Archive for March, 2008
Alan the Peanut Roaster
From now on I’m going to be roasting MASSIVE amounts of peanuts! They are so freakin’ cheap, delicious, and nutritious that it’s a no-brainer. Do you want to know what the secret is? PILI PILI (pepper)! Oh, and salt of course. They’re just as delicious as potato chips but way more natural and as a bonus they’re homemade. Just say, “No!” to preservatives!
I buy the raw nuts from the market and then roast them by the cup every few days. It takes about an hour once I’ve diced the peppers, added the oil to the pot, and stirred on and off heat to keep them from burning. I let them cool a bit and finish cooking when I notice they start getting dry and crunchy (you have to taste them every few minutes to know!). Half a kilogram is about 45 shillings, which is almost enough to last a whole week. I might buy one kilogram and then roast a whole bunch and take them as a treat to the staff room, because they are really hurting for some variety in the food in there!
Tomorrow’s a big market day so just know that while you’re sleeping in America I will be wheeling, dealing, and then ROASTING! I know it’s no substitute for leafy greens, Sara, so I’ll keep forcing myself to eat those every once in a while too!
Adios!
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Safaricom, Huawei e220, Linux and you!
I live next to nowhere in Kenya, so Internet access is pretty limited. I am able to access it at work, but it’s slow and only available during the day. Luckily Safaricom, one of the local cell phone companies, just rolled out 3G technology across Kenya. My cell phone isn’t very fancy so I picked up the USB modem instead. When the Safaricom employee asked if I had brought my laptop for them to configure I replied, “Um… no. I’ll do it myself…” So this is the culmination of my ensuing research.
Using a Huawei e220 With Safaricom Under Linux
The Huawei e220 is a USB HSDPA modem capable of some crazy speeds like 7.2 megabits per second, though Safaricom advertises the max on its network as being around 3.6. If you look around on the internet you’ll find a dearth of information about using the Huawei e220 under Linux, as lots of mobile phone companies all over the world have been providing these units for a few years. The software required to use these under Linux has changed a lot of the years, and it’s actually pretty easy to get working once you piece together the information from several blogs, forums, and man pages. If you also live in Kenya, use Linux, and have one of these modems, keep reading.Read more 10 comments
A Vision of Alan’s Future in Kenya
Well I’m back in Tala, and it only took two days before I feel like I never left. As I walked up the dirt road to the college I greeted the bike “repairmen” under the tree at the corner. Thanks to British Airways my pace was quick (please find my bags by the way!), and I arrived at the Holy Rosary compound in record time. It appeared as if nobody got the memo about my return because there was no “Welcome Back” party waiting for me… That’s right, no balloons, streamers, music, or mandazis. Pole sana.
After making my rounds with staff and students I headed back to see what a month’s absence can do to a farm. Dead! All dead! I wish I had pictures to show you (thank British Airways again), but I couldn’t wait and I’ve already torn up most of the crops and cultivated the land in preparation for the coming rains. My deep sleep lastnight was interrupted by a torrential rain, or maybe the tin roof just makes it sound really intense. I could hear the corn, cilantro, and bean seeds in the other room… begging to be planted. This brings me to my next point… points.
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Returning to Kenya
America’s been a great change of pace for the past five weeks, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be heading back to Kenya soon. VSO sent me an e-mail last week saying things are calming down in Kenya and it’s looking like it will be safe for volunteers to return. This brings up an important point…
Update Your Bookmarks!
The new address for this website is http://alaninkenya.org but the old URL, http://sarainkenya.org, will still work for a few months just in case there are any stragglers! As you may have guessed, Sara will not be returning to Kenya with me. She is going to stay in California and do one or more of the following: look for a job, go back to school for a Master’s degree, or hang out. She’s open to suggestions so don’t be bashful! And go update your bookmarks (yes, mom, I’ll help you)!
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