Being back in Western style accomodations has been really nice in some ways, especially with regard to the bed, which is a real bed (i.e., rather than a foam mattress – Diane thinks they use the latter in the bush to discourage infestation with bed bugs – nice, huh?) with a very, very nice soft, fluffy duvet. The first night back was the first night in a long time that I slept the entire night through without waking up once until the morning. So nice. Unfortunately, I haven’t been taking as much advantage of this wonderful bed as I would like or probably should.
Why? Well, a couple of reasons. One is that I because of my battles in the field with computer viruses (which I won, I think/hope, since my computer’s working much, much better now), I wasn’t able to get as much work done entering and analyzing data, documenting findings, and putting together my field report while I was out in the field. That meant that once I got back to Nairobi, I’ve had to do all of it here. A big pain as it would be nice to just relax when I’m here. Given there are necessary post-field debriefings and post-polio immunization campaign partner meetings, and, of course, most people work according to African time (i.e., start later than agreed – see the last paragraph of this post for more on that) which means a bit of waiting time as well, I’ve been working in my hotel room in the evenings. Actually, I like working in my hotel room. It’s quiet and very comfortable, so I can get a lot more done there than in the WHO office where people are constantly around and chatting. It’s similar to how I feel sometimes back home in Hawaii. At work, there are always meetings, phone calls, people who “need to talk to you right now,” a gazillion “critical” emails, etc. The one time I’ve been sick and had to stay home, I got so much work done on my laptop because no one was interrupting me.
Anyway, the other reason I’ve not been sleeping in much is that I’m back to getting up early to
run again. Yes, sleeping in a comfortable bed is really nice, but I’ve really missed my morning runs. The first morning I went running again here, I could feel it – i.e., being out of aerobic shape and also the altitude here, but I’m quickly falling back into the routine. It’s great. All the hotel grounds staff know me now, too, since I run within the grounds of the Fairview; I think they find my daily running rather interesting. The gym guy asked me if I was afraid to go running out on the streets. I’m not, as Diane and I usually will opt to walk (e.g., to the WHO office which is just around the corner and across the street from our hotel) when possible. In 
daytime, it’s pretty safe, but despite that running within the hotel grounds means creatively using the limited space and running back and forth in an area (actually, the Fairview grounds are fairly large and with tranquil landscaping including a plethora of green vegetation and colorful flowers), I prefer not to have to deal with the cars on the streets here and directly breathe more of the smog from vehicle exhausts than I have to. By the way, in Nairobi, cars have the right of way, not pedestrians, so I’m more worried about being run over than of someone trying to mug me. Running in the hotel grounds means I can run pretty continuously, unbothered and in exhaust-free air.
Although I enjoyed the homey meals and basic comforts in Wajir, I’ve been looking forward to the easy access and variety of fresh produce in Nairobi as well as the wealth and variety of cuisines. It’s been wonderful for my palate to enjoy the great variety of tastes. The funny thing is that after so long in the field and adjusting to often only two meals a day, my stomach has also adjusted, so that it’s having to adjust to the sudden abundance and variety I’m feeding it. What does that mean? Well, I’m finding that I’m often not very hungry for dinner or, rather, a third full meal. Kind of funny. But since I’m running again, my body’s quickly adjusting back. It's probably just as well that I'm taking a little time to adjust back to the meals. My wallet is having to adjust, too. A bit of a shock to go from paying maybe even barely $3 for a plentiful and homecooked meal in a Wajir guesthouse to anywhere from $20 to $100 in a Nairobi restaurant.
The other thing to which my body has to adjust is the temperature. When I first arrived in Kenya, it was still the start of the dry, hot season. When I got to Wajir, they told me that January and February are their hottest and driest months – lucky me. Now the country has entered into the “long rains” season, when the temps start to cool. Although I’m told that the coolest months aren’t until June-August, it’s cool enough for me here in Nairobi right now. Even if I’d just arrived from Hawaii, I think I’d find it a little bit on the cool side for me, but after 3 weeks in Wajir where temps were regularly up in the 40+°C and even 45+°C, my body’s thermostat is definitely set higher. Diane thinks it’s funny because she thinks the temps here now (18°C, range 15-23°C or 64°F, range 60-75°F) are just perfect and sleeps even with her windows open and fan blowing, while I’m buried deep under that wonderful duvet. Hm, it’s about time to call it a night now anyway.
Just a quick comment about African time. Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous blog. Anyway, everyone (the Kenyans themselves especially) here jokes about African time – the fact that when Kenyans/Africans agree on a particular time to meet, you should commonly add at least a half hour and even sometimes an hour or more to that time. The problem is that very occasionally they do meet at the time they say, mostly because they realize that Westerners don’t operate that way. Still, many tend to operate according to African time. The funny thing is that some Africans really want to break others of that habit, and so they’ll make a distinction and specifically say that the meeting time is at the time appointed and not according to African time. Ah well. Back home in Hawaii, meetings may start on time, but, not uncommonly, unless you make people stick to the agenda at hand, meetings can drag on for awhile because of the local tendency to “talk story,” i.e., go off subject on tangents. So, it seems, every culture has some quirk with time.
Why? Well, a couple of reasons. One is that I because of my battles in the field with computer viruses (which I won, I think/hope, since my computer’s working much, much better now), I wasn’t able to get as much work done entering and analyzing data, documenting findings, and putting together my field report while I was out in the field. That meant that once I got back to Nairobi, I’ve had to do all of it here. A big pain as it would be nice to just relax when I’m here. Given there are necessary post-field debriefings and post-polio immunization campaign partner meetings, and, of course, most people work according to African time (i.e., start later than agreed – see the last paragraph of this post for more on that) which means a bit of waiting time as well, I’ve been working in my hotel room in the evenings. Actually, I like working in my hotel room. It’s quiet and very comfortable, so I can get a lot more done there than in the WHO office where people are constantly around and chatting. It’s similar to how I feel sometimes back home in Hawaii. At work, there are always meetings, phone calls, people who “need to talk to you right now,” a gazillion “critical” emails, etc. The one time I’ve been sick and had to stay home, I got so much work done on my laptop because no one was interrupting me.
Anyway, the other reason I’ve not been sleeping in much is that I’m back to getting up early to
run again. Yes, sleeping in a comfortable bed is really nice, but I’ve really missed my morning runs. The first morning I went running again here, I could feel it – i.e., being out of aerobic shape and also the altitude here, but I’m quickly falling back into the routine. It’s great. All the hotel grounds staff know me now, too, since I run within the grounds of the Fairview; I think they find my daily running rather interesting. The gym guy asked me if I was afraid to go running out on the streets. I’m not, as Diane and I usually will opt to walk (e.g., to the WHO office which is just around the corner and across the street from our hotel) when possible. In 
daytime, it’s pretty safe, but despite that running within the hotel grounds means creatively using the limited space and running back and forth in an area (actually, the Fairview grounds are fairly large and with tranquil landscaping including a plethora of green vegetation and colorful flowers), I prefer not to have to deal with the cars on the streets here and directly breathe more of the smog from vehicle exhausts than I have to. By the way, in Nairobi, cars have the right of way, not pedestrians, so I’m more worried about being run over than of someone trying to mug me. Running in the hotel grounds means I can run pretty continuously, unbothered and in exhaust-free air.Although I enjoyed the homey meals and basic comforts in Wajir, I’ve been looking forward to the easy access and variety of fresh produce in Nairobi as well as the wealth and variety of cuisines. It’s been wonderful for my palate to enjoy the great variety of tastes. The funny thing is that after so long in the field and adjusting to often only two meals a day, my stomach has also adjusted, so that it’s having to adjust to the sudden abundance and variety I’m feeding it. What does that mean? Well, I’m finding that I’m often not very hungry for dinner or, rather, a third full meal. Kind of funny. But since I’m running again, my body’s quickly adjusting back. It's probably just as well that I'm taking a little time to adjust back to the meals. My wallet is having to adjust, too. A bit of a shock to go from paying maybe even barely $3 for a plentiful and homecooked meal in a Wajir guesthouse to anywhere from $20 to $100 in a Nairobi restaurant.
The other thing to which my body has to adjust is the temperature. When I first arrived in Kenya, it was still the start of the dry, hot season. When I got to Wajir, they told me that January and February are their hottest and driest months – lucky me. Now the country has entered into the “long rains” season, when the temps start to cool. Although I’m told that the coolest months aren’t until June-August, it’s cool enough for me here in Nairobi right now. Even if I’d just arrived from Hawaii, I think I’d find it a little bit on the cool side for me, but after 3 weeks in Wajir where temps were regularly up in the 40+°C and even 45+°C, my body’s thermostat is definitely set higher. Diane thinks it’s funny because she thinks the temps here now (18°C, range 15-23°C or 64°F, range 60-75°F) are just perfect and sleeps even with her windows open and fan blowing, while I’m buried deep under that wonderful duvet. Hm, it’s about time to call it a night now anyway.
Just a quick comment about African time. Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous blog. Anyway, everyone (the Kenyans themselves especially) here jokes about African time – the fact that when Kenyans/Africans agree on a particular time to meet, you should commonly add at least a half hour and even sometimes an hour or more to that time. The problem is that very occasionally they do meet at the time they say, mostly because they realize that Westerners don’t operate that way. Still, many tend to operate according to African time. The funny thing is that some Africans really want to break others of that habit, and so they’ll make a distinction and specifically say that the meeting time is at the time appointed and not according to African time. Ah well. Back home in Hawaii, meetings may start on time, but, not uncommonly, unless you make people stick to the agenda at hand, meetings can drag on for awhile because of the local tendency to “talk story,” i.e., go off subject on tangents. So, it seems, every culture has some quirk with time.
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