Goin' Solo

I am officially on my own for the next couple days. Scott & Claire headed to Nairobi for a few days for a funding meeting and to pick up a student from IU that will be working for Aqua Clara in the Kisii region of Kenya. I got a crash course in navigating the area from Scott last night.

Emmanuel, the professor working with us on this project, picked me up, and I spent the day with the students that will be taking and analyzing water samples for us. I gave them a rough overview on the project and we finalized what their responsibilities will be. It started off a little slow with them having a little trouble understanding my “accent”, but it got better, and I think they viewed me more as a peer than a professor by the end of the day. We then spent the afternoon preparing the petri dishes that will be used for the bacteria testing. It was a little touch-and-go given the fact that the lab tech wasn’t available so we had to figure out how to run the autoclave (a hot oven-like  pressure container used for sterilization) , finding the necessary glassware, and using an analytical balance that had been previously declared as broken (it seemed fine to me….). Overall, I was quite pleased with how things shaped up given the hurdles as well as the initiative and attention to detail that some of the students displayed.

Aside from the boring, work-related news, I’m not quite over jet-lag, but it’s passable. (I’ve woken up for 2 hours in the early morning hours.) It’s the rainy season, but this area hasn’t had a series of hard rains since March when I was last here. Despite this fact, the countryside is reasonably green which makes for great scenery.

In terms of food, Scott was able to show me enough things that are similar to the US. The most entertaining thing is that they have 3 different brands of what are effectively Pringles (Pringles being one of the three). Also, in addition to what would be considered “normal” bananas they have mini bananas that are about 2 inches long, have a thinner peel, and are slightly sweeter. Some of the food perks are a wide selection of tropical juices, fresh fruit (as long as it’s not something like oranges which are upwards of $6…each), and great tea. (If you wish me to bring you back any tea or coffee, just let me know, and I’ll only charge a small fee…just kidding on the fee.)

Well, I can’t think of anything else…now that I feel that I have my bearings on my location and whatnot, it’s quite relaxing to be here where the pace of life is slower. I may generally get fewer things done in a day here, but at least I can (or have a better chance to) remember what I accomplished at the end of it which is often not the case in the states.

-Steven