My blog - May 2003
Paradise
May 27th 2003, 9:36am
This is a duka on Elgon Road, near where I live. In case you can't read the sign, it's called the Fruits and Vegetable Paradise.
I also have some new photos which I have just had developed and scanned. You can see them on the photos page.
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Water!
May 26th 2003, 12:14pm
Good news - the water has returned. We got a bit on Sunday morning and some more today. It's still going to take a while for the tank to refill though.
Also on Sunday I finally got my Line 6 Delay Modeller back from the States where it was being fixed. (I got it for Christmas but it was dead on arrival so I had to send it back.) It's our band's turn at church for the next month, so I look forward to trying it out there! I wonder if I can find a song to use the reverse effect in...
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Dry County
May 20th 2003, 10:29am
We still don't have water, although officials are promising it will be back today. Actually, here at the office we still have water, but there's no water back home, except in the rapidly emptying tank. Stewart is saying that if we don't get water in today he'll get a tanker to come and bring a thousand gallons.
At work someone was saying that she'll have to stand in her tank to get water out because the level is so low. Someone else suggested that she might wash her feet before standing in it, but she said that she'd rather wash her feet when she gets out, because of the layer of mud on the bottom of the tank.
The place where the water is coming from is something like 200km away. I wonder how long it will take for the water to get through from there? And I wonder what colour it'll be when it arrives!
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Comment posted by James Ots at 10:29am on May 20th 2003
And as soon as I post the message I get a phone call saying the water's back on. Woohoo!
Comment posted by Maret at 10:29am on May 20th 2003
I am glad the water came back on because foot washing water does not sound too tasty!!!
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Mombasa Raha
May 12th 2003, 7:04am
I took this picture while driving home from work on Friday. There's actually a large drainage ditch on the left of the road, but there's so much water it's not possible to see where it is - I just had to make sure I drove far enough to the right to avoid falling into it.
That evening we got on a bus while it was still raining, and spent the next six hours bouncing our way over potholes all the way to Mombasa. We arrived at about half past five the following morning and immeditely went to bed.
A couple of hours later I got up and looked out of the window and disovered we had a great view of the Indian Ocean, which was only a couple of hundred metres from the window. The temperature was in the mid thirties, it was very humid and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was hard to believe we were in the same country!
We did spend quite a bit of time in meetings since it was a conference, but we also had plenty of free time, which was spent on the beach, in the pools, and on Saturday afternoon, in Mombasa (the hotel was just outside Mombasa).
I only got home this evening so I'm pretty tired, so that's all I can write just now. When I get my real photos developed I'll put them on here too if there are any good ones - I think I good some nices ones in the Old Town, and I might have some that are okay from Fort Jesus too.
(I wrote this last night, but I don't have internet at home so I'm posting it the following morning.)
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Comment posted by Matt Ots at 7:04am on May 12th 2003
What does 'Raha' mean?
Comment posted by Maret at 7:04am on May 12th 2003
Doesn`t Matt know that it means money??
What a brother you have!!!
Comment posted by James Ots at 7:04am on May 12th 2003
It means 'fun'.
Comment posted by katie at 7:04am on May 12th 2003
Actually it means "joy", "happiness", "rest", "peace".
You could use it in the sense of "we enjoyed ourselves" ("tuliona raha") but you are more likely to use "kucheza" for "to have fun".
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The Weather Forecast
May 8th 2003, 12:13pm
I wasn't really looking forward to this coming weekend in Mombasa. After all, work conferences aren't always the most interesting things in the world, even if they are held at a nice hotel at the coast. But after the weather this afternoon I'm actually quite looking forward to it. The pictures show a storm arriving at the office which is still going on right now.
I also checked out the weather forecast on the BBC's website, and it says sunny, minimum 23, maximum 34. The 'current' observation for midnight last night says it was 24 degrees and 92% humidity. It doesn't sound so bad after all. So long as we get a bit of beach time.
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Comment posted by James Ots at 12:13pm on May 8th 2003
Well, this is fun - the road outside the office now looks more like a river. Some of the fields around here are looking like rice fields. I'm now hoping that it doesn't get too flooded to go to Mombasa.
Comment posted by maret at 12:13pm on May 8th 2003
Our deputy head from school is in Kenya for a conference,hope she is not flooded out.
Comment posted by Seamus at 12:13pm on May 8th 2003
Hi James!
We miss you here!
We had a great w/e away I wish you could have been there!
Love Shay
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Water Water Everywhere...
May 6th 2003, 10:20am
...but not a drop to drink.
On Saturday flooding caused a dam to burst which supplies the water treatment plant for Nairobi. They were estimating that it would take about a fortnight to repair, leaving most of Nairobi without water for that time. Fortunately I have two large water tanks at my flat and I think I can last that long.
Today however, officials are saying that we should have up to 70% of our water supply back already. Although even when the water supply is supposedly working I often don't get any water in the kitchen tap, which is the only tap in the house not fed by the tanks.
Interestingly, there was a programme on the BBC World Service yesterday about water supplies in Kibera - the main slum in Nairobi, which even in the best of times doesn't have a great water supply. For the next couple of weeks they'll be getting water delivered in tankers.
The rains are due to ease in Nairobi, but in the west of Kenya they're not expecting any let up in the rain just yet, where already a million people have been made homeless by the floods.
This weekend I'll get away from the rain, as I go off to Mombasa for a conference where the temperature is in the mid 30s and they have 90% humidity.
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Update
May 3rd 2003, 7:10am
Here's a little update on various things...
On Friday night I went to see 'The Core' at the cinema. It was an enjoyable film to watch, even though I doubt the critics would approve. And Mark Simpson certainly wouldn't - there are far too many holes to be picked in the physics. Afterwards we went to Trattoria for a pizza, which I think was the best pizza I've ever had.
This weekend I have nothing to do again. I can't even go driving because I have no driving licence, as my temporary one has expired again. I took it into Regional Business Services yesterday afternoon to get them to take it to be renewed, and just now I received an email they'd sent yesterday morning saying that my real licence has finally arrived. The only problem is that RBS are closed on weekends, so I have to wait until Monday to be able to collect it. Even though I'm currently in the room directly above where it is.
While I sit here with nothing to do, most of my friends at home will be going off to Shropshire for the church weekend away. This is the first time I've missed it for quite a few years now. Last year was the first time I missed WEC camp too, but this year they've asked me to come even though I can't afford it, so that's one thing I'll be doing when I go home.
I have various other plans, but I'm not certain about many of them yet, so you'll have to wait and see what I do when I get back, as will I.
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Comment posted by Catherine at 7:10am on May 3rd 2003
The CWA was its normal self - there's always next year!
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Camel
May 1st 2003, 12:43pm
I was just driving past the end of my road when I saw this camel, so I stopped to take a photo. Unfortunately I chopped off the top of the guy sitting on the camel, but he wasn't the main subject of the picture anyway. I've only ever seen camels out on Langata Road before, never this far into town.
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Comment posted by Maret at 12:43pm on May 1st 2003
Hope you did not promise him a picture!!!!
Comment posted by Michael Ots at 12:43pm on May 1st 2003
I know that you he wasnt the main thig in the picture, but it chopping his head off was a pretty sever reaction!
Comment posted by Michael Ots at 12:43pm on May 1st 2003
Oops, with that many typos in one sentance you'll be chopping my head off!
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Comment posted by Maret at 9:36am on May 27th 2003
If that is paradise I would hate to see hell!!!!!
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