Hujambo!

4224I think Matuu means “footsteps” in Kikamba. I made some footsteps there the other day. Matuu is about two or three hours from Tala depending on the car and the route. I passed straight from Tala through Kilamabogo instead of passing all the way through Nairobi and Thika. There are a few big dams in that area but the water was really low, and you’re not even allowed to swim or take pictures. We ended up going to the staff club at Kamburu Dam for some swimming (in a pool).

The chronology was something like this: arrive in Matuu, play with puppies, cook dinner, talk about Swahili, talk about politics, sleep, go to the dams, go swimming, eat grilled meat, sleep, come back to Tala.

Enjoy the pictures: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/matuu

I went to Thompson Falls in Nyahururu the other day with a friend from Tala. It’s about three hours drive from Nairobi, which itself is an hour and a half from Tala. We left a bit early in the morning and were there around lunch time. Other than some dudes dressed up for the tourists and some sweet monkeys, we had the whole place to ourselves, so we sat and chatted about nature, religion, and Kenyan politics for a few hours. By the time we got back to Tala it was late and we were tiiiiired! Enjoy the pictures…

3964I went to Fourteen Falls with Pat this past weekend. It’s about an hour and a half drive from Tala via the Thika road route. The road isn’t too bad as long as you sit in the front of the truck (they only use modified pick-up trucks on this route for some reason). The fare was 100 shillings, which isn’t too bad. The other option is to go to Nairobi (150 shillings) and then to Thika (150 shillings), which takes you on a nicer road but eats an extra 400 or so shillings and a few hours of your time. There hasn’t been too much rain lately, so the water was a little low (and green…), but we still had a nice time relaxing with some snacks in the shade.

You can find the rest of the pictures here: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/fourteenfalls

I just realized the other day that I only have eight months left here in Kenya. Not that I’m counting down, but because I arrived in October, 2007 I should be leaving in October, 2009 I guess. I haven’t decided if I will leave early or extend a bit. Since I came back from the evacuation after last year’s post-election violence I have steadily become a full-time lecturer at the college. That’s important to note because we will have a semester beginning in August/September or so, and if I leave in October I will leaving more-or-less in the middle of the semester. Not cool! So we’ll just have to play it by ear… whatever that means, haha.

I’m very used to life in Tala these days. I walk around like a local and it shows. When I walk into any of the cafes I can just make some small talk and then say, “Kama kawaida” (“like usual” in Swahili) to get my tea and chapati. Even my afternoon students know that after class I’ll either be going to eat chai/chapati or Kisumu ndogo. Kisumu ndogo, which means “small Kisumu” in Swahili, is a place in Tala where you can eat delicious fried fish. It comes in small pieces, served with ugali (corn meal staple food) and some kachumbari (kinda like salsa fresca). Tala’s a funny place, a few months ago I noticed a new place called Kisumu kubwa (big Kisumu), which serves whole fish. Kisumu, by the way, is a town in Western Kenya on Lake Victoria, and the people there are known to eat a lot of fish.
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The pictures of my Ethiopia trip are finally on my photo gallery. It’s been a while since any of you have seen a picture of me so I know you’re excited. I have about 100 photos in total but it’s not very practical for me to upload them all, and I’m sure you only want to see the best of them, so I only put about 30 online. Here are a few…

You can see the rest in the gallery here.