. I did have a very pleasant experience on a bicycle boda in Western Kenya once, but a bike can only go so fast... and the only things in that part of the world to hit were chickens and goats, not lorries, potholes, busses, taxis, pedestrians...
Anyway, dear R found us a way to take another taxi, and not have to take a boda. Thankfully. We found our truck with no problems, and she was purring like a kitten. Happily serviced and ready for the long drive back across the border. And ready to be loaded up with new stuff!
We spent the rest of the day happily spending money for the office! Fans, building supplies and PAPER! We filled the entire box of the Hilux with paper - cardstock in a myriad of colours, as well as plain copy paper. It's a fraction of the cost here as it is up there. And now I can print more books when I get back there! I was SO happy to find such good paper... and was just praying that it wouldn't rain on the way home with all that paper in the back!
Of course, we had to toast to the new year with real lattes in "to-go" cups, and some real fast food (french fries and chicken sandwiches, served in little cardboard boxes!). I also got some cute little planters which will travel back home in the truck. I'm determined to start an herb garden once I get back next month! The traffic was awful, there was hardly any space to walk on the sidewalks between all the people, shops and stuff being sold on the streets, I nearly got hit by a few taxis and bodas, while wandering in the shadow of huge concrete buildings, and we spent lots of money which wasn't ours (it was all office supplies that we were buying!). What more could a girl ask for in a holiday?
Once I got home, Grace and I had dinner with a couple of visitors, which was great. They had a plane to catch that night, though, and Grace wanted to go to bed early. So I sat and ate "lunch" with my family back home! They were enjoying the New Year's Even lunch, and I sat at the table with them via the webcam and skype! I LOVE technology! At midnight, the city went nuts with fireworks and music and shouting people. I couldn't see any of it, though, because the house here is a bit down in a valley. But I sure did hear it, and I wished myself a very happy new year!
So now I can wish you all a very happy new year, as well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)