Happy Canada Day! For the first time in my life, I don't get it as a holiday. Instead, I worked out at the site today, for the first time. I worked on clearing off the lower footprint horizon. It gets very hot out there, so I'm glad we break at noon until 3:30. It's hotter here than at Koobi Fora and we are farther from the lake. I miss the convenience of having the lake right near the camp. Now, we have to load into the vehicles each evening and drive down, which takes about half an hour. Yesterday was the first day we were here, and we did the lake drive. I was in the unimog for the first time. I actually thought I'd fall off, it was rocking so much. Scary! But a swim in the lake was good at the end of a dusty day. Toady it will be much better, since I was actually out working. I had a Cottonelle bath for my face and hands but am still dirty. There is so much dust here. Even the river bed, or laga, is totally dry and dusty. Apparently it only has water in it when there are flash floods. I find it weird that there's so little surface water. I still can't believe that people can survive in this dry of an environment. There's even a town, Ileret.
The Dassanach like to hand around and watch us during the day, as if they're waiting for us to do something interesting. So many little kids have no clothing, which I think is sad. I guess its in short supply here and goes to the adults first.
The site is pretty amazing. It was hard work to get it cleared off and we're still working on it. There is a layer of rock on top of a layer of sand on top of a tarp on top of more sand on top of the footprints. Someone has come along and stolen the original tarp and replaced it with a different one, but the footprints weren't disturbed. It was realy cool to see them for the first time.
We are out of here on the 19th, so 17 more days after today, then back to base camp! 29 more days here in Africa.
July 3
Yesterday morning, we finished uncovering the lower footprint layer. I worked with Paul and Emma and Habiba, which was fun. Afterwards, I helped a bit with surface screening the upper levels, until I went down for water and didn't have the energy to go back up. It was extremely hot yesterday; even during the break I didn't have much energy. In the afternoon, I helped with screening again. It was really boring, so thankfullly we don't work as long in the afternoon. The lake was very welcome in the evening, although I had a lot of laundry, so my swim was only about 5 minutes. I put up a laundry line yesterday between my tent, the tree, and April's tent. I was getting tired of having bugs on my clothes from hanging them on the bush beside the tree. I was glad for the lines, since I had a lot of washing. I'm looking foward to doing laundry and not having sand in my clothes when they dry.
Today was much better. The weather is great! This morning it was cool and cloudy until about mid-morning. Paul and I started excavation in a section and found some more footprints, about half a meter above the lower horizon. Then I moved onto surface scraping with Habiba and April. That wasn't as interesting, but a least it was more than carrying buckets for screening. I found some bone and the screeners found some Holocene stone tools in my back dirt. Tomorrow the students start excavating.
Right now, the weather is beautiful. It's cloudy with a breeze. At home, I'd be predicting a thunderstorm, but not here. I could hear an airplane a moment ago and mistook it for thunder. If it rains, I suspect it won't be for very long, maybe a few minutes. But it's a nice respite from the normal midday heat.
Some of the students have taught the Dassanach kids to play frisbee. There's a huge group of kids here right now, about half of them seem enthralled by the frisbee playing.
July 4
Today we had a half day because it's July 4. Excavation sucked today; I was "supervising" the students. It was pretty boring, and I hope I get more of a chance to excavate later on.
The Dassanach from town came today to trade. I traded 4 items of baby clothing for a 500 shilling (probably marked way up) bracelet and a small keychain. I hope the people from the local villages start coming soon. I've heard they trade more rather than wanting cash.
We went to the lake around 3:30 today, which was nice. I got burnt today, though, which sucks for me, but I'm going to have to stay covered. Next year, I am really going to use another anti-malarial, because I really wanted to get a tan.
Tonight we have a 4th of July celebration. There are some dancers coming in, apparently, and I think we're having goat and fish at dinner.
July 1-4, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>The wind here is unbelievable. It kept me up for the 2nd night in a row. Hopefully tonight I will sleep. I wish the students would respect the camping area as a quiet place more - their talking through the tents in the morning and at night makes it hard to sleep. But then, so does the wind.
Today we had lectures starting at 9. We have more lecture at 2:30 then activities. There's a museum visit at 5; I'm not sure I'm going to go. I may go to the lake and swim a bit. The lectures are a bit dull since I know all of the material already.
June 28
Second day of lectures, at least in the morning. I think there's a visit to Area 103 in the afternoon, so I want to go to that. I didn't do much yesterday. Went swimming around 4pm and I'm starting to get a bit of a tan. Supper was a change from veggie/potato/corned beef stew. Instead, we had rice, lentils, and chipati.
I talked a bit with Orion and Michael, who are Frank Brown's incoming grad student (Frank Brown is a geologist at UCBerkley, I believe). They spend their days hiking in the Koobi Fora Formation doing their studies. One of the interns went with them yesterday and they walked over 20km! I considered going, but they said they use about 4L of water and I can only carry 3L.
I didn't sleep well again, mostly due to inactivity, I think. I had to hush some students around 10pm because they woke me up - through my earplugs - by talking.
A plane is coming in today so we should get some fresh fruit and mail. It's also bringing in beer, to celebrate someone's birthday, apparently.
June 29
My new flashlight died last night, probably because its for indoor use only. Thankfully, someone else had one to lend me for the rest of the trip. I'm angry that someone stole my maglite.
Today is the last day of lectures, thankfully. I've been here for 2 weeks and have yet to do something productive. While the excavation will be hard and it will be hot, at least I'll be doing something. I'm already mostly packed and this afternoon, I'll help mark assignments. Good times.
June 27-29, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>I slept poorly that night because of the wind. The same thing happened the night of the 25th at the Koobi Fora base camp. We arrived yesterday, after another 10 hour day. We had 3 flats, one on a landrover at the start of the day, and two on the unimog later in the day. Before we left the town, we stopped at the small museum, which has information and displays about the different cultural groups living in the Turkana basin. It was really nice, especially for such an isolated museum. The biggest delay was one of the landrovers flipping onto its side in a particularly sandy stretch of road. Everyone and everything was fine, and the vehicle still worked.
We got to Koobi Fora about 5:30 but we can't drive the lorry (the big transport truck with all our gear and supplies) down on the sand road, so we had to load it into the landrovers and drive them down. I helped with that and got here sweaty and dirty! But there's running water here, pumped up from the lack, so I got a nice, cool shower.
I forgot to mention that we can see the southern cross here. I thought it was only visible in the southern hemisphere, and we are a bit north of the equator. We can also see the big dipper, but not the north start.
On the 26th, we had a staff meeting, then I had a nice, cool swim in the lack. Today is a rest day for the students. Up until now, it's been very little work, at least for me. Hopefully that will change soon.
June 26, 2003 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Afterwards, I thought we'd see the lions, but no such luck. Thomas did take us to see their tracking dogs, though, and gave us a demonstration, which was great. They have bloodhounds and 75% blood/ 25% fox hounds for tracking. If they find a poacher on the ranch, they shoot to kill.
The director general from the National Museums of Kenya was here yesterday, having come up with Emmanuel, Habiba, and Purity. We had lamb for dinner, which was so good, and chocolate for dessert, which is exactly what I wanted.
After supper, Lucy and I saw bushbabies in the tree behind my tent. The sky was so clear last night and the moon rose late, so the stars were amazing. I put on my glasses to look at them, which makes for a much better view. I think I could see patches of the Milky Way, too.
Today is our last day here. Students have the morning to finish assignments and we mark them in the afternoon. I will try to do some cleaning and packing tonight since we have to get up at 5 am tomorrow to leave by 7 Sounds like the driving days to Koobi Fora will be long. It's supposed to be very hot there day and night. I'm not looking forward to that; I've been enjoying the cold nights here. It makes it so much easier to sleep.
June 23, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>In camp at night, we saw bushbabies in the trees. As it was cloudy, we also saw lights from the other camp or village.
Today's the last day of assignments here, thankfully. The footprint assignment is dull, especially having done it twice already. Jack says the staff who haven't seen the rhino lab yet get to do so today. We'll see! It would be nice.
June 22, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Last night, we saw lights on the horizon, which freaked some poeple out. I suspect it was another camp or the village where the rangers and their families live. I think we just haven't see it before because it hasn't been cloudy at night up until now and the moon has been out and very bright.
Yesterday afternoon, April took some pictures of buffalo for me on the game drive. It's really hard to call them buffalo and not bison, after so many years living and working in Alberta. I will probably go out on the game drive this afternoon, since I'm feeling better.
My flashlight is missing, either lost or stolen. Sarita had some brandy stolen from her tent the night before, so I suspect my maglight was taken. My headlamp, which Andrew Du gave me, has a faulty connection and Robe is going to try and fix it for me. Emmanuel, one of Jack's grad students, is bringing me another one from Nairobi when he comes up. In the meantime, Sarita lent me her spare.
I slept very well last night for the first time since we arrived. It was great! It was colder this morning than it has been yet. Most of the people here think it's too cold, but this is what I used to for camping. I'm worried about what the heat at Ileret will do for me. At the same time, it will be nice to get up there and be doing something. I feel like I have nothing to do here and the time is going by slowly.
June 21, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>We stayed out until after dark to find a baboon troops sleeping place. We got back around 8pm - too long a day for me while doing not much of anything. April gave me some Taco Bell hot sauce to help with my sinuses and I started taking the rest of the amoxycyclin I got in the Netherlands. I had this nasty sinus infection that just wasn't going away on its own. Normally I wouldn't take antibiotics for what I thought was a cold, but since it wasn't getting any better then disappeared within two days of me taking the antibiotics, I think it was a genuine infection, not just a nasty cold. The glands in my neck felt like freaking grapefruits, and I'm glad I had the meds or I'd have been sicker for longer. Yuck.
The change in altitude is affecting my stomach - it makes me queasy after I eat and I don't eat too much. The food is fine, but somehow not appetizing. I keep thinking about tacos, which is April's fault because she brought the hot sauce from Taco Bell.
Today in the morning we did our first assignment with the undergrads. They were divided into four groups and each group did one assignment per day. Our assignment involved identifying animal tracks at three different watering holes. Really, this assignment should have taken about an hour, but we had about 4 hours to kill in the morning, so we spent a lot time just walking around looking at tracks. It was not very well thought out, and the 2 minute lecture for the actual assignment part, so the students were often very lost. It was poorly done and not that instructional, and I think a lot of the students were just bored. By the end of the four days, I was very bored with it. There's only so much walking around looking at buffalo tracks that a person can take.
In the afternoon, we had two downpours. The second one interrupted a lecture on lion conversation efforts in Kenya and public education. That was interesting, though, and the rain will probably be the last I see for awhile.
In the evening, I had my head shaved by one of the South African grad students. I'd always wanted to do it, just to see what it looked like, and it seemed like a good place since I didn't have to worry about my appearance much out there. Plus it meant much less worry about hair washing. The unfortunate part, of course, was the lack of mirrors, so I didn't get to see it very much, but it still felt really neat.
June 19, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Nairobi is a strange city. Everything is dusty, I mean, even dustier than Alberta, which is saying something. No one is bothered to do things quickly (like service in the hotel restaurant) and we experienced roving blackouts. The hotel had broken window latches, broken lights, a complete lack of hot water (despite hot water taps) and uncomfortable beds. And it was cold. And, of course, they jacked up the room prices for us. I'm not sure why we stayed there, since on my last night in Nairobi at the end of the field school, I stayed in a place that was $10 more and had everything this place didn't.
And Nairobi was cold! I expected it to be hot, but it was cool and overcast the whole time. It was winter there, of course, but I wasn't expecting an equatorial winter to be so chilly. About 10 C at night.
The drive was tiring - it's very bumpy in the back of the Landrover and you constantly have to brace yourself. No seatbelts in these vehicles except for the two front seats. But seeing the Rift Valley was amazing. It reminded me very much of the Rocky Mountain Trench that separates the Rockies and the Columbias. We saw a lot of wildlife, like zebras, baboons (on the side of the road), giraffes, antelops, ostriches, dik-diks and buffalo.
It's dark at 6:30, which is crazy. We crossed the equator earlier today, so the days and night are about 12 hours each. It's hard to deal with for a Canadian. I still expect it to stay light until 10 pm. It's too early for night - we haven't even had supper!
We have showers here and I'd love to take advantage of them, but it's too dark. All I could get at the hotel this morning was freezing cold water. This annoys me - it's a hotel and we pay to stay there (and pay too much according to the prices that were listed in Susanna's Lonely Planet Kenya guide). The night before I head to Europe, I think I'll stay at an airport hotel. (I ended up staying at a better hotel, but not an airport one, because apparently the hotels near the airport aren't safe. But the Boulevard hotel did have hot water, which was great at the end of a 7 week field season!)
June 17, 2008 remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>But I have to say, it was a real treat to be in a country where I understood the national language (and that language wasn't English), especially after spending so much time in the Netherlands and Kenya this summer. My Dutch is minimal, but at least I am starting to recognize some things. My Swahili is non-existant beyond "thank you very much". Dutch has the advantage of being linguistically related (and very closely) to English and French, where Swahili is not at all.
So we stayed at the Suite Hotel in Lille which was, well, sweet! We got a good deal booking the room over the internet and it was beautiful, clean, with great TV and internet access. But that wasn't why we went, of course! After checking in, we walked into the center of the town, which takes about 5 minutes. This is where the Eurostar train arrives from England, so it's a huge tourist destination for Brits looking to shop for cheap. They have 2 huge train stations within two blocks of each other. 1 in 4 tourists to Lille is British, and about 20 million (yep, you read that properly) pass through Lille on the trains each year.
The old, central part of the city, like so many other European cities, is pedestrian access only. We walked around until we found a suitable-seeming restaurant for lunch, although lunch was pretty unimpressive, I must say. We had fried camembert salads and a Welsh dish (probably on the menu to cater to the Brits). It was all right, not great, but not bad. Then we walked around some more, checking out the old buildings and the new shops. Maddie had a ride on a carosel, then she and Eowyn got splashed by a nearby fountain. The wind was pretty strong, so the fountain was spraying pretty far. The fountain was cool; those of you who live in Edmonton should be able to picture it. It had a small glass pyramid in the center, it looked like Edmonton city hall (but much smaller) and water came up from four sprayers to splash down the sides of the pyramid. Pretty cool.
We then visited an old castle, although it was tiny (an old duke's residence) and only the ground floor, now converted into a tourist's office, and the old chapel on an upper floor are open to the public. I don't know what the rest of it was, but it was pretty nonetheless.
We finished up with some shopping; because Maddie goes to a French school in the Netherlands, its easier to find her school supplies in France. All the French schools require the same supplies, so one list gets distributed to everyone. I got a few things for myself, since my Canadian credit card was overpaid and I now have a balance on it in my favour. It's like free money! Okay not really, but it's still a treat, since the money was already paid onto it.
We went back to the hotel then and rested. Maddie and I watched Shrek 3, which I liked more than I thought, and more than Shrek 1, which I didn't like. We went for dinner in the city center, but at a different place. We were caught in a freak rainstorm and got pretty wet, but at least we were close when it started raining! Here, I had a great meal. It was a quarter of a roasted chicken with gravy and a side (half the plate!) of green beans. So, so, so good! Eowyn and I enjoyed some French wine, too. Yum! For dessert I had a crepe with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and ice creams. Sounds good, but too sweet!
Today was extremely windy, so instead of walking around more, we packed up and drove to a nearby outlet mall which was disappointing in its lack of selection. Mostly baby/children's clothing stores. We went to pick up the rest of Maddie's school supplies and something like a year's worth of baby food for the twins, then drove back. On both the way there and the way back, we got stuck in traffic in Belgium; apparently there's always a traffic jam in Belgium. Today, thankfully, there was an alternate route and we were able to get back to the Hague before 6pm!
France is definitely on my list to go back to. It's great to be able to understand the people around me when they aren't speaking English and the men aren't bad looking either! And people aren't as oblivious to the presence of others as they are in the Netherlands, so you actually get help in the stores and people move out of your way on the streets. Good times!
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>All in all, Kenya was a pretty good experience. I'm glad I went, and the camping conditions weren't nearly as bad as I'd been led to believe by other grad students in my program, which is a plus for me, because it meant a pleasant surprise. While I was away, I kept a journal every other day or so. I'll be putting these entries up on this blog, and I will try to get started on that in the next day or so, so that the aforementioned sister doesn't have to order me about again. Although perhaps she enjoys being able to do so, since she was the youngest and was probably bossed around all the time...
Now I meant to start putting up pictures but have run into a snag: I can't find the USB cord for my camera. I found my iPod USB connector and the AC adapter for my cell phone, but the camera cord is not where I thought I left it, in my suitcase that stayed here, so I'll have to look again (for a third time; I already looked twice). So all my ambition for photographs today is for naught, unless I find the damn thing. My camera is weird and has a very small port for the connector, so it's not like I can even use my sister and brother-in-law's adapter. If worse comes to worst, I will put my memory card in my sister's camera and do it that way, although I'd prefer not to do that.
I'm glad to be back in Europe, which is sort of a like a second home and nicer than NJ, where I'd be otherwise. It's not as hot here, the people aren't as rude, and the air not quite so dirty. I should write travel pamphets for NJ, eh? I have so many positive things to say about it! Although I must admit, as soon as I moved there, I began to understand why Americans make fun of the state... However, back to Europe. Next week, Eowyn, Maddie and I are taking a 2-day trip to France, to Lille, to be specific. This follows on the heels of Marc and Kareen's trip to France, and, although we aren't going to Paris or Nice, after seeing their photographs, I'm looking forward to it. Plus, Eowyn says that prices are cheaper there for clothing (the Netherlands is extremely expensive) so I might get some fancy French clothing. We'll see how it goes.
Eowyn and I also bought a lotto ticket for the 8.2 million EURO (not dollars, take note, you North Americans!) draw that's tonight. If we win, you may never see me again... or see me when I come visit from my fancy European home! Haha! As if we're going to win, but it's fun to think about staying here. The small snag: I do have this PhD to finish, and I'm only going into my second year. Hmm. I guess if I had 4.1 million Euros I could have a European home anyway- after all, what would be stopping me? Hahahaha! Oops, sorry.
All right, I'm going to attempt to find my camera cord again. For those of you who are facebook friends, there will be more pictures up there than here, I'm sure, because of the space limitations here. Wish me luck in finding the USB connector.
Back in the Netherlands remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>After lunch, I walked around the square, took many pictures, then headed up to some parks that were on my map. Unfortunately, 2 of them were closed off for some reason, so I decided to take a tour bus ride. It was a good idea - the guy gave me a deal and I got to see so much more than I would have on foot. It was a hop-on/hop-off tour, but since I didn't really have any idea where I was most of the time, I just stayed on. It let me see places I'd like to go back to, like the royal gardens (a park) and the palace (these are right across the street from each other). The tour was commentated, thankfully, so I learned that the palace is open to the public in the summer when the king and queen of Belgium are away on holidays.
We also went past the massive headquarters for the EU (Brussels in the EU capital). There's more than one building, of course, it's a huge collection of buildings, and it was pretty impressive. Not only that they were so big, but that an old city like Brussels was able to find so much room downtown to build these enormous complexes. It was also just neat to see the heart of the EU, since nothing like this exists anywhere else in the world. I think Canada should join the EU - nevermind that it's not actually a European country. Then we could all get EU passports, which would make me happy.
Brussels is just as flat at the Hague, but lacks any of the canals and has much nicer architecture for some reason. There is more stuff that stands out there, but maybe Amsterdam is like that, too, I just can't remember. Almost any available space in Brussels seems to be turned into green space; almost all the meridians on the road were covered with grass and had trees growing in them. So, so much nicer than NJ where everything is just concrete.
We went through a park where a world's fair or expo was held in 1954. Belgium built this huge statue of the internal structure of an atom with 9 protons (?) representing the then 9 provinces of Belgium (now there are 10). They are connected with tubes housing wires, etc, and some of the protons (?) you can actually go into. Really, look at the pictures when I get them up because it's impossible to describe in words. The only other thing left from the fair is the American theatre, which isn't used as a theatre anymore (but I forget what they said it was used for).
After the bus tour, I wandered around another nearby park in the central area of the city. It was small, but nice, with a lot of flower beds, fountains, and trees. Although there was still a lot I could do, I decided to call it quits after that, because it was amazingly hot that day and I didn't have a hat, so I was beginning to feel the effects. I hoped the train back to the Hague, and got back in time for dinner, which was nice.
The next day, Eowyn and I took Maddie to Kinderdike (literally: the child's dike) to see the windmills. There are 19 old style windmills here; most of them are converted into houses, but one is still a tourist attraction and is operational. Apparently, on Saturdays from 2-5 pm in July and August, all 19 run at once, so I'd like to go see that! We didn't have much time there, because Maddie had a party to go to that afternoon, but we were able to eat a picnic outside the windmill and I went inside to explore. It certainly isn't somewhere I'd want to live, because there are so many stairs (more like ladders) and it is old and creaky. Normally old and creaky doesn't bother me but I'm afraid of heights and I felt like I was not quite on solid ground on the upper floors. While I was inside, the wind had died down, so the blades stopped turning, so it was quiet but when I got up to the upper floor, where the blades connect to the inside, the wind picked up again. This makes the whole building shake (or it seems like it anyway!) so I had to go back down, because I was already shaky enough as it was.
All along the dike there are bike/walking paths, so Eowyn and I discussed coming back in the summer with the three kids and Dave and renting bikes, which we can do there. That way, each of us could take a kid on the baby seat of the bike and ride along and see more of the windmills. In the Netherlands, almost everyone bikes, and bikes have the right of way. Most people carry their kids on kid seats on the bikes. Or on the handlebars. Or on the back. Without helmets. I'm not kidding. It's terrifying, but everyone is so used to it here, and the cars know how to deal with it. Everyone in this family wears helmets, and you can usually pick out the North Americans that way. Some Dutch people put helmets on their kids, but don't wear them themselves, which seems silly to me. If you have an accident and your kid lives because of a helmet, but you don't, how is that helpful? But almost no one has accidents here, either, which amazes me, because it all seems like a huge accident waiting to happen. In NJ, it certainly would be, because drivers there have no idea what to do with bikes, and usually just honk (which seems to be the typical NJ driver response to anything anyway). I wish more places were bike accessible like they are here, it's just so easy to get around here on the bike, and it's so much more convenient than driving and trying to find parking.
So tomorrow is the departure day for Africa. I'm just about ready, other than last minute packing and scanning my passports. I hope the next 6-7 weeks go by quickly and are productive.
Brussels remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>After the workshop, we went into the town center and had lunch. As fate would have it, we ended up sitting at a table next to a woman from Calgary who was traveling with her husband for a conference! Since he was working, she was touring around for the day. We had a great talk with her - it's great to run into other Canadians abroad, so when you say "I'm from Alberta" they know where it is, and even know the city in which you lived.
We followed up lunch with a canal boat tour, which would have been better but for the extremely loud teenagers on board with us. Nonetheless, it was great - Delft is the home to the painter who painted Girl with a pearl earring; I wish I remembered his name, but I don't and I'm too lazy to google it. The oldest house there is from the 1500s, to give you an idea of how old the town is, and how amazing and varied the architecture can be.
After the boat cruise, we wandered around, had tea and I took many pictures of the canals and the old buildings. Delft is just so unlike anything we have in North America, even in the east, where most of the buildings seem new because of urban sprawl, or in the west, where most of the buildings are new period. I am thinking more and more that western Europe is where I'd like to end up when I'm finished the PhD (shh, don't say "finished"!). I think I'd prefer the UK or Germany to the Netherlands, but it's all so close together and easily accessible that it almost wouldn't matter!
I will try and post pictures from Delft without using up all my monthly space, although those of you who are friends on facebook can look at all of my photos there. Tuesday I am going to Belgium, to Brussels, by myself for the day, just to look around. I have no particular plans for what I want to see there (other than everything), so we'll see what comes of it!
Delft remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Yesterday was the day I got everything back, and also received a long-awaited package from the US. I would have been able to purchase the soil moisture meter I needed in the US if one of the collaborators on the project had returned my email earlier than 6 weeks after I initially emailed him. I had the moisture meter sent to be by Priority International post. Now, English is my first language, and my understanding of priority is that it means "most important", however, USPS seems to think it means "we'll put it on a plane whenever we remember to do so". When I called to find out where the package was (oh, they also don't provide tracking information for priority packages -wtf?) I was told it could take up to 14 business days. That's regular mail, not priority mail. It's not as if there isn't enough mail going to western Europe for it to make it here in 3 business days.
I've had to purchase a few more things for my project, which is also frustrating, given that I've been waiting to find out what I needed since the beginning of April and didn't find out until I got here, and some things which I was assured would be provided aren't. Thankfully, I got additional funding from my department. I find it frustrating to negotiate the preparations some times, especially when others aren't organized or punctual in their responses. I've never been there, but I get spoken to as if I should know everything already. The reason I'm a student is that I don't know this stuff - if I knew everything I needed to know, I wouldn't be a student anymore, would I? Hopefully everything will come together out there. The upside of having to buy things here is that it's saved me an excess baggage charge from the US to Europe, and since most of my stuff is staying in Africa in the field school storage, I only pay excess charges from Europe to Kenya. I might even be able to get everything extra into a small enough container to bring it on the plane with me. I can only hope.
Next entry will be about Delft, but I thought I'd post the unhappy post by itself.
While in Europe, be sure to visit our lovely repair shops remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>The first day, we arrived and we were able to check into our hotel-apartment. For those North Americans who haven't heard of this, it's a furnished apartment that is rented out like a hotel. I'd not heard of it before this year, but I know Miranda has, and they seem to be fairly common across Europe. It's like a hotel suite, I suppose, but they're called apartments (even in London, not flats). We had lunch there, then wandered around London in the general direction of the Strand, where we were going to a show that evening. We did some shopping, had dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant and then went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat. It was fantastic! I'd seen an amateur production when I was a teenager (I think, sometime around then anyway) but didn't remember much from it. This was a lot of fun, very witty and intelligent, but also great for kids. There was a BBC reality show recently with Andrew Lloyd Weber in which they searched for a new Joseph. The actor we saw, Lee Mead, was the winner of this competition. He was extremely good and fit the role perfectly. Cute, too!
Wednesday we did a bus and a boat tour, which was great. We got to see a lot of things we'd never see in one day on foot, like the palace, the tower of London (I thought it was just a tower - I was so wrong!), the tower bridge, etc. It was good, and the bus was a double decker, so we got to sit up top. That evening we stayed in (I caught a cold, so I had limited energy by the end of the day). Thursday we went to the British Museum to show Maddie the Egyptian museum. She's very interested in ancient Egypt because of Joseph. We did some brass rubbings at St. Martin's on the Field, which was cool. Then we found the original Twinning's tea shop, which was the only disappointing thing about the whole trip. I was expecting a really interesting store, with a huge and varied selection, and shop people who knew everything about tea. Nope! It was small, with a very limited selection (especially in black teas, which is so weird) and the woman had no idea about what the difference between the teas.
We arrived back in the Netherlands on time, despite heavy air traffic over Belgium that threatened to delay us. We were all tired, but we had a great time. I am so impressed with London. I don't think I'd live there, because it's extremely busy (not to mention expensive - Edinburgh is still my number one choice) but I'd definitely go back to visit. I didn't get to have my picture taken with one of the palace guards, so I have at least one more thing I'd like to go do there. (Oh yeah, the weather was beautiful the whole time, too. Sunny and warm every day.)
Pictures coming soon!
London remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Yesterday we had a birthday party for the twins at a local park with a small club house. It was more of a thank-you hosted by Eowyn and Dave for all the help and gifts they've received over the last year. Obviously, the twins won't remember it, and probably didn't care either way. It was a lot of fun, and about 70 people (kids and adults) showed up. Most of the people they know have kids, it's part of how you meet people in the expat community here, I guess! it makes me think how nicely diverse my group of friends is: some married, some with older kids, some with new kids, some with no kids, some single. It's a good mix.
I haven't done many excursions, being bound to the schedules of 2 one-year-olds and a five-year-old in school. But I try and take the twins for a walk at least once a day, and wander around the neighbourhood and see new parks and walk along the canals. The canals here aren't as large as they are in Amsterdam and are often inserted by roads (with culverts connecting them rather than having bridges over them).
Tomorrow I get up bright and early and head back to Schipol in Amsterdam to fly with Eowyn and Maddie to London for a couple of days! We have a full schedule, including going to a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" (which I have seen, but it was an amateur production, and this is not), a visit to the British Museum, some markets and a bus tour. Probably a meal in a pub, too! I've never been to London, so I'm really looking forward to it. It will be the oldest city I've ever been to; it was founded by the Romans in AD 43, and lasted until AD 50 when it was burned down by the Iceni (a Celtic tribe). Although 2000 years is pretty recent by the standards of my field, it is still old for a northern European city, and certainly much older than I'm used to. The city of Edmonton, where I was living before NJ celebrated 100 years in 2004.
I will be sure to take pictures, and I will be adding pictures from the Netherlands very soon!
I am also planning a day trip into France with Eowyn before I leave for Kenya and a day trip into Belgium by myself.
London Calling remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>It's the middle of the night here, which I am seeing thanks to jet lag! I was hoping to avoid it for the most part, because I only slept for an hour on the plane, but my body still thinks it's 10 pm, not 4 am.
Yesterday was the twin's first birthday, which was fun. Dave is away in England on business, so Eowyn had a family friend and her young daughter over for cake, and they are having a bigger party on Sunday, more as a thank you for everyone who has helped out over the past year rather than for the babies, who won't remember anything and probably don't care. They had cake yesterday for the first time. Max loved it, because he loves everything, and Kate was unimpressed, but is a much pickier eater than her brother. They got some clothing from me and some toys from Eowyn's friend.
Well, I have a battery warning on my computer which means digging out the adapter later today, but for now, I am signing off before my computer powers down.
Hooray for jet lag remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>By the way, yes, that is passports plural. I tried to check in on northwest's website using my Canadian passport and I was denied! I had to use my American passport (I'm a dual citizen, for anyone reading this who may not know). I always travel internationally on my Canadian passport. It is easier. Sad but true. One of my cohorts suggested finding out at the airport in Nairobi if it's cheaper to get a visa using the Canadian passport. I will take advantage of whatever perks come along with being a dual citizen. Having the American passport makes it easier to re-enter the US, unless I have cheese, which American customs official seem to really hate for some reason.
I am pretty nervous about leaving - I've been away from home longer than this before, but never to do anything quite so important to my career! And last time I was away for a summer, I dislocated my ankle. Let's all hope nothing like that happens this time! I am looking forward to arriving in the Netherlands and putting the flight (at least the first one) behind me. I hate flying - I'm not afraid of it, but it's so tedious. The whole thing. Checking in, going through security (especially here - why do I need to take my shoes off?), waiting for the plane (being delayed), and then the actual flight. I don't like sitting for that long. At least it's an overnight flight, so I can hopefully get some sleep.
And then: babies! I am visiting my sister and brother-in-law in the Netherlands for 4 weeks. They have a 5-year-old daughter and 1-year-old twins (a boy and a girl). So this will be a working vacation, too, just not school work. Eowyn (my sister) and I are taking my older niece (Maddie) to London for a couple of days while I'm there, too. And abandoning Dave (my brother-in-law) with the twins, although I think he's done it before. I think they are also planning some nights out while I'm there, because they have a built-in babysitter and I do love taking care of the kids.
Right now, I'm just waiting for a load of laundry to be done, then I'll be officially finished the packing. I'm a bit worried my checked baggage will be over the weight limit. I tried to weigh it, but my scale is broken and I think 10 pounds off, so while I think I'm okay, I'm not sure. Did any of the Canadians notice if luggage restrictions are being lowered on domestic Canadian flights? Here, on international flights, we can still have 2 checked bags, but on domestic flights, only 1. That might make traveling back to Canada for Christmas tricky, but that's months from now. Anyway, the people in first class get 3 bags, which seems lame to me. I know they are paying a ridiculous amount of money, but come on. 3 bags per person for 10 people, and one bag per person for everyone else? How about just 2 bags for everyone? Makes way more sense to me. What is it with airlines lately that they seem to hate their customers?
All right, that's about it. Next entry will be from Europe. Wish me luck getting out on time.
Departing remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>All of my drugs and I are pretty much packed to go, at least in terms of field supplies. I still have to pack clothing for Europe, but that will only be a small suitcase that I can take onto the plane with me. I am a bit concerned right now about how much stuff I will have to manage on the return flight. I know my action packer (a heavy-duty Rubbermaid container) will be much emptier on the way back, since all the food I've packed will be eaten and most of the clothes and some equipment I can leave in storage in Nairobi with the rest of the field school stuff, but my problem is that I'm flying into JFK on the way back, which is in New York City, not into Newark. That means I have to negociate the from the airport to Penn Station with an action packer, a hiking packback, a regular backpack and a small suitcase. Good times all around. At Penn station, I have to go down stairs to get to the train platform from the NJ transit holding area (this is where they keep everyone from New Jersey, to separate us from normal people). I probably shouldn't be thinking of this over 3 months in advance, but I am anyway. I was just going to say I've never been away this long in the summer, but that's not true; I was away for 4 months when I worked for Landsong (the summer I dislocated my ankle, which I know most of you remember!) Still, this is different, because I will be on two different continents.
Here's hoping the suitcase situation works out on the way back.
Getting a Cheque remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>For those of you who don't know, I will be in the Netherlands for 4 weeks, then Kenya for 7 weeks, then the Netherlands again for 3 weeks. During my first stop in the Netherlands, Eowyn, Maddie and I will be taking a trip to London for a couple of days. I have a sister, brother-in-law, 2 nieces and a nephew in the Netherlands. In Kenya, I have my PhD field work to begin! Should be fun. And hot. And dusty.
Starting from New Jersey remains copyright of the author melcris, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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