once we're all ready, we line up outside the 'party room' and all of a sudden the door bursts opens and the girls are there firing cans of silly string at us. from then on, mayhem..
Saturday, August 6, 2011
toga night
as most of our group is leaving so soon we decide to make our last weekend memorable.. friday afternoon, the four girls re-arrange dorm 3 into a 'party room', effectively pushing all the furniture to one side, making a mattress floor-bed, blowing up balloons and hanging up the mosquito nets as decoration. someone suggests a toga party and everyone eagerly agrees, tying up our colorful, flowery bed-sheets into makeshift robes. we all look ridiculously hilarious.
once we're all ready, we line up outside the 'party room' and all of a sudden the door bursts opens and the girls are there firing cans of silly string at us. from then on, mayhem..
once we're all ready, we line up outside the 'party room' and all of a sudden the door bursts opens and the girls are there firing cans of silly string at us. from then on, mayhem..
bricking/plastering week
[note: it's currently 1st august and i haven't written in over a week.. the 2-monthers have now left and i decided to spend as much time as i could with them, thus not putting aside time at night to blog.. immersing myself in camp life during their last week seemed more important, so sorry if the recounts are a little rushed.. i'll only write the essentials..]
i've been a bit slack with my photos so i unfortunately haven't got many progress shots (these are george's snaps) but most of tuesday was spent mixing concrete to fill in the few gaps left in the floor and transporting bricks from camp to the toilet site.
the girls have for some reason decided to celebrate campbell's birthday today as her birthday is in one month exactly.. very logical, i know.. regardless we head out to full moon for some dancing (: unfortunately one of the girls who has POTS (dad, help?) has a fit and is rushed away in an ambulance.. a bit of an intense night trying to calm the girls down, watching someone having a seizure isn't pleasant..
~
wednesday comes and i'm a little bored of brick transportation so i head over to the nursery where another group is plastering the outside of the building. this pretty much entails mixing up watery cement, slapping it against the walls and flattening it with a trowel. you then use a paintbrush dipped in water to brush the cement and smooth the surface over. yaya, the camp helper, is an expert and seems to find it amusing i haven't quite mastered the trowel 'flick' and thus turn to using my hands for parts of it.
whilst we work, a group of kids come out and decide to 'help' by pushing our wheelbarrow away and stealing our paintbrushes. it's hard to stay stern when their faces are so cute and cheeky.. (:
~
thursday is a little different.. it's a pretty full-on day for sam and so him, olly and i take the day off for a meal at leonardo's. the motorbike ride there is loads of fun and the pasta lunch is amazing (: once evening comes, olly decides to return to camp and sam and i move onwards to forty thieves where we stay til dinner and return to muhaka in the evening.
upon our return we're told of a rather unpleasant event that occurred that afternoon - whilst one group was plastering, a little girl started screaming and crying nearby and they went to investigate. turns out she had stubbed her toe really badly and over time the area had become so badly affected by jiggers (little bugs that burrow into your flesh) it had practically fallen off.. she was literally just standing there crying, her toe attached to her foot only by a small hunk of bloody flesh. yaya had to gouge out the jiggers with a sharp stick whilst miranda raced to get her first aid kit to bandage the girl's toe. a lot of the girls were traumatised by the event and thus decided to buy the kids some shoes, which i personally think was a rather positive outcome to a dire situation.. it's just crazy to think that a small injury like a child's stubbed toe would never have such severe repercussions back home..
~
friday i'm back at the pit where the others have already begun bricking the toilet block walls. the nearby pump is still dried up so the boys walk back to the school to fill up our jerry-cans with water.. it's incredible to watch the local mamas in multicolored sarongs rhythmically working the pump, often with babies tied to their backs, and leaving with 30L buckets of water balanced on their heads!!
after the concrete is mixed, building continues. we use a simple piece of string as a guide to keep the walls straight and try to find the best fitting bricks for each slot, caking everything in cement as we go. (once again, i fail at the trowel 'flick' and use my hands to cram cement into the holes). the structure is quite different to what i'd imagined but it seems to be working.. it's pretty funny to see my bricks appearing whilst we work - wedging caroline into a wall space and slopping cement all over twix is a lot more amusing than using plain bricks!!
back at camp, the water situation isn't great and even the toilet flushes are malfunctioning.. the entire community is in a drought. only the taps seem to be working so we fill up our water bottles, tip them into buckets and have bucket showers once more. it's funny that when i first arrived in kenya i missed hot showers and now i'm fantasizing over the weak, cold showers functioning again!!
i've been a bit slack with my photos so i unfortunately haven't got many progress shots (these are george's snaps) but most of tuesday was spent mixing concrete to fill in the few gaps left in the floor and transporting bricks from camp to the toilet site.
the girls have for some reason decided to celebrate campbell's birthday today as her birthday is in one month exactly.. very logical, i know.. regardless we head out to full moon for some dancing (: unfortunately one of the girls who has POTS (dad, help?) has a fit and is rushed away in an ambulance.. a bit of an intense night trying to calm the girls down, watching someone having a seizure isn't pleasant..
~
wednesday comes and i'm a little bored of brick transportation so i head over to the nursery where another group is plastering the outside of the building. this pretty much entails mixing up watery cement, slapping it against the walls and flattening it with a trowel. you then use a paintbrush dipped in water to brush the cement and smooth the surface over. yaya, the camp helper, is an expert and seems to find it amusing i haven't quite mastered the trowel 'flick' and thus turn to using my hands for parts of it.
whilst we work, a group of kids come out and decide to 'help' by pushing our wheelbarrow away and stealing our paintbrushes. it's hard to stay stern when their faces are so cute and cheeky.. (:
~
thursday is a little different.. it's a pretty full-on day for sam and so him, olly and i take the day off for a meal at leonardo's. the motorbike ride there is loads of fun and the pasta lunch is amazing (: once evening comes, olly decides to return to camp and sam and i move onwards to forty thieves where we stay til dinner and return to muhaka in the evening.
upon our return we're told of a rather unpleasant event that occurred that afternoon - whilst one group was plastering, a little girl started screaming and crying nearby and they went to investigate. turns out she had stubbed her toe really badly and over time the area had become so badly affected by jiggers (little bugs that burrow into your flesh) it had practically fallen off.. she was literally just standing there crying, her toe attached to her foot only by a small hunk of bloody flesh. yaya had to gouge out the jiggers with a sharp stick whilst miranda raced to get her first aid kit to bandage the girl's toe. a lot of the girls were traumatised by the event and thus decided to buy the kids some shoes, which i personally think was a rather positive outcome to a dire situation.. it's just crazy to think that a small injury like a child's stubbed toe would never have such severe repercussions back home..
~
friday i'm back at the pit where the others have already begun bricking the toilet block walls. the nearby pump is still dried up so the boys walk back to the school to fill up our jerry-cans with water.. it's incredible to watch the local mamas in multicolored sarongs rhythmically working the pump, often with babies tied to their backs, and leaving with 30L buckets of water balanced on their heads!!
after the concrete is mixed, building continues. we use a simple piece of string as a guide to keep the walls straight and try to find the best fitting bricks for each slot, caking everything in cement as we go. (once again, i fail at the trowel 'flick' and use my hands to cram cement into the holes). the structure is quite different to what i'd imagined but it seems to be working.. it's pretty funny to see my bricks appearing whilst we work - wedging caroline into a wall space and slopping cement all over twix is a lot more amusing than using plain bricks!!
back at camp, the water situation isn't great and even the toilet flushes are malfunctioning.. the entire community is in a drought. only the taps seem to be working so we fill up our water bottles, tip them into buckets and have bucket showers once more. it's funny that when i first arrived in kenya i missed hot showers and now i'm fantasizing over the weak, cold showers functioning again!!
concreting toilet floor
monday morning and back to work in muhaka (: during our absence, the 1-monthers (who left this morning for the elephant sanctuary) finished bricking up the sides of the pit toilet so our group's task is to get started on the floor and concrete base. to be honest i'm rather pleased we don't have to venture back down the sweaty pit with nipple man (;
our first task is to hack away at the brick structure with machetes to make holes for the planks of wood that are to form the base. i once again am a little over-enthusiastic with a machete in hand and enjoy myself thoroughly pulverizing brick and cement, loose bits of stone flying everywhere.. by the end of it though i'd unfortunately torn a hole in my finger due to the machete handle slipping off and my bare skin repeatedly rubbing against the metal.. not pretty.
we slot the wooden planks into place and, using the cement another group had prepared nearby, start to concrete them into place. we then start sawing steel bars into similar lengths and lay them in a grid over the pit. next, time for corrugated iron sheets and layers of chicken wire, cutting out only the four designated rectangles to be used as the actual toilet holes.. and finally we nail planks of wood together as a sort of frame around the structure in order to designate the boundaries of the toilet block.
now that the base is established, it's time to fetch wheelbarrows of sand, concrete, gravel and water. the water pump we usually use doesn't seem to be working at the moment so we have to walk to the village school to fill up our jerry cans.. the mountain of sand, concrete and gravel is huge and heavy to mix so we take turns and rotate as needed.. then, after placing four bricks over the toilet holes (to stop concrete from pouring into the pit), we tip wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of gravelly cement onto the iron/wire floor. i precariously step on the steel bars, trying not to put too much weight over the hole, and help level it out whilst others make sure the entire wooden frame is filled. by the time our work day is over, the wire is mostly covered up and all that's left is a rectangular block of concrete drying in the afternoon sun. i'm half regretful that i won't be seeing our beloved pit anymore but eager to continue working on this project and build a toilet!!
our first task is to hack away at the brick structure with machetes to make holes for the planks of wood that are to form the base. i once again am a little over-enthusiastic with a machete in hand and enjoy myself thoroughly pulverizing brick and cement, loose bits of stone flying everywhere.. by the end of it though i'd unfortunately torn a hole in my finger due to the machete handle slipping off and my bare skin repeatedly rubbing against the metal.. not pretty.
we slot the wooden planks into place and, using the cement another group had prepared nearby, start to concrete them into place. we then start sawing steel bars into similar lengths and lay them in a grid over the pit. next, time for corrugated iron sheets and layers of chicken wire, cutting out only the four designated rectangles to be used as the actual toilet holes.. and finally we nail planks of wood together as a sort of frame around the structure in order to designate the boundaries of the toilet block.
now that the base is established, it's time to fetch wheelbarrows of sand, concrete, gravel and water. the water pump we usually use doesn't seem to be working at the moment so we have to walk to the village school to fill up our jerry cans.. the mountain of sand, concrete and gravel is huge and heavy to mix so we take turns and rotate as needed.. then, after placing four bricks over the toilet holes (to stop concrete from pouring into the pit), we tip wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of gravelly cement onto the iron/wire floor. i precariously step on the steel bars, trying not to put too much weight over the hole, and help level it out whilst others make sure the entire wooden frame is filled. by the time our work day is over, the wire is mostly covered up and all that's left is a rectangular block of concrete drying in the afternoon sun. i'm half regretful that i won't be seeing our beloved pit anymore but eager to continue working on this project and build a toilet!!
beach bbq 2
sunday morning.. sam and i couldn't be bothered to go to forty thieves first thing in the morning so we hung around camp and watched a movie, then hitched a ride with the camp chefs to the beach bbq spot at around 11. it was a really nice afternoon, gorgeous and sunny. we wandered up to the palm-frond shade constructions, eager to settle down and read, when all of a sudden a man came up to us and said we had to pay for our use of shade and for the beds underneath. it seems a bit ridiculous how literally at every single opportunity possible people will try to rip you off.. and despite understanding, of course, the poverty situation in this country and the fact that we're seen as otherworldly westerners with endless cash, it is getting a little annoying. but anyway.
we managed to haggle down our patch of shade to a seemingly more reasonable price and spent the next few hours reading as we waited for the others to arrive from the beach and for the bbq to start.. a group of kids were playing in the estuary ahead of us and the midday sun was so harsh i could only see their shadows through squinted eyes, the water glittering and reflecting rays of sunlight like a sea of diamonds.
then all of a sudden the camp kenya busses appeared and the quiet beach was annihilated by a tidal wave of campers.. as well as our group, there were a good 30-odd 1-monthers at least, mostly girls, who'd been in tsavo whilst we were in kaya. i know most of our kids were a bit put off by the added crowd (especially upon return to muhaka) but nevertheless the bbq was really tasty and we spent a lovely evening by the sea.
we managed to haggle down our patch of shade to a seemingly more reasonable price and spent the next few hours reading as we waited for the others to arrive from the beach and for the bbq to start.. a group of kids were playing in the estuary ahead of us and the midday sun was so harsh i could only see their shadows through squinted eyes, the water glittering and reflecting rays of sunlight like a sea of diamonds.
then all of a sudden the camp kenya busses appeared and the quiet beach was annihilated by a tidal wave of campers.. as well as our group, there were a good 30-odd 1-monthers at least, mostly girls, who'd been in tsavo whilst we were in kaya. i know most of our kids were a bit put off by the added crowd (especially upon return to muhaka) but nevertheless the bbq was really tasty and we spent a lovely evening by the sea.
mombasa adventure
saturday morning we move back to muhaka. the boys load all our bags onto a big cart and pull/push it all the way back along the bumpy dirt track. i'm sad to leave my tent in kaya that i'd grown to love and the great chef there but other than that i'm glad we're moving on.. as soon as we've dumped our things back onto our beds it's time for our mombasa adventure - we're all traveling out to see the last harry potter film and go clubbing.
the journey to mombasa and over the ferry seems to take less time than usual.. maybe it's just that we're so excited? we arrive at this cheap dine-in place called the blue room at around 11:30 and grab a bite to eat, then taxi out to the cinema complex. i'm so unbelievably happy that we've organised this - it's a breath of fresh air after kaya and kinda fun that we're doing it off our own initiative and not because it's in the camp program. plus missing out on the final harry potter film would be a sin!!! and what better place to watch it in than kenya? (:
we're handed our awful 3D glasses on our way in.. the cinema is surprisingly nicer and bigger than i'd expected.. the kenyan advertisements are hilarious and just before the film starts, we all have to stand for the national anthem! very amusing. then the lights dim and the opening music we know so well begins to play.. brb, off to hogwarts!!
~~~
so the film wasn't very good in my opinion and we're all a little depressed that the harry potter legacy has now come to an end.. still so glad we went to see it!! we've now got a few hours to kill before dinner and some people head to the bowling alley. a handful of us decide to order a shisha and thickshakes at the muslim café next to the cinema complex and we chill out there for a while, discussing the film..
cab back to the blue room. we all wander off to search for a place to eat - sam, olly, matt, and i opt for pizza. then it's onwards to florida nightclub!! we'd been recommended the club by the local dive-master and are all pretty excited as we pull up (: oddly enough, we're asked to check in our cameras before entering.. they're not allowed inside.. it's still relatively early on in the night so the boys head to the casino and sam and i get a game of pool started (i won!!).
as it gets later, the club fills up. it's in a gorgeous location right on the shore and it's definitely the most exciting nightlife we've experienced thus far. i make friends with two french travelers who are voyaging around africa by boat and have a rather interesting encounter with a kenyan hooker trying to put makeup on me in the bathroom.. the night becomes a big happy blur of dancing and socializing - our group is big enough to take up a substantial amount of the dance floor and after our week in kaya everyone is once again full of energy and eager to have a good time (:
~
all in all i'm so glad we put together this adventure.. i know to some of you reading this you may find it strange or confusing that we seem to be going out at night a fair bit (so much more than i'd expected..) but to be honest i'm really pleased that it's the case.. i chose to go to kenya rather than to another camp because i thought it offered the most diversity in activities and i wanted to have fun as well as work (especially given the amount of money i spent on being here..) when it comes down to it, this is my gap year and a time to have fun after finishing school as well as finding out more about yourself, traveling, etc. i think it's a good balance between work and play (: i've always been a social person and i know i'll keep a lot of good memories both from the project work and from the times of leisure spent with these awesome people. florida night club is definitely one of them!!
[another note: i realise that many of you probably aren't interested in recounts of nights out and clubbing.. my intentions aren't to brag about drinking or to re-tell the nights as though they were a vital part of my africa trip.. this blog, even moreso than being a way to share my experiences with you all, is my own personal memento of my 4.5 months abroad and most of the time when i talk about nightlife it's as a keepsake of my own memories.. i'm sorry if it's bothered some of you and i'll try not to ramble on too much.. i will keep putting up photos and writing the entries however, so in future don't feel obliged to read nighttime recounts?]
p.s. my small camera has malfunctioned and refuses to turn itself on (i'm heartbroken) so in future most of my outings snaps will probably be off other people's..
the journey to mombasa and over the ferry seems to take less time than usual.. maybe it's just that we're so excited? we arrive at this cheap dine-in place called the blue room at around 11:30 and grab a bite to eat, then taxi out to the cinema complex. i'm so unbelievably happy that we've organised this - it's a breath of fresh air after kaya and kinda fun that we're doing it off our own initiative and not because it's in the camp program. plus missing out on the final harry potter film would be a sin!!! and what better place to watch it in than kenya? (:
we're handed our awful 3D glasses on our way in.. the cinema is surprisingly nicer and bigger than i'd expected.. the kenyan advertisements are hilarious and just before the film starts, we all have to stand for the national anthem! very amusing. then the lights dim and the opening music we know so well begins to play.. brb, off to hogwarts!!
~~~
so the film wasn't very good in my opinion and we're all a little depressed that the harry potter legacy has now come to an end.. still so glad we went to see it!! we've now got a few hours to kill before dinner and some people head to the bowling alley. a handful of us decide to order a shisha and thickshakes at the muslim café next to the cinema complex and we chill out there for a while, discussing the film..
cab back to the blue room. we all wander off to search for a place to eat - sam, olly, matt, and i opt for pizza. then it's onwards to florida nightclub!! we'd been recommended the club by the local dive-master and are all pretty excited as we pull up (: oddly enough, we're asked to check in our cameras before entering.. they're not allowed inside.. it's still relatively early on in the night so the boys head to the casino and sam and i get a game of pool started (i won!!).
as it gets later, the club fills up. it's in a gorgeous location right on the shore and it's definitely the most exciting nightlife we've experienced thus far. i make friends with two french travelers who are voyaging around africa by boat and have a rather interesting encounter with a kenyan hooker trying to put makeup on me in the bathroom.. the night becomes a big happy blur of dancing and socializing - our group is big enough to take up a substantial amount of the dance floor and after our week in kaya everyone is once again full of energy and eager to have a good time (:
~
all in all i'm so glad we put together this adventure.. i know to some of you reading this you may find it strange or confusing that we seem to be going out at night a fair bit (so much more than i'd expected..) but to be honest i'm really pleased that it's the case.. i chose to go to kenya rather than to another camp because i thought it offered the most diversity in activities and i wanted to have fun as well as work (especially given the amount of money i spent on being here..) when it comes down to it, this is my gap year and a time to have fun after finishing school as well as finding out more about yourself, traveling, etc. i think it's a good balance between work and play (: i've always been a social person and i know i'll keep a lot of good memories both from the project work and from the times of leisure spent with these awesome people. florida night club is definitely one of them!!
[another note: i realise that many of you probably aren't interested in recounts of nights out and clubbing.. my intentions aren't to brag about drinking or to re-tell the nights as though they were a vital part of my africa trip.. this blog, even moreso than being a way to share my experiences with you all, is my own personal memento of my 4.5 months abroad and most of the time when i talk about nightlife it's as a keepsake of my own memories.. i'm sorry if it's bothered some of you and i'll try not to ramble on too much.. i will keep putting up photos and writing the entries however, so in future don't feel obliged to read nighttime recounts?]
p.s. my small camera has malfunctioned and refuses to turn itself on (i'm heartbroken) so in future most of my outings snaps will probably be off other people's..
last kaya day
last day in kaya.. sorry for a boring entry but it's pretty much how the day has been.. another walk to collect seedlings, i think only around 5 people went and the rest were either at leonardo's having lunch/ice-cream or hanging around camp.
my motivation in this place has unfortunately completely plummeted.. i had thought 'monkey sanctuary' meant we'd be looking after monkeys or seeing them at the very least, but it seems like we're actually just an extra lot of hands to carry out boring but necessary tasks in the conservation of the forest. i know that it's definitely worthwhile to have more trees and to have a well-functioning tree nursery and so perhaps i should've put more effort into getting out there and doing everything.. but when the tasks are so dull and even the project leaders seem to be happy to sit around, it's a little difficult..
in any case i had another very relaxing afternoon in the shade reading with sam.. we went for a walk around the village on a mission to find and consume a cold drink and discovered this amazing ginger beer that's so gingery it makes your nose and throat go tingly (: we had a few toddlers come and take our hands, happily plodding along beside us until we left the borders of the village.. they're so sweet at that age - just wanting affection and company and something to do.
complete water shortage tonight so bucket showers it is!! each cubicle has a big bucket full of water and we plunge water-bottles or mugs into them over and over and slowly wash ourselves. aside from the fact that hair-washing is an absolute pain, it's actually kinda fun!!
sam, jane, campbell, miranda, olly and i head to my tent to tell ghost stories. jane actually manages to creep us out a fair bit and after staying up for a couple of hours, everyone heads off to sleep.
my motivation in this place has unfortunately completely plummeted.. i had thought 'monkey sanctuary' meant we'd be looking after monkeys or seeing them at the very least, but it seems like we're actually just an extra lot of hands to carry out boring but necessary tasks in the conservation of the forest. i know that it's definitely worthwhile to have more trees and to have a well-functioning tree nursery and so perhaps i should've put more effort into getting out there and doing everything.. but when the tasks are so dull and even the project leaders seem to be happy to sit around, it's a little difficult..
in any case i had another very relaxing afternoon in the shade reading with sam.. we went for a walk around the village on a mission to find and consume a cold drink and discovered this amazing ginger beer that's so gingery it makes your nose and throat go tingly (: we had a few toddlers come and take our hands, happily plodding along beside us until we left the borders of the village.. they're so sweet at that age - just wanting affection and company and something to do.
complete water shortage tonight so bucket showers it is!! each cubicle has a big bucket full of water and we plunge water-bottles or mugs into them over and over and slowly wash ourselves. aside from the fact that hair-washing is an absolute pain, it's actually kinda fun!!
sam, jane, campbell, miranda, olly and i head to my tent to tell ghost stories. jane actually manages to creep us out a fair bit and after staying up for a couple of hours, everyone heads off to sleep.
toni's bday
note: v short entry, nothing much to report and not much battery on laptop
another day in kaya.. today our task is collecting seedlings in the forest for re-plantation in the nursery. instead for some reason we end up staying back at camp and moving the bags of earth from one pile to another.. so very pointless.
over half of us ended up walking back to our tents.. sam and i make our outside futon again and read, the girls sun-bake.. the boys play a game of footy with the local kids in the afternoon and win (: still having problems with the showers.. it's toni's birthday so alice brings out her cake and we all get ready for a night of celebration at forty thieves. someone pulls out a whole bunch of food coloring for shits and giggles so we each have different coloured soups and potatoes.. it's funny that all of a sudden a change in natural colour makes the eating experience so different!!
the night is awesome as per usual and i at some point end up in the sea wearing jane's gorgeous dress (SORRY!!!!!)
another day in kaya.. today our task is collecting seedlings in the forest for re-plantation in the nursery. instead for some reason we end up staying back at camp and moving the bags of earth from one pile to another.. so very pointless.
over half of us ended up walking back to our tents.. sam and i make our outside futon again and read, the girls sun-bake.. the boys play a game of footy with the local kids in the afternoon and win (: still having problems with the showers.. it's toni's birthday so alice brings out her cake and we all get ready for a night of celebration at forty thieves. someone pulls out a whole bunch of food coloring for shits and giggles so we each have different coloured soups and potatoes.. it's funny that all of a sudden a change in natural colour makes the eating experience so different!!
the night is awesome as per usual and i at some point end up in the sea wearing jane's gorgeous dress (SORRY!!!!!)
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