Owl-y

I was sitting in the office this afternoon, working on a couple of computers that were donated to some local Bishops in a partner church.  Of course, they needed the correct fonts and keyboards to be able to type their language.  Since our normal computer guy has been away for over a month (by the way, he's never being allowed to leave the gate again!), I ended up having to do it.  Anyway, there I was, scowling over these two computers, when R came into the office holding a ... well... it took me some few minutes to figure out just what he was holding!

It was some sort of creature with pointy cat-like ears, huge black eyes, sharp claws... and a beak!  Did you guess it yet?  Yup.  An OWL!




 (I stole this picture from one of my colleagues... thanks, Ken!)

The poor owl was being picked on by a flock of little birds (who knew little birds would attack an owl?!), so he flew for cover... right into the guesthouse!  So RM to the rescue, as usual!  He just grabbed the owl by the back, secured his wings in his hands, and went office to office, showing off his trophy!  The owl didn't seem to mind, which was the weirdest part.  But it really did take me an inordinate amount of time to figure out what kind of creature he was holding!

The owl spent the rest of the afternoon in RM's thatched roof hut... and was happily released at dark.   

Scratch and Sniff?

It's a good thing they haven't invented scratch and sniff blogs yet.  It's a bit of a stinky one in these parts tonight.  My garbage is smelly (no amount of bleach or dettol seems to get the stench out of the bucket - definitely time to get a new one at the market on Saturday!), my permetherin incense stick is a bit stinky (but it seems to be keeping the mosquitoes at bay), but most of all, I am stinky (haven't had the motivation to shower yet since working all day and then doing some Zumba after work).

It should be raining, but it's not.  It's just humid.  Humid and hot, which means pretty much everything is starting to smolder.  And nothing good happens when things start to smolder in this town, let me tell ya.

But allergy season is also upon me, so the stench doesn't get past the sneezing and snorkling that's going on in my nose!  So, all in all, life ain't bad.

We did have an exciting evening on Monday. It was the first ever Cultural evening here - music, dance and poems, performed by people from several different language communities here.  It was great!  I do hope they do more of it.  Because we walked, though, I didn't want to carry a purse or a camera with me... so... no photos :(  But my friend took his camera, so I will try to get some of his picts, and share a few... but first, I better get my bottom out of this chair and to the shower, or no one is going to want to share anything with me...

Saturdays

I love Saturdays.  As much as I love my job, I really like Saturdays.  But Saturdays always make me realize just how much work it is to have a life outside of work!  Normally, now that I have my own washing machine, Saturdays are laundry and shopping days.  But since the laundry (and other assorted chores) depend on having power, I have to schedule things pretty tightly, and really get my butt moving.

Of course, one has to start the day with a decent breakfast - the one day I get something other than bread and peanut butter and jam!  This morning, since I didn't have any bread in the house for French toast, I made some Dutch pancakes, lightly sprinkled with fresh lime juice and dusted with sugar.  YUM!  Together with a cup of the last of my Starbucks coffee... I was ready to take on the world when the generator came on at 10am.

A load of laundry (which was really, really dirty, so took a few wash cycles for the water to actually start looking clean!) done while washing up the dishes from breakfast, backing up my computer and answering a bunch of work emails that I didn't get to during the week.  But at 11:30am, while my second load of laundry was in the machine, there was some excitement on the compound.  A big crane truck came to lift one of the containers away!  I just get a kick out of watching all the men on the compound try to tell the crews what to do... so I like to go and see how things like that go down.  So I left my wash in the machine, and grabbed my camera to watch the show:

The show did not disappoint!  Everyone has his "baby" that he was looking out for - one man was quite concerned that the crew would drop the container on the septic tank.  One man was worried that the container would hit the rain gutters of the building.  One other man just kept telling them they had to lift it higher so it would land on the bed of the truck.  And the Ugandan crew did a fabulous job of ignoring every one of them and just getting the job done.  And they did it well, too, as the container was in a pretty tight spot, and no damage done to anything!

By the time the container show was over, it was noon, so the generator was off again... time to move onto non-elecricity using activities.  Today, it was a trip to the market to pick up the week's fruits and veg.  Of course, you can't just get your veggies... I also went with my neighbor, so we had to stop in the hardware shop, and look at a few items first.  Then to the market, where I didn't remember to hold my breath while walking past the live chicken cages.  If I die of the bird flu, at least you will all know where I got it.  For half my market trip, I still had the stench of the caged chickens in my nostrils.

But I got all the basics - pineapple, eggs, limes, carrots, green peppers, passion fruits, and I branched out and bought a cabbage today, too.  I got good deals on the cabbage and pineapples, since I bought them straight from the back of the truck - no middle man to deal with :)  The best part of the trip - a lovely bunch of cilantro.  Seems it's growing again now that it's rainy-ish season!  Since lugging all the weeks's fruits and veg around on my shoulder in 40C is a bit of hot, sweat inducing task, I have taken to stopping at a little Eritrean run shop to buy a cold sparkling water on my way back to the car.  I think they're getting used to the sight of a sweaty girl coming in on Satrudays, greeting them in their own language.

The next stop is always for more water from an Eritrean run place.  Just around the corner from the market is the water "factory" which fills up jerry cans with clean, filtered water.  For $3, I get 25L of clean water in a re-useable jerry can.  From there, it was a stop at my friend's half-brother's neighbor's house for some bananas (she is the neighborhood "wholesaler" of the bananas).  Final stop is the bakery (also, incidentally, run by Eritreans).  $1.75 buys a bag of 15 white rolls.  That's really the only type of bread available in town.  Well, at the big supermarket downtown, you can buy a loaf of square bread for $5.  Or you can buy square bread which is imported from Uganda - it's really sweet and my experience is that it gets moldy within a day of buying it.. if it's not already moldy when you bring it home from the shop!

Since I had some fresh bread, it was a quick sandwich for lunch, as the generator had already started, it was a rush to finish the laundry, finish backing up the computer and use a food processor to make some salasa before my cilantro wilted!  Oh, and did I mention that I have to hand all my laundry out to dry on the lines, and soak every single vegetable and leaf in bleachy water before putting them away in the fridge?

Since I had cilantro and fresh salsa, what else could I have for dinner but a Mexican theme once again?  So, first I had to walk to the corner to buy some chapatis to cut up and fry to make "tortilla chips".  Since I was out and about, I went over to the butcher (also run by Eritreans) to pay off my $1 debt.  The price of meat went up from $10/kg to $11/kg last week, so I was $1 short when I walked over there.  They seem to like me over at the butcher (they made me sit down and drink a Coke while they minced my meat for me - knowing that I was $1 short already!), so they didn't mind that I owed them some money. 

Once I had the chapatis, I decided to wait until the generator came on again at 7pm to fry up the "chips", since gas is so expensive these days, I try to do as much as I can on my electric burner!  I still had to make the guacamole, though, so I got that started.  By then it was starting to get dark, so time to go bring in the laundry...

Finally, the generator came on again, so while I fried the chapatis, I put away all the fruits and veggies which had been soaked and dried on the counter.  For a little protein, I asked my neighbor to bring some "falafal" grease balls from the corner, offering some tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa in exchange!  Now, finally, at 10pm, my dishes are washed, the fridge is packed with good fresh food to eat for the week, the laundry is half put away, and I'm tired!

And that, my friends, is what it takes to keep myself clean and fed in these parts.

Not Lost in the Bush

So, I DID get back from my camping trip where teachers were successfully trained and Scripture bits were successfully checked.  A lot has happened since then, but other social media tools have taken over!  Twitter, Instagram, facebook... all allow me to communicate with the masses... um, well, without having to think too much.  So.  That's what I've been doing.  Sorry 'bout that for those of you who don't use other modes of communications.  But really, I am alive and kicking. 

At the moment, I'm sitting in the office checking a book called "Healing the Wounds of Trauma".  They have spent the last, oh, I don't know, maybe 10 years translating this book into their language.  And we finally want to get this book off their computer so it can actually be used by people and the Church.  But wow.  Going through this book word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph... it's a tough one.  And when the ideas in the book are so anathema to certain aspects of their culture.  The book puts a lot of emphasis on healing through talking about one's feelings ... but this particular culture simply doesn't have a way to talk about "feelings".  We went through a whole chapter on HIV/AIDs, trying to discuss the technicalities of AIDS/HIV and it's transmission.  That was quite a challenge, let me tell ya.

Now at least we have finished that chapter and have moved on to some less awkward topics.  But phew, it's still hard work.  Taxes my brain... but then there is also a lot of down time where the team spends time fixing the spelling and discussing about how to express certain ideas in their language.  So I sit and do other things while they do that.  Normally, I've been doing things like formatting Primers, or catching up on emails... but it's Friday afternoon and my brain doesn't need more taxing in between paragraphs!

This has been a lovely week, though.  Wednesday was a holiday here, and it was raining!  So I didn't feel like I had to be productive.  One of the nice things about this place is that when it rains, everything stops.  So I wanted to stop, too :)  My neighbours and I had a Gilmore Girls marathon, projecting dear Rory and Lorelei up on the wall.  We are only in Season 1, so no spoilers, please!  But really, are Luke and Lorelei ever going to get together?!

Anyway, I will make a renewed effort to do a wee bit of blogging, in case anyone is interested.  That is, if I can pull myself and my neighbours away from Gilmore Girls!  Good thing we have all 7 seasons of it on the compound :)

Camping!

I know I haven't blogged much lately, but I think you will forgive me when you hear that today my friend's thermometer read 50C in the shade.  Yes, you read that right.  50C in the shade.  No wonder I run out of steam by morning tea time, no?

But I am embarking on a camping trip this weekend!  There is a purpose to the camping, though - some teacher training!  We'll be training the teachers from the primary school in the area on how to use their own language more effectively in the classroom.  Should be fun, I hope :)  I had fun last time I went to the area... albeit a very hot, sweaty sort of fun.  And it's even hotter these days than it was then, so really, I just think I might suffer a bit of heatstroke.  So please pray that somehow, the weather miraculously cools a bit for us next week while we try to train these teachers.

Hopefully I'll see you in 11 days' time... hopefully I will still have all my brain cells intact and they won't have sizzled in the heat out there...

The garden

The garden has been a good distraction this week.  Lots going on in the office, but it's been so nice to go stand and survey my baby plants starting to sprout.  The birds enjoy the cool wet dirt, the papayas are growing riper since they are getting more water, and it's just lovely to see something fresh and green growing.  It almost makes me feel  like it's spring. Even though it's still high dry season and the temperatures were back in the 40s yesterday.  That's 43C, to be exact.

But the garden is a lovely retreat.  And at least when you're working in the garden, you don't feel so bad sweating, because hopefully there will be some fruits from my labour... if the guinea fowls don't get to them first...

It's just two small little plots, so far, but hopefully one more will join the ranks this afternoon.

Tangled in the Internets

Not exactly what I had planned for today.  But after dropping someone at the airport, dropping something at the Ministry of Education, I came home to find that the entire network on our compound had dropped into a deep dark black hole.

So I spent the rest of my day on the phone with our provider (though it wasn't a problem on their side), and on skype with a jet-lagged computer guy in the US, and a busy computer guy in Nairobi, using an external internet connection to try to get things up and running again.

It's pretty amazing how tied we are to the network here.  No one could even print a page all day, until I got the internet untangled. 

Thankfully, I was able to untangle it.  A colleague came in and lent a hand, as well as bringing me sandwiches and soda, as I couldn't leave my post at skype.  But I started untangling at 9:30 am.  It is now 9:30pm and we finally fixed the last bit.  Mind you, when the generator went off, I did take a little break to dig in my garden and make some pancakes. 

And I'm just glad that things are back to normal.  I have rocket seeds happily germinating in the dirt.  I have pancakes happily germinating in my belly.  While I started the day rather grumpy, it all turned out ok.

Now tomorrow, back to our regularily scheduled programming...

Not melted yet... but close...

Yup, it's the time of year when my margarine melts when left on the counter.  My shea-butter (which is normally like a nice creamy lotion) is the consistency of vegetable oil.  I have a pink face all the day (and night).  And I dehydrate whilest sleeping in my bed.  Welcome to the hot season in Jb!

I would be melted completely now if it weren't for my spectacular battery powered fans.  I have one fan which is connected to an inverter and a big battery, which charges when the generator runs.  I also have a new fan which is solar powered!  So it charges when the sun is shining.  Which is pretty much all day, every day.  So at least there is hot air moving around when the generator is not on!  Much better than it was before, that's for sure!

But I haven't melted yet, and I'm still truckin' on.  Our workshop with the teachers and supervisors is over, and I'm finally feeling a bit caught up with other bits and pieces.  I have unpacked most of my stuff since coming  back, and have found some of my new gadgets to be very handy.

I have also discovered how wonderful mayonnaise is, once again.  I hadn't bought mayonnaise for a really long time, because, well, it's usually really expensive and I didn't think it was all that necessary.  But then, last week, I stopped in at the import grocery store, and they had Dutch mayonnaise on sale for half price.  And wow, mayonnaise has revolutionized my life.  The big cabbage I bought last week - coleslaw!  The eggs that I normally just hardboil for Zane - egg salad!  The salad dressing packet that someone left me a while ago - ranch dressing!  So, as long as the mayonnaise doesn't melt in the fridge, I'm feeling pretty happy...

Let the photos speak...

... I tried to post the other day, but something went wrong with the internet.  So I didnꞌt.  At the moment, I am sitting under my fan, trying not to move more than I have to. I shall let the photos speak for me.  The first, was in my living room yesterday afternoon.

The next one was from the shade this afternoon.

And yet, the workshop carries on.  So I just keep drinking water.  And more water. And still more water.  I am so thankful for water.  My poor ice cube tray canꞌt keep up, though.  I can fill my water bottle with ice cubes... and they are melted by the time I get to the workshop room, about a 45 second commute.

1 week left of workshopping.  I will let you know if I make it, or if I end up puddling on the floor one of these days.

smp, you are not missing much over here, so enjoy your ice and snow while you have it!

A Wee Update

Workshop, so far, so good.  We have 13 participants, from a pretty wild and wooly part of this country.  They are all from one language group, and they are definitely more comfortable using their mother tongue than any other language.  So we are having everything that we say translated into their language, which, of course, I can't speak!  It's great to have it all translated, so people can understand everything they need to understand... but man, it makes the class go SLOW.  Plus, I think the guy that is translating for me is, well, editorializing a bit as he goes!  It sure would be nice to know what's going on more of the time, but, malesh, such is life in a foreign country.  It is also very strange to make a joke... and have to wait 3 minutes to see if people think it was funny or not.

They are good guys, and all seem very eager to learn. We were doing lots of getting up and dancing this afternoon, though, because it was so hot in the conference room, and it's hard to keep people with you when it's hot and they have bellies full of beans and rice after lunch. 

I was pretty proud of myself, because when we were doing introductions, Jackie got asked about her husband and children... so she had to go and tell them that she has no husband and no children.  But at least she has grey hair and more wrinkles than I do, so that automatically gives her a bit more credibility... if I had had to admit to having no husband and no children, with my few (though slowly increasing) grey hairs and few (though slowly increasing) wrinkles, I would have very little credibility to stand up and teach these guys anything!  So, I dodged the bullet, and will continue to dodge if it comes up again.

Of course, it's great to see my usual every day work colleagues again after my Christmas break.  Only one of them, so far, has commented on how fat I had become at home.  Unfortunately, he commented on it over and over again, on more than one occasion yesterday.  Sigh. It's good to be home, isn't it?!