Pure Bloggage

Healthcare Supply Side Issues

2009-09-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

This article has been much quoted and I feel explains the problems posed by for-profit providers (hospitals, clinics etc.). Its a little long but definitely worth reading.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Below is an article I found in the Salt Lake Tribune which talks about how decreasing costs and increasing efficiencies affected the health care system I work for. The bottom line, even though it created better outcomes for patients, it cost us millions in net-revenue.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE TRIB ARTICLE

What are your thoughts?

Healthcare Facts - Financials

2009-08-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Among the most important facts to properly frame the debate about whether health care should be reformed or not are the amount of profit being taken by companies throughout the health care system. The company that I work for happens to be non-profit, although as a matter of full disclosure, we have a for profit insurance company who is a subsidiary. Lets look at the most recent quarters net income for some of the largest health insurance companies. To put this in context, every dollar of profit for a health insurance company comes from spending less on helping people than they have paid you for that help. So in essence, the state fiduciary responsibility of a helath insurance company is to extract as much from its customers while spending as little as possible on keeping them healthy. The figures... Remember that these are only for 1/4 of the year:

United Healthgroup Net Income $859 million
CEO 2008 Compensation 3.2 million

Aetna Inc. Net Income 346 million
CEO 2008 Compensation 24.3 million (no... not a typo)

Cigna Net Income 435 million
CEO 2008 Compensation 4.3 million

Humana Inc Net Income 282 million
CEO 2008 Compensation 4.76 million

WellPoint Inc. Net Income 693 million
CEO 2008 Compensation 9.84

There are more but I'll end there. So my point here is that there is soooo much money at play for health insurers. They will stop at nothing (fake grass roots protests, calling the President a Nazi, stoking fears that health care reform includes killing seniors, or killing down syndrome babies of former Alaskan Governors) to convince people that this is bad for the country. We deserve better. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something.

Healthcare

2009-08-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

I have enough to say about healthcare that I could write for 4 days straight. I keep putting off doing it because I have so much to say and want to organize my thoughts. Above all, I want to say that the voices proclaiming that the reforms must be stopped not only have hidden motives, but that not enough people are thinking critically enough to point it out. That is why I love the daily show. All I can say is that I hope that Glen Beck never goes from being an ordinary LDS person, to being someone who represents a cross section of the church. He gets caught is stuff like this all the time. Please excuse the brief language.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Glenn Beck's Operation

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Spinal Tap Performance

Financial Crisis Post 1

2009-02-20T20:14:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to post things about the state of the economy but I realize its a topic which means different things to everyone and I am trying to make sure that I go about it in the right way. I saw this video and thought it was a good starting point. Its from Vimeo... Which I've mentioned I love. Check it out.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

At least Million People Have Watched This Today

2009-02-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

When I saw this video last night (Saturday - 02/07/09), 4.8 million people had watched it. I love it. Its so funny. The video is called "David After Dentist"... The videos description says "This is my 7 year old son who had an extra tooth removed last summer, 2008.I had the camera because he was so nervous before and I wanted him to see the before and after.He was so out of it after, I had to carry him out of the office. The staff was trying to keep from laughing. I had tears from laughing so hard.He is doing fine now and the teeth are great.Best of all he is the best kid as is his brother William. I couldnt have asked for two better sons!"

Tell a friend.

I'd also like to take a second to thank Nate and Kimberly for telling me all about the publish post options. I've written almost one third as much this year as I did all of last year and I owe a lot of it to the ability to be able to write now and post later. Thanks you two.

My old iPhone

2009-02-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

I love economics. My eyes lit up when my boss told me he wanted me to start an analysis that involved Macro Economic Factors and their effect on our company's financial performance last week. The next night I stayed till nine thirty working on the analysis. It was fun... I didn't even notice what time it was. I had my headphones on so I didn't hear anyone saying goodbye to me etc. This is all somewhat beside the point of this post. It relates in that my favorite thing about economics is the secondary and tertiary effects of the actions of a group or person. Apple decided to only sell the iPhone and iPhone 3g through exclusive contracts with mobile phone providers (with the exception of Hong Kong where I understand you can buy them without a contract attached). Despite the fact that the phone is now sold in almost 80 countries, there are tons of places all over the world where the phone is not sold in stores. This means that the people have to get their phones on the gray/black market from places in the world where they are currently being sold. How does this relate to me - a loyal iPhone 3g owner? It means that the secondary market here in the US is incredibly robust. Two weeks ago I decided to get on to Craigslist to see what the phones were going for here in SLC. As an aside, Craigslist is that dark alley people always talk about. The fact that you never really register and that posts are basically anonymous means that you never know much about the source with whom you are buying/selling from. I got on and searched iPhone. Tons of results came back. Along with getting a good idea of what I could get for my phone, I also saw adds for people who just buy phones from you outright, saving you the effort of posting an add yourself. That seemed like a good idea so I contacted one of the sellers. "This was easier than I thought it would be" I told myself. Cutting a long story short, this guy ended up being some kind of a total scam artist. He wanted me to meet him in the ghetto at 10:30. He said he didn't have a car so I would have to come to his house. Wierd. After asking where he lived I hopped on to google maps and found a well lit gas station using google street view. I figured they had cameras everywhere in case this guy tried to hustle me.

View Larger Map

As soon as I suggested this location he told me that this wasn't close to where he lived. That he actually lived 3 blocks south of there and 6 blocks west (rarely the direction you want to go in Salt Lake if you are looking for a nicer neighborhood. No offense anyone). So he suggested this location - which you can see is A. Creepy and B. would be closed / dark/ scary when he wanted to meet.

I said I would look for somewhere else. As I did I figured I would make sure we had settled on a price. Why I was actually still trying to strike a deal with Creepy McMystery is beyond me. Anyway, when I asked about price he told me a price $50 below what he had text me 30 min earlier. He said he had never offered that price and I told him "you see, that's the great thing about the iPhone.... I have my texts forever". There was a distinct click on his end of the line at that point and I figured I would just let him go.

So I posted an add of my own. The response was immediate and somewhat overwhelming. All of the text responses were legit but wanted to low ball me big time on the price (offering 60% of my asking price). And every single email I had was the Nigerian check scam. I responded to each email and told the person that everyone knows those scams don't work and to get a real job. In the end I ended up calling back the highest bid of the low bidders who met me at 12:30 AM in an IHOP parking lot. I spoke to the guy on the phone and he sounded legit. He told me he'd be in a BMW which made me feel even better. He brought $240 in cash and after looking over the phone he gave me the money. I drove away waiting for the money to disintegrate, or explode or something. It just seemed too good to be true. I've spent the money and the FBI hasn't come asking about counterfeit bills so I guess I'm in the clear. To put the amount of money I got into perspective, if you were to go and buy a brand new iPhone 3g at the apple store today, it would cost you $40 less than what I got for my old, used, out dated phone. I love markets. The guy I sold to unlocks the phones and sends them home to Vietnam where someone sells them. Thanks to Apple not selling everywhere, supply and demand worked in my favor. Thanks Steve.

As long as I'm all google street view happy in this post I may as well show you the IHOP.

View Larger Map

Yo... I has a beard now... Aight?

2009-01-31T14:15:00.000-08:00

So last time I was home my Dad goes... Son... I think you should grow a beard. And then I go... O, For real? And then he's all... Ya. So I'm all... Okai. Just kidding. But really. I have a beard. There had been two reasons that I had never grown a beard. A. I was at BYU where oddly, mustaches are A-OK but they put the kibosh on beards in the 70's. I never really complained while I was there about it. I don't really mind. Although the irony of allowing mustaches - until very very recently considered very uncool and even creepy - and not beards always struck me as odd. Reason B. was that as soon as I graduated, I started working for a healthcare company founded by the church and still espouses its conservative stances on many things. I didn't want to rock the boat. I'd rather advance my career than my appearance after all (for further evidence of this see also my waistline). But in October my boss came back from a trip with a full beard. He had always struck me as very very Mormon so this surprised me. It made me feel like I could let loose around the guy a little more though and as if he wouldn't mind if I also grew a beard of my very own. Anyway. With my two main obstacles gone, I decided over Christmas to try the whole beard thing out. I really only wanted to see what it looked like at first. By the time I returned to work after the new year, I was beyond scruff but not to full beard status yet. I started getting random compliments from coworkers who never seemed to me like the I would compliment you on your new beard if I liked it type of guys. But the compliments came flowing in. Then Beckah - a total dime - turned bright red when Cajun told me (right in front of her) that she thought I looked handsome with a beard. So despite the fact that this was meant to be a 3 /4 week experiment, I still have my beard. I also have the very first pictures of said beard ready to post. So... I give you.... MY BEARD. ENJOY.

This is my beard and I doing Tai Chi at a small get together.

This picture is of Dustin Bolt and my beard at the same party.

This is me allowing you to get up close and personal with the beard.

I'm thinking I'll chop it off in two weeks. But I've been saying that for a month now - So who knows?

This are SOOO lulz

2009-01-15T08:07:00.000-08:00

So I "stumbled upon" the "Funniest" blog I've seen in a while. While its no "Fail Blog" or "Icanhascheeseburger". The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks is absolutely hilarious. The highlighted link is the real name of the blog. I expected it to be funny and it exceeded those expectations quite easily.

Untitled (How to say I love you this February)

2009-01-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

We have all experienced that feeling of anxiety as Valentines day approaches (and by Valentines day I mean my birthday which is five days later). What do we get for our significant other? Well, I would like to put forward what I think is a very viable alternative to the more cliche gifts that are given during this time of year. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... GUCCI. Ice Cube. Trays. Yes that's plural.

You get not one but two designer Ice cube trays for the nominal price of $70.00 (US). Some naysayers may point out that the G shaped ice cubes would be next to impossible to get out of the tray in one peace. I would say to these people that the sheer awesomeness of just one Gucci Ice Cube outweighs all of the heartbreak resulting from all of the broken ones. This is why you prefreeze all of your ice leading up to important get togethers - My mom always does anyway. While you formerly could get the trays from high end retailers like Neiman Marcus, they are now only found on eBay - Like most things truely worth buying. So as February rolls around. Do the right thing and get me your significant other GUCCI Ice Cube Trays.

The New Insight PWNS Toyota Prius!

2009-01-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you have all heard, The new Honda Insight is being billed as a Prius killer. OK, maybe none of you have heard that, but in the automotive press these have been the rumors. Well, Motortrend just posted their first videos testing the new Honda Insight. The result? 65+ MPG!!! (I know right). The driver is kind of Hypermiling a bit to obtain that mileage, but even when he drives as aggressively as he can (notice the drift at 5:25 ish), he still obtains 29MPG or so. Pretty impressive. I'm guessing real world driving will yield in the 50+ range. Check out the video:

Pretty interesting stuff.

Untitled (Extreme Sports)

2009-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

If one were to cross down hill mountain biking, hockey, and motocross - what would one get? Crashed Ice. What is crashed Ice exactly? Its one of redbull's crazy competitions. They have their airplane racing, their soapbox derby race and this. It blows my mind. Watch and see for yourself.

Looks like fun right? Too bad I was raised in CA and didn't put on a pair of ice skates until I was 16. I'd totally try out for it.

Daddyyyyy. Turn on a Vimeoooooo

2009-01-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

It's becoming clear that Vimeo is going to be the video web site of 2009 - either that or Hulu. I keep seeing videos hosted on Vimeo that really blow my mind. The content is much more artistic than Hulu (which is more professional content.... TV shows, Movies, Etc.) or youtube. I've seen a couple which I really liked but weren't really novel enough to blog about. I felt this one was though. Watch and learn. Make sure to put this into full screen mode.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Vimeo has a lot of time lapse videos which are great and a lot of HD content. I think that a lot of good artistic material is being created but falls through the cracks on youtube. It doesn't fit the audience there. But click the links at the top of the post. Both of these sites have a lot to offer.

Vindication - FINALLY!!!!

2008-12-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

Blah blah blah. I'm sorry I don't write more... blah blah blah.

Just kidding. I really should and I have a million pictures that are queued to be posted. With that said, sometimes I read things that just can't go without not being posted and they jump to the front of the line. For example, this article I found on Autoblog quoting two reports - one by the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) and another by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) - regarding the causes of car accidents. I'll Let you read by CLICKING HERE (its only a couple paragraphs) to see for yourself what was said - I think the findings will surprise you. Let's just say that my lead foot and I will sleep a little easier tonight though.

Hey Ya'll

2008-10-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Me again. More videos. I have a million pictures I've taken with my phone recently. I'll try to post them to night or tomorrow.

Tell a Friend

2008-10-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

There is a little overlap between part 2 and part one.

Part 3.

Perhaps the strongest lesson from all of this is that Powell - a Republican - echoes concerns which have been raised in the media and have been instantly written off as ramblings from a liberal media machine hell bent on the demise of McCain and Palin. I hope people will think again.

Pure Awesome

2008-10-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the first time you saw Numa Numa? Remember feeling like it was going to be big? I bet this will be bigger. It's so awesomely bad.

thats all.

This is SO Epicly Awesome

2008-09-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

Some light-hearted fair for you all on this fine afternoon. To say this is "a skate film" might be the understatement of the year.

All I want is the Truth

2008-09-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

I want the truth. Not truthiness.

I love the part where Ms. Palin refers to "Palin McCain" Campaign. In closing I have to admit I have a huge secret crush on Rachel Maddow.

Awesomely badly Awesome

2008-09-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

So, This is no Rainin McCain. Its pretty awesome though. My source tells me they are actually real staffers. Enjoy.

Hmmm

2008-09-11T23:29:00.000-07:00

I was reading through my past posts and saw one where I asked rhetorically if politics was the only thing I was passionate about. I don't think this would be an accurate statement. I instantly thought of two videos about another passion. I hope you enjoy them.

Oh, And there is this one too.

You Might Be a Sorenson IF

2008-09-11T22:58:00.000-07:00

You might be a Sorenson if you are a skilled enough "knee driver" to be able to take both hands off of the wheel going 85 and take pictures out your car window of a rainbow all while making sure you A. Don't rear end anyone. B. Don't hit the semi permanent median on the freeway inches from your car. And C. make sure that the window is simultaneously down far enough to not be seen in the picture, but not so far that rain can enter the car. Here is one of my fav's that I took. Not too bad for a cell phone eh?

I just noticed that if you click the picture you can see a reflected rainbow next to the main rainbow. Fun.

In other news, I've started a new book called "Good to Great". I wonder what my roommate thinks about the fact that I don't read fiction since he was an English Lit. Major. Either way, its what I enjoy and can relate to so its what I read. So far the book is really thought provoking. The great thing about serious business books is that although they do feel slightly like self-help books at points, they never stoop to being purely anecdotal. Teams of researchers spent 5 years mulling over what made great companies outperform competitors based on some very very intense quantitative metrics. This really oversimplifies things, but the book is great so far. Anyway. I hope all is well for everyone. I'll write more soon.

Ms. Palin

2008-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

The jed report posted the following widget. It basically counts how long Sarah Palin has gone without speaking to the press. If she isn't ready to answer questions, why is she even being considered as a possible VP?

Less about Palin, More about Pundits

2008-09-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

This clip shows why the daily show is a valuable news source. Their ability to go through archived video to tell a more complete story than you would otherwise obtain is really valuable. Its short... Check it AYYYOut.

OH, And here's a picture of me with a french bulldog.

No, Its not mine. It was running down the street and I stopped it and called the owner. It was nice to imagine it was mine. Really cute dogs. Gimme a month or six and I'll have one.

Vid'jeoh

2008-08-18T00:11:00.000-07:00

Whether you completely agree with the video or not its SO funny. Two postings in two weeks... I'm on a roll.

While I'm Here

2008-08-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

As you will see in my next post, I Promise pretty fluffy pictures. Rather than doing the code myself, I've just made a cool slide show. And by I've made... I mean photobucket made a slide show. To say there are a variety of photos here is an understatement. A few of note. We've had 4 get-togethers at my house since moving in. I've posted pictures from a few of them. There are pictures of shrimp with sprinkles (it was a joke), pictures of a really cute french bulldog (my current obsession), pictures of my close friends at and approaching graduation, a picture with my sister and I around that time (being photobombed by my dad [if you don't know what that is, look it up on urban dictionary]), pictures of us playing with sparklers at Adams birthday (its July 19th, but because fireworks are legal on pioneer day you could still buy them at the time), pictures of my family around general conference(is it bad that I tried to make the pictures of my dad and I look very impromptu by acting out our conversation even though I knew they were being taken?), There is a picture of me throwing a (butter) knife to my friend Cajun who was on our roof repairing our swamp cooler, Pictures of the pretty mountains less than a mile from where I live, and a bunch of my close friend Megan and I at a BYU graduation party ( which I must admit we went to more to be ironic than purely for the sake of celebration). So, Now that the longest Run-on in history is complete... Enjoy the slide show.

I will post more pictures of my neighborhood and home soon. Feel free to comment.

Maybe Politics is the ONLY thing I'm Passionate about

2008-08-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

I don't post as much as I should. I think that's a given. I've actually logged on here 3 or 4 times since my last post helping friends with questions about their blogs. Every time I do, I think "gees I enjoy doing this, I should post more blogs". I don't really ever do it unless something gets me slightly worked up. I've tried to avoid showing some kind of slanted political motives in what I end up posting but then I stumble upon something during my nightly scouring of the news that I consider posting though I rarely do. BUT, sometimes I find something that I can't pass up. I feel like this presidential election is a complete non-contest. I have an incredibly hard time believing polls saying the two candidates are "Neck and Neck". It's insane to me. I don't believe that both of the candidates are honest(Though I feel like the one that refuses to be swift-boated is very straight forward and truthful). I also feel that anyone with an open mind and an eye on the news knows that. One candidate keeps pointing out that the surge is working. After I read the Iraq Study Report I felt that a surge was the right thing to do. I think that it would have been incredibly effective if we had done it correctly and in the way laid out by the report(If you haven't read it, its worth picking up. It's slightly dated but a concise bipartisan picture of the state of Iraq). Fewer troops ended up being sent than were called for.. and here we are. The media reporting something - Fox News and Mr. McCain saying something else. An Iraqi reporter posted these videos of his recent experience in Iraq on Youtube. They're worth a watch.

This is the second portion.

The final part.

Even if you can overlook McCain's mental and physical health, his willingness to overlook the truth and bend it to his advantage should feel troubling. I just don't understand how his party hijacked moral superiority. I'll post pretty fluffy pictures next. I promise.

I'm STILL Alive!

2008-06-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

My POOOOOR neglected blog. I'll write more later, but I've moved to Salt Lake, started a job with Intermounain Healthcare and ... Hmm a bunch of other stuff. I will write more detail on that later. For now, I will allow the Daily Show to entertain you. Please comment friends!

The first video was more about humor. The second was referential to a conversation I had with a reader not too long ago. More soon. Stay tuned!

A Proud Day For the McCain Campaign

2008-04-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Two words: Awesomely. Bad.

I really loved the CGI. Sorry for not posting very often. I'll do better.

Washington DC

2008-03-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

I went to Washington DC last weekend in the most recent installment of the saga of Andrew Tries to Get Job at World Bank. I met with some contacts that I had made in hopes of making additional contacts which will help me get a job with the bank. My meetings went really well and I'm just trying to follow up with the people whom I met and get this show on the road. Here are a couple pictures I took while I was there.

This is a picture I took with my iPhone of Sherry L. Due. She's a big Mormon celebrity. I think I have the shirt she's wearing. Maybe not. From what I can gather, she was en route to a large LDS women's conference in FL(and by that I mean that there were a lot of women there, not that it was an event for large women - just FYI).

This is a picture of the entrance to Chinatown in DC. I had every intention of taking my camera around with me but somehow neglected to do it. I snapped this in the back of a cab with my phone. Not too bad for an image shot at 40 MPH with something that fits in my pocket, downloads email, surfs the internet and holds most of my music.(post script... turns out we weren't going forty. Otherwise those pedestrians would be in serious trouble. HAHA.)

I saw this very L33T piece at the portrait gallery. I looked at it for thirty seconds before I realized that it made anything intelligible. There are so many amazing museums in DC. I had a blast and will hopefully soon have a great job as a result also. In closing I was amused by this video on youtube today I hope you all like it too.

Teenagers

2008-02-13T00:12:00.000-08:00

The worst part about this is that if the kid told me the story I would think he was exaggerating.

And finding this video made me find a bunch more. Though these are the best. Just wait until the policeman puts the girl in a choke hold. It's really good.

and part two:

Taking the war on terror to the streets of your town.

More Food for Thought

2008-02-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

I told some of you that as part of my new years resolution I decided I would cut back soda consumption to 1 beverage on 1 day of the week. I didn't have any formal evidence at that point that drinking even diet sodas led to weight gain, but I've lost 10 pounds since then (I know right?). I read this article on artificial sweeteners today that backed up my intuition on the subject.(Click here to read the article)

Here are a couple notable quotes from the article:

"The report, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, presents some counterintuitive findings: Animals fed with artificially sweetened yogurt over a two-week period consumed more calories and gained more weight — mostly in the form of fat — than animals eating yogurt flavored with glucose, a natural, high-calorie sweetener."

And then my favorite...

"A University of Texas Health Science Center survey in 2005 found that people who drink diet soft drinks may actually gain weight; in that study, for every can of diet soda people consumed each day, there was a 41% increased risk of being overweight."

Although I also gave up fried foods (i.e. french fries) except for one day a week at the same time, I'm comfortable with the belief that giving up soda has played just as an important role in the weight loss. And lets be honest people, it takes less time to give up soda than to go out and exercise.

Food Para Thought

2008-02-10T15:27:00.001-08:00

I keep seeing things that I want to post about. One was when they CIA admitted a week or so ago that they had in fact waterboarded detainees... ONLY three though and they were probably Muslim so they don't really count. And now the most recent spin is that waterboarding isn't really torture. Then I saw this video. I think it really puts a things in perspective. Hope you do too.

It's worth mentioning that I'm glad that a Republican is asking the questions and not a Democrat because otherwise it would be all to easy to say that he had an agenda in asking what he did. OK... OK... his methods were a bit sensational, but when you get down to the subject matter I don't think the analogy can just be written off.

While I'm at it

2008-01-23T13:36:00.001-08:00

As long as I'm posting I may as well post a couple other goodies.

Robert and I. California nights are colder than I remember.

My friend Johnnie had a white trash themed party in Nov. The horse durvies were very intriguing. Adam and I thought that even if we didn't look classy, they would. Clearly a success.

Banksy. Banksy is le famous. I know graffiti is a bad thing 99 times out of a hundred. I think it would be safe to say that Banksy is more an urban artist than a criminal though. Check out these links: Click me!!!! and OOH, OH mee too!!!!. The second link talks about how a banksy piece similar to the one on the building that says "no more heroes" and depicts a super hero with a paint brush, sold for 407,000 dollars. The first is a link to a bunch of Banksy's outdoor work. Check it out.

It's been a minute

2008-01-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting for a while everyone. I have a bunch of pictures that I've wanted to post but haven't had time to yet with the new semester and all. Before that though. I have to say I'm sad that Heath Ledger died. He was a really promising actor. In other news, how about Ron Paul taking second in NV? I love that the media hasn't even talked about it. I am not a Ron Paul fanboy but, the guy has beat Rudi in almost every primary thus far (I can't think of one where he hasn't, but I hate speaking in absolutes when I'm not sure) and yet still gets very little media attention. Now that the markets are completely tanking, and the dollar is losing worth by the day, maybe his message will catch on.

Enough about that. How about some pictures. I got an iPhone just before Christmas and some of the pictures are from the phone and not the camera. I'm surprised how hard it is to tell which is which though. The first picture above is one of my favorites. For some reason my sister and mom weren't fond of the picture but I think it's really cute in a quirky kind of way. Maybe its because women don't want children to be seen as quirky?

This is one of my favorite pictures taken over the holidays. While we were up at Lake Arrowhead my Mom said; "hey, come take some pictures of Joy and me". In two minutes I ended up snapping 70 photos of Mom making cutesy noises and Joy being enthralled with the ornaments on the Christmas tree. Both expressions are priceless.

I was the last to wake up on Christmas morning. I was clearly glad to be there. I maintain that I was still recovering from finals. I love hoodies.

This is the Fam outside of Lucille's - a favorite for birthday dinners for the fam. Everyone was nice enough to acquiesce Heather's request to have her and Phillip's birthday dinner early so I could be there. The second picture is after Robbie got there. We made a pact to not wear tops with color. White, Black, and things in between ONLY!

I call this one "Why You NEVER Make an Ugly Face In Front of the Camera of a Blogger". I have to admit my mom is an innocent victim here, I'm not sure her yawn was intentional. It sure adds to the the photo yes?

One word describes these photos: FIERCE! Fierce back ground, fierce facial expressions, fierce outfits. Fieeeerce. Maybe it's because my mom was standing outside the truck saying "NOW SHOW ME FIERCE, BOYS". And fierce she was shown. My Mom didn't really take them, I hung my arm out the window and snapped the pictures. The only question now is which is more fiercer? I'll let you decide.

This is a very large bug. A very large bug we found while my dad and brother in law were out... shooting. I know right? Dad called it a potato bug. They're really cool looking, in that disgustingly over sized ant kind of way.

I call this "If its public, it's public". I hate PDA more than most things in life. I hate only neocons, and genocide more, but just barely. I mean really, get over it. At least they both look gross with their eyes half open.

When I got home from the break I decided it was time for a major clean up of the apartment (notice my roommate in the background). There was a sweater that had been laying on top of our washing machine as long as I can remember. I picked it up and noticed how small it was. It either belonged to some girl who left it there or to some former tenant that never got the memo on not machine washing wool. I post this for two reasons. 1. So you can see my awesome beard. 2. Its me in a shrunken sweater, what more could you ask for?

So these are my Christmas pictures. I have a couple more, not sure if I'll post them or not. My goal is to get straight A's my final semester, and a detailed blog is not moving me towards that goal. Oh well. I hope you all enjoy it.

Christmas Party

2007-12-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

I know its been a while since I blogged, my bad. I decided to ante up and by myself an iPhone. I haven't installed any music on it yet and don't really expect to, if I'm honest. It's done an amazing job and keeping things organized for me. I've used it more as a tool than a toy which is contrary to what my expectations were going in.

In other news, my friend Beau had his birthday at the eh hem... GRAND AMERICA this weekend. Of course he got one of the big suites, because, why not right? The hotel is by far the most beautiful building on the Salt Lake City skyline though it sits just slightly outside of downtown. Here's a picture:

The suite was on the south facing (right side in this picture) side of the hotel and the balcony overlooked the swimming pool. The suite was as large as it was decadent. The balcony was the size of an average hotel room. It had a kitchen complete with a washing machine. I have to be honest that a washing machine in a hotel this expensive - in a suite no less- seems a bit redundant. Any person with the money to stay there would have the money to send out their laundry, but whatever. Here are some pictures of the evening.

This is Becka and Kirstin. Every single girl at this picture was a total dime (i.e. a ten). Well, the ones that I allowed in front of my camera were anyway. Becka (Bex) works with Abercrombie & Fitch and therefore knows Adam - my best friend - and Beau - the birthday boy. Kirstin is one of Beau's best friends. I hadn't seen her since leaving for Kenya and she looked great. Though she claimed she hasn't consciously been loosing weight, she has lost in none the less.

From left to right: Johnnie, Kirstin, Becka, Julie, and Me. Julie is one of Adam's Assistant managers at Abercrombie.

My best friend Adam and I. I borrowed his signature look that night. I hope he'll forgive me. I never would have bought a sweater vest had i not seen him rock it so hard.

I can't remember the girl in the middles name. I hate that this is so blurry.

Kirstin and I must have hung out a lot. I have a million pictures with her. She's fun.

Me? Distracted? Who knew?

Beau, the birthday boy on the left.

Choosing to take all of the pictures in the kitchen was a horrible Idea, The back drop was so poor relative to the rest of the suite and the lighting was very very yellow. From left: Nate, my close friend that just graduated BYU law school last year, Johnnie, Adam, and lil old me. (Great outfit right?)

By the end of the night we were tired. The party went late and it is finals week. P.s. notice the wallpaper. It's pretty.

We took a couple pictures leaving the hotel. This was a fun one.

Just the way I like it. Me front and center... I mean. Um.... shoot. I must close by thanking Tyra for teaching me to smile with my eyes. I mocked until I put it to the test. My pictures are so much better now. Thank You Tyra Banks!

Family Portaits

2007-11-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

During my whirlwind trip to California for Thanksgiving we took some family photos. As usual it was a lot of fun. Dad was Mr. Serious setting things up and posing people. Mom was looking at her grand daughter. Robbie and I were making mischief, and Kimberly and Heather were (largely) well behaved, while Phillip was probably still thinking we are just a little odd. We took a lot of pictures and my dad sent me a few. I was surprised to see that he neglected to send the picture where I held up my hands behind his head like moose antlers. Actually, this wasn't surprising at all. He never even acknowledges that they were ever taken. He never gets after us for them and never shows them to anyone. I think he feels it will extinguish the behavior. Little does he know we do it just for him. After the main family portrait was done we took some separate pictures of smaller groups of the family and I started snapping some pics of the group just standing around. Here they are. The one above is the main event. I think we look nice for the most part.

This is just the guys. I know that that is hard to see because of the sheer paleness of my face. I need to get out of Utah... SOON!

My Dad took this of my niece Joy. I don't know what he did but it looks really magical. The coloring is great.

This looks really impromptu but everyone looks great. It's my Mom, sister Heather, and brother Robbert. I hope you liked them.

**** Update!!!! Upon reading this, my Dad did in fact email me the Picture where I was making the funny face. I'll be honest, it's a classic. Check it out.

Elevator

2007-11-26T11:30:00.001-08:00

Last week the BYU Finance Society hosted a luncheon with representatives from Union Pacific Railroad. We ordered two six foot sandwiches for the event and had some hardships fitting them into the six foot four inch elevator we had to take up two floors to the room where the event was hosted. I thought it picture worthy.

Jeff was having a good time with it all. He was such a brave sandwich carrier.

Brad was brave too. We look like missionaries which is kinda funny.

Thanks Giving

2007-11-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

After you see all the classics I've served up for this blog it will definitely make your list of things you're thankful for tomorrow. Enjoy.

I mean seriously who didn't love this song?!

I know, I know, it's not them singing. Oh well.

I think I claimed I hated this song, or all of their songs at the time. But let's be honest.

Hangin Tough

This blog is the result of a conversation that I had with my friend Robbert about New Kids, hence their heavy representation. Don't Hate.

If you didn't find yourself tapping your feet to this one I think you may want to see a doctor.

Happy Thanksgiving. Think of me.

Generaly Humorless

2007-11-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned a couple of times that I want to post a "here are some things I'm into" post. Turns out that I haven't had the time to do it so I've been hitting the topics one by one. The topic for today: LOLCATs. Click "LOLCATs" to go to an explanation of what it is more or less. One of my favorite Lolcat blogs is "I can has cheeseburger". People submit their lolcat pictures and captions on the site and they are rated by people with much more spare time than I will have in the next 40 years. These are some of my favorites.

This next one just BLOWS MY MIND. I thought it was "shopped" until I looked really closely. The bubbles in front of the face are way too good to be photoshopped.

The city of brotherly love has been in the news for homicides recently so its not as accurate as it is funny.

So welcome to the world of LOLCAT. For some of you, welcome to the world of internet memes. If you don't know what an internet meme is, you may not want to get ahead of yourself. I'll help introduce you slowly.

I'm sorry

2007-11-05T23:30:00.000-08:00

People, you may think that this is really juvenile. It may be. I saw this video a month or so ago. It's hard to believe that anything could be more funny that an Indian imitation of Thriller. Here it is though. Don't let the event jade the comedy of the process. From the second that the girl goes live on the air you can tell that somethings just not right. I'll get something more "me" oriented up in the next couple days.

If you're having a bad day

2007-11-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

If you're having a bad day this will make you happy. This is one of the funniest videos I've seen in a long time. enjoy.

I believe that this guy TAUGHT Michael Jackson how to dance. Thats what I've heard anyway.

New Picture

2007-10-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

My third test Monday went well for the most part. I was caught off guard when I realized that the test was all short answer and calculation problems. I didn't mind having to write everything out as much as I didn't like the fact that I didn't know how I did as soon as I finished the test like I usually do when I take a test in the testing center. The morning of the test my study group gave a class presentation on the country of Japan. I saw my professor walking home from work and offered him a ride home. He told me that our presentation was the best of the three he saw on the subject which was flattering. I used the opportunity to take a picture while I was all dressed up to take a picture for the finance society web site. Here it is. I hope you like it.

FEW!

2007-10-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, this week was IN>>> SANE! two words. IN SANE! I had a paper due Wednesday, and took two tests that started Thursday on the late day (Saturday / Today). Thursday was one of my friend Nate's birthday and I helped orchestrate the activities for that. I now have another test Monday afternoon but in addition to studying for that I also have a group presentation Monday morning. So one week: 3 mid-terms, 1 paper, 1 large event, and 1 presentation. no sweat. Oh and I worked 24 hours this week too.

I am feeling really relieved though because the two tests that I took today were the big ones and because of the work schedule I had, I was forced to take them back to back in the testing center right after I got off of work. Given my less than average test taking speed I was pretty certain it was going to end in disaster. But good news. I got a 93% on the my international econ test and an 86% on my marketing exam. High B's are so bitter sweet.

I keep wanting to write a blog about the joys of the internet. There are a some blogs that I really love to read. And some sites that I go to religiously. I was going to just give all of them today, but maybe I'll make you wait a bit.

I miss YOOOOOU!

2007-10-16T17:28:00.001-07:00

I miss blogging! I've thought fifty times since August that I really want to start blogging again. In the last week three random people have told me that they miss reading it, and that was the little extra push I needed to get back on my bike and start writing again. I've been busy since I got home. I started school and I'm working for Wells Fargo again. I've also seen a couple concerts. I went two weeks ago to "The Arcade fire" and "LCD Sound System". Both were totally mind blowing. The arcade Fire played no less than 15 insturments during their show. I loved every second. I saw The Smashing Pumpkins three days later. They were also good. Billy Corgan played a guitar solo with his teeth - What a rock star.

Here are a couple pictures that are post Kenya. The first one is a really cheesy self portrait. They are so much fun to take. The next one is during a bout with some seriously heavy traffic coming back from a road trip in Utah about two weeks after I got home. It took two hours before we could get going. I wasn't a happy camper but made the most of it.

Enjoy, and welcome back.

Home Sweet Home

2007-08-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for not posting in the last week. I ended up coming home a few days early after I completed the projects I had been assigned ahead of schedule. I have a few pictures to post. This may be the last Kenya related post. I hope you like the pictures.

This is a mosque thats about a quarter mile from our apartment. The first call to prayer is at about 5:30 AM. It woke me up everyday for the first two weeks that I was there. It doesn't look much like a mosque, but most of the mosques in Kenya didn't look like mosques.

It's nice of the government to put these (corporately sponsored) trash cans in around town. It would have been nicer if they had arranged to actually have them emptied. Oh well, all in due time I'm sure.

Get it? Homely Beauty shop. It's funny. This beauty shop was on the route we'd walk to work.

Like I said, this may be the last post on this blog for a while. In other news, my friend Nate showed me this Youtube video. Its the funniest thing I've seen in months. I hope you like it.

Sam and Blair, If you read this... It will take a while for it to load there, but its worth every minute.

Blogage

2007-07-29T22:30:00.001-07:00

My very clever older sister asked the other day if the visits I had had from Antarctica were from Scientists or from very advanced penguins when I claimed that the blog had had visitors from all of the continents except Australia. So, now that I've had a visitor from Australia, I'll clarify by saying my blog has now been
visited by all of the widely inhabited continents. Hold your applause. Thank you.

This blog will be a bit of a variety pack of things about Kenya. I hope you like them.

This is gate number one leading to our apartments. Notice that its called rainbow court. Thats fun.

This is gate number two and our apartments. We live on the top floor on the near side. Notice the scenic balcony.

Labor is cheaper than technology or infrastructure in Kenya. This means that you see people doing things that you would use some form of machine to do in an industrialized country. Its a pretty regular occurrence to see men pushing and pulling carts that must way hundreds of pounds.

Turns out its illegal to be gay in Kenya. Their perception of interperonal contact between men isn't influenced by a lot of the stigmas we have at home as a result. This Barclay's bank add is a perfect example. I think its really funny. The billboard reads "need a loan for a lift?" Ha Ha. Good times.

I don't know how they get palms to fan like this. They are at expensive restaurants and homes. I think its really cool looking.

REEEEED SNAAAAAPAHHHHHH. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie UHF. It's worth renting if you like awesomely bad movies. On a segment of the movie there is a TV show called Wheel of Fish. A contestant has the chance to win a red snapper. It wasn't as big as either of the fish this guy was selling to people waiting to get on to the ferry at rush hour.

The only thing better than this big trash fire, is that its a big trash fire in a school yard. At least they waited until recess was over to light it.

As I've said, matatus are almost decorated somehow. There is usually even a theme throughout the entire vehicle. This picture is a double wammy though because it shows how any word and I do mean ANY word can be used to advertise. "INTERNET". I don't know what exactly they want us to know about their service as a matatu because of this, but I'll roll with it.

Shakira. Now that I can understand as a Theme. If you look closely the top of the windshield is covered with pictures of the Columbian Diva.

Me at the office... Pre weight loss. The building isn't this skinny... its just the angle.

This woman in Lamu made great bags and dresses. Grace and I bought a few things from her. Her name is Elizabeth and she's been working in Lamu for 15 years. She was really nice.

Me looking really tan.

This is the key from a hotel we stayed at in Nairobi. Hotels don't let you take the key out of the hotel. I thought this key chain looked like Ice a rapper would wear. I tried it on.

This fish curry was exactly that: a big hunk of fish cut into four pieces and then put into curry sauce. This arrangement is my own personal work. I liked a tail down configuration. The curry was great.

Again, in Kenya, labor is cheaper than machinery. This...is a lawnmower.

This is me in the rift valley saying OK Grace, I'm going to not look at the camera. Take the picture and act like I just wasn't ready.

Pretty birds outside our apartment complex.

More pretty birds.

More pretty Andrew in Rift Valley.

Safari Part Three

2007-07-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here is part three. Sorry it's been a few days. I had 424 pictures to choose from, which I took during the 2 final days of our safari. I hope you like them. These are some of the best of the trip by far.

We left Maasai Mara and headed up through all of the tea plantations toward Nakuru. The drive was gorgeous. It was green for as far as you could see.

This is the best close up picture I got of a Zebra. My camera has a weak zoom feature. Luckily my mac has a great lossless crop feature. The Zebras were interesting the whole trip even though we saw thousands of them.

The flamingos are the main attraction at Lake Nakuru. You wouldn't believe how many of them there were.

There were bones everywhere on the beach where we went to take pictures of the huge pink birds. This one looked yummy.

I had really wanted to see Rhinos while on our safari. Given that ~~heartless people who decide its a good thing to kill animals for fun, driving them to extinction~~ poachers have driven numbers of Black Rhinos to less than 4000 according to Wikipedia, I was afraid that if I didn't see them now, I never would. This was the only Black Rhino that we saw in the park. It was enough for me. It wasn't timid whatsoever. It hardly seems like a sport to kill one. Blah, I should stop or my soap box will fall out.

These Water Buffalo were pretty common around the lake. They looked like a muddy Pippy Longstockings. Again, they weren't timid about us getting really close to them.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. The giraffe posed perfectly in the background. I love the little birds at the feet of the White Rhinos. The driver tried to suggest that they are called white rhinos because their mouthes were so wide. I suggested he take more English lessons. Just kidding, but seriously.

Another ~~wide~~ White Rhino.

I don't know what this bird is called. It looks like the most colorful matchbox car you've ever seen. It sitting on an acacia plant.

Again, Giraffes are posers. This one let us get 10 feet away and took a lil' bow for us.

Baboon.

These lizards are all over Kenya. This is the closest I've gotten to one.

Lets get some shoes... Wait, I mean this crater had steam vents popping up through the trees. It looked pretty amazing.

How in the world did they choose Evanston? A friend implied they meant Evanston Illinois. I can neither confirm or deny that such place exists. But who knows?

Me above Lake Nakuru.

This church looked straight out of "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks." It was really cool. I'll put it into the category of I can't believe I got this going 80 down the highway.

I doubt that this "Comfort Lodge" is either comfortable or Lodgy. It is, however, really really funny.

OK, Man + Speeding semi truck + Connected by Jump rope = Oh M' Gosh, get a friggin picture of this crazy guy. Throw this one into the going 80 down the freeway bin also.

This church was built for workers who constructed the road through the Rift Valley. Its 200 years old and very beautiful. I wish you could see it better, but again 80 down the freeway.

Shortly after this church we pulled of at a shop selling Masai tribe goods. Grace and I had already bought the clothing they wrap themselves in, but wanted a wool blanket. As we realized they were more than what I wanted to pay I started playing the how ridiculously low of a price can I suggest before this guy gives up and leaves game. Just when I thought I had won, the man says "Give me a t shirt." I had planned on leaving most of my clothing behind, but not with this guy. Then it became clear that he wanted to barter and the game became much more interesting indeed. So I went to the back of our van, whipped out my suit case and showed him the blue shirt that I mentioned not owning anymore in part 1. I told him that A. it was a 50 dollar t shirt which he converted to shillings faster than I could. and B. that "the ladies" were going to love it. Luckily I didn't pay close to retail on the shirt, but he ended up giving me the super low prices I had been willing to pay in addition to a t-shirt I planned to give away, and a 3/4 empty bottle of mosquito repellent. IT was AWESOME!!! thanks for tuning in folks.

Drum Roll Please.

2007-07-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

So my close friend Nate was kind enough to help me find out how to get a video up on the blog. Like most of the pictures on the blog, this video wouldn't be here without his help. The video is of Hyenas harassing a Lion on the second morning of the safari trying to get it to go hunt. Turn it up LOUD! Its not really worth watching without the sound to go a long with it.

Comment and tell me what you thought. Part three in a couple days, I promise.

Safari Part Two

2007-07-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

I woke up an hour early on the second day of the safari. I don't know if it was because it was so cold or if I was just being like a kid on Christmas - too giddy to sleep. At 5:30 it was the coldest weather I can remember waking up in and by far the coldest I've felt in Kenya. At 6:30 a knock came on our tent door; the help had brought hot chocolate and the most polite wake up call I've ever received. I got out of bed and literally put on every layer I had. I think the grand total was 5 layers and I could have used one more.

Mornings are the best time to get out and see the animals. As soon as we left the camp, we saw hippos trotting back to the water where they spend the day time. A few minutes later we saw a pack of hyenas fighting over a zebra's bones. None of the photos turned out all that blog worthy but the experience was noteworthy. Our driver referred to warthogs as the Kenya express. Most of them went around in family groups like this. There tusks are enormous and they can really move!

During our morning game drive, the theme song from Dances with Wolves kept running through my head. i couldn't capture exactly how many zebras there were. At points the herds would extend as far as you could see.

We didn't really stop for the herbivores though. We were out to find Lions. As we drove we saw a group of safari vehicles all sitting in one spot. As we approached our guide shouted "a Lion!!" We all perked up and saw our first lion of the trip/ my life. Not just a lion but just about every meat eater was accounted for. There were hyenas, a jackal, and some really ugly vultures. As far as we could tell the hyenas were trying to get the Lion to get up and go hunt so the other members of the group could have something to eat too. I shot some pretty amazing video of the display, which I may eventually get to post. The scene was nothing like TV. The lion just lay there very relaxed while the hyenas would stay quiet and then work up the courage to go and attempt to coerce the king of the jungle to go get them some food. The lion would subsequently growl and the hyenas would back off. It was beyond description.

The lion was a bit young but very majestic. It seemed completely unconcerned with our presence.

The car in the back ground was a BBC film crew. We were kinda ruining their shot but they were getting paid so who cares.

After the lion we went out looked for more animals. This group of cheetahs were very very hard to see. The cheetahs also changed my perception about how nature works. I don't ever remember of thinking of them as a group that hunts or travels in groups. I kept pinching myself to make sure it wasn't all a dream. I really couldn't believe my eyes.

This secretary bird is a snake killer. The name seems very fitting. It looks like a thin woman with with a black pony tale.

After the secretary bird we headed back to camp. This dragon fly got my attention as it flew by. Since the wings are transparent, it looked like 1 bug with 4 others flying very closely to it. When I went over to investigate I saw that it was one of the most unique bugs I've ever seen. I ended up taking 15 pictures trying to get a good picture of it. Thank goodness for digital right?

This structure at the camp was made out of mud walls and a thatched roof like the ones in the village I posted pictures of. Turns out it was the bathroom, but I guess you didn't need to know that.

This guide helped our driver get around the huge area of the game reserve. It turns out he owns 150 acres including the land that Olare Lodge is built on. I felt pretty safe with him in the car.

Masai people are do all kinds of things with their ears. I didn't want him to see me take a picture but I had to have a picture of them. I know its hard to tell whats going on but basically his ear lobes were stretched long enough that he could stretch them up and over the rest of the ear. It looked kinda cool but it definitely fits into the "I'm not sure I could pull that off in a job interview" category.

After lunch our group insisted on being taken to the Masaai River despite his best efforts to stifle our plans. On the way there we passed one of the air strips that people use when flying to their safari camps. When a plane took off the field next to us came alive as everything ran for cover. Epic.

When we got to the Masaai River I was suddenly even more thankful for Blair and Sam's courage in demanding we be taken there. It was out of this world. We saw a larger variety of animals there than any other place on the trip. It turns out you aren't supposed to be let out of the car but our guide did a good job of keeping us safe. You can see a group of hippos about 20 strong in the water behind me. The bank of the river was about 15 feet tall so we were completely safe.

As we stood baffled at all the hippos and crocks in the water, our guide quietly got our attention and motioned us to follow him through some bushes towards another part of the river. When we emerged from the bushes we saw some crocks basking directly under us on the river bank. They quickly jumped ship and swam away and we went back to our other spot.

Like I said, this spot had an amazing variety. This giraffe loved posing for pictures and kept standing in place for some really majestic shots. This picture has a crocodile, a hippo, a giraffe, and a gaggle of zebras. It was becoming clear that the safari was worth every single cent.

If that concept wasn't clear at that point, then it would really solidify in my mind on the drive back when we saw this elephant. This was the first elephant we had seen out in the open. As we approached it used its trunk to throw mud from a nearby puddle onto its back. We slowly drove past in a tirade to take as many pictures as possible. We stopped and waited as long as we could stand as the enormous elephant came towards us. I think this is the last picture I took before we balked and drove off. This will be a great conversation starter this school year when I use it as a wallpaper on my laptop.

As we headed back for dinner we saw ostriches, and the winner of the oh my gosh, thats the ugliest animal I've ever seen contest, the wildebeest. We all laugh about the fact that Kenyans pronounce this "wild beast". They have a horse's tail, a buffalo's head and some other animals' body. Very much the ugly duckling of the Masaai Mara.

After dinner we went out for another evening game drive. Our van high centered on a rock for a few minutes as we drove through the grass. It seemed like a good photo opp.

This picture was during our little pit stop. I'm wearing a shirt that no longer belongs to me. Its a great story, but one that will have to wait for tomorrow.

The evening was as fruitful as the other excursions. We came upon a group of giraffes as we drove around. This was one of the largest giraffes we saw all trip.

As the sun went down the park became so much more beautiful. This tree had weaver bird nests in it. They are very intricate, fully enclosed birds nests.

As we drove our guide shouted again... LIONS! I have absolutely no clue how he saw the lioness that was at least a half mile away on a hillside. I'm even more baffled by the fact that he was able to navigate us at least a mile and a half out of the way to bypass a creek between us and the lion and then get us to the exact spot where it was creeping along hunting. We definitely threw some serious salt in its game as the lioness was looking for little dinner.

This Sunset finished the night off perfectly. The haze on the horizon made the sun not only turn a brilliant reddish maroon color but gave us the ability to look directly at it. I was only able to snap two pictures as my battery died. Again, pictures do not do justice to how stunning the sunset looked. As the sun neared the horizon it started too look bigger and bigger until it looked like a giant illuminated tent on the horizon. It was the perfect end to the day.

Safari Part one

2007-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

It seems illogical to try to sum up the most amazing things I've seen in my entire life in one blog posting. Furthermore, choosing a practical sample of the 900 pictures I took to put in one blog posting would short enough to allow me to do something other than blog makes it seem like the best Idea to break up the Safari Blog into 3 parts. I'll Post the first one today. To sum it up, when the Safari was going, It was easily the most amazing experience of my life. When we had problems, the wheels were really falling off the wagon. I'll get to that.

The first day of the safari was spent driving from Mombasa to Nairobi, a city which we had heard few good things about. I don't mind long car rides and the drive passed quickly. During this leg of the drive we pass through the Tsavo East and Tsavo West National parks. Just near the gates for the respective parks this very oddly shaped building stands dormant all by itself. It looks like it was an observation point or rest stop at some time in the past.

I feel good about the picture considering it was taken going full speed down the highway. We never really figured out what it was.

When we arrived in Nairobi it was really cold. I can never remember feeling the sensation of cold since arriving in Kenya 2 months ago. Nairobi is much drier also. The prospect of having to put on a jacket seemed picture worthy. Grace especially was overjoyed, as you can see.

We walked to a South African Burger joint called Steer's for dinner. It was by far the best burger and fries I've had in Kenya. It seemed ironic to be eating a South African rendition of an American food in Kenya. They did a pretty good reproduction in my opinion.

The next morning we woke up early and met the driver who would drive us for the remainder of our Safari. It had only been twenty minutes when we passed signs for the Rift Valley View Point. For some reason, I had expected that the Rift Valley would be more than a short drive from the largest city in Kenya. It was a hazy morning but the view was amazing.

If you look you can see one spot of sun that had crept through the clouds.

Despite the fog you can see how green it was. The morning was cold but not as cold as what was yet to come.

After taking a few minutes to take pictures, we took off for the valley floor. There was a small town just at the bottom of the hill but then nothing except cattle and goats for as far as your eyes could see. All of the sudden, we came around a corner in the road and saw these enormous satellite dishes. Its interesting to me that much of the infrastructure here seems to have been built in the 70's. These satellite dishes are a great example. There is something that looked very Soviet about them, much as the random structure in the first image above had. I would guess that they were 3 or 4 stories tall and looked like they had fallen into disrepair.

As we got into the car in the morning, we noticed a box in the back seats. When we asked the driver what was in the back. "The radiator" he replied in a very nonchalant manner. We weren't as relaxed. When we inquired further, he said that the radiator in the car was too small and that it overheated some times. As we made the first climb out of the Rift Valley he pulled off to the side and you could hear the radiator (in the engine bay [which is under the front seats {I know right???}]) boiling quiet loudly. We took the opportunity to get out and snap some photos of the other side of the valley.

The next few hours of the drive fits into the category of "what in the heck does the Kenyan government do with its tax dollars?" Pretty much every drive we have ever taken that extends more than 15 miles out of town fits this bill. As we drove to Narok the road was kidney pulverizing. I don't get how commerce can happen in a country where goods are transported either by trains that derail (no seriously) or on roads where the trucks have to go 20-25 MPH because the roads are so bad. Just when it seemed that we were passed the bad sections of road, we pulled of onto a dirt road as rough as any of the backwoods 4x4 roads I've seen in Mexico. The driver hopped out and paid the toll to use the road to members of the Masai tribe. For some reason I had expected a little more formal toll booth than this. I've learned to abandon expectations in Kenya as I've realized they often lead to disappointment.

Huts similar to those below dotted the land around the Masaai Mara. Most of the people that live around the area are farmers or ranchers. The huts are very old fashioned with thatched roofs and mud walls. This was the biggest village we saw. The fence surrounding the corn in the foreground was an electric fence. These were surprisingly ubiquitous. Go figure, mud walls... electric fences; who knew?

As we continued our ~~TORTUROUS~~ scenic drive into the park we started to see more and more game along the way. We wondered why the driver wouldn't stop to put up the tops so we could take pictures of the animals like this male Impala. I eventually just concluded that it was because there was no shortage of game to see.

When we arrived at Olare Lodge we were all smiles. Partly because we were tired of the bumpy drive and also because the "Luxury Tented Camp" was more luxury than I had expected. I know, luxury tented camp seems drastically paradoxic, but it was far nicer than anywhere we've stayed in Kenya. There was hot running water in the tents and all of the other amenities one would expect from a luxury tent. The beds were covered with Masai blankets and were very comfortable. This is obviously me sitting in the tent.

The tents were as sturdy as they were spacious. It was nice to sit out on the porch and just relax looking across the nearby creak to endless hills. I had forgotten what nature really smelled like.

The luxury feeling of the camp was really solidified when we went to lunch and were fed a lunch that would have cost no less than 20 dollars a plate at home. The presentation was as amazing as the taste. It was stake on a cake of mashed potatoes both served on a bed of spinach. It was SO AMAZING.

We finished lunch and went on our first scheduled game drive. Animals were everywhere. Within five minutes we arrived at a pool with two hippos swimming in it passing five or ten other types of animals on the way. They seemed a big agitated with our presence which didn't deter us from snapping pictures of the one hippo who decided to stick around for a picture or ten.

Soon it was time to take off and we drove off in search of more animals. The road was bumpy but no one wanted to go back to sitting in the seats we had just spent six hours in so we all stood.

After five minutes we came upon a group of elephants. At this point everything was new and interesting. We just sat and tried to process the concept of being so close to animals we had only seen in zoos or on TV. They seemed unconcerned with us and just carried on eating. Our driver said they eat 100 kilos of food a day - about 220 pounds.

We left the animals and drove further. We started seeing animals grazing everywhere. We saw more animals than you can list. The Zebras were the most common. From a distance, Zebras are harder to see than their brightly patterned skins would imply. They never ran when we approached. They just continued to eat. They are incredible animals.

As we drove we saw some people in the distance. I hadn't seen a village in two hours and I felt very surprised to see people in an area that seemed so raw and wild. They aren't supposed to let tourist get out and walk around. As the legend goes, a Masai man must kill a lion before he is allowed to marry and our driver said that lions will run away form Masai men in their traditional clothing like the man on the left is wearing. Its really an amazing culture, which has changed little in centuries.

These Hyenas were the first carnivores we saw. They look like really ugly bears with dogs legs. Although Hyenas tend to hunt in packs, this mother and cub were all alone. The two were kind enough to pose nicely for a few pictures and we drove off.

As the first day came to a close it started to get cold and the beauty of the area really started to set in. "I can't believe I'm here, I can't believe I'm here" I kept telling myself.

The day ended with a dinner as incredible in taste and presentation as our lunch. It was a stuffed chicken breast served with a medley of vegetables and rice if my memory serves me correctly. After dinner one of the staff gave us an astronomy lesson. He showed us the southern cross (amazing) and most of the constellations used in astrology. During the lesson I had to put on another jacket on top of the four layers I was already wearing. It wasn't just cold for Kenya... it was COLD!!!

Mash Up

2007-07-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

This will probably be my last blog before the safari. I'll do the same as the blog before my last trip where I upload some pictures that are a bit of a mishmash. This time many of the pictures are from other interns. We back up everyones pictures on a small hard drive I have, just in case. I hope you enjoy.

This should go without much need for a definition for anyone that has visited a third world country. The glass keeps you from hopping the wall. I don't know if its effective or not, but its really pretty in the sunlight anyway.

Sam took this picture in Lamu. This is one of our favorite restaurants right after our respective sea food dinners had arrived.

This is a beach near Lamu. I love that the trip cost me 100 dollars. Even with the mosquitoes it was worth every cent.

This beach was on Manda Island next to the ruins we visited. The guide pointed to his left and said "thats Somalia," then to his right and said "thats Mombasa." I think I know what he meant.

I don't think this is the same company. But the driver told me last month when the picture was taken that he had a hot tip. I leaned over and he said "Richard K. is stepping down next month." Turns out he was right.

In other news, I've lost more weight. This will probably make my mother nervous and friends at home jealous. I love this Kenya Diet. I'll bottle up a bit and bring it home. Just have your check books ready kids. I'll see you after the safari. Oh, I also finished my major summer project ahead of schedule. It was really validating to see how glad my boss was that I had it done. I showed him how I can turn the manual into a PDF and he was even more happy. So life is good.

Australia, You can do it!!!!!

2007-07-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

Australia remains the only continent I haven’t had visitors from. Maybe my Google bomb technique will work for that
too?We’ll have to see.  This will be short and sweet, I had a few pics that I had told my friend Andy about and I figured
I’d let the rest of you see them.  This first one is another one for my OSHA folder. Using a chisel to demolish the rooftop
you are sitting on top of must be 10,000 times worse than painting yourself into a corner of a room. I thought it was
really funny.  They hadn’t finished by the time we left work and when we got back after Lamu the new roof was up so I
guess it worked.




This next picture was a really oddly placed donation box at a school in Shella on Lamu.
The school was on one of the busier streets in the town so many tourists probably walk
past there.




This last picture is admittedly really really random.  A bunch of Donkeys were walking
around the ships during low tide and I thought that it made an interesting picture. It looks
like the donkeys are walking on water if you cross your eyes slightly. Just kidding, but I'm
glad some of you tried it anyway.





Thats all for now folks. Thanks for reading. Sorry for the crazy font changes. Blogger was
Giving me no love tonight.

4th of July

2007-07-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is my third 4th of July spent outside of the US. The holiday takes on a different tone when u celebrate it privately. You think more about what it means in the absence of fireworks and bbqs. This year has been a bit different, for reasons I may right about tomorrow, having nothing to do with geopolitical location.

Before I dive in I just want to say that I've seen the pictures that the others took and the trip and they're amazing. The links on the right will take you to Sam and Blair and Graces blog both sporting some sweet pix of the trip.

This weekend was our trip to Lamu. The trip started off swimmingly; we got on to our bus without any issues at 7 am, I saw giraffes and baboons on the bus ride down, and although the 160 mile ride took 6 hours, it flew by. The high point was when the buss stopped for a moment to load and unload passengers and among the people selling mangos and peanuts ran up a woman selling LIVE CHICKENS!!!!!!!! Ya, LIVE chickens. I thought there is no way in H E double hockey sticks someone will buy one of these with 5 hours left on our ride. No sooner had I thought this than she booked it out of my sight and ended up selling the chicken to the people across the isle from Grace and I. All of the sudden there was a chicken which had been flapping its wings fifteen seconds earlier lying completely still on the floor. Needless to say we freaked out. I was sure she had killed the thing. Grace tried to snap a pic of the (we thought) dead chicken. Not sure If she posted it - you can see the links to her blog on the right. Once we got off the bus, we crammed 55 people 23 chickens, and goat on to this boat.

If you look closely, there is a guy getting off the boat holding 4 chickens (alive in his hands) along with all the other passengers. Things were still going well, we meet Sam and Blair with no mishap, and as we headed through the alleys of the 14th century city all seemed well. This unfinished house had become a barn and everything was new and interesting.

As we walked Blair and Sam told us that they had chosen a different hotel, which was cheaper than the one Grace and I had planned on staying at that was just as nice. It sounded good, and I try not to rock the boat. Then the world came crashing down:

Most of the hotels in Lamu are more """"Guest houses""""- if they even qualify for that flattering of a title- and ours didn't really look like what I had envisioned in my minds eye for our "vacation from vacation". I took a second to lie down and let everything process and once they brought sheets for the "beds" I felt better. We quickly set out to see the town and get some lunch. One of the high points of Lamu were the milkshakes served at all of the seaside cafes. The were a bit unconventional in that the flavors were all tropical fruits and there wasn't any ice cream. In a word, they were amazing. Passion fruit, and mango were my favorite flavors, and I probably had ten of them during the trip. After lunch we parted ways and I decided I would walk the 3Km to Shela at the other end of the island. As I walked I heard loud drumming coming from the street/trail/donkey path ahead of me. As I approached I thought I saw kids in a fight -which looked exciting - so I hurried up to the site where a small crowd had gathered. As I got closer I saw that it wasn't a fight per se' although there were men in a circle hitting one another with long sticks. I tried to blend in to the growing crowd. A repetitive drum beat which sounded like drum and bass filled the air. I sat and watched for an hour feeling really fortunate to be part of some cultural event that we are usually unable to see, let alone understand. As I watched for the next hour some things became clear. It was some kind of traditional wedding celebration, and this party was mainly for the men.

If you look you can see very few women in the crowd. I cant really explain the game other than one guy hits another guys stick and wins the the competition somehow and a new competitor enters the match. In the back ground you can see a bunch of men dressed in white with a table covered by a green table cloth where the groom sat. I think the men in white were fathers, or clerics of some kind. They were obviously respected in the community at large. I posted this picture because it seemed like a tender father son moment. The older man with a beard playing with (I think) his son. They both were beaming. It was truly one of the more unique experiences and indicative of Lamu as a hole. Its deeply communal and very cultural. The island is 95% Muslim and seems very close knit.

The evening wound down quickly, and had some great sea food then headed to bed. I must admit that I am a huge baby about mosquitoes. I also must admit that I am a bit of a baby about trying to sleep when it is really warm. Given that both of these conditions existed the first night In Lamu made me about lose my mind. It took every ounce of self control to not leave the island at 3 AM as I lie in bed talking myself down and telling myself I could make it and that the trip would improve.

In the morning I realized that there were holes the size of tennis balls in my net all round the bottom of the bed. I felt better after getting two or three quality hours of sleep. We had breakfast as a group and then went to meet our Dhow for a day of fishing and exploring etc. I had told the group that I don't love killing things and wasn't sure that I would be fishing but wanted to go for the BBQ and other events. Once we got there, I decided I may as well make the most of it and ended up catching 3 of the 9 fish caught by our group of 9. I was the only one in the group of interns that caught more than one and the irony was a little humorous, I must admit.

After the fishing, the dhow sailed to this island where we meet another boat of friends which had fished in another spot.

We ate on the Island of Manda which as you can see is not densely populated. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It all felt very surreal to be sitting on a beach under a tree while some strangers BBQ'd the fish we had just ~~murdered~~ caught. We swam in the warm ocean water while they finished lunch.

They served the Fish whole and again, like the fishing, I figured I'd just dive in head long rather than beat around the bush. On my plate, you can see the head which you remove prior to eating the fish. Looking closely you can see the tail of the fish in my right hand. it was good and easier to eat than expected.

After Lunch we headed up the channel towards some ruins on a different part of Manda. My mom will be mad about the shirtless pic. Sorry mom, 'ma holla at 'cha. I'm looking skinnier and darker people keep telling me. I have a mega farmers tan which is really funny. Its nice to see that I do indeed have cheek bones still.

The ride to the ruins was interesting. Sand bars don't pose as much of a problem as the Mangrove trees lining the route. It felt like a canal ride more than a ride on a sail boat because the sail would make the boat faster than could be controlled through the narrow channel.

Another shirtless one which is only remaining because it shows the awesomeness of my farmer tan. Fear the Farmer Tan!!!!

I've no realized that I wore one of the ugliest outfits ever orchestrated on the trip. Once we got to the ruins I got a picture next to a Baobob tree similar to the one I posted earlier in the trip. You get a much better perspective of just how big the trunk is relative to the height of the tree. They're so thick its amazing.

Compared to Gede, the ruins were quite a let down. This picture is inside the mosque and is probably a bit sacrilegious... though I really hope not.

The roosters that they had were huge and really unique looking near the ruins. This one loved the camera and really worked it for the camera. It looked very velociraptorish in my opinion.

We got back to Lamu Just in time to shower and head to dinner at "Hippie Ali's" house. He's a man that has been hosting guests at his home for over 35 years. He's a very jovial man and a great host.

We meet him in town and walked for what seemed like an eternity threw the narrow alleys to his house. We sat on the floor and took a bunch of pictures as he prepared dinner with his wife and daughter. The food was great and he sat and talked with us as we ate an interesting though somewhat smaller than advertised dinner. Following dinner they played some songs for us as a family with some guest musicians one of which was an albino black man. I've never seen and albino black person in real life but they are here a lot. I haven't seen any albino women, just men and this was the first time that I felt comfortable taking a picture. They have blond hair and skin that is whiter than any of the the white people in our group. He was an amazing drum player. Its hard to see from the angle of the shot but he was playing two drums at the same time.

I slept much better after dinner that night. I got a freezing bottle of water that I snuggled up to and I duct taped over the holes in the mosquito net which covered the two major problems from the night before. The 3rd day was mostly exploring town. We shopped, and saw the sites. I may have mentioned before that all the transport is done with donkeys including movement of construction materials like these carrying sand to sum unknown destination.

The main square in town is next to a fort and is a big gathering place for the locals. You don't see many white people east of the square but like the rest of Lamu, it doesn't feel dangerous there. It felt like the safest place we've been in Kenya. I walked around a lot after dark and never felt unsafe at all even in the dark alleys which make up basically every square inch of Lamu. In the square this tree was growing out of the window of a building. It seemed really mind blowing that A. it could grow out of a building, and B. that whoever owns the place has never cared to remove it from the window. It looked really cool regardless.

This picture is a good indicator of most "major streets" in Lamu. You can't usually see much more than 15 feet in front of you and you can touch both walls to your sides with little effort.

This is the fort that is adjacent to the square. It has been turned into office space although the structure was mostly maintained really well. Grace insisted that I posed and this is the least horrible of the poses.

The fort was a little lackluster, but the views were amazing. We got a vantage that allowed us to take pictures of things that I wanted to photograph but didn't really feel that it would be appreciated.

This lady selling chickens is a great example. Each of the baskets in front of her had 5-10 live chickens under it. Not the grocery store we're used to at home. She obviously has some customers though. Good for her.

This is looking down on a market that sold spices and vegetables and other foods. I think it was mainly an impromptu area that had just been taken over by entrepreneurial minded people who seem to congregate well here in Kenya.

These three sinks are everywhere. I don't really know what they do or what they symbolize but they are really common.

This building is east of town and really cool looking. They were really upscale apartments as far as I can tell, but they appeared to be for sale of something. You never really know here. Signs are really not accurate.

Muslim women, fully covered walking on a beach. nuff said.

This was what we eventually dubbed "Gotham City Power Plant". Black exhaust billowed out of the the generators in the back ground and this oil/diesel/pollutants just sat out side spilling over the sand and into the sea. Like a lot of things in Lamu it just seemed to fake to be real. I keep thinking that things in Kenya look like Disneyland which has made me respect the park more than I did before. They do a decent job making the jungle ride look like the jungle etc.

I was glad I had gotten my fade tightened up before going to Lamu... the DUDU barber didn't sound like a great place to have my hair did. Joking aside I think that DU DU means pest in Swahili. I could be wrong though.

The moon, some boats, and Grace with the dock in the background.

My (_)B312 L337 5ki11ZZ !!eleven!!!

2007-06-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize that the blog has been a little schizophrenic the last couple days. I wanted to add a template but was trying to reconcile what to do with a template that was far to narrow for the pictures I was posting. At first I started reposting all of the pictures. As you've seen it makes things look a little messed up, so I decided I'd try to edit the code of the blog itself. Who knew my leet computer Sk1lls would end up being worth something after all!?! I think it looks a lot better now. So hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out. Meanwhile back at the ranch G-units ex BFFL got arrested. First Sam ~~Sort of~~ gets malaria, now G's friend gets owned by the 5.0. Why can't I have some of the fun this summer. I heard from a girl today that she got Dengue fever a few years ago when she was in Kenya... Given that Dengue trumps Malaria in any story, I'm really holding out for that. We'll see what happens.

Fade so Tight

2007-06-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

I got my second hair cut in the country tonight in anticipation of our trip to Lamu Saturday. I can’t wait for our trip, this has been my most demanding week thus far work-wise and it will be nice to be in a place without cars, without distractions etc. We all went to a marina club the other day just after lunch. I was disappointed for the most part but we started poking around on the “dock” and ended up finding a few little treasures.

These boats were all really colorful (which none of you noticed I'm sure). I didn't have my camera so Grace was in charge of getting it all on camera. Shes a good photographer.

As we looked around at the fish swimming around the dock we noticed a few crabs hidden in the shadows of the dock using their claws like lawn mowers cutting all the algae which had attached itself to the dock. If you look behind the crab, the black containers you can see are large plastic jugs used here in Kenya to contain about every liquid imaginable. In this case they were holding air and not liquid. I have no idea how the physics of this works, but the dock was being held up by jugs! I didn't really trust it, but the dock felt (mostly) stable even when grace and I were bent over to take pictures.

This Picture was all about team work. its hard to tell in the reflection, but I was holding one of my flip-flops above the camera to decrease the glare on the photo. I like how huge Grace's hand looks in the photo. This lion fish is bigger than it appears (classic fish story) in comparison to Grace's hand. I think it must have been trying to eat the crabs because it was holding so still that we thought it was dead except for the occasional tail wag. There was a crab that ran around the poll in the corner of the shot as the fish approached. The wildlife on the dock sure beat the catfish and carp you'd see clamoring around the docks at Lake Powell. I could have reached in and grabbed it. but the whole poison stings thing didn't sound great.

I'm on this new diet. I call it (drum roll) ... KENYA!!!! or maybe I should call it correct portion sizes, or not so American portion sizes. I'm sorry if this is a reiteration but I found out that I've lost 5 more pounds, taking me to a grand total of 15 since arriving in the country. The best part is that I'm not even really trying to lose weight. You just can't help but eat more correctly here. The foods aren't processed, the portion sizes are healthier, and fast food is as healthy as anything you would eat at home. I love it. I'll post after Lamu.

Prelude to a Trip

2007-06-27T09:55:00.001-07:00

This will be short and sweet. I wanted to wish a very ~~impersonal~~ happy birthday to my father and brother whom I won't be able to call since I'll be in Lamu this weekend. I also want to try to upload some photos with the photo feature on Blogspot. We'll see how that goes. If theres a photo when you read this, it worked. If not you may never read this. haha
Ok turns out it worked. This dolls head was in old town. It seemed momentous given that white dolls are "not so common" in Africa. White doll... nail in head. Hmm. fun. As I've mentioned, I really want to write about being white in Kenya. Most aspects of it are good, although there are some decidedly bad things about it. I'll hit both of them in a couple days. thanks for reading. Oh, and for what its worth, my little google bomb worked. I doubled my traffic from search engines the day that I Had the title iPhone, iPhone, iPhone. Last I checked... if you google "Kenya iPhone" my blog is the top hit on google. Thats a strange sensation.

iPhone, iPhone, iPhone

2007-06-25T05:17:00.002-07:00

The title probably won’t make any sense until the very end of the blog… Sorry that I haven’t Posted in a few days. Work has suddenly become more stressful as a major deadline I was up against have moved forward by a month. All of my creative juices have spilled into the writing of the audit manual I’ve been working on (clearly a very creative document indeed). I had seen a few older pictures that I felt were worth posting along with some newer ones. I’ve been meaning to speak about the nuances of being a white person in Kenya so if I have any energy by the end of this you may get a snippet about that also.
This crocodile looked very majestic when we were at Haler Park the other day. It wasn’t the biggest but I wouldn’t want to meet it in a dark alley, or um, in a… err, swimming pool.

I still can get over the giraffes that we saw at Haler the other week. It felt like the scene in Jurassic Park where they’re driving in the Jeeps and see the Brontosaurus and other dinosaurs around a lake. It just feels like two worlds colliding. I felt inherently like I didn’t belong in the situation. The giraffes seemed less concerned with our presence. They can be so shallow! Haha.

This Picture also had a very Jurassic Park feel to it. I posted a picture of this Crowned Heron the other day. I don’t know if I posted any Hippo pictures. The hippos looked fake. The fat from their bodies rolled over their legs in a way that made them look very animatronic. We were told that they are the most dangerous animal in the park. Hippos are quite territorial and very short tempered I guess.

I tore my ~~Only~~ favorite pair of shorts getting off a matatu about a month ago. I wasn’t as bothered about having torn shorts as I would be in the states. It almost made me feel like I fit in a bit better. Karen (pictured) goes to church with us and works as a seamstress. She did a bang up job on the shorts, which are good as new (sort of). The Sewing machine she used was foot powered – Kenyans are super liberal and hippie like that… they are working hard to reduce their carbon foot print… just kidding – I figured out a few days later that the model she was using was a replica of a foot powered Singer Machine. Both looked really cool – Gold leafed trim on a black background. She refused payment but I gave her a few shillings anyway. After leaving the shop I realized I have no idea what the going rate is for their services, so I may have massively over or under paid her. I’m hoping the prior and not the a latter.

On Saturday we ventured to old town figuring we’d give it a second chance. We spent more time at fort Jesus this time. Above the fort there are these really odd trees. Some of the limbs head straight toward the ground and sprout into roots. Some like this one look very root-like prior to reaching the ground. They smell funny and look ugly hence the face. Grace really captured the moment on this one.

The G-unit (Grace) insisted on being in front of the lens on this one so we enlisted the use of the timer on my camera to get a picture of us in front of the same tree that the roots were from in the subsequent photo. I would imagine that the stock of the tree keeps growing and growing. Grace … sorry eh Hem- The g-unit – said the tree looks like the Whomping Willow in the Harry potter movies. I think she was unhappy with my pose. What do you do right?

The fort has a really interesting design. According to the travel guide we have, it was designed so that you could never attack a wall of the fort without being a sitting duck for soldiers on another wall. Where I stand mas maybe a bit of an anomaly then. Notice my (now) holeless shorts.

Below the wall there was an abrupt drop and what seemed like a dry moat of sorts around the fort. A series of caves had been dug out of the corral stonewalls of the moat. “Unforch” they were gated off so you couldn’t explore back into them. The one behind me had a very “Pirates of the Caribbean” feel to it. I don’t know why that made me bust out a Derrick Zoolander look with a bit of the peoples eyebrow mixed in, but its rarely the wrong answer face-wise… except in family photos maybe.

Fort Jesus is a great example of how restoration isn’t really a well understood concept to people here. The outside of the fort looks nice, but on what could be considered the more picturesque portion of the fort two soccer goals have been placed right next to the fort. Its better than a baseball diamond, or football uprights – its soccer after all- but I’m guessing there is a dirt patch somewhere nearby that would have worked just as well. The ocean was really rough and stormy on Saturday. The swells looked big, but they never really turn into anything you can ride. It’s a bit of a tease.

This building sits in the middle of a square in old town. It overflowed with character. The different colors of paint, the uneven roof, I thought it was very cool – in an I am glad I don’t live there type of way.

Grace and I parted ways with Sam and Blair and headed to town after a brief tour through old town. There are some odd buildings in town. We were trying to decide if this building was looked more like Deconstructivism or Cubism If you click the link from Deconstructivism you can see an example of a building that looks a lot like it i guess.

Regardless of style it looks very Soviet I thought. Especially contrasted to the Cathedral in the lower sides of this shot.

This is another little ~~Eyesore~~ treat from downtown Mombasa. The "TSS tower"is a different animal from each of its 90 million sides. From one end it looks like a bad rendition of the emerald city. On this side it looks more “Flash Gordon meets the Roman arch”-ish.

A decorated matatu. The name was extremely ironic I thought. It was meant to be a hip-hop reference of some kind, I’m sure but its probably more accurate as a description of the drivers tactics.

Saturday came to an end with a nice dinner with the (Mormon) missionaries. As opposed to the two that would usually come, we hosted four hungry elders. We had vegetarian spaghetti (a de facto menu selection), and an awesome fruit salad. The elders were from (right to left) Idaho Falls, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It was fun to have them over and brought back good memories.

OK, that was a novel. In other news, according to Google analytics, I’ve had visitors to my blog from every continent on earth except Australia. I figure if the readership keeps growing I’ll break 500 unique visitors by the end of summer. I should put Paris Hilton and iPhone a bunch of times at the top of my blog to get more traffic from search engines. Or, maybe I’ll just keep the pictures coming. I hope you all have a great day.

Short But Sweet

2007-06-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

I know that all of you only look at the pictures anyway so this post is mostly pictures. I’m sure no one will cry themselves to sleep over this. Last night Grace (who has insisted on being referred to as “G-Unit” in all publicized media) and I decided to go back to a hotel that looks over the bay north of Mombasa. We played with the setting on our cameras and each shot photos until our batteries were dead. Because neither of us had a tripod and ~~are completely lacking photographic skills~~ are fairly new to photographing things, most of them turned out as junk. I liked these though and hope you do too. Feel free to comment. For what its worth, if we look rather blank or stiff, it’s because the shutter was staying open for so long and any movement blurred things a bit. And here they are:

I thought the view was amazing

Don't Move.. DON'T MOVE!!

This may be the best picture I've ever taken

I call this one "Stiff as a Board"

Get In, Get IN, GET IN!!!

2007-06-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I went and got lost in downtown Mombassa when I decided it was time to go get a swimsuit – having left mine at home. I enjoyed a cupcake and then ventured into the maze of markets and shops. The others had headed to the beach so I had no one to confer with about getting my bearings. I soon realized that I didn’t recognize any of the buildings around me. I didn’t really feel worried. Before the day was over I got some awesome shorts, which are a little more businesslike than my old pair (five dollars). I felt really depressed when I was wearing sizes two above what I’d buy in the US although, I felt much better when I paid to use a fairly accurate looking scale and found I had lost ten pounds since arrival. So the day was off to a great start.

I went back home and met up with the others to head to Haller Park, a “Zoo” here in town. I put zoo in quotes because zoo connotes to me some kind of controlled environment in which you view animals. The matatu ride on the way was an adventure not to soon be forgotten. At a crowded “matatu stage” we had grown tired of weighting for a not so full matatu to come along and decided to just get the next one that arrived. People push like rush hour traffic on the subway to get on to routes that are less than common so we had little choice but to join in. The next Mtwapa matatu (Mtwapa is the route we needed named after the village at the end of the route) had 5 seats and there are four of us. People crowded in next to us pushing to get in. I suddenly lost my enthusiasm and it must have shown on my face because just as I was about to say, “um guys lets get the next one” .... the ~~Hustler~~ conductor looked at me and yelled “get in, get in, get in!!!!”, and I did. Before I could see that there were no seats the door was shut and we were off. 21 people got to be there for my first standing matatu ride- I’m sure they’re honored.

Like everything else in Kenya, the zoo had very few stated rules. In this case the lack of rules was a good thing, allowing us to do what we want when we wanted. At haller Park of the animals were fenced in, but at no point was there enough of a barrier between animal and visitor to keep you from just jumping over and geting up close and personal with the animals. Case in point: here is a picture of me next to two giraffes, which were not fenced in at all.

After we had been taking pictures for ten minutes and venturing closer and closer, the guide came and said, “Don’t get too close, they kick”. He was half joking and soon walked away, leaving just the four of us and the giraffes.

We also saw some hippos, water buffalo that had this crowned heron hanging out near it.

After that the “tour” took an abrupt downward swing as things suddenly became very touristy. We went to this really really lame snake exhibit and just as we were about to lose interest the guide said it was time to feed the crocodiles and we realized that there was certainly still hope. I wish I could upload the video that I shot but the photos will have to do. This crocodile was missing one of its front arms, a fact that I think can be attributed its very aggressive nature. It was amazing to see the crocs fighting and leaping almost entirely out of the water. The trip was the high point of the month so far.

On our way out we found a tortoise that was a hundred and twenty years old. The tortoises lay flat on the ground to eat but we had seen our guide reach under the shell and do something to the turtle that made it stand up for pictures. By this time, the park was nearly closed so it was just the turtle and us. I think I took 40 pictures of members of the group with my camera alone. It really worked the camera and was not temperamental at all about us being really close to it. I wish all 120 year olds were this cooperative.

By the way, Can you say Christmas card???? If you look at graces hand she's kind of tickling the turtle. This was the easiest way to get it to stand up. We saw one of the guides do it and it worked like a charm. The body felt like alligator skin.

Before we knew it the day was over and we headed home. I was completely worn out. What a day!

As It Turns Out

2007-06-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

I found out this evening that the “IT guy” I thought I had gotten fired yesterday may still have a job. That’s a good thing I guess. Today wasn’t like any other day since I’ve arrived, which in some ways makes it exactly like every day since coming to Kenya. On our way to the office Grace and I stopped at a massive market to find a couple shirts for her. One shop had shirt she liked but the dressing room, which housed the only mirror, was occupied so we used my camera to let her see what the shirt looked like. She clearly loved it.

After a few minutes I realized we were next to one of the only shops that I’ve seen selling plastic containers of a diet soda so I went into buy one. I hadn’t been out of the shop for thirty seconds when a young girl came up and asked me for the drink in very broken English. What to do, what to do? Dealing with beggars is really really hard for me at home and even harder here. You can’t give them all money and sometimes if you give to one you will be forced to give to all. I gave here ten shillings hoping that she would no longer want my (diet) soda, but to no avail. She tagged along with us for five minutes before we threw in the towel and headed in to work. Once we got fifty feet from the market the girl faded quit following. I hate things like that.

We arrived at work and got a lot done until about twelve thirty when we decided to head to town. We split fresh rolls and made sandwich/pitas which chicken kabobs we got on the street. The sauce was really really spicy but I was far less affected than the other members of the group which I found odd as I don’t really consider myself someone whom can handle spicy foods. I think our entire lunch cost $1.50 each. We topped it off with AMAZING gelato from the bakery next door. I’ve decided that Heaven is gelato in the middle of a hot and dusty city - all of the chaos seems to disappear. After lunch we went and got some things for work and went “exploring” for bookshops, which are in very short supply here.

After a couple of hours we met a friend from church named Joseph who played tour guide at a massive woodcarving co-op. From what he said 10,000 carvers work at the place that we went and supply woodcarvings to most of the tourist areas in Kenya. We spent an hour or so walking around the area. All of the artisans (is that the dorkiest word in the world?) were very friendly, and I was amazed over and as we walked from hut to hut and saw what was being made. Everything from little two or three inch figurines of animals two or three inches tall to giraffes that were taller than I was and everything in between. Like many things in Kenya, their techniques in carving are all about utility; safety always seems to be an afterthought.

We got side tracked by a few EPIC spiders. I posted pictures of a black red and white spider a few posts back. These were the same species but much much bigger.

I can’t believe that no one seems to be bothered by having the spiders around. The three spiders that we saw were on webs covered in dust which means to me that they have been there for some time. As I said, the spiders were huge.

Before the novelty of the spiders or the carvings could wear off we had to leave for an appointment with someone from church that had asked to have us over. As is custom the woman whom had invited us over had prepared a meal for us. This is always so bitter sweet because they always take very good care of us and make plenty of food, but you feel bad because you know it was an enormous sacrifice to put such a meal together. I knew they would never accept payment so I took some money out of my pocket and put it between the cushions on the sofa. I don’t know if they will ever find it – I hope they do though. The food was great… we had stew and chapatti, which are like a tortilla slightly thicker than what you’d get at the store, which is used as an accessory and a utensil for the meal though spoons are also provided typically.
This is us with the family we visited.

After the meal we struggled to find matatus to ride during the crowded rush hour. We all felt that we had spent so much money today but on actually adding it up, I spent less than five dollars. Not to bad I guess.

I’m realizing that this is a bit of a novel already but um, by the way… our friend Sam thinks he has malaria. I’m a bit jealous because I feel as if getting malaria will top any other “What did you do this summer?” answer in a couple months. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for me Sam… shall we?

This is where I sleep and occasionally write my blogs. Nice net eh?

UR FIRED!!!

2007-06-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today was the worst so far in some ways. I’ve hit a major brick wall. Writing an audit manual when you don’t really enjoy is something of a personal hell in ways. I’ve been excited to learn about audit procedures (which I know is really dorky –but hey that’s me right?). Today I realized that our operational manual already includes most of the things that I would have put in the audit manual I have been assigned to write. So I figured I should see which of the worlds companies are stupid enough to allow their internal audit manuals to get published on the interwebs. Turns out that there are more than you would think, which is good news for me and if ignorance is bliss I’m sure they’ll be fine. I felt a bit better when I inadvertently got the “IT guy” we’ve been using fired. The internet has been very very sketchy at the office since we arrived and he’s not doing a very good job in fixing it. I inquired from a fiery woman when Chris would be coming. She realized that it had been an hour since he had told her over the phone that he was on his way. She called 3 times during an unrelated yet VERY intense conversation about Kenya stuff and he never answered. After about five minutes he called. She picked up the phone and in a very commanding voice asked where he was and before he answered told him he was fired because she was tired of waiting. During the five minute conversation we had had -mentioned earlier- she had contacted Africa Online and not only received a reference for a new IT guy but had called and arranged for him to come in the morning before we open for business tomorrow; All while carrying on an interesting conversation with me. So needless to say, I’ve found a TYPE-A personality. Is it bad when the highpoint of you day is getting someone fired?

This is a picture of a typical day at the office:

Exploring

2007-06-11T02:09:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived in Kenya I was confused that there were no shops near our home. Today I realized that there were many shops near where we live, but most of them are not on main streets and even more do not have signs. Grace and I went out “exploring” into a plaza near our house. It had a bunch of interesting shops including a full-fledged grocery store. We had been paying about 400 Ksh (6 US dollars) to get to the large shopping complex where we had been shopping since we had arrived. We also discovered that some of the other local shops had all of the things that we were getting at Nakumatt (the more distant shop). We also found a thrift shop, which is a rare find considering that most of the goods sold here are second hand, and a sporting goods store – all within a block from where we live. We all went into town on a matatu, which we usually don’t ride all the way to downtown. It turns around in a part of town that was really busy with weekend shoppers. We ended up discovering an entirely different side of Mombassa’s downtown. We found gelato for 40 Ksh (about 60 cents), and saw some restaurants highly recommended by tourist guides that we have. This was all before 11 am. We then each pulled out about 20,000 Ksh out of an ATM to pay for our safari. It’s a bit scary walking around the third world with this much money even though in US terms it’s not all that much. All of the bills I'm holding were 1000 shilling notes.

(p.s. like the new haircut?)

We gave 80,000 Ksh (by the way, Ksh is the way Kenyan Shilling is written) to the man book our trips. It seemed like SO MUCH MONEY. Grace and I then went to church. She taught some other members the basics of the piano and then we listened to a short lesson with a bunch of other college age kids. After church Grace and I went back to one of the restaurants we had passed called Pistachio, and had a very late lunch. Pistachio serves European style pizza at relatively fair prices. When we got there four of the five customers were non-tourist white people, a rare sight most places in town. It was a great meal. We shared a pistachio flavored milkshake (my first shake in months), and two pizzas, and I had a Coca-cola Light (which is like diet coke but tastes more like regular. Even though its called Coca-Cola Light on the packaging, no one really has an idea what you’re talking about unless you ask for it as diet coke though). I think we ended up paying 9 dollars when all was said and done. We explored some more and went home. The more time we spend here the more I realize that there is a lot to do. There are still a million things I miss at home, but the country is becoming much more livable.

No shoes, No goggles, NO EYESIGHT. I remember a boy scout leader once telling us you could look at a welding torch with the naked eye for 30 seconds before you go blind. Imagine 8 hours a day. Do they have OSHA in Kenya? HECK NO

Today (Thursday)

2007-06-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

It was really hot today but I didn’t sweat a lot so maybe my body is starting to get used to things? We worked really hard until about 3 PM and then decided we’d head to a beach a few minutes from my house. Because we were walking I decided not to take my camera, which was a shame. When we got to the beach there were 20 or so camels just lounging on the beach. I also noticed there were a few local guys playing soccer on the beach. I got up my courage and went and asked to play. I fell a little above the average as far as skill level of the group was concerned. I had always heard that beach soccer was really physically taxing and made a complete idiot of myself the first couple times I got the ball. Playing soccer on the beach is basically like playing soccer in mashed potatoes. When you expect the ball to go, it stops and when you want it to stop it goes really fast. I ended scoring two goals and I think I made a good showing for myself. Hopefully I’ll play with them again. It was much harder than any of the runs we’ve been doing. And thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! Ya!

Who’s got the Power?

2007-06-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Today was interesting. We got to work and the power was out. This, in and of itself is not unusual, but once we had decided to go to the main part of town we found out from a shop owner that the power would be down until five. Nice of the electric company to only interfere with our work and not our lives after work hours. We ended up walking around downtown for a while in an effort to schedule a safari. I posted a few days ago about Type A personalities. This should prove the point. It took us two and a half hours to get four quotes from 4 agencies on what it would cost to do a very commonly configured safari. In most developed countries this would have taken 10 minutes on a web site. Its not that we had to walk between offices – they were all within one block of each other. The problem was that only one of the travel offices had any prices written down or standardized in any way. We got a lot of good information and should book our safari for much less than we would have expected when arriving in the country.

We used the remainder of our time to poke around a few shops and then go to old town. I’m sure you will see pictures on one of our blogs (Like Blair and Sam's or Grace's), but old town basically looks like the illegitimate child of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, and the Suburban rocket launcher scene in Clear and Present Danger. Look at these as an example:

And this one is especially Disneyland looking:

It’s meant to be one of the must see places in town but it was a bit of let down. It didn’t feel dangerous, as much as it just felt not safe(that’s not a typo).

Grace and I made a great Italian dinner for the other interns upon our arrival home. Fresh vegetables are very easy to buy and quite safe to eat and get incorporated into most meals and tonight’s was not exception. We walked a lot today so it was nice to get some carbs in my body. Meanwhile back at the farm, I turned on a feature so that I am required to moderate all comments left on the blog. I haven’t seen if this is working yet, so feel free to comment away and I’ll get them posted for you ASAP.

3p1|< C4${- 1\/10|) |=+VV!!!!one!
Translation: Anything ~~valuable~~ left sitting long enough on the street gets stolen. This is where a manhole was replaced with a large rock to keep people from falling into it. Now only small children can fit. The ones that are actually in middle the street aren’t usually replaced at all.

Sam and Blair

2007-06-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

My friends Sam and Blairs blog can be found by clicking Here . When I don't post they usually do. We hang out together most of the time so there will be stories about me and pictures of me. Which is the only reason anyone reads them. (jk)

I Got My Hurr Did

2007-06-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the better days I’ve had since arriving in the country. I had it all to myself. I started by going and getting a haircut. This was a bit of an experience as the terminology for most things like this are very different from country to country. After convincing the barber to cut my hair for less than one third the usual fair because it was all I had, I sat down in the chair and he went to work. I asked for 2 mm all around. The young barber kept reiterating “simple style”? ... “simple style”? Yes. I’d answer. Suddenly he produced a little white box, which I realized was filled with razor blades. I’m thinking to my self… Great!!! I’m paying this guy a dollar fifty for a four dollar haircut and he’s about to trim my neck with a straight razor. It turned out amazing. He even faded it a bit on the sides although I didn’t really ask for it. I think I’ll go back.

I then went to the office (still alone) and worked productively till I decided to venture into town. What started off as a quest to find an ATM soon became an impromptu shopping trip. I had no loose ends to worry about or people to watch. It was just me and downtown Mombassa. I found a little shop selling um “used goods”. They had everything from used high-end electronics to watches. I’m guessing they were “hot”. He had a Breitling watch that really caught my eye. I would imagine its an 800 dollar watch or so and he wanted 80 meaning I could probably get it for 60. I figured I’d wait. Its amazing how the economy here seems to have most things you need although no store would make you feel like it had anything at all. If you ask for something and the owner knows where to find it, they will usually send someone to get an attendant to the shop that will escort you over. Its great. I didn’t spend a lot but got quite a few things: some music, a few movies, and an umbrella. I think I spent 8 dollars in the process. Not too shabby.

This snail had already retracted three or four inches back into its shell. When fully extended it was probably 9 inches long.

Some of the ants are huge too

When you're young you hear stories about how huge bugs are in Africa. Strange thing is that its really true. If I saw a snail or ant like these in a movie I would have just laughed. They're huge.

Mud Mud Mud

2007-06-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

It’s rained for the last all week with the exception of yesterday. At points the only way to get to and from our house has been through knee-deep water. Some how the poor weather has made the realities of living full time with most of my coworkers more achingly apparent. With few exceptions we all get along, but solitude is becoming a rare and cherished luxury. We took advantage of the one day of sunshine yesterday and took a day trip the Gede Ruins, which are about 70 miles from where we live. I kept feeling as if I were part of an Indian Jones movie. The ruins are from about 800 AD and very little in the area has changed. Because it’s the “off season” for the tourist industry here, we had the park virtually to ourselves. The ruins encompass most of a Swahili village though very few of the structures have had the vines and trees of the jungle cleared away from them. During our self-guided tour, I looked down at my friend Sam’s legs and saw that ants were rushing up them. In a panic I looked down and saw that the ground all around me was moving and furthermore that ants were now storming up my legs. I yelped and we both skipped out of the area frantically trying to get the ants off of us. This provided comic relief to the rest of the group who were looking at another building near by. There are so many things that I’ve seen on TV but never experienced; this is one of them. We had walked into what seemed to be a river of ants fifteen feet wide or so. You could see the ground but barely. The day went mostly without huge events after that, other than the fact that the 65 mi trip is a 2.5-hour bus ride.

In other news, earlier this week at work a few of us interns decided to take the sub par internet situation at the office by the horns but ended up starting a little war in the process. In doing some research at a cyber café I had come to the conclusion that (what we thought was) our router was too many generations from the office’s modem to connect us to the Internet. So we decided to move it to the other side of the building and connect directly to the modem bypassing several hubs in the process. Weelllll turns out that we disconnected the receiver and not a wireless router!!!! I guess in Kenya the Internet is received wirelessly from main transmitters in town and your receiver must be in a direct line of site with the ISP’s transmitter and then sent throughout the office. So we single handedly knocked out the Internet connection for the entire office. OOPs? Aw well, it was a humbling experience and we know whom to turn to now for our “IT needs”. More news later.

We were soaked after our first run. My shirt is light gray when not drenched.

This is a great depiction of the ruins. Notice the vines in the foreground. It was all so surreal.

The Palace is the center of the village and the largest building.

This monkey was running around on top of the walls of the first mosque we walked through.

Boabo Trees like these dot the country side in this part of Kenya. They are so bottom heavy. This one was only 2 stories tall but as big around as a VW bug at the bottom

Wanted: Type A personalities

2007-05-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

The weather has been really great for the last few days. I got to church without needing to wring out my shirt and have done the same going to and from work so far this week. I love that this seems like a real accomplishment. The most recent dilemma we’re running into at work is not the conventional problem we face in the US where our bosses are usually far too pushy. We are consistently looking for some superior figure to start cracking a whip around the office. We have a lot of ideas about changes we feel could make the companies we intern for more successful, but no one is accountable to ensure that the changes we enact will remain in force after we leave. It seems paradoxic but I’m longing for a pushy authoritative boss to whip everyone here including me into shape. We went to an orphanage this weekend. It was the first time that I’ve really stopped and thought about how unfair the world seems. I’ve heard thousands of explanations and theories, but as I stood in a home smaller than most apartments in the US which housed 35 children, I really was at a loss for words and reasoning for what seems somewhat unjust. Despite how poor the conditions seemed, the kids were really happy and upbeat. In other news, I’m looking forward to the 3 day weekend that starts Friday. We may head up to a nature reserve or something. I’ll keep you posted.

This is me holding a puffer fish at the beach - I assume that whole is its ear.

We helped make dinner at the orphanage

The Mirror on the roof of the matatu was entertaining. I like how creepy the picture looks.

A couple of days ago I wrote about E-lite Cafe. This guy wanted to show my friend grace "what Kenyans do". Whatever that means

Turns out that what we made for the kids was good. The flies liked it anyway.

20 People on 1 matatu was a record. You can see 3 people standing in the background just inside the sliding door

by the way...

2007-05-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

You can see my friend Grace's Blog by clickingHERE

Pirates of the Caribbean: A Case study in the Sacredness of Marriage

2007-05-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very busy day. As it turned out, I didn’t work nearly as much as usual. One of the other interns and I went into town for one thing and ended up accomplishing three or four- mostly shopping. I love being able to bargain with a store owner on prices. I bought a jump drive and a cell phone. The cell phone is a Linux based Motorola phone called the “Motofone”, which I may have told some of you about a few months ago. It’s a phone that’s designed to cater to, and be sold in lower income markets (i.e. most of the world). It claims 300 hours battery life on standby and 50 hours of talk time. The best part is that although the casing and some of the features are as modern as you can find right now, it only cost 37 dollars with activation. Because everyone here uses prepaid, I have no contract to honor. Its awesome. Sorry to geek out for a minute, I’m pretty excited though. We went and got lunch around four and then our boss said he wanted to go see Pirates of the Caribbean. It only cost six dollars and was honestly one of the nicest theaters I’ve ever been in. We were all taken by surprise when the 20 minute intermission started midway through the movie. I liked it for the most part as far as big blockbuster movies go. My favorite part was the fifteen minutes in the middle where you wonder if you were suddenly watching a Kubrick film. I should end here. I think we’re going to the beach today. Awesome.

Grocery Store - Sort of

Matatu Drivers make New York Cab drivers look like wimps. This one decided it was safe to drive FULL SPEED down the sidewalk.

This is the Cell phone I bought. Its ghetto but in the good way.

Settling In

2007-05-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

I’ve been in Kenya for a week and a half now and most things are starting to make sense. The process is slow but sure. I now know that none of the restaurants have menus and 90% of them don’t have signs either. Given that there is no menu, we have figured out-as a group- that we should just look for any type of caged enclosure because this is typically where the person who will take your money is sitting. It’s a bit of a farce really, considering that the cage is usually no stronger than chicken wire and will only surround one or two of the sides of the cashier; Not terribly secure(assuming security is the intention). Yesterday we went out and ate at the “Elite Café”(which the locals pronounce E – Light caf), which is just down the street from two schools. It was filled high school age students and all conversation ceased as we walked in. Although the novelty of Kenya is wearing off for me, its nice (kind of) to see that the novelty of me is not wearing off for Kenya. It took us ~~an eternity~~ three or for minutes to figure out how to order and was the experience yielding the lessons learned outlined above. The food was great and people were mostly friendly. Just after we sat down, this Kenyan came and sat at the table next to us. Conversation quickly went from where we were from to propositioning our friend Grace who was a little to naive to realize what was going on. At first it was comedic but we decided we should rescue her before the guy got too attached. Last night was the first night that I’ve actually felt cold while I slept. I ended up turning off the fan, which sits at the foot of my bed but under the mosquito net. This wasn’t enough so I’m actually sitting here in a long sleeve t-shirt that I put on last night to stay warm. This is notable because the sensation of “I’m cold” has been a luxury un-enjoyed the entire time I’ve been in Kenya - cold liquids, cold showers, cold breezes, and cold rooms all seem to be a huge luxury. That’s all for now.

This is me getting all super butch style hanging a nail for my mosquito net(which is to my left)

Notice the "student center" sign. This is at a polytechnic school near my office

Enough said - it was the size of my palm

It's Hitting me

2007-05-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've been living here for five days now and slowly its sinking in that I'm living in a third world country. The novelty hasn't really worn off yet. I've gotten used to being sweaty all the time. The first thing that really hit me about Kenya is how the complete chaos that is everyday life here is somehow amazingly cohesive. All of the videos you see on youtube of people driving in India etc. pretty much illustrate perfectly how driving here is. Chaos - total and complete chaos. Everyone here (or at least the ones that can afford it) ride in "Matatus"(pronounced with long u sounds and the a is like the o in hot). Imagine 1980's Toyota minivans that are completely stripped then re outfitted with new seats. they have 9 seats in them and I've seen over 15 people packed into cars smaller than a Honda odyssey. pictures will follow... I promise.
This is me in a semi full Matatu

Everywhere we go we are a minority. Its interesting to see how different members of our group respond to that. Some people act like royalty trying to please the peasants by their benevolent kindness. It comes off extremely condescending as they speak louder and slower to the black native English speakers than to the white ones. Other people take a much more liberal "hey we're all people" approach. I hope I'm more the latter than the prior. People here always expect that you're rich and you just have to keep a close watch on your change at stores. A lot of merchants just assume you won't tell them when they've tried to give you less than adequate change. Its been my experience that they do this too the locals too. but its worse with us. What fun right?

Our office is nice. The politics that go into choosing and assigning offices are much different than the US as it turns out. We have a corner office on the top floor with the MOST amazing view. Check out this picture.

This is the view out of our office. Rough life eh?

It Begins

2007-05-18T04:49:00.001-07:00

When I got to the airport in Nairobi, Kenya, I thought that I had walked into a David Lynch movie. Pale lights, silent extras. It was all there. I was one of 2 white people waiting for my connecting flight to Mombasa. As we sat waiting to board the flight, four men that looked like they had been cast as a terrorists in a bad American action movie. They seemed unconcerned that we were there. I never felt scared as much as out of place. When my friend Grace and I got off the plane in Mombasa it became clear that my life between now and August is going to be far stranger than any Lynchian epiphany. I'll Keep you posted and pictures will soon follow.

It's not this old anymore... but almost

I'm not pale its just the lights