Reunion with Kenya

Well, I have again arrived safely to my destination in Kenya (14JUN11).  Yippee!  Any safe travel equates to a wonderful journey in my opinion.  The trip from Nairobi to home was much less, um, ‘interesting’ than my inaugural trip.  Boring can be a good characteristic sometimes! 

Though the route we took was much smoother, there was at least one aspect of traffic that was not different.  I don’t know what they put in – or don’t put in – the petrol here, but talk about pollution!  One bus, not as large as a coach bus, spewed a horrifically black exhaust in spurts as it changed gears.  When it passed us, it made me think of how it must feel to be on the receiving end of the black ink expelled by an octopus making a quick get-away.  The windshield of our vehicle would have lost its transparency entirely if the exhaust wasn’t in a gaseous state.  But, considering the journey was more than five hours in duration, I was grateful I wasn’t walking!

The countryside is much more lush and vibrant than when I left in April.  The rainy season had just started then; though it still rains frequently, it isn’t to the same extent now.  The maize (corn) towers over my head now rather than brushes at my ankles.  Carrots that had just been planted are now six inches long and juicy.  Roadside sunflowers have lost their dusty coat and are a more natural shade of green.  New cuckoos (chickens) have come, older ones have grown or been eaten.  I look forward to seeing the big project for KBTC, where over 70 growing beds had been painstakingly made before I returned to Canada.

I reviewed the information taught to the holistic nutrition class by the previous instructor.  We will start new material soon, but fortunately I have the course prepared ahead of time!  It is a smaller class than the one I taught earlier in the year.  But I have plenty of other things to do – like write the curriculum for the advanced nutrition course in the fall.  I won’t be teaching that session though!  I have other plans for my involvement with KBTC (Kenya Grow Biointensive Training Centre, in case you’ve just joined me or have forgotten!).

I am still adjusting to the time difference and attempting to get a healthy sleep pattern established.  The house is a little quieter without the beehive in the chimney, and only the occasional straggler bee attracted to the fluorescent lights.  But with the wet season has come the nightly chorus of frog song, which I thoroughly enjoy.  The dogs still howl, the cocks still crow, and the sun rises and sets at nearly the same time everyday.  It won’t take long for me to become part of the rhythm, rather than be a drummer with a different beat.