http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Far Fletched in DDA/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Far Fletched in DDA en-us Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:45:16 UTC Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:45:16 UTC Without question today was the day that millions of Kenyans had eagerly awaited for months. Like the rabid Harry Potter nation counting down to the next bookmovie release or like me pining for the arrival of Santa Claus he still hasnrsquot answered my last letter Kenyans have been very anxious to have the chance to have their say in the direction of the country. The rules governing electi http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-287973.html Ho Ho Ho Rex and I headed down to Faithrsquos place for Christmas day since Francis and Susan had gone to Meru for the holiday and elections. Rex and I met up with one of his brothers who was traveling with his wife and two young children. We went by matatu from town to Kiserian and the younger of the girls sat on ldquoUncle Rexrsquosrdquo lap. It was interesting to see how good Rex http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-287970.html I donrsquot have much else to tell you so I thought I would give a sneak preview about the upcoming presidential election which is scheduled for December 27. As I mentioned earlier the race among a PLETHORA special thanks to ldquoThe 3 Amigosrdquo for that word of candidates mostly boils down to three main candidates. The incumbent is Mwai Kibaki representing the Party of National Un http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-287967.html Wedding Day Isaiah a brother of Francis was getting married. In short the entire wedding experience offered an interesting comparison to life in the US. About a month earlier Francis has told me that we needed to stop at a meeting briefly before heading home. The meeting turned out to be a committee meeting for the group that was doing most of the planning for the wedding. Thatrsquos r http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-287966.html Happy Thanksgiving Since no one else in Meru seemed to be celebrating the great American holiday of stuffed turkeys and stuffed turkeyeaters I got on the road for Isiolo. About an hour north of Merursquos lush landscape Isiolo is like a more parched younger brother always bitter about not being able to compete with his overachieving sibling. All the same Isiolo is still a busy little to http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/blog-267650.html After a restful night at the conference center in Meru Sr. Adelina and her driver took me to the Generalate of the Nazareth Sisters. Irsquom pretty sure that ldquogeneralaterdquo is just a fancy word for ldquobeehiverdquo because there were all sorts of activity there. Foremost the generalate is home to the largest contingent of Nazareth Sisters. So as you wander around picture a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/blog-267645.html In order to avoid growing roots it is advisable to stay active. Honest Irsquom not making it up. Based on this philosophy... and well because my current project demanded it I decided it was time to hit the road again. With the ongoing strategic plan in mind I wanted to see some of the other projects with which KFC is involved and get feedback from people there. I set off with Sr. Margar http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/blog-267641.html In honor of God Jen and I headed off to Mass in town with Sr. Esther who works at SAUT. Later in the afternoon we decided to kill some time by going for a walk out behind SAUTrsquos campus. Heading down a dirt road for a while we eventually came down to eye level with Lake Victoria. It was definitely worth the walk. We stopped for a while to admire the view and joked about the odds of tw http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/West/blog-267637.html We set out in the morning determined to do Mwanza in a day a giantsized task which would demand the precision planning of a rocket scientist and the stamina of a Kenyan distance runner. Fortunately this turned out to be more of a leprechaunsized task because I have neither of those traits. First on the short list of Mwanzarsquos tourist stops was Bismarck Rock which got its name because http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/West/blog-267609.html At this stage I have to explain what brought me to be meeting Jen in Mwanza. Follow me along this side road for a moment. It began with frigid days on Summers when Jen her sister Katie and I would wait for the bus wishing for a heated bus shelter. Jen a few years older than me may have been my babysitter along the way but thatrsquos a rather embarrassing detail which I choose to omit f http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/West/blog-260869.html So I had this great plan in mind and things were going just according to it for most of the day. I took my duffle bag to work with me carrying clothes for the weekend. At the end of the day I realized I could fit my clothes in my smaller bag so I transferred everything to my messenger bag. I left work a little later than I intended because of course Sister M wanted to chat. Nevertheless I http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-260867.html As I have learned along the way KFC is always willing to test the limits of sanity and good ideas. From three hour meetings to trying to plan a major event in under a month we really like to toe the line sometimes. However when we made connections with a local wellestablished bank about opening accounts for our beneficiaries I was optimistic guardedly. At this point I want to provide s http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-260863.html Things have been rather quiet lately. The only footnote from the weekend is along the lines of Kenyan cuisine. Yesterday Rex came back from his trip to Meru with some assorted fruits and vegetables and... a goat. Francis still has a farm up in Meru and apparently about 30 goats. When he arrived at the house I went out to help him unload. I saw him take the goat off the back of the pickup tr http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-224674.html It seemed rather unfortunate to not really know Nairobi very well beyond the area where I catch the buses. Armed with the Lonely Planet Kenya book AKA ldquothe biblerdquo I decided to wander the streets of the town affectionately known as ldquoNairobberyrdquo slight misnomer by my account. I visited the site of the former US embassy which was bombed in 1998. A memorial park now s http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-224672.html I wanted to share a few random facts about the Masai. The men pierce their ear lobes and gradually enlarge the opening with small round disks. Itrsquos an interesting fashion statement with the disks in but it looks a little stranger without the disks. Sometimes they will flip the hanging part up over their ear possibly to avoid catching it on something. Ouch. As the Masai mainly inhabit http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Amboseli-NP/blog-224666.html This morning I emerged from my hut a bit roomier than the one in Onyolo and realized that there was a little mountain in my backyard. Desperate to find my inner National Geographic photographer side I took some assorted pics of said mountainmdashwhich the locals call ldquoKilimanjaro.rdquo Having spent too long staring at that mountain I now have it on my list to tackle one of the loca http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Amboseli-NP/blog-224661.html Early on Tuesday morning we headed to Amboseli National Park south of Nairobi. And when I say south I mean far south. Irsquom not entirely sure but I think the trip took about 6 or 7 hours. Our safari crew consisted of Fr. B his two visiting yankee lady friends Sr. Margaret Sr. Winnie another brother of Sr. Winnie and me. 75 of the roads were in decent shape. However once we pass http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Amboseli-NP/blog-224214.html For the weekend I went with Sr. Margaret and Sr. Winnie up to Meru about 34 hours north of Nairobi. Meru is where their order was founded and Sr. Adelina the Mother Superior lives there with a few other sisters. The distinctions between city and town and village are beyond me but Meru is a much smaller city err... town As it is near the base of Mt. Kenya Meru has a much more varied land http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-222758.html I got an opportunity to partake in the ultimate ecstatic experiencemdashthe college graduation ceremony. Just think about it bull sitting around in a funny looking outfit that yoursquoll never don again which you inexplicably paid to wear bull listening to an array of speeches that range from memorable to mindnumbing bull spending time distracting yourself with hopes that the ldq http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-222753.html I slept really well... in the hut. Because I was the token single guy in our group I was allowed to stay in one of these small huts with another young man Jesse I think who coordinates the IPM program in the village but isnrsquot actually from the village. Thus we were borrowing the hut from the actual owner. Inside the hut was just big enough for a single bed a dresser and a bicycl http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Kenya/Nyanza-Province/Kisii/blog-222746.html