Directed Research Paper Write-up

Well for the past week I have been working hard on my research paper write up, so any other typing that I have to do it painful, so sorry for the lack of blog posts. I sit at my computer for 10 hours of my life but my five friends and I have taken over the study banda so its just us hanging out all the time which makes it a little better.
Out of boredom we have also discovered One Direction, and they have given us a lot of enjoyment over the past few days. I think everyone else is confused when we play their music videos in the Chumba and try to dance and song along.
Our papers are due on Monday so we are almost there and then we have community day on wednesday and we are going to Amboseli on Thursday. My time here is winding down quickly and I am excited to come home but not wanting to leave here all at the same time. I really like the people I have met and we have big plans to get together in the fall so that makes things a little better.
The thought of coming back to busy America is slightly overwhelming and it will be kind of hard to get used to it I think since everyday for the past 3 months has been planned out for me and I have been driven around, not positive I will be able to drive a car when I get home but that will be a whole different bridge to cross.
Even with the wet season upon us the weather has still been great and I don't want to go back to chilly Indiana, I could live in African weather forever. I have procrastinated my paper long enough, back to writing!

Directed Research Sickness

Well a little bug has taken over camp and has been causing people to miss field work for directed research, myself included. Yesterday I woke up in the middle of the night and felt awful so I took the day off and to lay in bed and watch Grey’s Anatomy all day. I also drank about three rehydration things, and I woke up this morning and felt fine. Two other girls also stayed back and they were feeling fine this morning also. We aren’t sure what is causing it but it was pretty quick and painless. 

Today we went out in the field, but it rained for ever last night and the land cruisers on mud is like a mustang on ice, we were fish tailing ever where. Then we got stuck in the mud, two tires were totally submerged, so we got out to push but we weren’t getting any where. Then we noticed that the other car with the guides and the guards was also stuck so we went to help them. After about 45 minutes we got the first car out and went back to ours. We waited another 30 minutes and it wasn’t moving so we went to start our transects. We walked about 10 miles in grasses that were about up to my hip the entire way and i was caked in mud by the time we got back to our car, that was still stuck. They called in some other people from camp to help and 7 hours after the car got stuck it was pulled out. My hiking boots are fully broken in now and are no where near the color they were when I brought them here, but I guess thats Africa! 

I am still having a great time, but I am getting ready to come home. I need freedom again, which I don’t get here. I don’t want to leave the country at all but I’m ready for the program to be over. I fully plan on coming back to Africa at some point. I also have a new favorite bug which is the dung beetle. They roll the poop into a ball and then take it to their hole by rolling it with their hind legs. They are the coolest bugs, even if they are huge. 

Tomorrow we are going to a lodge and having the buffet with a pool so I’m pretty excited about that. Last non program day we planted about 100 trees and then my five friends and I went to Club K to have a couple beers and separate ourselves from the 22 other people we spend all of our time with, big groups are just a little too overwhelming. Also at the bar, there were chickens running around. 

Directed Research Fieldwork

We have officially started fieldwork for directed research. For my research I am with Claire, Beth, an armed guard, and a local guide and we walk through wildlife sanctuaries all day and count animals. We also look at habitat. The goal is to get as close as we can to animals that are on our transect. We have seen zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, gazelle, and impala and they have gotten within 50 meters of us. The worst part is carrying our backpacks because they make us sweat so much. Today we walked about 15 kilometers, so nearly 10 miles. Needless to say I did not go for a run today, instead I came home, showered, and watched Aladdin. Even though its tiring, its amazing that we are able to walk through the sanctuary among all the animals without anything in between us.

Tomorrow we are going out to follow Thompson’s Gazelles for 9 hours, so its going to be a very very long day. I am finally slightly burnt on the back of my neck, now I’m just hoping for a good tan. Today I went to eat my lunch of a sandwich, banana, passion fruit, fried dough, and cucumber slices to realize that ants had joined the party. So all i could eat was the sandwich, I guess this is like in the African bush as a researcher, tomorrow I’m hoping for a lunch minus ants. I am having a great time in the field and its really nice to only have to see two people for a whole day and to get out of the box. The coolest thing we saw today was a snake that had been run over, and its venom was all over its body and it was black. I’m slightly obsessed with Africa, and I will be home in about 25 days, its so hard to believe!

One More Month

We had our first non-program day in Kenya, and it was awesome. We took a short hike to a beautiful water fall in the morning. Then we went to An HIV/AIDS clinic and talked to some women who run support groups for local people and they all told us their stories and showed up beading that they make to raise money. So I obviously bought even more jewelry. Then we went shopping in town, but it was so hot we mostly sat and hung out to watch the local people. We were offered a ride to anywhere we wanted to go many times, but we turned them all down. I enjoy being left free in towns, it gives a little sense of more freedom since we don’t get very much of it. After shopping we went to Club K. Which sounds like a club kids go to on a cruise ship. But we sat at tables and had some beers. Our table had a personal bartender and every time we finished a beer the lady opened another one and had it ready for us. At one point they brought out a bucket of water and soap so we could wash our hands. Then they brought us our free chapati, I guess thats like free hot dogs at Jakes? Later that night we watched Grey’s Anatomy, so all in all it was a great day.

We received our directed research topics, and I didn’t get the one that I really wanted but I got my second pick. We are working with the water systems and I think I am going to focus on public health and look at how the water affects the health of the people who drink it by comparing the people upstream with the people down stream. For Easter we did an Easter egg hunt and it was a lot of fun so have some kind of festivity. We start all of our fieldwork on Wednesday and according to the professors we are going to be dead after, so it sounds like its going to be an intense 8 days in the field. I’m hoping to be able to go to the clinic and check out the records that they have. 

One thing that I forgot to mention from my last blog is when we went to Amboseli we were driving and we saw that the Soccer World Cup of Europe was in the middle of the grassland. Our professor and one of the drivers got out of the car and starting running toward it. Then they turned around and they were like come on! So about half of us got to get out of the cars, in the middle of the Amboseli, and take pictures with the Europe World Cup. It was pretty awesome. There was a guy who just kept telling us not to touch it. My life here is so random I’m not going to be able to get back to normal life.

We woke up this morning to a beautiful view of Kili and there was a ton of snow on it. I am going to be pretty upset when I don’t get to see that every morning.

I think its officially rainy season, its been raining about every other day, but today its really nice out. But with the rain comes the bugs, so there have been a lot of them. The other night I went to go to the bathroom and I found Natalie standing outside of them because there were 4 or 5 bats in them. So we spent the next 5 minutes trying to get them out but it wasn’t working, so we just had to move fast. Last night for RAP Emma did superlatives. Everyone got one, so I am officially “Most likely to face plant during a traveling lecture” I think it fits me pretty well, at least I am keeping my reputation in Africa.

Better Late Than Never

Finally I have time to breathe and fill everyone in on what I have been doing for the past week. We did our homestay last Saturday with a Maasai family. I have a whole new respect for the women of the Maasai culture, they are amazing. When Emma and I arrived at our Boma we met our Mama and had some tea. Then we had to go retrieve water from the stream. This is done by taking a can that probably has 4 gallons in it and carrying it about a quarter of a mile. You fill it in the stream and then using a strap, you strap it to your head. Yes, there are pictures of my struggle to do this. But once you get the strap on a good place on your head its not that bad, but it was really tiring. Then we made lunch, which is done in a smoke filled room. We ate ugali and cabbage, which isn’t the greatest meal, but it was ok for one day. Our next activity was going to get firewood. Our Mama was using the machete to cut down branches, and then we strapped that to our head, which was a lot easier. It was a really great day and the Maasai culture is really amazing.

We had a field exercise where they sent us out and we walked about 1 Km into the nothing to look at grasses, nothing like a morning spent in the African bush, which we have done twice now. We also saw a dried up zebra placenta and plenty of tracks of zebra, giraffe, and elephants. Class here is amazing, but I am glad its over.

Monday we went to Amboseli National Park, and we learned that time management is not a thing in Africa, which is slightly painful. We did a lot of sitting around but we had an amazing day. There is a swamp area in the park where the elephants would get in and all you could see were their heads. I think it is one of my favorite things I have seen here so far. Kili was covered by clouds all day but it came out just in time for us to see an elephant parade with Kili in the background, it was beautiful.

In order to keep sane I have been running, and I have made it up to 3 miles! I’m slightly amazed with my self and I would love to make it up to 5 by the time I leave, so I have a month to accomplish this.

This week we had 3 papers due and our final was today. So I am officially done with classes and we just have our directed research left, and I am really excited about it! We find out which topic we get on Sunday so I am slightly nervous about finding that out.

I have found two new fruits which I really like, which are mangos and passion fruit, but it depresses me that these probably wont be any good when I get home. Well it’s movie time since we don’t have any work to do!

Busy Busy Busy

Currently I am too busy to do anything but write papers and study. We have done so many things since we got home from Lake Nakuru like going to home stays and Amboseli. But unfortunately I have three papers due before friday, and we have finals on friday. So I'm sorry for not responding to e-mails or updating about my life, but I will do all these things Friday or Saturday. I thought this was easier then responding to everyones e-mails separately. So I am alive for those of you who are worried!