tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52085901924155023152024-02-19T04:06:22.385-05:00Life in a Mud HutDaniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-65712944261255683242016-12-29T09:30:00.000-05:002016-12-29T09:30:00.143-05:00randoms from life out here <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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some random bug in the village</div>
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chameleon</div>
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Yes they have Voortmans.... normally $3 a package</div>
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dinner going for a ride</div>
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local woman carrying some wood</div>
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One of the toilets in the village (not sure if its still around though)</div>
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thirsty kitty, apparently food soak water tastes good</div>
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future guard dog</div>
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He's grown up since these pics and likes to chew on everything.... </div>
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couch cushions, flipflops, brooms/dustpans, you name it</div>
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power bars are always well used out here</div>
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Most are found full in rows of 3. </div>
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future milk source wandering around the resort grounds....</div>
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monkey roaming the streets</div>
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I'm pretty sure the fuel truck hit the electrical pole</div>
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yup, thats the wires just laying there being walked under or driven over. </div>
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River Nile</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-66776507442117324992016-12-22T09:17:00.000-05:002016-12-22T09:17:04.262-05:00Road work
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I
was happy to see that the road near our church has been redone. When
I first came out here to visit J (back when we were still dating) the
road was in decent condition however over time things changed and it
became literally impassible. In the dry season you probably could get
a motorbike down it but during the rainy season, even a dirt bike
wouldn't work. One thing I always found amusing about that was it
seemed to be the worst road in the city...... and it was next to the
CAT dealership of all places..... big equipment to fix was parked
right next to it.
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Anyhow
here are some pics of when it was bad and some of what they have done
in the last few weeks. There still is some work to be done on the
driveway/sideroads but its vastly better than before. </div>
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When the road was bad....</div>
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The only dry way through was over these bricks</div>
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New and improved:<br />
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As you can see on the right some culverts are done but others are not. The road itself though is a vast improvement to the previous road and has really deep ditches which hopefully mean it will last longer in future rainy seasons. <br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-41738114363668545702016-12-15T08:41:00.000-05:002016-12-15T08:41:09.099-05:00Traffic in the city
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While
driving skills in general leave much to be desired out here, traffic
jams are pretty much non-existent which is why I was shocked a few
weeks ago when I got stuck for 10 minutes or so in traffic that
wasn't moving. I had been heading to a meeting and was already late
(the taxi guy that normally picks us up in a minivan came with a car
instead thus needing 2 trips since there were 5 of us). We were about
4 cars back from where I think the jam started as I could see the
police officer walking in the road and no vehicles were being allowed
past that. I never did learn what the exact cause was of it but
chances are it was some important person that was coming through
given how close we were to the presidential palace. One
habit people have out here that actually makes traffic worse is when
the lane is blocked they just start another lane. Motorbikes and
rikshaws will also fit where ever there is space. As a result I
wasn't overly shocked when the traffic jam went from one lane (its
supposed to be only one lane each direction) to 2 lanes and then
finally 3 lanes.... thankfully the oncoming traffic had just enough
room to squeeze through on the edge (though they did make good use of
the sidewalk in some spots) or we'd be in a gridlock. </div>
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This past
weekend there was again a mini traffic jam when the university
graduates paraded from the university to the nearby cultural centre.
This time it was on a main road that had 2 lanes in each direction
and a barrier down the centre. The graduates took up one side of the
road and the traffic blocked behind them felt there was no reason to
wait so they took over one of the 2 lanes coming in the opposite
direction then the 2nd lane. It worked semi-decently until the graduates turned off the
main road and everyone wanted to get moving again.... then it was
pure chaos as the only way to switch back to the correct side was at
an intersection that is normally chaotic. </div>
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both oncoming lanes full of wrong way traffic (I'm in a minibus in the bus stop area)</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-39648314119405758032016-12-05T07:01:00.000-05:002016-12-05T07:01:25.709-05:00Sewing stuff
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Since I
ended with a sewing post last time, it seems appropriate to start
with another sewing post. I did finish the curtains in the offices
but never did do any curtains for the main conference room as there
was a change of plans and it was decided curtains weren't needed
there (the main reason was for the projector usage and the tinted
windows were deemed to be sufficient). The trampoline is set up again
and was in use regularly for a while until the child using it went to
his passport country on furlough. Since then I've sewn up one more
hole in a different trampoline and am trying to source locally more
thread to do a full restitching on another one.
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I stopped sewing
for a while as there wasn't any more to sew (and I was kind of sick
of it after that many curtains). When we returned in mid September I
was approached by some ladies from church regarding helping them
learn to sew as a way to increase their income. This started soon
after and have each made one. They are now each making 3 at a time
which I have actually found to be more useful in teaching them due to
the repetition of 3 at once. One person joined a week after the first
two which was also interesting as I noticed that some things weren't
initially understood by the first 2 ladies. I changed how I explained
things and it seemed to be understood better for the 3<sup>rd</sup>
person. Its a learning process for all of us.
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I'm also learning
more Arabic working with them as their English is limited. this
forces me to use my Arabic more and look things up later on. I also
find myself using “shoya shoya” a lot for a few different
reasons. It basically means “little little” or “slowly slowly”.
so whether its used for telling ppl I don't speak arabic well or use
the sewing machine more slowly... it works well. I've also learned
about “baraow” which is used in a similar fashion. 2 of the
ladies bring kids with them sometimes and the kids are getting used
to me. This can cause a bit of a stir at church when they want to
come to me instead of their caregiver (someone other than the
mother). During the service one little girl decided that she wanted
to sit on my lap so reached for me. I initially thought it best to
take her so she'd stay quiet.... It worked to keep her quiet but not
the kids behind me....I quickly heard loud whispers about the
“kawaja” (white person) with the baby.
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4 of the dresses I made before the ladies started the sewing lessons. They are making similar dresses in different sizes and patterns. I'm hoping in the next week or so they will have another 6-8 completed. Then we'll start making boys shirts. One thing I love about them is that I can adjust the length to what I need for each kid. Most of the kids are really tall and very thin so I find that the dresses are simply too short for their body structure. What fits on the top results in the dress being too short, and if its long enough then it doesn't fit up top. <br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-52700070089407201872016-12-05T06:29:00.003-05:002016-12-05T06:29:41.607-05:00where has the time gone
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Well its been a
really long time since I've blogged. I saw a friend's blog post and
was reminded that I should get back into the routine of things. On
checking my blog I've realized its been over a year since I posted
anything.....ooops. I did have plans in June/July to write up a bunch
of blogs for future posting as I had more free time then however I
didn't get to it in June and July was a rough month with everyone
being evacuated again. Thankfully I and a few others were already out
of the country at that time however its still tough watching from a distance. We
are back in country again and its been busy. Many of you probably get
the newsletter which has some details of life these last few months however for those of you that
don't (and for those that do), this will have a bit more detail on
life here.
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-331027989270614432015-10-06T04:24:00.003-04:002015-10-06T04:25:13.957-04:00Sewing activitiesOne of the things I've been doing in the last month is sewing. The new buildings need curtains and a trampoline had a hole in it. The trampoline repair I was planning on taking to a local upholstery place but that meant either walking with the mat or bringing it on my motorbike. I figured it was alot of hassle for a small hole so I figured I'd try using the sewing machine I brought with me. Its one that my dad's cousin and his wife helped me get. Although it isn't a commercial machine it was made for sewing jeans and other thick material. It worked but it was kind of a two person job since I couldn't really manage guiding the stiff material and holding down the reverse button every so often. A certain 3 yr old was a great helper for that. The repair material is not available out here so my mom sent it to a friend who was in Canada and she was able to bring the material and thread back to Africa with her. <br />
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The curtains for the new offices I'm still working on. In total there are 6 rooms with a total of 28 windows. I've completed 3 rooms and am almost finished the 4th. Much of the African print out here has a wax coating which makes things much easier. Although much stiffer material, it folds better and stays in place.<br />
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Below are some pics of whats been done so far.<br />
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Someone is hiding ..... </div>
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The hole, not too big but we don't want it to get bigger.</div>
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The challenge in sewing was 8ft of very stiff material but it worked well with E pushing the reverse button when I needed it.</div>
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The finished product.</div>
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Office curtains version 1. </div>
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Office curtains version 2</div>
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-33152392117843184592015-09-02T04:59:00.000-04:002015-09-02T04:59:00.236-04:00Word workshop
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Some of you are already aware of what has been happening here as the word workshop was in our last newsletter that went out. For those of you that haven't seen it, the word workshop is where people from one of the local tribes get together and list all the words they can think of regarding certain topics. There is a huge list of topics in English That they work from to help them think of the words and they then list all of the words in their language that are affiliated with that topic. </div>
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For example - The term head would result in thinks like skull, brain, ears, nose, mouth, face, hair, and so on. There also may be subgroups within this as well. For example the term "mouth" would result in things like teeth, taste, chew, bite, and so on. There will be overlap and some one will work through all the data later to organize it and create a dictionary. </div>
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Although I'm not directly involved with this particular
workshop I have been called to help some of the participants
translate medical terms from their language to English. All these
words will be the basis for a dictionary that will be developed over
the next couple of years. check out rapidwords.net to see what this
is all about. </div>
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<br /></div>
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A big thank you to P and S for all the work they did on the new buildings over the last 2 years. We have 4 new apartments, 5 new offices and a new conference room. The space has been well used for this workshop and I'm sure in the future. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-68604072717824521622015-08-29T05:44:00.000-04:002015-08-29T05:44:00.233-04:00The trip home....
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<br />
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Travel
out here is an interesting thing. Nairobi traffic can be very
congested at times and I've probably mentioned before that there are
times when I can walk faster than the traffic is moving. On a
saturday things don't tend to be as busy so its usually a better day
to travel. That wasn't the case for me heading to the airport on my
way home. My troubles started pretty much from the beginning when the
taxi driver didn't show up. When I called him it was clear he had
forgotten. I wasn't too worried as he sent someone right away and I
knew I had lots of time. The driver arrived and informed me he need
to get gas. Again not a problem as we had lots of time however the
first gas station didn't have working pumps so off we went to the
next place. Unfortunately we didn't get very far as a police officer
decided to pull us over and check the taxi's paperwork which wasn't
complete so off we went to the police station. What I hoped would be
a quick stop turned into over an hour waiting for the driver while he
went in to deal with everything. After about an hour I started to get
concerned as I knew I still needed to make a stop and and get to the
airport in less than 1/2hr so I called the driver's boss to see if
there was another taxi I could take. Of course the original driver
came out as I made the call so off we went. I was able to make the
quicks stop I needed to and the driver got gas. The next thing I knew
we were stuck in unexpected traffic. This was a result of a
motorcycle getting into some sort of an accident. Out here if you
have an accident you leave things exactly where they are until the
police are able to review it. So there we all were on the highway
going very slowly until we got past that point. At the airport it was
a challenge to find where I was suppsed to actually go as my ticket
and the internet had 2 different terminals. We started with te one
the taxi driver knew about and sure enough there was a sign directing
us to the other terminal which was so new the taxi driver didn't know
where it was. After asking someone where to go we finally found it
and I was off to check in. (by now it was around 12:45 and my flight
was scheduled to leave around 2pm). Thankfully I was able to clear
the checkin quickly and head over to the seating area to meet with
the rest of the group I was traveling with and head home.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
One
may think that was the end of things but it was not, I still had to
get through the airport I was arriving at. This is always interesting
as its either empty or jammed pack. This time it was packed as 2-3
flights arrived at the same time. After going through a temperature
screen in a UN tent we headed to off to the customs area. This is a
30x50 room where both customs paperwork and baggage check would be
completed for all flights. Essentially it was standing room only in a
very hot climate. It got smelly fast. It also was a matter of always
staying close to the person in front of you or you'd risk losing your
spot. While waiting in line I was able to fill out my paperwork and
help the others get theirs done too. It was an interesting process
since a few didn't have passports as we know them but instead had a
few official pages stapled together and I had to dig around in their
paperwork to figure out what was needed. Once customs was cleared we
had to push (and yes I mean literally "push") through the
next crowd to grab our many bags and bring them to an official to do
a hand search, regroup with all 5-6 people, and head home. It all
went fairly smoothly considering everything but I'm glad this time I
didn't try and bring a few flats of eggs through that chaos (yes I've
done it in the past to go to Doro where eggs are hard to get).
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-6683419939137880732015-08-26T03:37:00.002-04:002015-08-26T03:37:48.769-04:00cleaning timeBack home in Canada I never was one to clean the house much. My logic being if you keep things clean as you go there isn't much else to clean and it worked pretty well. Out here I use the same logic but have to clean more often (every week or two instead of monthly). It is more challenging here as with all the dust and hard water is a nasty and annoying thing to deal with as you can see with my shower.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ZO6A7QtALHB4GaF5hOrlW7OVblree8lTRaE9ZX4bpMFnufw02Xs0TwKNfX1hw3zBVAgHWG53r3olqXBmnN4Ksy29HYe7qjacA0Ri6z0k047fe44Gre0UShE1rweabprN-SnevHYWF1gB/s1600/P3060067.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ZO6A7QtALHB4GaF5hOrlW7OVblree8lTRaE9ZX4bpMFnufw02Xs0TwKNfX1hw3zBVAgHWG53r3olqXBmnN4Ksy29HYe7qjacA0Ri6z0k047fe44Gre0UShE1rweabprN-SnevHYWF1gB/s320/P3060067.resized.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Before (a year+ of calcium buildup)</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64rV2PZo5b9L3qkXCRQGx2ok8QAK9Pj641DJfzAzxnxpNrnBuQfQnroYX21BO_SohXgO-saQ8RbXsKEGqEwPQW0xSNuOo_9NlVkwq-76ln8rSa4_zWvclYrJau2JNyiwZ19_7y4ViD1AP/s1600/P8200002.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64rV2PZo5b9L3qkXCRQGx2ok8QAK9Pj641DJfzAzxnxpNrnBuQfQnroYX21BO_SohXgO-saQ8RbXsKEGqEwPQW0xSNuOo_9NlVkwq-76ln8rSa4_zWvclYrJau2JNyiwZ19_7y4ViD1AP/s320/P8200002.resized.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
After</div>
<br />
<br />
I'm liking the shiny white color much better. One of the challenges of getting this clean was what to use to clean it. Cleaning solutions out here aren't as good as stuff in Canada so it was a bit of trial and error. One suggestion was to use some battery acid (and be very careful with it) but I wasn't too keen on that as it seemed a little extreme for this. What I found worked was citric acid (thanks T for the suggestion) left to sit on it for a while with some water. I love the sizzling sound it makes as it eats through the buildup. After rinsing away the citric acid I took a flat razor and scrapped it all down. It took a few hours to get it all cleaned up and I still need to do the sides but I'm liking the results so far.<br />
<br />
Vinegar is another useful product I've found to be helpful to cut through the calcium buildup. About once a month or so I take down the shower head (or have J do it since I'm too short) and soak it in vinegar for a few hours. Its also useful in keeping the sinks somewhat shiny too.<br />
<br />
My next challenge is to get the water stains out of the toilet and off the floor. Both are more of a challenge as they aren't flat surfaces like the shower tiles so I can't use the razor blade to scrape them clean. One of the other people who live here suggested a specific cleaning solution so I'm hoping that will work but for now I'll just ignore the stains. I still have lots of other cleaning solutions to use up and with everything being so expensive, its not worth a closet full of cleaning supplies that may or may not work. <br />
<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-25919585284918871212015-07-28T14:28:00.000-04:002015-07-28T14:28:00.143-04:00Conference
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<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A
few months ago our team had a spiritual retreat. This was unique in
that the entire team participated including local staff. In the past,
retreats have been held in another country with a variety of teams
getting together and thus local staff were unable to attend due to
the cost. This time it was decided to have it on our compound and
include everyone. The theme was Transforming to God's Culture. As a
result there was lots of discussion about what things in each
person's culture were good, bad, or neutral based on Biblical
principles. One of the things I enjoyed was hearing the perspective
of the local staff. In our orientation training we were told to
expect differences but its much more interesting to hear someone talk
about their personal culture and thought processes. During this time
I also got some hands on experience in dealing with these
differences. On the first day of the conference I got a call from one
of my friends at another organization who was travelling through the
capital on her way home She was assisting a mother and daughter in
getting home as they had just been to a nearby country for surgery. The problem
was that although all 3 were booked onto the same flight, the
mother/daughter got bumped off while my friend was still supposed to
fly out. There was no way my friend wanted to leave this woman in an
unfamiliar city on her own so could they stay with us overnight and
be assisted to the airport for the next flight out? Having her over
was a very interesting experience. Although she was familiar with
many things from her time in the big city, I still ran into some
cultural/lifestyle issues. One thing that was really helpful for me
was to mentally put myself in her lifestyle to understand why she did
things. Its amazing how differently we do things subconsciously and
don't think about why we do what we do. For instance, the woman was
not bothered at all by all the food crumbs her child dropped while
wandering around the house eating her meal. From my perspective this
would be odd and alot of work to clean up the mess. Looking at it
from her perspective, they eat meals outside so kids wandering around
and dropping food is no big deal. The cultural differences then made
more sense to me and I was better able to adapt to how she does
things and not be annoyed by the things that didn't seem right in my
mind.</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-24174521960774035662015-07-25T14:25:00.000-04:002015-07-25T14:25:00.320-04:00Electricity
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<br />
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Electricity
is something I didn't have much of when I was living in the bush.
Then I had a setup of a solar panel, inverter, and a large battery.
This was enough to power my laptop, flashlight, e-reader, and a bit
of evening electricty from the lightbulb in my tukel. Life in the big
city has much more electricity but still has its limits. City power
exists but is horribly unreliable and we can go for months without it
so we mainly depend on our generator. This means life tends to run
on a schedule. The workday starts when the generator goes on, and
ends when the generator goes off. It also means that suppertime
revolves around when we have power since we use the electricity to
cook. We still do have a gas stove/oven combo but since gas is
expensive and electricity is "free" this cuts down on some
of the costs of living here.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Running
a fridge/freezer also is pretty good out here if you keep it full
which isn't too hard as it also makes for good storage of foods that
we don't want to go bad. Flour here comes with extra protein and
freezing it for a few days will prevent the protein from reproducing.
Rats also can be a nusance so anything that they would like that
isn't in glass or tin containers ends up in the fridge since its rat
proof. Veggies out here don't last long so I chop them up weekly and
throw them into the freezer to use throughout the week (bonus is that
later I just have to grab a bit of different foods to make dinner).
Water bottles added to the freezer when things get low means ice
water for the really hot days.
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Although
electricity availability can get annoying, we have settled into a
routine and its not a huge bother. Probably the biggest difference
from north america is that our schedule is based on the generator
running and we always know where our flashlights are at any given
time (and they always have charged batteries). I'm reminded of how
much I've adapted to life without electricity when local people visit
and they are asking why I don't have any fan or lights on when the
generator is running. Unless its dark, 1/2 the time I just forget to
turn things on and with natural light, why bother?
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-26631762389579598062015-07-21T14:24:00.001-04:002015-07-21T14:24:48.406-04:00Inflation
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<br />
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Note: this is a blog post I wrote about over a month ago when the prices were spiralling upward. Things have settled down and are somewhere in between the prices listed below but I've been gone for a bit and with fluctuations I'm not sure the current prices. </div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Life
here is getting more expensive all the time. Although there has been
a blackmarket exchange rate for as long as I can remember, the
difference between the bank rate and the black market rate has
widened drastically in the last few months. As a result the price of
goods is rising quickly. Here are a few examples. All prices are in
USD and are in the exchange that we can get at the bank.</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 644px;">
<colgroup><col width="205"></col>
<col width="206"></col>
<col width="207"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
Item</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
cost in November</div>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
cost in May</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
small bucket of potatoes (fills a plastic grocery bag)</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$7</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$14</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
green pepper</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$0.28 for a medium one</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$0.28 for a very small one</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
carrots</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$0.28 for one</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
same</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
onions</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$1.41 for medium pile</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$2.82 for medium pile</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
garlic</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$0.28 for one</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$0.42 for one</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
meat - mince</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$8.47 for 1kg</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$20 for 1kg</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
flour</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$3.38 for 2kg</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$7.34 for 2kg</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
20L of drinking water</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$3.39</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$7.34</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="205">
<div class="western">
1 egg</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="206">
<div class="western">
$0.28</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="207">
<div class="western">
$0.56</div>
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<br />
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For
us its frustrating to see the costs rise but not nearly as
frustrating as for the local people who are already are living day to
day and have to pay the price that things are going at for the day.
For us, I tend to buy a weeks worth of food at a time and can afford
to wait a day or two if the prices are high in hopes that the next
day the price is less. Many others don't have that option.
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<br /></div>
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One
thing we never really bought much of is water since we have a filter
and it has given us more than we need when we first arrived here.
recently it has gotten slower and thus we have been buying water
periodially since we drink more than the filter gives out. Last week
those prices doubled and I'm not willing to pay that much for
drinking water so instead I've been boiling it to kill bacteria and
running it through a cloth to prevent guinea worm. This doesn't cost
me anything but some time since the generator runs on its schedule
regardless of my water needs and we use electric hotplates to cook.
I've chatted with our local staff about doing this to save money but
for them there still are expenses because they have to buy charcoal
so they can boil the water which reduces any savings (if there is any
savings after buying the charcoal).
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<br /></div>
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Gasoline
is the one thing that hasn't changed its price since we got here. Its
still $1.69 per liter since there are gov't price controls on it. One
might think this is a good thing but with price controls come
shortages and finding fuel now is very difficult. At one station a
few weeks ago I counted 40 cars lined up before the line disappeared
around the corner. There were also a mass of motorcycles bunched
together at the station and more scattered throughout the line. The
only other gas station that was open had similar lineups. The rest
were closed down because there was no fuel. Now I don't see as many
lineups however the vast majority of gas stations have tarps over the
pumps or the area roped off signalling they don't have fuel.
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<br /></div>
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Life
here is one big economics lesson that brings many questions and
struggles. One thing we don't want to do is use the black market as
its illegal but it also leaves other questions on how we can function
in this environment in a stewardly way and how can we help others who
are struggling with the rising costs. Do I barter for a good price
(potatoes for example were going for $20 but I was able to get them
for $14 one day) or do I let it go and pay more for the item knowing
that those selling the products are most likely in a more difficult
situation. On one level I want to let it go because I know it will
help them for the short term however if I pay more for the item than
its worth I am encouraging the idea that they can charge certain
people more which can be damaging in the long term.
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-9372187672978962462015-04-22T09:31:00.004-04:002015-04-22T09:31:48.518-04:00Exam time
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Exams
have been over for a while but I thought I'd do some catch up on how
things went. It was a very different experience to be the one preparing the exam than to be the student writing the exam. I definitely prefer
to be the instructor and not the student. The course I taught ended
up being done earlier than I was given time for so I ended up giving
them additional lessons over and above the course requirements and
also gave the students the option to write their exam earlier than
the scheduled exam time so they could get it done and out of the way
which then would make for a lighter exam schedule. They chose to
write early and get the course done and out of the way. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Writing
an exam for the students was an interesting experience. I'm thankful
I had developed some practice questions for the students as it helped
not only to find areas of weakness that I could review in class but
also gave me an understanding of what to watch for. Since many of the
students have done their primary schooling in Arabic and are now
transitioning to learning in English, language can be a barrier for
many of the students. In the practice questions I created I saw a
number of problem areas where my wording was catching them up even
though they understood the concepts so I made sure to be clear in
what I was asking for.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Spacing
was another challenge I found as I went along. Although I thought I
had given enough space on the exam to do the work, I took extra blank
pages into the exam with me just in case I needed them. I needed them
all.
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<br /></div>
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Timing
was also interesting. I had 2 hours for the exam and I created an
exam that I expected would take somewhere between 1/2hr and 1.5hrs
depending on the student. well the first student out of the exam left
shortly after the 1<sup>st</sup> hour. By the end of the 2 hours
there were 5 students left finishing off the exam. Since I was new at
this, I had been tracking the number of students that left in 10
minute increments and saw that they were leaving in an expected
pattern however it was taking them all longer than I expected. By
giving them an extra 10 minutes (into their lunch break so it didn't
affect other classes) all but one finished.
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<br /></div>
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Marking
the exam was also an interesting project. It was interesting to watch
how the mark varied across the students. I even got an overall bell
curve out of the marks (which also appeared in the spread of how long
it took students to finish the exam) which was interesting to see
develop. One thing I found helpful in being consistent was to mark
all the exams at once going through 1 question at a time for all the
students instead of marking one exam at a time student by student. In
addition to keeping things consistent I was able to see if there was
any pattern to how the students answered each question. One example
of this was a question where I asked for the calculation of something
but instead got the definition in about 1/2 of the student answers.
Once I saw this pattern I reviewed the question and saw how it very
easily got misinterpreted thus more of a problem on my part then on
theirs.
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<br /></div>
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One
of the more challenging parts of marking I didn't expect was having
to mark one question wrong for a student and knowing it was the only
mistake on their entire exam. I never expected to feel so bad for the
student that did so well. I guess part of me knows how difficult it
is to get a perfect exam. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Overall it was a good experience for me and
I learned lots. I think the students did as well.
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-56181497686329879922015-04-15T04:26:00.000-04:002015-04-15T04:26:00.070-04:00Life as a teacher for a few weeks
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While
J was away I started and finished teaching at the local nursing
college. I was able to help out and teach some basic statistics to
the students. I enjoyed the time I spent with them and also saw some
of the challenges that many of them face. As a teacher I noticed that
there was a wide variety of abilities in the class. Some students
knew not only what I was teaching but also more advanced information
that I had not taught while others struggled and had difficulty with
basic math skills. Another issue was language skills. The students
came from varying parts of the country and had different levels of
English language skills.For some, their previous education was in
Arabic and their English was limited, thus even though they were
familiar with the content, they struggled to understand things due to
the language barriers. I found much of what I taught was a balancing
act of bringing the more complex content to them so all students
understood while at the same time trying to keep it complex and
interesting enough to keep those with advanced skills interested. I
also found it interesting to learn some of the cultural differences
in teaching styles and how the classroom works. The most interesting
aspect of culture for me was when the students were dismissed. In
Canada when the teacher tells us we are dismissed all the students
make a mad dash for the door while the teacher stays behind to answer
questions for those that still have questions. As a result I expected
the 30 or so students I had been teaching to leave when class was
done and I packed up my stuff. Nope.... Instead they all stayed
sitting and watched me pack up my stuff and leave. That was a akward
ending to my first class. It turns out that out here it is a sign of
respect to sit and wait for the instructor to leave the room before
the students leave. Any questions they have will wait until the
instructor has returned to the office or if they find the instructor
in the halls after class. Now I make sure most of my stuff is
organized and packed up by the end of class so I don't take too long
to make my exit. I also spend some time hanging and being available
to students before heading back home.
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-24689298507299759882015-04-08T03:19:00.000-04:002015-04-08T03:19:02.593-04:00Its been a while
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Its
been a while since I posted on this blog. Well part of it is because I spent
most of February as both the medical "doctor" and the
computer doctor. J was gone for a month to Kenya for some computer
workshops/courses. Since he is the IT support for the team someone
needed to be in charge and deal with any problems that came up over
that time. That person was me. Although it was a busy month I had
alot of fun and learned lots. before J left he gave me a crash course
in all the different programs the team here uses so I could assist
with any problems and do any necessary updates.
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Much
of my work consisted of submitting bug reports, resetting computer
passwords, and pulling data from corrupted harddrives.
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One
team in particular had some problems when they were running a few
different programs and working with someone in another country over
the computer. Well its true that when the computer tech is around
problems don't happen. After spending one morning running back and
forth to their office fixing the problem and sending bug reports I
started doing my work in their office. Well as soon as I did that
there were no more problems. Later that week I got a call from the
team saying they were having problems again so please come and sure
enough before I got there I got another call from them saying "don't
come anymore, the computer is scared of you and fixed itself". I
guess computers aren't fond of their doctor :) The problem never did
fully resolve (I think it was a combo of some program bugs and maxing
out an already limited internet bandwidth) but we were able to
manage and come up with some creative fixes so they could continue
working.
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The
most fun was being able to reset passwords and getting data off of
corrupted harddrives. Resetting the passwords was pretty easy given
how J has things set up and I got to do some MSDos style stuff to
reset things. Does anyone else remember MSDos??? (if you don't
remember it was around the time of Windows 3.1... ok, now I'm really
dating myself). Pulling data from the old harddrive was also kind of
fun too. Although it wasn't hard, I did need a special device. I had
initially tried to boot up the old computer and put the harddrive
into another computer to get the data hoping it was a computer
problem and not a harddrive issue but both ways failed since the
problem was most likely a result of the harddrive corrupted in a
vital area. Well the fancy device J owns allowed me to make the
harddrive into an external one where I could bypass the corrupt
section and pull the files needed. Since none of the files needed
were corrupted it was just a matter of copy/paste onto a new
harddrive. It was pretty basic but also cool how easy it is to get
data off of harddrives if you have the right equipment. If it ever
happens back in Canada and J isn't around I'll spend my money on this
device instead of paying for the repair.
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As
much as I didn't like J being away, it was a good month where I
learned lots.
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-38162057819173609212015-02-10T07:10:00.000-05:002015-02-10T07:10:00.319-05:00Beer bottle bricks
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A
friend here on the compound recently posted a link to heineken beer
bottles that were shaped to be reused as bricks.
(<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-heineken-bottles-were-square-62138490/?no-ist">http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-heineken-bottles-were-square-62138490/?no-ist</a></u></span></span>
if you want more info on this concept) Although I wouldn't encourage
drinking enough alcohol to build a house, l I love the concept. If
there were a way to do this with water bottles we could solve 2
problems. 1 - good housing material to make basic homes. 2 - reduce
the trash on the streets as the vast majority of it is discarded
waterbottles which they burn with their garbage to get rid of. Those
fumes I'm sure aren't healthy.
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<br />
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<br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-24238012359497113452015-02-03T07:09:00.000-05:002015-02-03T07:09:00.527-05:00Changes in the market<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }a:link { }</style>
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One
thing that always annoyed me in Canada was when the supermarket would
redo a store and move things around so I couldnt find things again.
Well out here similar things happen. Every once in a while the police
will move through the market area and tell people to move which opens
up the market area. Usually people will clear out for a few hours to
a few days and then the return and the cycle repeats itself every few
weeks or months. Last week however the police decided to clear a much
larger area up than in the past which resulted in lots of changes. It
was nice to be able to walk down the much wider roads and not have to
fight the people and car traffic as had slowly become the norm since
shortly before Christmas. It seems with Christmas coming more vendors
would appear to set up shop and slowly the 2 lane road became one
for both vehicles and people. The downfall this week however seemed to be a major backup of traffic on the main roads for some reason and a boda/truck accident near the market which resulted in tons of traffic driving through the previously widened market roads. Hopefully the matatu (bus) drivers don't see it as a permanent short cut in the future and then we can go back to nice open roads where we can all walk or drive without all the chaos... now if only the boda (motorcycle) drivers can stay on the road and out of the market itself I'd be happy (compare it to someone driving a bike through the local produce market).<br />
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Another bonus to having all the changes is that they have a nice section where all the fruits/veggies are and as a result I found some new things (yay for dill, green beans, and passion fruit). I couldn't find the lady that I normally got my potatoes from and haven't been able to find her back but I have found a new person for this which is great. In general I prefer to buy from the same
person as then I know the price will be fair and the quality will be
consistent. It happens often enough that the price goes up when they
see white skin so finding someone who gives a fair price is a good
thing, unlike when I paid 10 pounds for a soccer ball only
to find out someone else got a similar one for 3 pounds elsewhere.
</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-77175393599233361712015-01-28T06:58:00.000-05:002015-01-28T06:58:00.633-05:00Another bike story<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A
few days ago my bike skills were expanded when I managed to pop a
hole in the front tire on my way to school. After asking a local
shop owner where I could get air where things got lost in translation
and quick call to J, I was starting to walk the bike home since I had
no repair kit with me. Seeing the long walk ahead of me I decided to
ask one of the local boda (motorbike) drivers since I could better
explain what I needed by pointing to parts on their bike and chances
are they had needed some repairs in the past as well. It turns out
the closest repair place was just down the road (down a hill at that)
and they only charged me 25 pounds for the repair (about $8US) and a
new tube. The only problem, I needed to pay cash (no one out here
takes MC or Visa and even the airlines want cash for a ticket) and I
had only 13 pounds on me (I figured it was enough for lunch and a bus
ride if I needed it). Even J who had come to help push the bike home
didn't have any cash. Needless to say that meant walking home
(thankfully without the bike to push) and coming back with the money.
Bonus was that the compound manager was just leaving for a meeting
near where I left the bike so I was able to catch a ride with him
back to the shop. In all I was only about 45minutes late for my first
day at the school... oops. Next time I'll travel with more cash.
</div>
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<br />
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-25408897068217105262015-01-24T06:58:00.000-05:002015-01-24T06:58:03.637-05:00A trip through town
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<br />
What
does it mean to ride a motorcycle through the city? In general it
means navigating through crazy drivers and people who break every
traffic law that exists. It also means that as a female on a
motorcycle there are many that are somewhat surprised to see me
riding around. A few weeks ago I went to the airport to see a friend
who was flying through. At the airport there is an area where all
the motorcycle guys park their bikes and hang out until someone needs
a ride so I thought it best to park there and wait until her flight
arrived as I wasn't sure if I could bring the bike up to the main
parking area where all the cars/land rovers are (out here there
aren't many signs about what can and cant be done and even if there
is, one never knows if its correct as rules are always changing). I
pulled up and the conversations started. They all wanted to know if
the bike was mine and how much I charge for 'transport'. They also
wanted to know why I didn't have a car/land rover to drive instead.
Soon the conversation turned to the standard marriage questions and
how since I'm married I can't marry any of them. Skin color and why
my skin is light and thiers is dark was another conversation which
thankfully this time I at least didnt get told I look like a pig
(previous conversation with someone else and that was what she
compared my skin to). I also was told I need to learn one of the
dominant local languages in addition to my arabic. It also became a
bit of entertainment for the guys I was chatting with to tell any new
comers that "no, she doesn't need a ride because she has a bike"
before they asked if I needed a ride just to see their reaction
(which ironically is the same reaction they had when I told them I
had my own bike). I suspect that my market reputation of being a
white person who speaks arabic has now been expanded beyond the
market to the city overall as a white woman who rides a motorcycle
and speaks arabic.
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-49847251839515605202015-01-09T04:04:00.000-05:002015-01-09T04:04:00.169-05:00SewingRecently one of my friends from D asked me to post some pics of the alterations I did to J and I's mosquito net. Mosquito nets are one of those things out here that are essential and useful but also very annoying. Malaria is a huge issue and the nets are one way to prevent malaria. Tucking them in at night is a hassle though. I got tired of going to bed and tucking it in everytime I got out through the night. Thus I came up with the idea that if I could sew a hem in the bottom that I could run an elastic through creating something like a fitted sheet effect things would be much easier. So the next time I took the net down to wash it I did some sewing and installed the elastic. BEST THING EVER. Now I just slide under the net into bed. grab the mattress and roll slightly and it tucks itself in. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwE-zyuyAwakLT6NR4qTTHIxkpyZeZ10sCIY3eU0UiC1ftxnXT0jkepE8Pc78xRIk5nOzF8OLL06RaT6jh1PWimVI_Bfg0v-IwPt2RZnW0fkA3M6kvWOI7JInbZHFVq8cnSIKDjbAH14a/s1600/PC180007.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwE-zyuyAwakLT6NR4qTTHIxkpyZeZ10sCIY3eU0UiC1ftxnXT0jkepE8Pc78xRIk5nOzF8OLL06RaT6jh1PWimVI_Bfg0v-IwPt2RZnW0fkA3M6kvWOI7JInbZHFVq8cnSIKDjbAH14a/s1600/PC180007.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
After photo (sorry no before shots but they look the same) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Gh8giydsTuYZCo8DM2akdVGY1vPPJF11GoebO70T6G-bSesfuBBAHW7P5gyfanv04obkkEXJDXBiBHYhw337_CWSV8pw6ttORJGxu4qeV_k9ue5zvujH84p9YnauC3OrkzOA-Os36tsd/s1600/PC180010.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Gh8giydsTuYZCo8DM2akdVGY1vPPJF11GoebO70T6G-bSesfuBBAHW7P5gyfanv04obkkEXJDXBiBHYhw337_CWSV8pw6ttORJGxu4qeV_k9ue5zvujH84p9YnauC3OrkzOA-Os36tsd/s1600/PC180010.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
here you can see the folded portion. There is approx 3.5-4m</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of 1cm elastic in it that I brought from Canada. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlrTAeGJ8dSctDazNGTeWoY7C3cTQqtxgemlIcx6v99gVckL4e3DlNJqjTTn5eXmTojEbztp407m5WUy-6becMWB78-M1L2QOdVhMBuh4xQgIKyLYxxU9_-QjpxUOfZLsOxYSPkABQRdQ/s1600/PC180012.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlrTAeGJ8dSctDazNGTeWoY7C3cTQqtxgemlIcx6v99gVckL4e3DlNJqjTTn5eXmTojEbztp407m5WUy-6becMWB78-M1L2QOdVhMBuh4xQgIKyLYxxU9_-QjpxUOfZLsOxYSPkABQRdQ/s1600/PC180012.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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End result underneath. As long as I lift the mattress it will </div>
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pull the net to something like this. If I don't lift the mattress </div>
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then it will pull to the edge of the mattress but there are tiny gaps. </div>
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I also did some sewing of curtains. I haven't seen any curtain rods anywhere in J but instead we have long springs (like piano wire) with hooks on the end which attach to screws in the wall. all this was in place when I first arrived but J had never hung any curtains. Although our place is fairly high up from the ground, I still felt like I was in a fish bowl and I didn't like that. So off I went to the market and found some material for approx $3US per meter. I had initially calculated that I only needed 4-5m of material but they prefered to sell the patterned material in 6m chunks so I bought all 6m which was a good thing as I needed it ALL and there would have been no going back for more as the "rolls" are only 12m long and I took the last 6m. Once I had them hung I realized that I needed some way to tie them back. J likes to keep them open during the day for the breeze to come through so he decided to fix them....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYP65_Vp23I8xgJxAQdNfHrr98RPlSgDYYaVp-0ceVERxHdssQFjNlITV3KztfwSHr-3wFrzWz3ehFDiKPwH8imVbYrj2e7_sqBihs1wql0RAVU9YjSkFBuzDhTUaCwOOV1h4lIrf2bbz/s1600/PC020004.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYP65_Vp23I8xgJxAQdNfHrr98RPlSgDYYaVp-0ceVERxHdssQFjNlITV3KztfwSHr-3wFrzWz3ehFDiKPwH8imVbYrj2e7_sqBihs1wql0RAVU9YjSkFBuzDhTUaCwOOV1h4lIrf2bbz/s1600/PC020004.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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J's answer to pulling back the curtain utilizing the rope he hung a long time ago for an indoor clothesline. </div>
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My answer was a little different. </div>
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1/2m of solid blue material (this comes in actual rolls and thus I could buy less than 6m) and some snap buttons I brought from Canada. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iPbKmZvX9uYw5s3njI8F3nC43CmUNXxEU1LdsEsmuBWloIyqHYZUaZghtIyYj8N-ELFtFhbo77xHusxQber4DZ16ojO4AL3un04yphwNMc_MDfZGFdffntJMexwXd1VSvCeXQaZjN2Qd/s1600/PC020006.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iPbKmZvX9uYw5s3njI8F3nC43CmUNXxEU1LdsEsmuBWloIyqHYZUaZghtIyYj8N-ELFtFhbo77xHusxQber4DZ16ojO4AL3un04yphwNMc_MDfZGFdffntJMexwXd1VSvCeXQaZjN2Qd/s1600/PC020006.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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J's solution on the left, curtains but no straps on the right. </div>
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Started by sewing a strap, putting the snaps on </div>
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sewing the strap into the edge of the curtain</div>
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hooking the snap together. </div>
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finished result on the left. </div>
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very convenient and looks much better. </div>
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You cant tell very well in the pic but the blue in the curtain and the strap are 2 different shades and don't match very well. This is a result of not very good lighting when I bought the material but it works for now. I'll use the rest to put curtains on the door. They are done but I need to get screws so I can tie a rope to hang them off of. Hopefully its not to hard to find in the market. </div>
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<br />Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-3897984569372981972015-01-02T03:28:00.000-05:002015-01-02T03:28:00.383-05:00Medical days
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I don't have a set schedule as for now I'm only doing the
part time medical care for the team that works here on the compound
so for the most part many of the staff will just stop in and chat
about thier concerns. working here is very different than in my home
country but also different than things in D. in my home country if I
want tests done I just order them and the patient can go without
having to pay for them while in D, there simply were so few tests
that we treated based on their medical symptoms and our examinations.
Here in J things are somewhere in the middle, many tests are
available however everything costs money. The local clinic nearby has
a wide variety of tests that they do and if you go to the medical
center on the other side of town there is Xray, ultrasound, and
possibly even a CT machine. My biggest challenge here is balancing
the need for tests and medicines with the staff's ability to pay for
them. One way I've been able to help reduce these costs is by finding
out what medicines they use regularly and buying them in bulk at the
wholesaler which has drastically reduced the costs for them. Another
thing I've been working on is how can they treat themselves with
what local things are available. One good example of this is using
aloe vera plants instead of buying creams for burns and minor cuts.
Although this is one of the more wellknown natural treatments there
are many more out there and I've been researching them one by one to
see what can be of use. This alone has been a challenge as there
isn't a whole lot of good, reliable, research out there for many
natural products.
</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-39529672512805487152014-12-26T02:40:00.000-05:002014-12-26T02:40:00.106-05:00food post
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Baking
has been another thing I've been doing more of. Since most things
have to be made from scratch, I'm learning how to bake bread and
other things. I could actually buy bread from the local bakery but
its a 10 minute walk there and I can just as easily make it here and
fresh warm bread straight from the oven tastes amazing. Instead of
making an actual loaf of bread I've been making buns which cook
amazingly well in our toaster oven. I've also made tortillas, pilau
(kenyan dish), french fries (last night), cookies (turned into a
sheet of them instead of nice separate ones), potato chips, and a few
other things. </div>
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<br /></div>
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One
of the challenges of baking is that many recipies call for things
that simply aren't available here. I've enjoyed the More With Less
cookbook but also have found some pretty good recipies on
allrecipes.com that I've had to do minor alterations to. My biggest
challenge so far was making scalloped potatoes for the Thanksgiving
dinner that one of our US team mates invited us to. Most of the
recipies I found called for cheese, something that I haven't seen
here in a long while and when I do find it, its expensive. I found
this recipe online
(<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Old-Irish-Scalloped-Potatoes/Detail.aspx?evt19=1">http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Old-Irish-Scalloped-Potatoes/Detail.aspx?evt19=1</a></u></span></span>)
but some of the comments indicated there wasn't much flavor/spice in
it. After a bit more searching I found another recipe that did call
for cheese but had a variety of spices (garlic, onions, paprika, and
thyme) I had for the most part. I added the spices(except the thyme
which I didn't have) from the 2<sup>nd</sup> recipe and it turned out
amazing. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFOFJcREQck5S81oI2MaqRKEVdOXB737KWBQzVxWeNNURNGk6sC1wQhc12zZkSVlXv9Bh4Dn1Gz1sDV3qDYo2WlvF2DsDe_cGZWNJGyCVA-YWVLNzuZg9EPVptMHs0swLcFIofCa3Q25p/s1600/PB120005.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFOFJcREQck5S81oI2MaqRKEVdOXB737KWBQzVxWeNNURNGk6sC1wQhc12zZkSVlXv9Bh4Dn1Gz1sDV3qDYo2WlvF2DsDe_cGZWNJGyCVA-YWVLNzuZg9EPVptMHs0swLcFIofCa3Q25p/s1600/PB120005.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Toaster oven with hotplates on top and induction hotplate beside. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-atLwHwHIdQS9IY0EpoW-4IgBh9o9lUpiCg1X2EGzP31eTFAH5BttQICTTs6z9Ypi6T31HKyI5vERDFwEtxLFHkrJbdWDeTd3PGUeXuU49EO5d0c5mzUk0ZEpnmZ82LafIbWbHi6aKUiZ/s1600/PB120002.resized.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-atLwHwHIdQS9IY0EpoW-4IgBh9o9lUpiCg1X2EGzP31eTFAH5BttQICTTs6z9Ypi6T31HKyI5vERDFwEtxLFHkrJbdWDeTd3PGUeXuU49EO5d0c5mzUk0ZEpnmZ82LafIbWbHi6aKUiZ/s1600/PB120002.resized.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Recipe called for 1/2hr, this is the result after about 15minutes.</div>
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Using the toaster oven really speeds up the process. </div>
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I learned the toaster oven isn't the best to make loaves. </div>
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Although it was cooked on the inside it was burnt on the top/bottom</div>
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and since I don't have tin foil to reflect the heat, I've gone with buns ever since. </div>
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(tin foil is available but very expensive) </div>
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A much better result. They don't look fancy but E (a 3yr old that from another family)</div>
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is always asking for more "bed" (bread) every time he visits so it must be good. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-62291108185351428842014-12-22T06:45:00.000-05:002014-12-22T06:45:00.080-05:00Gardening
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Gardening
is another thing that has been interesting to do here. Although life
here in J has much more selection than D where the main things
available in the market were tomatoes, garlic, onions, flour, rice,
tomato paste, and pasta; there are still many things which are
simply not available. Thus many of the team have started small
gardens and are growing a variety of things. when I first arrived I
thought I'd try my hand at a few things and planted basil, catnip,
rosemary, and lemon balm since my internet research suggests they
are good to keep mosquitoes away. A few weeks later and only the basil had come up which was
kind of surprising as the catnip can reportedly be a bit of a nusance
and hard to control if not in a pot. Since then I've planted many
more different plants and have already notice that after just a few
days I had some cucumber and watermelon shoots. I've been keeping things watered but have since noticed that the basil has had some sort of animal plant its eggs on it and soon after removing them both plans have started to wilt. I've also noticed that the pots are either really wet or dry out really quickly which is making me consider getting a real garden and not the small pots I've got now. I'll still start seeds in them but soon I hope to dig up an old garden that hasn't been used in a while and do some work with the compost pile which is growing. hopefully with the better dirt and water system I'll get bigger plants that will produce lots of food. Then I can pick food as I need it and not have to get it at the market and use it in a few days. Out here even the carrots only last a few days before I have to freeze them or eat alot of veggies (not J's favorite idea). </div>
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Basil</div>
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just a few pots (there are tons more now)</div>
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Garlic</div>
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Watermelon </div>
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cucumber on the left, basil on the right</div>
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?Cilantro, parsley and basil (starting to die here)</div>
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?beans or bell peppers</div>
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Tomatoes</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-33582083184740345822014-12-18T02:24:00.000-05:002014-12-18T04:08:44.455-05:00Life so far<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; }p.western { font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "Droid Sans Fallback"; font-size: 12pt; }p.ctl { font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }a:link { }</style>
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Well
this past month I've been busy doing a variety of thing from medical
stuff for the team to looking for a job in the city. Cooking from
scratch, gardening, and sewing are a few things I've been doing as
well. Over the next few weeks I thought I'd post a little about life
here in J and what it looks like overall. </div>
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I
thought I'd start with a little about the Arabic language and some of
the things I've found so far. One of the big differences is that the
Arabic I spoke in D is different than the Arabic spoken here in J. I
don't know how many times now I've used my Arabic and have it still
get lost in translation even though it worked just fine in D last
year. That being said, the little Arabic I do know has left quite an
impression on some people in the market. Last week when wandering
around the market looking for fabric some guy called "kawaja" (white
person) and then turned to his friend and told him in Arabic that I
am kawaja that speaks Arabic. While the locals may think I know lots
of Arabic, the reality is I don't know much at all. I can get by in
the market but beyond that I really struggle which is why I was happy
to find a Christian bookstore that has lots of books in Arabic. I was
able to find an Arabic/English Bible for less than $20US (which is a
great deal considering the prices I saw while back in Canada) and
even found the Arabic version of some books that I read as a child. I
bought both with the plan to slowly do backtranslation and learn the
words. This worked well when I was learning Spanish but I expect
Arabic to be more of a challenge as even the letters are different.
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In
the mean time I've been using my Arabic/English Bible when I'm out
and about as its easier to share with others who don't know the
English but know the Arabic. With both languages side by side it
works well for the most part except when I start looking up things
and go to the wrong end of the book (Arabic is read right to left
thus Genesis is where I would expect Revelations to be and so forth).
Its taking me a bit to get used to but I'm sure I will.
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anyone remember the books on the right? This one is the story of Martha and Mary, I have the Ruth one (and a few others) at home back in Canada. </div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5208590192415502315.post-53021368497647003722014-11-07T05:33:00.002-05:002014-11-07T05:33:54.050-05:00Back in country
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Many of you are
probably aware that J and I are back in J. We are settling in slowly
as we start our work here again. Some one was asking about pics from
our new home and since there are more ppl interested I thought I'd
post them on this blog so everyone can enjoy.<br />
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Kitchen </div>
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Temporary desk made up of computer boxes and a door. </div>
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the "chair" is a pail of meds</div>
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Temporary couch which is actually a spare bed </div>
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with a mattress behind it.</div>
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Our bedroom </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
view out our front door </div>
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the red thing is an old tank made into a small bbq </div>
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bathroom</div>
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shower - bucket showers are a thing of the past....</div>
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but now cold showers are the norm </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18263440703519341487noreply@blogger.com2