Went to the Sally Test Paediatric centre. Charlotte* seemed irritable this morning. She was playing with a wooden truck piled high with bricks, but she kept tripping as she pulled it. I went to help her, but she bit me :( Not hard, I think it was just out of frustration...that'll teach me a lesson for interfering! I read Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, whilst the teacher translated. We then had a song and dance session, followed by playing frisbee and football outside. It was great seeing the kids enjoying themselves. Wheeled Ben* down in his wheelchair, and he was so grateful for the story. He kept saying “Asante Sana”. So I replied “Karibu (=you're welcome)”
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| It's lunchtime at Sally Test |
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| It's lunchtime at Sally Test |
Feeling like Old Mother Hubbard today, as I literally have no food at home (apart from Stella's Irish scones!) Stella's the cake lady, that comes around every day selling cakes at work for the tea break. If there's one thing that I'd like to take back to the UK with me, are the tea breaks, and the community spirit in the office. We all stop at around 10am for a break and some cake. It's so sociable, and makes the atmosphere more relaxed. When I think about how I work at in the UK, and sometimes I might work a whole day through and not talk to anybody. Since it's been raining all afternoon, I will remain Old Mother Hubbard, as haven't managed out to the shops.
We had a power cut all day on the Sunday, so had a cold shower. On the plus side, I managed to the supermarket. Had the funniest (or not!) taxi ride back. There were no taxi's so the supermarket assistant suggested I consider taking the Nakumatts provided taxi service. I wasn't really sure what he meant, but if it meant getting transport home, then I was fine with it, as it seemed I might have a bit of a wait for the next taxi. He took me to a car, piled full of gas cylinders on the back seat. My shopping was piled on top of these.
I had an interesting discussion with the driver about the riots back home. He said it was like the rioting they had in Kenya post election in 2007. He said (almost with pride), “it's not just the developing world where riots take place!”. It was on the tip of my tongue to say that the riots in Kenya were on a much larger scale, and the death toll was around 1000 rather than 5 in London, but I thought it might cause uneasiness, so I kept quiet. Plus, I was already feeling uneasy, as the car seemed like it was about to fall apart when we went over speed bumps and I thought the door might fall off it was rattling so hard!
To get to my house, you take a left off a dirt track road, onto another (even bumpier) dirt track road so was terrified driving along here that the car was going to fall apart! I said probably best if he drop me at the end of my road, and I could walk, and he did just that. I was hoping he'd help me with my shopping, but instead just piled all the bags at the end of the dirt track. As I carried the bags to my house, I came back, and a herd of cows were sniffing around my shopping. So not only did my shopping have gas all over it, it now had cow snot on it!
I bought a paper and there was also an article drawing parallels between UK riots and Kenya's post-poll chaos. In Jan 2008, in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, Naivasha, Mumias and other urban areas around, shops were looted and burnt. Feel a bit worried about rioting back home. I'm keeping in close touch with friends and family, and they've told me that shops have been burnt down in my area. It's shocking and sad..I'm thinking of everyone back home.
I had an interesting discussion with the driver about the riots back home. He said it was like the rioting they had in Kenya post election in 2007. He said (almost with pride), “it's not just the developing world where riots take place!”. It was on the tip of my tongue to say that the riots in Kenya were on a much larger scale, and the death toll was around 1000 rather than 5 in London, but I thought it might cause uneasiness, so I kept quiet. Plus, I was already feeling uneasy, as the car seemed like it was about to fall apart when we went over speed bumps and I thought the door might fall off it was rattling so hard!
To get to my house, you take a left off a dirt track road, onto another (even bumpier) dirt track road so was terrified driving along here that the car was going to fall apart! I said probably best if he drop me at the end of my road, and I could walk, and he did just that. I was hoping he'd help me with my shopping, but instead just piled all the bags at the end of the dirt track. As I carried the bags to my house, I came back, and a herd of cows were sniffing around my shopping. So not only did my shopping have gas all over it, it now had cow snot on it!
I bought a paper and there was also an article drawing parallels between UK riots and Kenya's post-poll chaos. In Jan 2008, in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, Naivasha, Mumias and other urban areas around, shops were looted and burnt. Feel a bit worried about rioting back home. I'm keeping in close touch with friends and family, and they've told me that shops have been burnt down in my area. It's shocking and sad..I'm thinking of everyone back home.
Power still hasn't returned. I did some work, until the battery died on my laptop. I tried to read in the dark with my flashlight, but it was attracting all the mosquitoes, so lit a couple of candles. Power finally returned at around 8pm. I won't get a wash done now, as won't be able to get anything dry...hmm. These are some of the challenges I'm facing. I shouldn't moan though, I'm lucky to have a washing machine. Before arriving in Kenya, a Kenyan friend had advised, that I might have to hand wash my clothes!
So as they say here "Tuonane hivi karibuni! = See you soon"
So as they say here "Tuonane hivi karibuni! = See you soon"
*I’ve changed the names in this posting
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