Bad:
On my second day here, my phone fell out of my pocket on the road when I was getting on B's motorbike. We went back about 20 minutes later to look for it, but by that time it was long gone. I really liked that little Nokia :-(
Good:
I actually had an extra phone with me that I intended to give as a gift (for no one in particular). I also have another sim card that I use for internet, so now I am having to take my phone apart every time I get online until I can get to one of the telecom stores to get them to replace my sim. I will be able to get the same number back which is good, it's just a matter of getting to town to do it.
Also, my American friend sent a new Nokia (I hate the spare motorola!), brownies, and cheese with her daughter who came to Nyota on a field trip with her school!
Bad:
I've been getting ticks, which has never happened before. They are teeny tiny, like the size of this period. I also pulled a fat one off that had clearly escaped notice for a day or two (or more?).
Good:
I still had some permethrin from when I brought it in 2009, so I treated my field clothes. I think that will solve the problem.
Bad:
In less than a week I had poison tree rash on my hand and wrist. Even worse, I actually forgot- of all things- to bring more Ivy Block! I have some left from last time, but not 3 months worth.
Good:
American friend's sister-in-law is coming in a few weeks, and she told me to have some Ivy Block sent to her house and she'll bring it! So I'll have more in about a month. I'm also going to try something called Oral Ivy. I'm pretty skeptical but it was only $8...
Bad:
The electricity hasn't been very good. We've been out of power about 1/3 of the time I've been here so far, including a 48-hour and 24-hour outage. Those are the worst.
Good:
Is there an upside to not having electricity? I guess it could be worse, and I just try to do the things that don't require electricity like laundry and equipment prep and be extra-conservative with my laptop battery use. Oh! I guess I did get to try out the solar shower that I brought, which works wonderfully. It also reminds me how fortunate we are to have electricity. I try not to take it for granted.
Bad:
The internet is even slower than I remember it.
Good:
I do have internet, and it's so slow that I can easily go a whole month on less than 500 MB, which is only $2. Awesome.
Bad:
My favorite field pants are wearing out (new holes with every thorn I encounter), and I don't love my second pair.
Good:
There are lots of really cheap used clothes here (thanks to all of the developed countries sending them here and undermining the development of a local clothing industry), so I think with enough searching in town I should be able to find some suitable replacements.
2 comments:
the ticks are called pepper ticks (at least in my end of East Africa). They are horrible and will get into your socks, the bites itch like crazy. I try to keep an eye on my pants, cause you literally will hit a clump of hundreds or thousands and they will spread all over you. I'd never seen them my first couple of times, and they were bad the last year or so. A friend of mine would syran wrap her ankles/lower legs, said it helped. That and tucking your pants into your socks (but then the burrs would get me, and those were worse)
Yeah, I've heard them called pepper ticks here too. More than a week later, I still have the red marks where they were. Worst of all, I now have some poison tree rash on my legs from scratching them. I need to not. scratch. anything. ever.
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