Trip to my location

Flying on chartered planes is a whole new and different experience. I’ve lived in a small city that has a small airport where we actually would walk out to the plane on the tarmac instead of through those long arms in big commercial airports (though I think the local airport has done some major upgrades recently). In these cases there are usually lines on the asphalt indicating where to go and a few staff directing you to the plane. That is totally not the case out here. We arrived at the airport and were checked through security then we were off to the waiting area to await further direction from our pilot. There was no 2-3 hour wait for international flights. Instead what I thought was a ½ hr wait was actually about 10 minutes. Walking to the plane was basically follow the pilot and don’t get too close to other planes. There were about 20 or so planes on the tarmac in various stages of being prepared for trips and there we were walking right next to them.   Soon we were off to our first destination. Out here you need to “check out” of a country and “checkin” to the new country so that meant we had to land at 2 aistrips along the border. The first one checkpoint (still in Kenya) was pretty big and pretty empty except for the planes parked beside the runway in various states of disrepair or crash damage. If you are nervous to fly, landing at places like this is not the most encouraging thing. Plane crashes do happen but out here the planes are not shipped off to a plane graveyard and any form of disassembly is much more difficult so many of them are just pulled out of the way and left there. 

 the planes in the picture don't work

Our next stop was a dusty airstrip with cows, goats, and people running around next to the landing area. Apparently the place we landed doesn’t get many flights through here so we were somewhat of a novelty to the local people. Many people were there to greet us. It took a while but some members of the team were able to figure out what tribe they were even though none of us spoke their language and they didn’t speak English. Cameras also were a novelty and I had to take many pictures of them and then show them their pictures which they thought was pretty cool. We were soon on our way again and off to our final destination.

A few more hours of flying and we were soon circling the final airfield. 2 years ago this area was a small community and now it’s a huge refugee camp. The whole area was dotted with white UN tarps. Again there were airplanes at the edge of the runway. One pulled waaay off to the side (and was one of the planes that crashed with people from our team) and a larger one just to the side.  We landed safely and got out. I had seen previous pictures of the landing strip prior to its expansion and knew it had been expanded but I wasn’t prepared for how small I felt once I was standing out there. Here I was, in some remote area, standing on a landing strip that can land some pretty big planes.  I felt pretty small standing there looking out at the other huge planes that were landing.  

Out here we are able to get up close to and involved with flight stuff. Loading, unloading, and walking around on the airstrips. Pretty different from the commercial flights I have been on where access is very controlled. Maybe one of these times I’ll be able to fly a plane (no worries I wont be landing/taking off any time soon).

an old post that didn't work - Life in Nairobi

First a few city pics 

The view from my apartment

 one of the side streets near the main part of the city

 

yes they have trampolines out here too. This was at Tuskey's (similar to walmart)

 

  A rainy day when umbrellas are necessary even if they are pink :)

Justin and I had the opportunity to go to a recycled glass factory one day. The following shots are from this place. 

the beginnings of a chair

 stained glass in the making

a finished chair

 an almost finished table - I think it just needed to be washed/polished

one of the lights they make

 the ceiling in the glass melting building. all the little holes are actually glass pieces which makes the ceiling look like it has colored stars

the glass melting area

recycled glass/bottle caps

 stained glass in thier store

 recycled eye glasses 

more artwork 

one of the paths in thier gardens - these paths were all through the gardens and buildings

bridge across a river near the glass place

 

 view from the bridge

 some flowers I've seen while out here

first ostrich that wasn't at a zoo (at the glass factory)

 camels (at the glass factory)

 termites were everywhere one evening when I was up north at the team conference. they were flying around, losing thier wings, and then crawling everywhere.

during some free time at the conference I was able to go with a group and have a tour of the tea field area on horseback. the following are some pics of that trip.

teafields

a harvested teaplant

tea field

 more tea fields

Another excursion was a trip to the cheese factory in the area. 

making cheese

once the cheese is made its allowed to sit in a huge fridge and grow a variety of molds.  Yes all the white and green/grey stuff is mold.

The finished cheese samples. the bottom left one was the best in my opinion (but I have no clue what they all were)

At the cheese factory we got a chance to tour the owner's garden. It had pretty much every plant/herb I have heard of. Many of the herbs/spices she uses to experiment to make different types of cheeses. 

we couldn't figure out what these were but they looked like watermelon hanging from the tree. 

bike trip

I’ve been told many times that you never know what your day is going to be like. Last Saturday was one of those days. I had settled into my new home and was looking forward to going to the market in the next town as I had been told it had more selection and slightly better prices. A group of us decided to go out on bikes. As we left I mentioned to one of my teammates that I forgot to grab my jackknife but didn’t worry too much about it, after all what can go wrong on a short bike trip. Yes my bike was kind of noisy and really old but it had just had a tune-up so it was good to go… or so I thought. We took the short detour through a field and started to cross the airstrip when I heard a clunk from my back tire. I looked back and saw nothing wrong and assumed it was just one of the many insignificant noises my bike had already been making (either the tire is warped or the brakes are misaligned, I’m still not sure which). I continued on and soon after the chain came off, a quick stop to put it back on and I was good to go again. Soon after the chain fell off again and I thought I better line it up on the next tighter set of gears as it seemed loose. As I attempted to do this I realized that my back tire was completely out of place and was ready to fall off. Needless to say that ended my market trip before I was even ½ way there. Instead I ended up walking my bike back to the compound. Yet through it all I still had fun. The trip back provided me with a chance to try and chat with a number of local girls though I’m not sure how much of my poor Arabic they understood. I must have looked pretty funny walking what appeared to be a perfectly good bike and attempting to speak Arabic. I did make it to the market this weekend and from now on will remember to bring tools with when I take a bike out for even a short trip.

Life in Nairobi

I know its been a while since I’ve last updated the blog. I’ve had many ideas on what to write but so much as happened that I don’t really know where to start. Its also hard to believe I’ve been in Nairobi for a month already and am heading to South Sudan this week. In many ways I’m ready to go yet in other ways I feel like there is so much to do and learn.

Life in Nairobi has been busy and interesting. Early on I learned that things change all the time out here. Within the first week I was asked to move from one apartment to another due to some unforeseen complication. Although the moving came as a surprise, it was very beneficial as I ended up staying in a more central location which was very helpful for the many things I had to do that I wasn’t expecting. I’ve also switched the language I will be learning and now will be learning Arabic as it has become the trade language in the area of South Sudan I will be working in. I also learned calling ahead before going to a destination is key, especially if its farther away.  About a week after I got here I took a cab with my fiancée to the Canadian embassy to take care of some paperwork he needed done. The website showed that it was open until noon but when we arrived there at 10:45am we found out that they had changed their schedule for the day and were only open until 10:30am. Needless to say I got to know a little more of the city but we didn’t get much else done that morning.

Walking is the main way to get around. Most of the places I have needed to go to are within a 20 minute walk of my apartment. There are times however when a bus/matatu is a better way to travel. One such occasion was to get my computer repaired. The previous 2 trips to this office I had walked 40 minutes there as I wasn’t sure how the bus system worked. It was an interesting experience trying to figure out were the buses went and how to get on/off.  Just looking at the bus monitor person can result in them stopping to pick you up as you walk on the side of the road. I accidentally figured this out one of my first times out walking and had a bus stop to pick me up when I was just looking at the traffic…. Oops. 

Shopping here is great. There are tons of fresh/fruits veggies available at the local market. It’s also an adjustment as many premade/processed products are expensive. As a result I’m finding great recipes to make homemade bread, salad dressing, and other foods that in the past I would have just bought. They even have the dutch cheese which is about the same price as the cheddar I normally buy. Needless to say I’ve switched to the dutch stuff J I also got to see how this cheese is made during a tour of the local cheese factory. I’m tempted now to try and make my own cheese. It should be interesting.

Arrived in Nairobi

Hello from across the ocean. Yes I have finally arrived in Africa. I can't quite say South Sudan yet as I'm currently in Nairobi and will be here for a few weeks to complete my orientation and attend an annual employee conference. After that I will be heading into South Sudan to begin work. I arrived in Nairobi Thursday evening after 17hrs of travel time. Friday was spent shopping for all the supplies I need in South Sudan and getting it all packed for shipping.  Saturday I spent time in the local market and also was a time to relax.

Differences I've noticed so far while in Nairobi
- they drive on the opposite side of the road and the drivers side of the vehicle is on the Right (yes I've already made the mistake of going to the wrong side of the car). This is probably the biggest thing to get used to for me.

- Mosquito nets on the bed – In Nairobi the risk of malaria is low but the nets are still great to keep out the bugs.

Similarities
- The Nakumatt is similar to Walmart and has everything. This is where I spent most of my Friday shopping.  
- There are a lots of product names that I'm familiar with (Delmonte, Sony, Nutella, and even Canadian maple syrup) although at more expensive prices.
- Hot water for showers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!