A Safari Without Elephants

Where to start... I'm in Kenya. I decided that after a year of being separated from Camille for my research, it's not worth it. So I'm here with her as she does her fieldwork on how farmers and administrators adapt to climate change. We're in Nairobi at the International Livestock Research Institute which feels a bit like Club Med. But I go for walks outside the gates (and the guards that stand in front of them) to hit the local shops up the road. Pictures will be up soon, but I'm busy working the final paragraphs of my 1st dissertation chapter.... priorities, priorities... We spent a couple of days last week in Embu, the village/town where we'll be staying for Camille's research. Pictures are coming, I promise. But I'll just give you some highlights. The bus or matatu that we took on the way back was quite luxurious compared to the one we took to get there. There were 9 seats in this vehicle that is about as big as a large SUV, so conditions were cramped, but you get used to it. The driver speeds along at 80 km/h, passing cars without giving any signal, dodging the on-coming traffic in the opposite direction; terrifying and exhilirating. The multiple speedbumps that mark the road in the small villages that dot the main thoroughfare don't really slow these guys down much. There was an LCD screed mounted behind the driver's seat playing Akon and Ludacris and Missy E as the matatu rode over enormous speedbumps in the roadside village where farmer-merchants sat out their miles of rice to dry in the sun. Kenya is truly a country of beautiful contrasts; the rice huskers and Akon singing Belly Dancer, the wealthy Indian, Black, and White Kenyans in the same mega-malls that are frequented by others who are barefoot and less affluent, the country western music that the Kenyans guests at our hotel in Embu were listening and dancing to out on the English-cut lawn, a country of contrasts. That's all for now. Check out the pics.