Chopsicles

Some would say that the following just proves that I have too much time on my hands, but I would argue that it proves much more, none of it particularly good. If you can’t see the youtube video below, it might be blocked for you, but try here instead - its a quicktime movie so may be fiddly for PC users. It relates to the previous post found here.

btw, I have a mobile for the duration of my stay, the number is +27 7918 39908 if you want to prank me.

Probably won’t be a long post as we’ve just popped into the nearest town, Nyeri, and I’m taking a moment to feed my internet addiction.

After Charlie picked me up from the hotel it started to rain and he mentioned that his windscreen wipers had broken that morning. After driving for some distance he pulled off to the side into a service station and spoke briefly to the attendant before a group of guys who had been sitting on the curb walked over towards the van and quickly struck some sort of agreement with Charlie. About 5 of them set to work on the van, completely pulling the dash off the vehicle to expose the wiper motor, doing a bit of a fix and putting the dash back together. This took about 3 hours and after some negotiation Charlie paid them about 600 Kenyan Shillings which is about $10 AUD. It was quite extraordinary. Being kind of foolish I didn’t want to look like a sissy and sit in the car while this went on and sat outside chatting and throwing rocks at a can with some of the guys. I picked up some colour in the process, unfortunately most of it was red.

A lot of other stuff has happened which I’ll no doubt write further on but another stand out was probably going through a container load of stuff and testing out some PCs that have been sent over from Australia. Amongst these were a number of old macintosh computers that we set up next to the container on a table and ran off the generator. I even got to play a game of Buzzard Blizzard on the Apple IIC.
In other news, I was reflecting on the way that the guys in Nigeria would start moving as soon as any music started, like dancing is more of a reflex here than any conscious decision. I’m living in fear that something will happen that will cause me to go to a doctor’s and I’ll be there and instead of using his little mallet to test my knee-jerk reaction, he’ll walk over to a stereo and press play. When I don’t move, he looks at me with some consternation and leaves the room. He returns with someone else and demonstrates to them, and the consternation spreads. By the third or fourth person, I’ve realised that I should be dancing and so I bust out some moves, at which point they throw their arms up in horror and cover their eyes. The next thing I know I’m hurtling along on a stretcher headed for the emergency ward.

I had a good conversation with Sido today about what he sees as the major issues facing Kenya and Africa in general. It was interesting and I’m still processing a lot of stuff that he said and that I’ve heard previously on the trip. I think I was having something like culture shock earlier in the day, getting annoyed at not being able to understand most of the conversations (Swahili) and particularly at people saying ‘yes’ when they mean something else. Its really quite different here and a little frustrating at times not knowing how to do things, if that makes sense. I feel very dependent which makes it difficult to see how I would contribute effectively.

Have to head now, I’m sorry for not responding to any emails but I have really appreciated the contact. I’m seriously online in about a week when I get to Cape Town and promise to be a better son/friend/brother/father!

Well, sold the postie today in preparation for the trip, but not before grabbing this video, which I’d always wanted to do. I also managed to drop off the drum kit to Daniel who’s going to use it while I’m away. Thanks to all who have offered to put towards the project in Cape Town, I’m just trying to find out whether it can be done in a tax deductible manner. Also managed to upload a whole bunch of old photos that mum scanned in.

In other Africa news, I got my passport back with the Nigerian visa today and confirmed I’ve got a working webcam for calling home. I met with Ruth from the school in Kenya on Monday and it sounds like there is heaps to be done there with setting up computers and similar things. Apparently the weather is quite hot so I’m really looking forward to some good physical work and might be staying there for 3 weeks or so. Still haven’t had much luck nailing down details for Cape Town but, from speaking to some people who’ve been there recently, it sounds pretty exciting.

Well, nearly finished work now, with only 2 days to go. It’s been quite an interesting time, and my first government position. As expected there’s a fair bit of red tape around but I found it to be a pretty fun work environment. Because my contract was supposed to finish last Friday we had my going away lunch then. It was at the Water Rat Hotel and I was given some lovely presents and a great card, including an amusing poem about my ‘huge’ motorbike etc… On the planning front, things have been getting really hectic leading up to take-off, sorting out all those last minute things. I try so hard to be organised but it eludes me
The project team hard at work -

Well, the tickets for Africa have been purchased now, so things are really in train. My vaccinations haven’t been in vain (just in vein - sorry, had to be said). As nice as the folks at the travel centre are, the thought of needless needles is particularly unappealing.

At this point, the itinerary looks something like this:

SERVICE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
————– ——————- ——————— ——– ——-
QANTAS AIRWAYS - QF 400
MON 15OCT MELBOURNE VI SYDNEY NS 0600 0720
MON 15OCT SYDNEY NS JOHANNESBURG ZA 1000 1610
DURATION 14:10

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 463
TUE 16OCT JOHANNESBURG ZA NAIROBI KE 0040 0550
DURATION 4:10

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 434
TUE 16OCT NAIROBI KE KINSHASA CD 0815 0945
DURATION 3:30

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 435
FRI 19OCT KINSHASA CD NAIROBI KE 1045 1625
DURATION 3:40

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 432
SAT 20OCT NAIROBI KE LAGOS NG 0730 1030
DURATION 5:00

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 433
SUN 28OCT LAGOS NG NAIROBI KE 1120 1835
DURATION 5:15

KENYA AIRWAYS - KQ 460
THU 01NOV NAIROBI KE JOHANNESBURG ZA 0740 1040
DURATION 4:00

BRITISH AIRWAYS - BA 6419
THU 01NOV JOHANNESBURG ZA CAPE TOWN ZA 1400 1610
DURATION 2:10

Pretty dang sweet.

Update: looks like I might be staying in Kenya for longer than originally anticipated, perhaps up to two weeks.