Eldoret and return to Nairobi

Well, I don't really have that much time to update at the moment. Being back in Nairobi suddenly means I'm being invited out to places, and I'm trying to change my habit of saying no when invited out. Being here means I seem to be very busy without really having time to do very much, because people are always demanding of time.

I managed to write about half a sentence before having to go put my washing out and then it was time to go, at about 12. Now it is 6.40 and I've just got back. It was a nice day actually. Will maybe get to that later. But now we have no power, so I only have about 40 minutes to write as much as I can. Hmmm.

So, My last morning in Kapenguria consisted of breakfast at the "Royal Hotel" where there is nothing even remotely royal about it. I wanted to try and have coffee without quite so much milk, as usually they just serve you hot milk with a sachet of coffee, so I asked for black coffee with a little milk. Which he didn't understand. But we got there in the end. So then we walked back to the hotel and the others were going to be pot and bone washing while Matt and I went to the museum. (btw, has anyone else EVER had to wash bone before? I've always been told not to!) So he asked me to get them started cos we weren't going to go to the museum for half an hour, so I did, and we got all set up, eventually, despite Emmanuel disappearing and Chris behaving like a twit (Leila's words not mine, but very true) which I can't be arsed to go into because it was just so pathetic. The staff were most interested in what we were doing and pronounced it as something mzungu mzungu, which basically meant it was very very white person, or strange even for a white person, or something like that. Amused us at the time anyway.

So Matt and I went to the Museum, 10 minutes late cos he seemed incapable of being on time that day, to meet with Onjala (sp?) who is head of the area for NMK, and Phoebe who is in charge of Kapenguria Museum. So we had our little meeting, and it all went well, we discussed ideas for what needed doing, quotes for things, timescales and what I was going to do and what Phoebe was going to do. Then we had a walk around the museum and we suggested a few things and talked about ideas. Then back to the office to talk about the relaunch event, which I am not going to be there for. *sniff sniff* It's going to be at the beginning of April, and I'm going back in March. So it's kind of sad that there was still stuff I could be doing and yet I didn't feel I could extend my stay for any longer, and now I sort of wish I were going to be here longer. Actually, even without anything else, with even the slimmest possibility of me getting funding for the MA, if I were to get an interview it would be in the first few weeks of March so I should really be around just in case. Also I do really miss home now, and I am looking forward to being back, but for the ability to stay longer missing home is a sacrifice I could make.
Anyway, back to the museum. We discussed the relaunch, and then were leaving at about 12.45 and Onjala asked if we wanted to go to lunch, which Matt agreed on but he would have to bring the rest of the team along as well. So we went back to the hotel, but because of how long it was going to take me to get to Eldoret and how little time I would have with Sarah as it was I left almost straight away. I packed up the last of my things and put my back in Leila's room for her to pack, and went to ask Grace if I could buy the popples pillowcase from the hotel (have I mentioned the Popples pillowcase? In the room I was moved to it was on the pillow! I got very excited and had to show Leila, who had obviously never heard of popples being 5 years younger than me). She wouldn't take anything for it though, so yay! I have a popples pillowcase! If I had had more time I would have asked if she knew about the rest of the bedding, if there were a duvet cover or anything. But the thought of trying to explain 'duvet' to someone who might not have ever seen one in that part of the country, put me off slightly, I just didn't have the time!

So I finally got on a matatu bound for Kitale where I would change at about 1.30, and it was leaving imminently so that was very good. Got to Kitale in about 45 minutes and the a matatu for eldoret was right next to me, so I got on there, although it was practically empty so I had to wait 15 mins for it to leave. The journey was really short though, it only took about an hour and a half so I was with Sarah before too long. And i got to meet the legendary Fawouse (sp? again!) who is her contact who gets her interviews, and translates and stuff. He's VERY charming, I can tell why Sarah gets her little giggle on when she's talking to him on the phone. So he was telling me stories about himself for a little while, staring intensely into my eyes (he does have quite nice eyes) all the time. Crazy guy but apparently he calms down once he knows you and I can tell he's actually quite nice, even with his scary past (I won't go into it now, but Sarah is doing research into the post election violence).

So then Sarah and I wandered off in search of somewhere to stay. We asked in the White Castle Motel but it was 3000ksh for a double room which was a bit too much, and it was on the main road so would probably be noisy. So we walked to find the White Highlands Inn, which was much more reasonable at 2000ksh, and seemed quieter as it was on a quieter street out of the centre. It was a nice room actually, seemed like luxury. Well, it only had the one damp patch on the ceiling and the bathroom actually had a bath in it, this equals luxury.
< right, I'm back for a third burst. The power is back on and I have both cooked and eaten dinner, I even cooked for both myself and James, and it wasn't too bad. The problem with trying to cook British things here is that I can never get the right ingredients to make it taste nice. anyway...>
So after finding our hotel, unpacking our few clothes and having a quick look in the guidebook, we decided on a Plan Of Action. This involved going into town and going to Nakumat to buy wine and junk food, which we did. We also had to buy a corkscrew as we had no other means of opening the wine. Then we went down the road a bit further and found Will's Pub and Restaurant, which the Lonely Planet guide had billed as being like being in an English pub. It wasn't. The upstairs was slightly cosier, with wooden tables, but that was full so we had to go downstairs (where Nyama Choma - roast meat - was available!) with plastic tables and a big sign for a disco around the corner in bright lights. We had steak, which we were unsure about what it was going to be like, or even if we were going to get the right food as the waiter didn't seem to understand a word of english, even english pointing. But we were pleasantly surprised when the food arrived. Mine was a bit chewy but tasted amazing. And I ordered it with mash because the menu said I could have it, but the waiter came back and told me there was no mash. There were roast potatoes though, although why they can have potatoes but not be able to do mash I don't know.
Anyway, we ate, and chatted, and then ate some more (we had ordered chips on the side and the roasties were huge and many so I ate a LOT of potato) then went back to the hotel. We caught a taxi as we weren't sure if it was safe to walk around or not after dark, and it only cost 150ksh so it was ok. Then back in the hotel room we went down to reception and had to ask for an extra towel and an extra glass. They were most confused. Strange mzungu. So we chatted and drank, and ate our chocolate and chocolate hobnobs (amazing) with snippets of tuning in to the rubbish tv that was on the one channel that our tv could pick up. Some strange soap slash crime drama thing with a few people, including two british guys, who looked so familiar and we cursed not being able to imdb them. All in all we had a very good evening and didn't get to sleep until 1am, which was actually a good thing as there was a very rowdy crowd outside making loads of noise until not long before then anyway.

I texted Matt at about 11pm asking him to let me know when they were leaving the next morning and if they could pick me up from the police station as it was closer, and we'd already agreed that I would be at the meeting place for 9.30. I didn't hear back from him in the morning, and so we got up at 8am ready to shower and go down for (included) breakfast. We had a couple of issues as the shower didn't work so we had to have a couple of quick warm baths instead, and quick doesn't really work with running a bath. So it was about 8.40 by the time we got down for breakfast, and I still hadn't heard from Matt. So we ordered and were sat chatting, and then Sarah rang Fawouse to see when their interview was, and while she was on the phone Matt rang me. At about 8.50. To tell me they were going to be there in 15 minutes as the drive had been quicker than expected and could I be there for then. I said we'd just ordered breakfast but that I would try and he moaned something about wanting to get back on the road as fast as possible to get back early. Twit. If he'd texted me when he left like I asked him to then I would have been ready already! Grrrrr. The whole reason I asked him to was because it had even been quicker than expected for the matatu so I wanted to know how much time I had. Gah, men are annoying. Anyway, we decided not to wait for breakfast and got up to leave, just as breakfast arrived. So we wolfed down our egg and sausage, leaving the tea and coffee *sniff* and then legged it back upstairs to grab bags and run. By the time we got there I was about 5 minutes late and Matt had been around the block once, but 5 mins is nothing really so never mind. Said goodbye to Sarah (*more sniffs*) and the got in the landrover for the long drive back to Nairobi. Luckily in the front though. The back was rammed full of stuff, but as Chris was the only other person travelling with us he offered the front to me.

Anyway, gonna go make a quick phone call if tinternet allows, and be back to finish Saturday later.