Saturday, June 13, 2009

Make hay while the sun shines

Nyota was without power for two and a half days. It just came back on
tonight. Unfortunately, my phone was low when the power went out.
Things like this remind me that I need to "make hay while the sun
shines"- I need to be sure that I always have enough batteries charged
and charge things when I can instead of waiting until later- because
there might not be power later! Or water. When the power is out, so is
the water to the field station. However, the field station does have a
generator that runs occasionally. It doesn't power my room but powers
more essential things like the water pump. I was able to charge my
computer and phone for a while yesterday evening, and also filled a
bucket of water in my room. That got me through, but I'm glad the
power is back on. I'm charging everything I can while I can.

In other news:
-Jon arrives on Tuesday! I can't wait.
-He's bringing tons of stuff for me. He was even able to get all of
the insane things on my list, including a set of crochet hooks, at the
last minute. He's the best.
-I made some big mistakes with my field assistants, Sam, and my
Ukenzagapian advisor. I started to write a whole blog post about it
before the power went out but now I'm not sure I'll finish it. I hope
I was able to smooth things over with everyone. Eek.
-I'm moving in with the other American (Rena) tomorrow. After looking
at the other houses for rent I think my best option is to live with
Rena and bargain with the house managers to make improvements to her
house. I think showing them my rash helped convince them that I need a
shower. Rena and I are going to make a list tomorrow of what they
should fix. I'm pretty sure that we can get most of the 'cons' off of
the list.
-I lost my (only) compass in the field yesterday and spent an hour and
a half searching for it in vain with my field assistants. Argh. Just
when we were finally starting to collect data it began to rain. I was
totally soaked on top. I need a new rain jacket. This one isn't coming
home with me.
-I'm taking Benadryl now for my poison tree rash. I've decided to call
it poison tree. After repeatedly mis-identifying a vine for poison
tree seedlings, I suspect that it is another plant in the same family.
Something else to avoid. The Benadryl seems to be keeping my rash
under control, but I'm still getting new spots. Most disconcerting is
the appearance of spots in places that did NOT directly touch it,
which means I'm transferring it myself to other places when I'm
changing clothes or something. My arm looks pretty gross. If I don't
have my arm covered people ask me about it right away.
-Nyota is so beautiful. I wonder what this place will be like in 100
years?

3 comments:

Fia said...

I don't know whether you have enough power to reveice comments, but did you consider that your rash is not an allergy but something else? Get better, soon!
But enjoy your field season! I always get a bit jealous when I read your stories, reminding me of my time in Africa... *sigh* One day in the future, maybe, when the kids are older, I'll go again..

Paulina said...

do tell about the mistakes with field assistants. that sounds like fun...

Karina said...

Fia, I'm now even more sure my rash is plant-related. The spots on my arm have clearly developed in a scratch-like pattern. I also know that I repeatedly encounter this mango-like plant because I'm bushwhacking all day.

My original sores are healing but now some new ones are breaking out. It's hard not to scratch!