Research Update

Things are somehow moving along quite well so far with our research. We being pretesting surveys tomorrow and are training the interviewers that we will be using to survey patients today. We are using locals to help with the language barrier and also with cultural barriers, as the Kenyans are prone to agree regardless of whether or not they really do. Paul did a great job of mobilizing people, a feat which cannot be given too much credit since getting anything done here is a royal pain in the ass and takes forever. People arent used to doing anything with any urgency whatsoever, so I am glad that he has figured out how to get things going, and also that I dont have to deal with it.
We have also set a schedule to go and visit hospital workers and patients, and seemingly have the support of the district health leaders and their staff. For the next week and a half we will be working more locally in Isinya, Kajiado, and Kittengela. The next two to three weeks however we will be traveling most o f the week into the "deep interior". I am looking most forward to this as we will be far removed from the urban areas, and able to see Masai culture in its most natural environment.

Note to Self

The kenyans like to clean their ears and see no reason not to do so when they see fit. Say in a meeting, at dinner, walking down the street. They do not, however like to use their fingers (or the shower walls like someone i know-grrrrr) or Qtips. Instead they have discovered a new use for the pen lid. Its kind of intruiging to watch as the cap disappears and reappears. I'm concerned that they're going to scratch their ear drums and cause hearing damage. I also need to remember that no matter what i do here, not to chew any pen lids.

The Matatu Money Man

The matatu is the bus here. It is a large van with three or four rows of seats, that they like to cram as many people as possible into. Thhe driver has one job- drive. He does not talk to the passengers; he toys with the radio, speeds as much as possible, and slams on the breaks and throws the vehicle to avoid the many pot holes, sink holes, and issues that come abut on the road that could cause damage. His conduit for passenger communication is a guy whom i like to call the money man. This guy is great. He negotiates fees for rides, instructs passengers on where to sit, collects the fares, tells the driver where to stop, and likes to ride on the edge of the bus holding onto the roof, chosing to fling himself inside and on top of the neareast passenger only when the vehicle reaches top speed. He then slams the door shut with a dramatic flair and looks pleased with himself. He does this at least five times each journey since the matatu stops whenever someone by the side of the road flags it down or a passenger makes a clanging sound with a coin to signal that they want off. He then throws the door open, throws himself from the vehicle while it is still moving, heards people on or off, and begins his routine again. Even more impressively, he does all of this with the fare money entwined in his fingers. He has a slick method of collection, taking the bill, folding it in half, and lacing it in his fingers, like a magician pulling a coin from his ear, sometimes offering change, though often it has to be negotiated for. Fascinating.

Little Differences

I figured out yesterday that part of the reason for the lack of culture shock is that we can afford to live and act like westerners here. and therefore wont ever really understand the day to day life of the average person. Walking home from the town the other night it was very dark. There are gravel paths alongside the road where you can walk, though traffic comes frightening close at high speeds blinding you with the lights. I was walking with a friend of Paul's and she asked me if we could walk outside at night where we live. The idea of street lights and side walks had never even occurred to her because its not a part of the landscape anywhere here except for maybe nairobi.

Yestday we found the nicest toilet we have seen so far. IT was very exciting. It lives at a restaurant in Kittengela. They also have very very good fried chicken there. Getting chicken in restaurants is a treat since its not too common. Unfortuntaely you eat it with the knowledge that it was probably that chicken you saw crossing the road an hour ago. So these things go.
Yesterday we also went inside a traditional Masai (the local tribe) hut. THey are constructured from manure with a very narrow entry way meant for people even shorter than me, and maybe one or two tiny slits to act as ventilation. The shape if sort of like an igloo. They burn a fire inside at all times to maintain a layer of smoke. The smoke helps keep the mosquitos away, however the inhabitants generally have awful respiratory problems. Its a trade off theyre willing to make however to keep from getting malaria. Apparently most people build up a half resistance to it throughout life by geting it again and again, which provides a little protection but not enough.

Karibu Isinya

...or welcome to isinya.
Isinya is the village where we are staying. Paul lived here during his stint int the peace core and thus knows many people. The family he spent his time with has been very welcomming and generous. The "mama" Penninah, is a nurse who we will be working with and also runs a women's group that helps children. Yesterday we helped hand out school uniforms, food, worming medicine, vitamins, and soap to local orphans brought in by the group. The children are very curious and like to laugh at us and call us mzungu ("white person"). Its funny since this is the first place i've ever traveled that i have absolutely no chance of blending in.
The mama's sons are very kind as well and make sure that we are comfortable and know how to get what we need. Last night they brought us a goat and we all ate this large white bread like substance (ungala) and goat with tomatoes. Goat seems to be one of the main staples in the diet of those slightly more wel off here. Its cooked until almost a jerky like toughness, which makes chewing a bit of a challenge and toothpicks a popular aftermeal treat.
Our house has running water, an indoor toilet that flushes (usually), and a camp stove so we can boil water for drinking abd bathing and cook our own food. Milk is delivered every morning and boiled. Paul drinks a liter of boiled whole milk every day. yack. Quite honestly it hasnt been the culture shock i was expecting however i think that it is beacuse isinya is one of the better off villages, and though we are surrounded by poverty by our standards, by standards here people are very fortunate. once we get out into the deep brush tribal areas my thoughts on the matter might change though. one think that does strike me is that very few people who live in this area actually have jobs. many had one kind of recently, but often they were not paid because the governemeny made a mistake or the company ran out of funding, so they stopped working there to try something else.
more in a few days once we finish getting adjusted and my brain starts working again.

viva nairobi

have arrived safely in the capitol, nairobi. flight here took forever. the tv/video thing kept crapping out and going static and makng scary noises. kept waiting for samara, that creepy demon child from the ring, to crawl out dripping water everywhere and make my face go sideways.
no bribing any customs officials - sort of disappointed since i've always wanted to do something slick like that. if anything we bored them. oh well.
limited impressions of the city so far. we were picked up at the airport in style with a safari type van by paul and his posse from the village and hearded off to "the atm" (these are rare here apparently). everywhere we go paul tells us is dangerous as we drive through- he and said posse had to go on a refridgerator retrieval mission somewhere not for us ladies so aubree and i were deposited at the internet store. i'm not too sure what this danger implies but i'm fascinated. all i see so far is a lot of people milling about.
what i do know is that havgin spent the entirety of my morning in the ubervan the traffic here is attrocious. not even la in the middle of 5pm friday rush hour can compete with this nonsense. while it doesnt appear that there is a high car to person ratio, the road structure is made up of a series of giantic traffic circles and one way streets that wrap round and around, and apparently, as in the bay area, drivers become confused and scared of the rain and respond by doing extra stupid and bizarre things. rae- you planning folks would start to weep in utter frustration here. the road problems are compounded by the pedestrians. these folks make berkeley walkers look smart. theyre wandering all around the cars weaving in and out, often carrying large parcels that obscure their view.
this afternoon after a welcome to kenya pizza lunch (uhm...eh?) we are leaving for the village we will be primarily working out of. very excited about this drive, adn to sleep for the first time in a few days. apparently we are renting the house of a local missionary who is off on other business and quite happily the rumor is that it ahs running water.

things that are not in america

lounging in the amsterdam airport after a long, sweltering hot flight rewarded with a delighful afternoon spent tooling about the city here. we visiting cheap entry-truly schlocky museums, rented a paddle boat and cruised the canal and then parked ourselves up properly in a cafe and enjoyed local refreshments and chatted with the regulars. one dutch-aussie told us his tale of visiting america. he was borrowing his brother in law's car and driving on a state road in that scenic gem, wisconsin. he got pulled over by the local eager beaver trooper for no particularly good reason. when asked to provide identification he offered up his international drivers license (this was in the days when you actually had to be able to drive on both sides of the road to get one; these days they go for 15$ at AAA). the trooper was displeased with this offering informing him that there was no such thing as an international driver's license. he then provided his australian passport and driver's licsense. the trooper's response
"australia? i dont think thats in america, now is it?"

very important questions

last week we asked ourselves, just what does it take to remove a small smarmy weasel from its lair? we're not really quite sure although loud yelling seemed to be a part of the solution. this week we're on to more pressing issues.
exactly how much bubble wrap does it take to transport computers and related electrical equipment across international boundaries in the cargo hold of a 747 without hardshell suitcases? and just how much does it take to bribe customs officials to be able to bring said items into the country on our "tourist" visas? stay tuned for the answers to these and other exciting questions as the adventure begins.

leaving

i generally dont enjoy leaving places, even with the knowledge that i'll be back. things will inevitably change in that time and thats a little scary. the good news about leaving however is that once you are on the plane, the things you didnt get done and the things you kind of happened to forget suddenly dont matter and sweet relief is finally yours.
youre on your way and there's not a damn thing you can do about it so you might as well enjoy it all.

its alive

alrighty then. things are up and appear to be working running off of my web site. joy. stay tuned for information on photos (since everyone seems to feel the need to ask " are you brining a camera?" holy hell people, as though i would miss the opportunity to photograph being attacked by wild monkeys). i will see what connection speeds are there and then decide where to host them and what to do with them and such.
the system is finally coming together (thank you andrew!). it can now make phone calls and play files for the call recipient-i believe the demo will feature the exploding shark though if anyone has any other recommendations i'm all ears. just have to get it set up to pull phone numbers from the database, and then rewrite the whole database and user interface once i actually have the user requirements. and so these things go.
will be departing on wednesday may 25 from san francisco, layover in amsterdam. hoping for just enough time to escape the airport but not enough time to get into trouble. and then its off to nairobi. not looking too forward to two long flights but finally bought one of those neck donut devices and a bottle of those tylenol sleeping things so i should be good and confused when i get off the plane.

testing...

after surrendering on trying to get an rss feed running on my web site since it was just taking too much time to fix the bugs in it i've found myself back at the google blogger. lets see if this works...