Well it didn't take long...
I don't usually get sick in Kenya, but I have been having a little tummy trouble for the last day and a half or so. I must have eaten something iffy. Or maybe it was accidentally brushing my teeth with the tap water on my first day. Regardless, it knocked me out for Friday night and most of yesterday, but I'm beginning to feel better. All I ate yesterday was an avocado (they are so inexpensive and delicious here, along with the juicy mangoes!), some banana flavored yogurt, loads of soup and herbal tea, and one actual meal - the fish fillet from Dorman's Cafe in the Sarit Center for an early dinner.
I finally did some foodshopping, figuring I'd prefer cooking in to eating out especially when I wasn't feeling well. I was impressed to see a slightly larger variety of food than last year, and even a few organic labels. I bought some bok choy, feeling adventurous, and having had a yummy bok choy and mushroom dish at a Chinese restaurant in DC recently. Most of the local produce is wonderfully cheap, but watch out for the imported stuff - imported plums were priced at about $12/pound! Wow. I do most of my shopping at the Nakumatt Ukay in Westlands, and I was floored by the 3 floors (ha) of new shops that had opened up there in the past few months! Several nice clothing shops, a bigger chemist (pharmacy), a car accessories store, and a Standard Chartered bank open until 9pm every night and on weekends (even Sundays!) from 9-5, to name a few.
Speaking of cars, I am looking forward to retrieving mine! The guy who's been looking after it, Boniface, was due back from the field in Baringo late last night. He was having it repaired and some of the rusty areas repainted while he was away, so it would be ready when I arrived. I am incredibly attached to my beat up old Land Cruiser. Here are two pictures of it from 2003-4, when I was doing my dissertation field research near Mount Kenya. In the first one, it's fallen into an aardvark hole (nasty holes - you can hardly see them in the tall grass!); the second one shows a full side view. Ignore the mangled impala carcass next to it - just part of my research.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to venturing out for some social activity this evening, if my stomach's feeling up to it. It'll likely either be with my buddy Rene, who's had quite a car-buying adventure recently which all turned out OK in the end; or my good friend Emily (and perhaps some of the people she was with in the field), who should have arrived back yesterday evening.
Speaking of yesterday, yesterday was the day that the yearly Safaricom Marathon took place. This is a full and half marathon in a gorgeous private game reserve in Kenya, Lewa Downs. It raises money for conservation and community projects in the Laikipia region of Kenya (it's raised over a million dollars since it started in 2000); Laikipia is where I did my dissertation research and now am working on a long-term project. I've run several 10 mile races now, and plan to run a half marathon sometime soon... and I've wanted to run the Lewa half marathon ever since I heard about it! It's supposed to be tough; it's all on dirt roads, which isn't the tough part - the tough part is that it's at about 5,500 feet elevation. Nairobi is about a mile high, and I always find myself more tired than I'd anticipate for the first few days that I'm here. Anyway, one of these years, I'll do it. I believe you have to run the half marathon in a team and raise 100,000 Kenya shillings (currently around $1,500) to enter. Anyone want to join my team? :)
Meanwhile, back in reality here, I've been figuring out how to position my photos in my blog, getting caught up with emails and keeping track of my field preparation expenditures, working on revising a paper for publication, and finally unpacking and organizing all my things. I am lucky to be able to store some bags and trunks in Nairobi, which means I don't have to lug my own field clothes and research equipment over every year. But every year I do maintenance things like go through my personal medical kit and throw away and medicine that's been expired for more than a year.
It's still warm and sunny out (wow, this must be a record for June!) and I can hear lots of birds chirping outside. I hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing Sunday! It'll probably be my last relaxing day of solitude for a while...
I don't usually get sick in Kenya, but I have been having a little tummy trouble for the last day and a half or so. I must have eaten something iffy. Or maybe it was accidentally brushing my teeth with the tap water on my first day. Regardless, it knocked me out for Friday night and most of yesterday, but I'm beginning to feel better. All I ate yesterday was an avocado (they are so inexpensive and delicious here, along with the juicy mangoes!), some banana flavored yogurt, loads of soup and herbal tea, and one actual meal - the fish fillet from Dorman's Cafe in the Sarit Center for an early dinner.
I finally did some foodshopping, figuring I'd prefer cooking in to eating out especially when I wasn't feeling well. I was impressed to see a slightly larger variety of food than last year, and even a few organic labels. I bought some bok choy, feeling adventurous, and having had a yummy bok choy and mushroom dish at a Chinese restaurant in DC recently. Most of the local produce is wonderfully cheap, but watch out for the imported stuff - imported plums were priced at about $12/pound! Wow. I do most of my shopping at the Nakumatt Ukay in Westlands, and I was floored by the 3 floors (ha) of new shops that had opened up there in the past few months! Several nice clothing shops, a bigger chemist (pharmacy), a car accessories store, and a Standard Chartered bank open until 9pm every night and on weekends (even Sundays!) from 9-5, to name a few.
Speaking of cars, I am looking forward to retrieving mine! The guy who's been looking after it, Boniface, was due back from the field in Baringo late last night. He was having it repaired and some of the rusty areas repainted while he was away, so it would be ready when I arrived. I am incredibly attached to my beat up old Land Cruiser. Here are two pictures of it from 2003-4, when I was doing my dissertation field research near Mount Kenya. In the first one, it's fallen into an aardvark hole (nasty holes - you can hardly see them in the tall grass!); the second one shows a full side view. Ignore the mangled impala carcass next to it - just part of my research.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to venturing out for some social activity this evening, if my stomach's feeling up to it. It'll likely either be with my buddy Rene, who's had quite a car-buying adventure recently which all turned out OK in the end; or my good friend Emily (and perhaps some of the people she was with in the field), who should have arrived back yesterday evening.
Speaking of yesterday, yesterday was the day that the yearly Safaricom Marathon took place. This is a full and half marathon in a gorgeous private game reserve in Kenya, Lewa Downs. It raises money for conservation and community projects in the Laikipia region of Kenya (it's raised over a million dollars since it started in 2000); Laikipia is where I did my dissertation research and now am working on a long-term project. I've run several 10 mile races now, and plan to run a half marathon sometime soon... and I've wanted to run the Lewa half marathon ever since I heard about it! It's supposed to be tough; it's all on dirt roads, which isn't the tough part - the tough part is that it's at about 5,500 feet elevation. Nairobi is about a mile high, and I always find myself more tired than I'd anticipate for the first few days that I'm here. Anyway, one of these years, I'll do it. I believe you have to run the half marathon in a team and raise 100,000 Kenya shillings (currently around $1,500) to enter. Anyone want to join my team? :)
Meanwhile, back in reality here, I've been figuring out how to position my photos in my blog, getting caught up with emails and keeping track of my field preparation expenditures, working on revising a paper for publication, and finally unpacking and organizing all my things. I am lucky to be able to store some bags and trunks in Nairobi, which means I don't have to lug my own field clothes and research equipment over every year. But every year I do maintenance things like go through my personal medical kit and throw away and medicine that's been expired for more than a year.
It's still warm and sunny out (wow, this must be a record for June!) and I can hear lots of birds chirping outside. I hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing Sunday! It'll probably be my last relaxing day of solitude for a while...
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