Posts
Oops, it has been a while since my last update hasn't it. Things pretty much tootle along at a normal pace here in Nairobi. We've all got kinda used to just being here all the time, and having our little guest house community. It's quite nice really. I've been jogging a couple of times with Patience. She really does have the most suitable name. She's been encouraging and we've not been doing too much I couldn't handle it, well, mostly. Then since Thursday we've not been, but we're gonna go today.
Umm, we had thanksgiving due to the three americans in the house. Our oven didn't work so we decided on breakfast for dinner, and then I got the oven to work. Pretty much every evening since there's been a call of 'Jeeess, can you help us turn the oven on?'. There's no nob y'see, so I had to get a tool out in it's place (many jokes have already been made, you don't need to go there).
Then, Dave and I have been getting stuff ready for the trip up into the rift valley, we did budgeting and stuff, and then getting things ready for the open day, including a killer power point presentation which we tried to have running on the laptop on our stand but which because of the light nobody could see. The open day was fun though. Pictures on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=2193063&id=202910330
Right, office is now open so I gotta go work!
x
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Last couple of weeks
Well, nothing much has really happened in the last couple of weeks. But lots of little things have I suppose. Last Tuesday I went to the Arboretum for the first time with Sarah. It was nice there, we walked around for about 45 minutes nattering constantly about various things. Got some good opinion on how I'd been feeling about an issue, just basically that I was well within my rights to be angry and annoyed, (basically, to save being cryptic, someone spoke to me in a way that I was not very happy with, because I didn't know some pottery convention, quite how I'm meant to know everything I'm not sure, but he made me feel stupid and it took a while and quite a few conversations with the girls when I got back to feel better about it) but we figured that he probably realised afterwards that he shouldn't have spoken to me like that. But basically my opinion on Oxford academics has been set now and it's actually put me off going into academia, not that I was at all convinced that I would ever want to do a phd in the first place, but if it would mean I'd have to work with people like that then no thank you!Anyway, mini-rant over with, the arboretum is lovely. http://www.naturekenya.org/FONArboretum.htm It has monkeys which I have seen since, but I think Sarah & I were nattering too much for monkeys the first day. So since I have been a couple of times after work and before dark, just to get some exercise and to build up to when I finally get around to buying trainers and attempting to run around it. Although i went yesterday and it was so slippery as it had rained rather heavily during the afternoon (understatement), so I shall avoid it when it's rainy.I also walked to the Sarit centre on Thursday after work, to do some shopping in Uchimi which is a much bigger supermarket than the tiny one we have down the road, and while I was there I popped into the bookshop and found New Moon for 660ksh. So I bought it. I've already finished it though. Seems a shame. Maybe I could sell it on...Friday evening we lost our internet. Apparently the ISP had upgraded but then it all went wrong. We only got the internet back yesterday and it's such a bad connection it's almost worse than having it in the first place. On Saturday evening I went to Habeshas again for more ethiopian food, this time with the new american guy who had arrived the day before (Reynolds), Darren & Patience (american couple, he's doing phd research, she's writing a fantasy novel) and Sarah. It was good, although I think I would rather go somewhere new next time. Sunday evening we all pooled together and made a green thai curry, mainly under Leila's instruction. It was delicious! Darren & Patience had been at church (morman) and eaten earlier so they only joined us later when we were still sat around the dinner table talking. It was a really good evening actually. It's like having a dinner party where you all pitch in. Good fun, and we'll hopefully do it again this weekend, if we can think of something to make.
So, this week, as well as digitising the notes from the Somalia excavations (I finished the negatives by the end of last week) we aslo had two ladies from the Ugandan Museum in Kampala visiting us. Rose & Jacqui. They were here to visit the Archaeology dept at the Nairobi Museum and learn how they organise their storage of artefacts, so that they can go back to Uganda and reorganise their stores. The BIEA is going to be providing them with a small grant to help, and they are also providing me! So I went with them and Matt on Monday to see the Director General and to organise going back to Archaeology the next day. So Tuesday I took them to the museum again and we had a brief lesson in how things in Archaeology dept work, then we had a very quick look around the museum itself, followed by a quick lunch as we had to meet someone from ethnography at 2pm. The lady from ethnography showed us around their storerooms which are currently in the middle of being reorganised. Then we went to see they man from Aluka, who is actually the man from Jstor now as they took over Aluka. we had a long hour and a half meeting during which he told us all about what jstor do, and how they provide access for free in Africa, and what they're doing with going about digitising collections (which is what I am doing with the Somalian stuff). It was really interesting, and I asked if he had any guidelines for what we're doing here and he said he'd look into it. I actually just received a phone call from him about it asking for my email address so he could send some things through, so that was great.
The evenings this week have been fairly quiet what with not having internet, we've all been doing a lot of reading. Apart from me and Patience. She's great, she's recommended and lent me a couple of books to read, which look really cool. And she's got a Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet book which I am eager to read when I finish the two I'm on at the moment. AND she likes a lot of the same TV as me (her and Darren have been watching Fringe but they're further ahead than me cos I stopped last year in favour of writing essays) so we've been watching a couple of episodes of Supernatural on her laptop every evening. It's great, and entertainment for the others too. Hannah & Dave were sat opposite us last night, and because we're using earphones (so glad I brought my splitter) they just see us jumping and squealing (mostly patience, honest, she's worse than me!) and so they get to laugh at us. Fun times.
So it seems that my itinerary for the rest of my time here is... Well, we're going up to Pokot on the 3rd, and before then dave & I have to organise everything that the trip will require, as well as organising what the two of us will need to take with us when we go on to Lake Baringo afterwards. Matt is going to drop us off at Eldorat on the 8th I think, and we'll make our own way to Baringo by matatu. Then we'll have until the 16th Dec to do everything we need to do and get back to Nairobi so that Dave has time to sort things out before he leaves on the 18th.We're also planning on leaving on the 18th (Sarah, Hannah & I) to begin making our way to Lamu for Christmas, although things haven't really been finalised yet. We have a plan but no-one else seems to be taking responsibility for booking it, although Hannah is going to be splitting off with her boyfriend when he arrives after Christmas and she's booked that. So when we got the internet back yesterday I emailed loads of places, although i had been planning on calling them but ran out of credit during the first call. So I did some internet research instead and just emailed every place with an email address to see if anyone will respond. I'm going to call Pole Pole Guest house in Lamu at lunch time to see if I can book that. But I'm a bit worried that it's all going to be very expensive, or that there will be nowhere to stay. I don't really want to end up stuck at the guest house in Nairobi, and if it's going to end up being really expensive I'll be wishing I'd booked to go to Malta instead!
After Christmas I will either be going to Pokot with Matt to carry on excavating a rock shelter there, and then going to Uganda for a couple of weeks just before I go home, or going to Uganda in Jan instead of Pokot. In a way I would like to go to Pokot, just so that I'm doing some actual excavations, but I would prefer to go to Uganda and help organise as I think I would find it so much more interesting. And I wouldn't have to work with someone I don't really want to work with.I haven't spoken to Matt since Rose & Jacqui left so I don't know what the plans are yet, but I'll go and see him later I suppose.
Anyway, I'm going to wrap up this update and then try and actually send it, which could be a mission. Then this afternoon if I'm not trying to organise anything else I'll try and do my brief write-up of Sudan.
So, this week, as well as digitising the notes from the Somalia excavations (I finished the negatives by the end of last week) we aslo had two ladies from the Ugandan Museum in Kampala visiting us. Rose & Jacqui. They were here to visit the Archaeology dept at the Nairobi Museum and learn how they organise their storage of artefacts, so that they can go back to Uganda and reorganise their stores. The BIEA is going to be providing them with a small grant to help, and they are also providing me! So I went with them and Matt on Monday to see the Director General and to organise going back to Archaeology the next day. So Tuesday I took them to the museum again and we had a brief lesson in how things in Archaeology dept work, then we had a very quick look around the museum itself, followed by a quick lunch as we had to meet someone from ethnography at 2pm. The lady from ethnography showed us around their storerooms which are currently in the middle of being reorganised. Then we went to see they man from Aluka, who is actually the man from Jstor now as they took over Aluka. we had a long hour and a half meeting during which he told us all about what jstor do, and how they provide access for free in Africa, and what they're doing with going about digitising collections (which is what I am doing with the Somalian stuff). It was really interesting, and I asked if he had any guidelines for what we're doing here and he said he'd look into it. I actually just received a phone call from him about it asking for my email address so he could send some things through, so that was great.
The evenings this week have been fairly quiet what with not having internet, we've all been doing a lot of reading. Apart from me and Patience. She's great, she's recommended and lent me a couple of books to read, which look really cool. And she's got a Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet book which I am eager to read when I finish the two I'm on at the moment. AND she likes a lot of the same TV as me (her and Darren have been watching Fringe but they're further ahead than me cos I stopped last year in favour of writing essays) so we've been watching a couple of episodes of Supernatural on her laptop every evening. It's great, and entertainment for the others too. Hannah & Dave were sat opposite us last night, and because we're using earphones (so glad I brought my splitter) they just see us jumping and squealing (mostly patience, honest, she's worse than me!) and so they get to laugh at us. Fun times.
So it seems that my itinerary for the rest of my time here is... Well, we're going up to Pokot on the 3rd, and before then dave & I have to organise everything that the trip will require, as well as organising what the two of us will need to take with us when we go on to Lake Baringo afterwards. Matt is going to drop us off at Eldorat on the 8th I think, and we'll make our own way to Baringo by matatu. Then we'll have until the 16th Dec to do everything we need to do and get back to Nairobi so that Dave has time to sort things out before he leaves on the 18th.We're also planning on leaving on the 18th (Sarah, Hannah & I) to begin making our way to Lamu for Christmas, although things haven't really been finalised yet. We have a plan but no-one else seems to be taking responsibility for booking it, although Hannah is going to be splitting off with her boyfriend when he arrives after Christmas and she's booked that. So when we got the internet back yesterday I emailed loads of places, although i had been planning on calling them but ran out of credit during the first call. So I did some internet research instead and just emailed every place with an email address to see if anyone will respond. I'm going to call Pole Pole Guest house in Lamu at lunch time to see if I can book that. But I'm a bit worried that it's all going to be very expensive, or that there will be nowhere to stay. I don't really want to end up stuck at the guest house in Nairobi, and if it's going to end up being really expensive I'll be wishing I'd booked to go to Malta instead!
After Christmas I will either be going to Pokot with Matt to carry on excavating a rock shelter there, and then going to Uganda for a couple of weeks just before I go home, or going to Uganda in Jan instead of Pokot. In a way I would like to go to Pokot, just so that I'm doing some actual excavations, but I would prefer to go to Uganda and help organise as I think I would find it so much more interesting. And I wouldn't have to work with someone I don't really want to work with.I haven't spoken to Matt since Rose & Jacqui left so I don't know what the plans are yet, but I'll go and see him later I suppose.
Anyway, I'm going to wrap up this update and then try and actually send it, which could be a mission. Then this afternoon if I'm not trying to organise anything else I'll try and do my brief write-up of Sudan.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Interesting article
This is an article by a Kenyan reporter about Juba which is interesting to read and can tell you a little bit about what it is like in Juba!
http://www.borglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=542:sudan-the-wild-wild-south-sudan&catid=37:opinions-articles&Itemid=103
http://www.borglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=542:sudan-the-wild-wild-south-sudan&catid=37:opinions-articles&Itemid=103
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Writeup of first day in Sudan
Sudan trip writeup
So it appears I may have time to write up my Sudan journal while I’m doing archiving as I get a couple of minutes inbetween each scan free. Ooh, well I might be able to get some done! The amusing bit it that I look at my first page where i’ve written brief notes to help me remember what I wanted to write about, and I can’t remember the stories behind them!
Monday 26th Oct
Dave & I met Matt outside the institute at 7am where we loaded all the luggage and equipment into the back of the landrover and then I braced myself at the back for the journey to the airport, picking up Matua and Kameo on the way. And then we arrived at Kenya airport, where myself and the other Uganda trip people spent many long hours waiting for flights to and from Uganda earlier on this year. This time I only had 15 minutes to spare to go and buy some water and find a cheap pair of sunglasses to take with me ($5 – bargain).
Getting off the plane in Juba was like stepping into a sauna. It was so unbelievably hot. We met Michael at the Airport, and perhaps I should let you know who people are before going any further. Matua and Kameo work at the BIEA. Matua, well, I’m not sure what his job here is really, I think he’s the general will fix anything man and loves engines, but he’s great and really good at spotting pottery while ‘field’ walking. Kameo is the GIS and general surveying enthusiast. Mike, who met us at the airport, is our contact with Smec who were doing the environmental impact assessment for a dam that the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) want to build. The likelihood of this construction ever taking place was looking very unlikely by the end of the trip, as Hakim (also with Smec) who used to be a member of the SPLA (http://www.splamilitary.net/) was told by an SPLA friend shortly before we left that he should start getting work stuff wrapped up as things are going to probably kick off quite soon.
Anyway, I digress. I think I’m going to have to keep this very brief unless something very exciting happened as it could get a bit long!
The arrival hall at Juba airport was very interesting. We scrambled to the front of a crowd around a desk to show passport, visa & vaccination card, write our name on a list (basically signing in to S.Sudan) and get our passports stamped. Then our luggage got chucked through a hole in the wall next to a desk where we had to open it up to let some guy stick his hand in and feel around...because obviously the bombs and guns would be at the top of the bag where he would find them straight away.
After the airport fun we drove to our hotel. There seems to be about one tarmac road in Juba, and the dirt road leading to the Oasis camp (hotel) was horrendous, but just a hint of the bad roads to come. Our rooms were $125 metal boxes. We were in prefab structures, divided into two by a thin wall to make two rooms they could charge $125 a night for. The larger ones were the whole box with no partition wall, and they were $180 or thereabouts. Crazy. We did have AC, a mosquito net, a tv, and a cold shower from which the water smelled like sulphur. Lurvely.
So in the afternoon it rained, and then we went for a drive to a supermarket, where we bought biscuits, sweets and squash, then drove to a more local shop where Matt bought two crates of the cheapest possible beer. Then back to the hotel where we relaxed for a while and then met up in the bar by the Nile. Some really nice views. Met with Michael who told us some stories. One about a Guinea worm which is a parasite that enters your body and grows into a worm. Apparently you get a blister which it comes out of, but you can’t pull it out as it’s grown to over a metre so you have to wind it round a pencil a little bit more every day until it comes out. Sounds like laugh riot.
He also told us something about him being arrested at some point, but I didn’t write the whole thing down so I can’t remember what happened. And about a driver involved in a fatal accident involving the SPLA, but I’ll talk about that more later. After dinner (included in room price!) we all went our separate ways to while away the rest of the evening in front of a tv. I watched so much National Geographic channel (it was that or sport).
So it appears I may have time to write up my Sudan journal while I’m doing archiving as I get a couple of minutes inbetween each scan free. Ooh, well I might be able to get some done! The amusing bit it that I look at my first page where i’ve written brief notes to help me remember what I wanted to write about, and I can’t remember the stories behind them!
Monday 26th Oct
Dave & I met Matt outside the institute at 7am where we loaded all the luggage and equipment into the back of the landrover and then I braced myself at the back for the journey to the airport, picking up Matua and Kameo on the way. And then we arrived at Kenya airport, where myself and the other Uganda trip people spent many long hours waiting for flights to and from Uganda earlier on this year. This time I only had 15 minutes to spare to go and buy some water and find a cheap pair of sunglasses to take with me ($5 – bargain).
Getting off the plane in Juba was like stepping into a sauna. It was so unbelievably hot. We met Michael at the Airport, and perhaps I should let you know who people are before going any further. Matua and Kameo work at the BIEA. Matua, well, I’m not sure what his job here is really, I think he’s the general will fix anything man and loves engines, but he’s great and really good at spotting pottery while ‘field’ walking. Kameo is the GIS and general surveying enthusiast. Mike, who met us at the airport, is our contact with Smec who were doing the environmental impact assessment for a dam that the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) want to build. The likelihood of this construction ever taking place was looking very unlikely by the end of the trip, as Hakim (also with Smec) who used to be a member of the SPLA (http://www.splamilitary.net/) was told by an SPLA friend shortly before we left that he should start getting work stuff wrapped up as things are going to probably kick off quite soon.
Anyway, I digress. I think I’m going to have to keep this very brief unless something very exciting happened as it could get a bit long!
The arrival hall at Juba airport was very interesting. We scrambled to the front of a crowd around a desk to show passport, visa & vaccination card, write our name on a list (basically signing in to S.Sudan) and get our passports stamped. Then our luggage got chucked through a hole in the wall next to a desk where we had to open it up to let some guy stick his hand in and feel around...because obviously the bombs and guns would be at the top of the bag where he would find them straight away.
After the airport fun we drove to our hotel. There seems to be about one tarmac road in Juba, and the dirt road leading to the Oasis camp (hotel) was horrendous, but just a hint of the bad roads to come. Our rooms were $125 metal boxes. We were in prefab structures, divided into two by a thin wall to make two rooms they could charge $125 a night for. The larger ones were the whole box with no partition wall, and they were $180 or thereabouts. Crazy. We did have AC, a mosquito net, a tv, and a cold shower from which the water smelled like sulphur. Lurvely.
So in the afternoon it rained, and then we went for a drive to a supermarket, where we bought biscuits, sweets and squash, then drove to a more local shop where Matt bought two crates of the cheapest possible beer. Then back to the hotel where we relaxed for a while and then met up in the bar by the Nile. Some really nice views. Met with Michael who told us some stories. One about a Guinea worm which is a parasite that enters your body and grows into a worm. Apparently you get a blister which it comes out of, but you can’t pull it out as it’s grown to over a metre so you have to wind it round a pencil a little bit more every day until it comes out. Sounds like laugh riot.
He also told us something about him being arrested at some point, but I didn’t write the whole thing down so I can’t remember what happened. And about a driver involved in a fatal accident involving the SPLA, but I’ll talk about that more later. After dinner (included in room price!) we all went our separate ways to while away the rest of the evening in front of a tv. I watched so much National Geographic channel (it was that or sport).
Monday, November 9, 2009
Photos!
Some pictures to illustrate where I am, and of the museum we visited on the bank holiday.
pictures from the plane on the way to Nairobi
living room in the guest house (it now has far more furniture since we came back from Sudan)
Sarah coming in the front door
The Institute building. I saved a bird from the the front glassed bit by the staircase!
The guest house - used to be the old BIEA building until they built the new one above.
Dave and Hannah admiring some information on rock art in the Nairobi Museum while resting their weary legs.
And about the best photos I took from the museum, of animals. Sorry they're not very exciting, so it portrays the museum well. :)
One of the many painted lions around Nairobi, they are everywhere but I only took photos of the ones at the museum as I don't like to have the camera on show out on the streets.
a lovely little mosaic garden with plants with little cards telling you what they can be used for...such as the one below...
Hopefully it's readable enough in this small pic!
The front of the museum
another painted lion at the main gate
The sign outside the museum.
pictures from the plane on the way to Nairobi
living room in the guest house (it now has far more furniture since we came back from Sudan)
Sarah coming in the front door
The Institute building. I saved a bird from the the front glassed bit by the staircase!
The guest house - used to be the old BIEA building until they built the new one above.
Dave and Hannah admiring some information on rock art in the Nairobi Museum while resting their weary legs.
And about the best photos I took from the museum, of animals. Sorry they're not very exciting, so it portrays the museum well. :)
One of the many painted lions around Nairobi, they are everywhere but I only took photos of the ones at the museum as I don't like to have the camera on show out on the streets.
a lovely little mosaic garden with plants with little cards telling you what they can be used for...such as the one below...
Hopefully it's readable enough in this small pic!
The front of the museum
another painted lion at the main gate
The sign outside the museum.
back from Sudan
Hello all,
I am back from South Sudan. Fantastic. I have many stories, of fires and landmines, car crashes and general tense situations, and of nice people and bathing in the Nile too. So I'll start trying to write a summarised version as it could take forever otherwise. For tonight though, I shall just try and upload some pictures to previous posts.... fingers crossed.
Since coming back I have mainly just chilled out, done all my washing, and got back into the swing of Nairobi. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant called Habesha's. It was really good fun, nice food, cheap (450ksh each, bargain!) and eating with your hands from a communal plate always gets the banter going. We had a slight incident on a matatu on the way there as we'd left it a bit late so it was actually dark by the time we had got there. There was this drunk guy and he was harassing us a bit, and then Leila (the new attachee) got her chest groped as she was sat behind him, and when Hannah and I were trying to get off he grabbed our hair and was holding onto it quite hard. A lesson to not take a matatu after 6pm really, and to not get too complacent. A couple of the others stayed out at the home pub down the road until about 1am on friday night and got harrassed on their way back by some guys who got out of a car with what was apparently the most massive gun, and so were a bit shaken up by that. And then Saturday night Hannah, Leila & James went to this carnival club thing, which had loads of different stages and was set to go on til morning, but then James has his fancy phone stolen and so after some stress they came back at about 2.30am. So yeah, many things to warn us to be much more careful. Taxi's everywhere after dark etc. Not that I would have done anything otherwise myself, but I'm obviously far more sensible than most (or overly cautious, whatever). :)
So with work today I had to write up some notes from the only proper site we found, and then Dave showed my what to do with the spreadsheet to archive this stuff from Somalia. So I created the new spreadsheet and then spent forever trying to make the scanner recognise negatives, which I did in the end, but only about 2.30pm so I only had 2 hours to get stuff done. I still managed to scan in 50 negs though, which I was quite pleased with, but I need to try and get more done as there are hundreds to do.
Anyway, now I shall try and upload some photos, and then Hannah, Sarah & I need to sort out what we're doing for Christmas. Mmm, Christmas in the sun.
xx
I am back from South Sudan. Fantastic. I have many stories, of fires and landmines, car crashes and general tense situations, and of nice people and bathing in the Nile too. So I'll start trying to write a summarised version as it could take forever otherwise. For tonight though, I shall just try and upload some pictures to previous posts.... fingers crossed.
Since coming back I have mainly just chilled out, done all my washing, and got back into the swing of Nairobi. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant called Habesha's. It was really good fun, nice food, cheap (450ksh each, bargain!) and eating with your hands from a communal plate always gets the banter going. We had a slight incident on a matatu on the way there as we'd left it a bit late so it was actually dark by the time we had got there. There was this drunk guy and he was harassing us a bit, and then Leila (the new attachee) got her chest groped as she was sat behind him, and when Hannah and I were trying to get off he grabbed our hair and was holding onto it quite hard. A lesson to not take a matatu after 6pm really, and to not get too complacent. A couple of the others stayed out at the home pub down the road until about 1am on friday night and got harrassed on their way back by some guys who got out of a car with what was apparently the most massive gun, and so were a bit shaken up by that. And then Saturday night Hannah, Leila & James went to this carnival club thing, which had loads of different stages and was set to go on til morning, but then James has his fancy phone stolen and so after some stress they came back at about 2.30am. So yeah, many things to warn us to be much more careful. Taxi's everywhere after dark etc. Not that I would have done anything otherwise myself, but I'm obviously far more sensible than most (or overly cautious, whatever). :)
So with work today I had to write up some notes from the only proper site we found, and then Dave showed my what to do with the spreadsheet to archive this stuff from Somalia. So I created the new spreadsheet and then spent forever trying to make the scanner recognise negatives, which I did in the end, but only about 2.30pm so I only had 2 hours to get stuff done. I still managed to scan in 50 negs though, which I was quite pleased with, but I need to try and get more done as there are hundreds to do.
Anyway, now I shall try and upload some photos, and then Hannah, Sarah & I need to sort out what we're doing for Christmas. Mmm, Christmas in the sun.
xx
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