Its been a while

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.

Much of my work consisted of submitting bug reports, resetting computer passwords, and pulling data from corrupted harddrives.

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.

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.

As much as I didn't like J being away, it was a good month where I learned lots.

Beer bottle bricks

A friend here on the compound recently posted a link to heineken beer bottles that were shaped to be reused as bricks. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-heineken-bottles-were-square-62138490/?no-ist 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.

Changes in the market

   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).

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.

Another bike story

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.

A trip through town

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.

Sewing

Recently 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.

After photo (sorry no before shots but they look the same)

 here you can see the folded portion. There is approx 3.5-4m

of 1cm elastic in it that I brought from Canada.

End result underneath. As long as I lift the mattress it will 

pull the net to something like this. If I don't lift the mattress 

then  it will pull to the edge of the mattress but there are tiny gaps.

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....

J's answer to pulling back the curtain utilizing the rope he hung a long time ago for an indoor clothesline. 

My answer was a little different. 

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. 

J's solution on the left, curtains but no straps on the right.

Started by sewing a strap, putting the snaps on

sewing the strap into the edge of the curtain

 hooking the snap together. 

 finished result on the left. 

very convenient and looks much better. 

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.

Medical days

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.