A week of wazungu and tug-of-war

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Last week I experienced some amazing sites around Kisumu; however, there were two specific experiences that warrant some discussion. The first was a staff development day for CDC/KEMRI. There were about 600 Kenyans and a few expats building straw towers and competing in a relay race that included putting condoms on a wooden penis. I helped with the tug-of-war. Not only were people extremely competitive, but people had no qualms about getting sweaty and dragged around in the dirt under the hot sun...they enjoyed the hell out of it. I couldn't help but wonder how much of a disaster this would have been at CDC in Atlanta.

Saturday night I went to a Halloween party at the Walter Reed Army housing compound, affectionately called United Court. It was strange to walk through the gate (past the secrity detail) and see a venerable suburban set-up. Grass lawns and cobblestone streets. It was expat-astic! The Walter Reed folks had the best costumes because the Army ships every thing they own over. Well, everyone got pretty drunk and when the power went out, the embassy started calling a bunch of people at the party to make sure they were OK....should they send someone? We passed the time by singing Simon and Garfunkle songs....which tragically morphed into Broadway show tunes. I went outside for some more keg beer.

Wednesday morning, we went for a pre-work ride up to the Nandy hills, the same ride we had done the previous Saturday. Really, this ride is phenomenal. You climb for about an hour into this lush valley. The countryside is strewn with giant boulders that mimic houses precariously positioned on the tops of hills. On the way down the rain had cleared and the ridges across the Gulf were dark blue and purple with the early morning sun. On this trip, I got gregarious and while avoiding sheep and cows and children, I hit the mud a little hard and ended up with a mud/water/cow shit cocktail. mmmm...dysentery. I couldn't tell if we were getting more attention from the locals for our reckless abandon on the downhill, the helmets, or the fact that we were absolutely filthy. Maybe it was because I was yelling “amosi! (hello)” as we rode past.

I have posted some assorted pictures from the previous weeks events. The big partner meeting is this week, so we have some work to get done!

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Photos

Water Vendor
This guy buys water for 1 shilling (~0.01$) per 20 liters and sells it for 5 shillings. In poor peri-urban areas this is a huge expense for people. They might spend 20 of the 70 shillings they make in a day on water.

Sunset over the lake...
...a view from my balcony. The storm clouds have been rolling in every night around sunset, followed by some of the hardest rain I have every experienced.

Classroom
Those faint lines are the running track

Comments

[shcmee]

the plan.
so here's the plan...i hijack a plane to kenya. no one gets hurt, i just can't afford the ticket, see? okay. plane to kenya. THEN. i crash at your sweet pad (not crash the plane, mr. snoopy mchomelandsecurity), taking bike rides around and harassing the natives, all the while eating your food and working on my novel. eh? whaddya say? wanna be my benefactor?