The life and times of Walker

My new blog location for my Tanzania trip

2010-12-08T04:23:00.001+11:00

TanzanianILA.tumblr.com

Letter to my local member

2010-07-19T17:30:00.001+10:00

Dear Anthony,

I am a young and new member of your electorate - I moved here at the beginning of the year to begin studying medicine at the University of Sydney.

I write to you because I am disappointed with how the Government has chosen to treat asylum seekers. While small in number, the discussion - from both Liberal and now from Labor - has presented this group as a threat and as illegal. They are neither. I think this dishonesty reflects badly on you - as a member and as a party - and I think that this electorate realises when it is being lied to, even if other electorates do not. We - and I - will not vote for a Government that lacks any moral courage on such an issue.

Upon inspecting the candidates in the electorate I cannot help but notice that the Greens candidate Sam Byrne has a strong history of supporting the welcoming of refugees to our country; he also is taking a strong stance on Climate Change (another issue the current government has shown moral weakness on). As it currently stands I intend for vote him. However, I am emailing you because I am a believer in many of the values the Labour Party has historically stood for, but I see these as being absent in the current direction of the Labor Party. Basically I want you to convince me that you can do better.

I hope you will relay this sentiment of one young voter to those in your party, I know that I will certainly be relaying it to those in your electorate.

Kind Regards,

Steve Walker

Med. so far

2010-03-08T17:23:00.004+11:00

Med so far has been a mixture of lectures, practicals, and a day in the hospital. I'll tell you a little bit about each of these three things -- just so you get an idea of what my week is like.

Lectures have covered in a wide range of basic science subjects -- Anatomy, Physiology, Histology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Pathology, Genetic Medicine, Pop. Medicine, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry (did I miss any?!). Which are sort of hitting me at every angle. I've joint a study group to help deal with this and that's going fairly well -- we have about 6 of us and between us all have a decent range of experience in most of the subjects listed above. Although the study session that went for 7 hours last week was a little too intense (we covered most of the weeks lecture content), and hopefully next week will be a little better contained.

Practicals have also been fun. At the moment they are just for two subjects: histology and anatomy. Anatomy pracs are particularly fun and I've gone from knowing nothing about anatomy (well I did know where the jugular was -- but that's about it!), to knowing a little (but oh my what a lot more to learn!). In anatomy we get to work with prosections (pre-cut up bodies that reveal the interesting bits) and it's fascinating to see how much humans are just little machines with compartments all doing little reactions -- it's incredible to see, and is already changing how I see people on the street. Histology has been less fun, but still good. Histology is more just looking at slides of different thin layers of the body (such as skin layers, oesphagus, or intestines). I have to say I am glad I didn't stay in Microbio, I get a bit sick of microscopy after a while.

Clinical days are probably the most rewarding and most challenging of the week. While we don't have anything but the most basic medical skills the learning is very hands on; we take patient histories, and do basic physical examinations. Today I took a history of a young (under 30) Egyptian man who had kidney stones. He had had them before and so knew a lot more about it than I did, so that was good that one of us knew what was going on. Really it is a bit of humbling experience being in the hospital -- you constantly (feel like you?) know less than the doctors, nurses, and patients. Nonetheless it is a brilliant way to learn and at the end of the day even though all you have done is listened to people you have done something worthwhile (as often the patients really appreciate someone just listening and caring about them -- the ED is very busy and no one has much time to stop and chat).

Oh and just tacking this one the end, if you are interested in the current state of Australia's treatment of refugees please check out this great lecture on the Rudd govt policy (warning: it is heartrending).

Victoria Park

2010-02-17T21:56:00.009+11:00

Lovers make each other happy in the park,

Buses zoom past driven into the dark,

Bars and pubs they shout and yell,

Still birds and bats compose their symphony,

As the University stands above so ominously.

The humid air drowns the city in its heat,

Pedestrians move homeward bound in slow retreat,

The commercial center has come to rest,

Victoria's values are now just a lark,

Lovers make each other happy in the park.

My apartment

2010-02-16T13:29:00.004+11:00

First Day

2010-02-08T22:02:00.003+11:00

So the first day went pretty well. It was basically a series of talks that revolved around the opportunities the course would open up for us both during this year, during the rest of the course and into our careers. It start at 8am and ran through till 6.30pm. So it was a fairly long day.

One thing that was surprising was the level of educational resources we get as med students--it's far beyond anything I experienced as an undergraduate. The online materials are full videos and have chapters that you can easily flip through, there's a lot more availability of staff, and a lot more thinking put into each unit and how it adds toward the teaching of good clinical/medical skills.

Another thing that surprised me is how involved we are expected to be from the beginning. Tomorrow will be in the clinical school, and while we will have no patient contact, there will be patient contact from next week. I spoke to a 2nd year about this and he was saying how from the very beginning we are getting in there and doing actual medical tasks like giving stitches and so on (with the supervision of the medical staff at the hospital). I find this idea a bit scary to be honest. But really it shouldn't be long till I'm right into it. It seems like great fun and quite the learning curve!

Photos of the Campus

2010-02-05T12:08:00.006+11:00

Here are some more photos. It started to rain so I was interrupted and had to cut the photography short. Nonetheless, I think I got some good photos.

Photos of St Pauls

2010-02-03T16:08:00.011+11:00

Sorry some of the pictures ended up a bit dark and hard to see, I also made them quite grainy by messing with my camera. I'll have another go of it sometime and do a better job. Nonetheless, here they are:

Large window on the main dining hall--it's about 3 meters by 5 meters.

Sandstone in sunlight.

View looking inwards from the front gate of the college.

St Paul's oval (which has been where the Edinburgh Military Tatoo has been practicing for last couple of days).

The driveway into the college.

The Warden's house from the driveway.

The Warden's house from side on.

Where the undergrads relax--we have a fancier one apparently, but I am still waiting on the key to that :-).

A shot out one of the hallway windows.

Desensitisation to blood donation...

2010-02-02T20:13:00.003+11:00

So today I donated blood. I've done that twice now, and like last time I felt ill as the blood rushed from my head and I became dizzy and nauseatious. Because this has happened last time, I had made a plan to deal with this situation before medicine started. So leading up to this latest donation I have been doing a 8 week long densentisation to needles--basically watching a lot of needles going into arms on youtube videos. It even ended with a mock run through of what happens on the day.

All that effort, and yet, unfortunately today the reaction was the same, if not a little worse than last time. This was somewhat distressing as I have been worrying about whether this bad reaction was just the tip of the iceberg, and that underneath it all lay a large fear of blood, needles, etc. However, I have reason to believe this is not the case. As my day wasn't all bad news. When at dinner tonight one of the 4th year med students asked about my day I mentioned how I'd given blood. He immediately told me he couldn't and went on to explain "it made him faint", not because of some phobia but merely because of the change in blood pressure due to fluid loss.

This has put me a bit more at ease about the whole predictament--something in retrospect I seem to have become more stressed about than necessary.

Move to Sydney

2010-02-01T16:29:00.003+11:00

So I just arrived in Sydney yesterday and after spending the night at my sisters have moved in at St Paul's College at Usyd. The drive up was pretty long and tiring but we did stop halfway and visit my two nieces (Lilly and Bindi) and my sister and her husband. That was very nice.

The college is the oldest in Australia and has a original component and a part built over the late 50's and 60's. I am currently staying in a room in this newer section, and its a bit dingy. However, that's just because there is the Edinburough military tattoo here at the moment (practicing on the oval as I write). Once there gone, I get upgraded to a 4 (small) roomed apartment also in this newer section. I am bit sad I am not in the original part of the college, but from what I can see the apartment I have is bigger than anything there. So I haven't done too badly.

So far I have met just one of the permenant residents of St Paul's. Matt, a post-graduate law student, and the sub-warden. His quite friendly and has explained to me the layout and general workings of the college. It seems that as a grad student I get a few more perks, such as very plush and fancy senior students common room, an elevated table at the dining hall, and the aforementioned rooms. All this, and the fact that my scholarship here makes it a cheaper option have tipped the balance toward me staying in college rather than elsewhere--I doubt I would have enjoyed staying here as an undergraduate.

Also I must say I am pleased not to be in the boat of a lot of the other med students I know who are struggling to find accomodation in a tight rental market that is biased against students (and well also those without a rental history).

Once I have unpacked a little more I shall post some photos.

Some more cool photos...

2009-11-06T20:11:00.007+11:00

I've been reminiscing...

And a map of the route we took.

End of a Degree

2009-10-16T16:41:00.003+11:00

One of things I am wondering as I near the end of my degree is what I have learnt. I think from the outset I thought by the end of my degree I would find myself qualified to tackle a set of problems. I don't think this is the case. I do feel a little more equipped. But mostly I feel a lot more aware of how much there is to learn in the fields I have studied. How big and complex the problems are. How naïve I was five years ago. Now I get a sense that I am no genius, and my contributions will be minor, if I have anything to offer at all. It's all a little humbling I guess.

I think another thing I have found is more something that I have not found. It's the realisation that I don't want to work in any areas I have studied so far; that I haven't found something that I have enough passion about to study for the rest of my career. It's not that I don't think the areas I have studied are interesting or important, it's more that I realise now that being an academic is not where I wish to begin. That's another important discovery.

I have also uncovered that degrees are about empowerment. Having a piece of paper with a degree stamped on it in your hand doesn't mean you are able to work in that particular field--even if it has good grades on that sheet of paper in your hand. Degrees should teach you how to engage with a problem, how to go about solving it. The main thing the teach you, shouldn't be the laws of the universe and the 9 secret steps to success. Not even in science. Instead they should be about preparing you to deal with problems as they arise, engaging your mind to deal with an area or topic so that you can contribute something new and useful to that area. Maybe it's different in law or medicine, but even their I think that a degree is only a beginning to a excellent career.

Degrees are also stressful. Especially for people like me, who can get stressed out just by an essay worth 10%. People who are perfectionists that are never satisfied with their work and go mad trying to perfect it. However, this seems to be a decent portion of the people that are at university.

Hmm, so was it worthwhile? I think so. I am about to start another one (hopefully), so I guess I do seem to be acting like I think it is worthwhile. I guess I would say that you should study because you are interested not solely out of career development aspirations. There are surely different ways to get a good career other than a degree. I would recommend them to anyone who doesn't actually like the type of learning suggested above.

That said, all in all, I feel like I am glad to have done my course. I know some interesting and useful things now, and I also know how to find many more things out.

Ups and Downs

2009-07-08T18:16:00.004+10:00

This last few weeks have been a bit all over the place. First exams, then holidays. Feeling sad, then feeling great. Its been strange but I'm on the up at the moment, which is good. Today was an especially good day. I booked a holiday to Sydney to see my sister, something I have been wanting to do for a while now. I also worked in the lab and my whole experiment was a success, meaning I haven't spent the rest of the week or so setting it up for no reason! Life has been generally busy, but unfortunately I haven't felt so inspired to write much in my blog. I think I need some more comments from people and inspiration for myself. I do however have a lovely picture, one I have been meaning to upload for a while now. Oh and a not so lovely picture too (but one that proves I rode from Adelaide to Melbourne)!

Plains

2009-06-27T22:16:00.000+10:00

Upon the plain of Shinar, upon the plain, we build with stone. We place them on another's back. And as he carries the stone to its place, we yell and chant, religiously. The whip cracks, and mercilessly the carts plough on. Our success is certain, our future defined, not for you or for me, but for us.
But this faith is a void, it is not the bond between men that we worship. It is the bound Man. The bound God. The bound King. We lift this King to praise him not because of his qualities, but because he is our King. Ours, owned, made, mannequin, idle, idol.
The whole is not the sum of its parts, it is less. For the whole speaking with one voice, condemns and crushes, this is why we have many voices. To speak many parts of truth. There is no Truth. But there are truths.

Today in the Philosophy section of the Bookstore

2009-05-25T22:48:00.003+10:00

I sat and browsed through a whole range of books. Its strange to think of all the lives spent devoted to different topics of sometimes quite abstract problems.

Then on the train home I listened to a new favourite of mine, the ABC's Philosopher's Zone. It discussed the importance of understanding a philosopher's life to understanding their philosophy. Somehow this seemed just, that we the present who have benefited from all the devotion of previous philosophers, should return the favour--in some ways--by devoting some of our time to discovering who they were and where there ideas might have sprung from.

Anyway, the radio discussion was centred on the lives of two great philosophers. Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein, both British, both known for their skepticism. However, the interviewee was making the point that Wittgenstein actually had been misrepresented by some philsophers as a logical positivist, and that while he held positivist-ic views on language he was also a mystic and inspired by the religious.

For all you who have switched off once the topic of school's of philosophy was broached, don't fear, I am no master of these ideas either, but still I will try and explain a little. Wittgenstein was thought to be arguing that we can't speak meaningfully of anything that we can't empirically test (i.e. if you can't point to the thing you are describing, then you are talking gibberish). Instead, however, Wittgenstein was saying that these are the topics we can logically deal with, but he in no way excluded a mystical/spritual realm from existing. He closed his book by saying "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent", and he meant by this--contra the positivists--not that the silent things we should ignore, but merely we cannot master them by thought or reason. Such an interesting thought.

This brings up another thought in my mind: as a student, I spend a lot of time reading different authors, and I guess the way the disciplines segment knowledge means you only meet the author of a piece on one particular topic (or a few if you have read them before). But this leaves so much out, and I guess I wonder if we need that more biographical approach--to test the measure of a person by knowing something of their biography, their life, their passions, &c. is not as entirely irrelevant to their ideas as we sometimes assume.

Results are in

2009-05-24T18:45:00.002+10:00

For those of you who haven't heard: I got the result to my Gamsat and I ended up with a score of 71 which equates to being around the top 2% (**Steve beams a large--maybe a little proud--smile**). This means I should get an interview at Usyd, and hopefully will be heading up there next year to start Medicine.

Its been a stressful wait as I actually didn't think I had done that well, because it was a tough exam. Definitely has been a relief to finally get the result. Anyway, big thanks to Tim and Catherine who hosted/helped in my study and to Katie for all her efforts at study-inducement and her Organic Chem 101 course.

On Betrayal...

2009-05-13T12:07:00.006+10:00

I just finished reading the most amazing commentary on a series of letters a "follower" of Immanuel Kant wrote to him, and his replies. They capture an inconsistency between his thought and action, and are an amazing concise discussion of this concept of betrayal. They have a certain amount of "weighty-ness" to them as they are things that actually happened, lives affected by the philosophy of Kant--I do believe that historical events always do have that extra gravitas than the made up illustrations that philosophers often use. I highly recommend this reading, they urge the reader toward integrity through the moral that becomes clear through the dialogues. I felt, upon reading them, a real resonance not just with the commentary but with the reality of the whole scenario.

Here they are.

Starting a new job

2009-05-11T17:42:00.003+10:00

Tomorrow I am starting a studentship in the Microbiology department. I am going to be doing a research project in the Kent lab around something to do with HIV vaccine development. I am not exactly sure what, but maybe something around different types of immune responses in HIV.

Meanwhile, I just got back a paper that I wrote, in which I argue that HIV is best dealt with not by focusing on new developments but by dealing with current inequalities of the world system. I know this is a bit conflicting but I do believe there are merits to both approaches.

The essay is here. If you are interested.

Being grateful...

2009-05-08T19:20:00.003+10:00

I'm a pretty critical person, I like to know the answers to things, and I like to argue. These things mean I am not always the best at being grateful or saying thank you. Its a shame. Because really I have many people who have taught me a lot in my life, many people who have picked me up when I was down (sorry for the clichéd saying), and many people who have cared what I think, feel, do, believe in, care about, and attempt to achieve.

A blog post can't make up for all these omissions obviously. But perhaps you will recognize a thank you, and feel some of the appreciation you deserve. Or maybe, even, it will be a bit of turn-around for me just writing this, and if that helps me to be more grateful it will also be worthwhile. We will see.

I think that the picture that sometimes comes to mind when I consider the people who have helped me in my life is that of an angel. Not one of those wimpy white clothed fairy-like puffs of light. A sage. A messenger. A guide. I sometimes think of those people who have stepped into my life as all of those things.

So is that you I am talking about? I don't know whose reading this, but it is quite possible. If you have loved me when I was really in need of love, then yes. If you cared for me when I was depressed by giving me a kind word, a piece of positive advice, or even just some comraderie, then yes.

But I can be even more specific than that (but not too specific!).

Thank you to the person who always shared deep and meaningful conversations with me when I was depressed. The ability to talk and think and reflect with another mind is truly sacred. Every thought and every moment may not be perfect. But its in these shared moments I have found so much more energy to draw upon.

Thank you to the person who has been a open and considerate friend (and lover) to me. Your kindness and love is not only in the amazing things you do for me, but also in all those things you make sure to omit. Freedom from manipulation and deep consideration about how you act is a very loving gift. As are all the other things we share. Thank you.

Thank you to the friends who I met in my loneliness in Africa. Your friendship, insights, and just warm and relaxing personalities helped me to find a new place in the world. A more human form of myself. I loved how we talked philosophy, how we had this feeling that the answer was always imminent and beautiful. This aesthete of thought is a thing I still seek, I hope you do too. Thank you.

Thank you to the complex person who was never boring and always exhilarating. Your mind amazes me. Your abilities are enormous, and sometimes I felt dwarfed by them. But you never tried to do this. I am glad I met you and glad that so many moments were shared. These seem to be a sort of golden age for me in some ways. I thank you.

Thank you to three other persons all who have been friends and people to bounce ideas off. Your thoughts are (nearly) always stimulating and, I don't know how to express this, but I just love to share thoughts. They are like a good meal to me. It's an act of hospitality to share them. Your thoughts are--if I may extend the analogy--a food that gives me a fair amount of sustenance and enjoyment. Thank you.

I can't put everything I want to say all in to the words that seem fitting. I guess that sometimes its up to other deeds to express it all. Yet I still hope these "thank you's" capture at least some of the deep appreciation I have for all of you. If in doubt, its probably you, or at leastapplicable to you, and I want be upset if you claim a "thank you" you think you deserve. Chances are, you probably do.

Gamsat is done!

2009-03-21T20:10:00.002+11:00

I just finished the GAMSAT (the graduate entrance exam for medicine). It has three parts: social reasoning, a two essays to write from a two sets of quotes, and a physical and biological sciences reasoning section. It was a hard slog. It took 8 hours for the whole deal, about 6 hrs of it actually in the exam hall. Overall I think I did okay, but it was really tough (especially the last section). It will be great to have the chance to relax a bit now and wait for the results in May.

1 hour 48 minutes and 26 seconds

2009-02-03T09:31:00.003+11:00

Puts me in 338 place according to Supersprint. Apparently there were 820 or so people who competed in the race. I came 6th in my division and achieved four of my five goals (the last one was a little unrealistic). It took me 18 minutes for the 800 meter swim (my weakest leg), 50 minutes for the 26 km bike ride, and 35 minutes for the 8 km run.

I was completely and utterly ruined afterwards. I was however very happy with the effort and I am now thinking about doing another race sometime in the future (maybe even doing the whole season of races next year). It was possibly the most physically tired I have ever been, I found it a fairly demanding race, but it was a lot of fun.

Triathlon

2009-01-28T18:06:00.003+11:00

So its a hot couple of days in Melbourne. 40 degrees for a few days running. This is impeding my ability to train for the triathlon I am competing in on Saturday. Its only a short race so hopefully I will be in good enough shape to make it through, and I am also hoping the weather holds off a bit so its not to hot on race day.

The race is a 800m swim, 28km cycle, and a 8km run. My goals for it are as follows, in order of priority:

1. Finish the race.

2. Not come last.

3. Not finish the swim leg last (I am really quite a bad swimmer)

4. Overtake a bunch of people on the bike and run legs (my stronger legs)

5. Come first in the "first timers" division of the race.

So yeah the first 3 and maybe the 4th are realistic. The first and second are the ones that are important to me. But yeah I would just like to finish and enjoy the race. So hopefully I can do both of those things. Maybe with this heat I should add at number 1, not faint/suffer heat exhaustion. But meh. I'll let you know how it all goes.

A year of change

2009-01-17T12:37:00.002+11:00

So january is usually a time for a bit of reflection; a time to recollect and work out exactly what has been and what will come, in terms of the year past and the new one arriving.

This new year is exciting for me, and I already have some things planned: a triathlon, a med entrance exam, and a bike ride from adelaide to melbourne. I also have some things that are in the works still: a bike ride from Russia to France and hopefully some research work around disease in the developing world.

I think that this past year has also been one of enormous change in my life. And as such I have really spent this month (and the past few actually) reviewing and interpreting (and re-interpreting) it all. A philosopher I have been reading called Alisdair MacIntyre notes how we cannot move on from an idea until we find a new idea by which we can explain our former idea and add something new. Essentially this has been what I have been struggling to do in the last few months. Let me explain in a bit more concrete terms.

This last year I have moved away from my Christian faith toward a position of agnosticism. And I have also broken up from a relationship in which I had a lot of my ideas invested. I also have felt a strong level of self-doubt in my abilities "to be the change I want to see in the world". All of these changes have forced me to re-interpret the world, and I struggle to see how to find a place where I can look back at the past knowing that I have not only changed, but that I have learnt and grown. At times it only feels like loss. A loss of faith, a loss of relationship and a doubt in oneself.

I guess that this learning to understand the past is a bridge to the future for me. These losses have caused deep rifts to form and it takes time for things to re-solidify. However, in this time of flux I think that its important to make choices that are honest to the facts (ie don't forget the past or ignore the present) and also that show I have learnt from the past. Ultimately if I don't manage to do both these things then I could be stuck in an endless cycle where life travels in circles and not into places of deeper understanding.

So yeah, I don't hope that this year will be an easier year than the one past. I don't have any control over some of the changes that will happen to me. And therefore to hope for things to be good is a bit of wishful thinking. Instead it is my hope that I can take the time to learn from those challenges. That is something that I can choose to do. Therefore I look forward to the new year and I hope you do too.

A list... stolen from kimbo.

2008-12-22T18:19:00.003+11:00

1. Started my own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than I can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a preying mantis

10. Sung a solo - I don't want to, nor does anyone else want me to (I'm pretty off key).

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched lightning at sea

14. Taught myself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - they had it closed off on the day I was there.

18. Grown my own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train -- i have not slept on an overnight train... in Kenya,

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked -- as good as, used a CB to hail a truckie for a lift from my then broken down car in Dubbo.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - oh too often.

24. Built a snow fort -- and had a snow fight from it, what's more..

25. Held a lamb

26. Been skinny dipping.

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run -- primary school rounders!

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught myself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Been to Parliment House in Canberra.

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had my portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain.

53. Played in the mud.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia -- 6 months time I think.

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma -- Malaria may exclude me?

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp -- probably will, but its not exactly a tourist park is it...

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Sydney Opera House

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt -- I contributed to one.

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job -- would mean I had a job.

76 Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.

78. Been on a speeding scooter

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had my picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -- Chicken.

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life -- again, not sure on this one. Like it means someone nearly died... not a good thing.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby -- hmmm.

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee -- many, many, times because I attacked a nest with a piece of PVC piping at 5 y.o.

100. Ridden an elephant

Yes this is a very lazy post... I am sorry. And yeah bold is I have done it, italic is I want to, and plain... well, its plain.

Back from some holidays... ready for more holidays!

2008-12-08T19:17:00.002+11:00

Just had a lovely week down at Rye. There were 8 of us in total down there. All Micro and Sciencey people like me. Great weather made for a few perfect days at the beach. I managed to do a 2km swim across the Rye beach... triathlon training perhaps if I can find a triathlon to do... We also had a cocktails night, a massive BBQ fry-up and lots of episodes of House (to balance out the healthy exercise with some unhealthy food and holidaying laziness).

I also have been up in Gundagai for a few days to have an early family christmas. My sister is off for a whirl-wind world trip (I love the way those words run off the tongue) so she won't be around on the actual day. Its such a great town. And for those who would like to visit, my sister runs a historic cottage as fantastic bed and breakfast place (where we stayed). My family is placing bets on which one of us is next to be married. Its funny. I'll list the table when I can, apparently I am in second (the table is actually our family and my bro's wife's). I am not sure how right they are about this position, because I am not ready to take the red colours.

Anyway, aside from all that. I have 2 very cute rapidly age-ing nieces (by that I mean they are nearly school age!) and 1 little tiny dribbling nephew that are great fun. We also did a 13 k kayak down the Murrumbidgee. Its a really lovely river; a lot better than the creeks we get in VIC. If I can get my hands on a video of all of us down on the river I might post it here.

Exams and study ... Liberalism and Christianity

2008-11-20T14:10:00.010+11:00

So I've finished exams. Which is exciting. I only had 2, so it wasn't too tough really; I barely studied for the second one. Just one more essay to write now and then I will be all done. Then its time for some holidays and maybe some summertime work if I can find some.

In procrastination for this essay I've been just reading some random things. I'm not usually like this, but even though I've struggled to find focus, at least I did manage to find an interesting sermon. It was given by Harry Emerson Fosdick and is entitled "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?". Fosdick was a liberal Baptist minister in the 1920's in the US. And he gave this sermon as a response to the worrying rise of fundamentalism.

In it he makes an interesting distinction between conservatism and fundamentalism in the piece. He observes that while all fundamentalists are conservatives the reverse is not true. He differentiates them on their methods rather than beliefs. He does not oppose those who hold conservative views, but those who chose to hold them in a fundamentalist way. He says that "the best conservatives can often give lessons to the liberals in true liberality of spirit, but the Fundamentalist program is essentially illiberal and intolerant." This distinction is important today; especially for those in the Anglican church. It gives a helpful way of understanding the Australian situation as fundamentalists such as Jensen mirror the practices of the contemporaries of Fosdick. He seems to be speaking through the ages (okay its not been that long since 1920) to today.

This sermon caused a rift in the First Presby Church in NY where Fosdick was a minster. The fundamentalists had him expelled and he went on to found the Riverside church with funding from Rockefeller. Riverside was founded as a interdenominational church and Fosdick as its leader challenged much of the racism of his day and was also a campaigner for peace. Throughout its history it has been the site of many famous events. Most notably it was where MLK spoke out against the Vietnam war. The speech entitled "Beyond Vietnam" was give on the day exactly one year before his assassination. Nelson Mandela on his return to the US after being freed from prison also gave a sermon there.

Last year I attended the church in the US where Fosdick was the founding father. Its still today a strong, vibrant, and liberal church. The Sunday I went a firey sermon on the need for Christians to seek justice was given (entitled "A basket of summer fruit"; based on Amos 8:1-12 and John 15:12-17). Part of the sermon spoke out at the injustices of the Iraq war. This was particularly interesting as the audience consisted of around 200 Naval officers who had just returned from service in Iraq. The congregation was one of the most inter-racial of all the churches I visited in the US and this was its second testament to Fosdick's work there.

To finish I would like to use a quote that Fosdick says in the sermon that got him booted. In many ways his life's work ended was the substantiation of what he has said here.

I would, if I could reach their ears, say to the Fundamentalists about the liberals what Gamaliel said to the Jews, “Refrain from these men and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be everthrown; but if it is of God ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God.”

It is clear that our leaders need to be people of not only the right words but also those of the right actions. Fosdick was therefore a true leader in my book.

Choice Music

2008-11-14T19:09:00.010+11:00

So its been requested. And usually I wouldn't cave to peer-pressure (actually I do all the time). But I do think its time for a music blog. So I am going to make list of albums that I think are superb (other superlatives etc.) and why they appeal to me.

Okay. Honestly I am going to try and go easy on the superlatives and instead say what they do for me in that music-takes-you-places-sort-of way.

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco.

Was written in 2001 by a Chicago band. They have a country kind of feel to them, but their lyrics are more of the eclectic/alternative variety. I think that its a rare album that takes you through a journey, and this is one that does it for me. Its rare because to take you places it has to sort of develop not only the right songs but also the right flow from one song to another. This album does that by opening with a sort of slow melodic track moving to more upbeat tunes and mixing them beautifully with some more deep sounds. I'm not sure how it achieves it. But there is definite story there. I guess its always hard to articulate exactly what music does, and thats especially true for this sort of CD. Jeff Tweedy, the singer, has lyrics that are hard to pin down, its never explicit what he is singing about. But I sort of like that subjective edge to the sound; its sort of creative and warm, and melancholy, and reflective all rolled into a single album. Its like all good stories, the moral shouldn't be too clear, it needs to be imbedded within a believable and interesting narrative to be enjoyable. This album has that sort of narrative. Special favourites on the CD are: Jesus, etc., War on War, and Heavy Metal Drummer.

2. Either/Or - Elliott Smith.

Elliott Smith was a sad man. He was one of those people who always struggled through life. Drug addictions, alcohol, depression, and finally his self-caused death which happened when he stabbed himself in the chest with a meat cleaver. Yet his songs aren't bitter and they aren't depressive (although they are sad and dark sometimes). I feel this CD is less enigmatic, its folk sound and lyrical style make it a lot more transparent. Its charm isn't in its complexity. The slow guitar and lyrics are all pretty straightforward in their approach. Its charm lies in that the sound has a real soul to it, an honesty that comes from the way that Elliott writes and how he sings. I guess I also like this album--above others by Elliott--for its reference to Søren Kierkegaard (Elliot Smith was a philosophy and political science student at College).

3. Bloc Party - Bloc Party

Bloc Party's CD balances this list a bit for me. This is because while I have for some reason found all the CDs I like most at the moment are slow and melancholy, thats really not me, or at least thats not all of me. I like alt rock music--and Bloc Party do a pretty fine job about this. I guess I could give this explanation to my appreciation of alt rock: I am also someone who is out there (the alternativeness) and capable of being impassioned about things (the edgy passionate rock side of things). However I don't know if I completely buy that sort of identification of myself in music--I think it might be a bit umm err over-analytic and just plain wrong. Nevertheless I do love this CD, and thanks to Kim who bought me a legit copy... it lived in my volvo for a long time, and really was the soundtrack for that car in many ways.

4. Sound of Silver - LCD System.

Alternative mixed with dance beats. Its sort of got that punky edge--and its quite a sharp edge. I do love this CD, just for how it makes you just want to get up and dance. But at the same time its creative, its not a simple beat sound: its got lyrics, and those lyrics don't have that sleazy feel that so many dance bands have (ala every common dance band). I think that "Someone Great" is worth particular mention--a dancey song about lamenting someones death... "wow thats incredible" I hear you say, and yes, I agree. The "When someone great is gone" echo over chemical sounding beats just gets me. And "North American Scum" is another cracker. Its defense of Americans getting looked down for their lack of "culture" . I really agree with the sentiments of this song: the sort of elevation of anything to being European as being superior is a bit ridiculous. To tackle that with a humorous edge is cool... respect, much respect. This album is just full of surprises, things that haven't been touched much by bands playing with these sorts of electronic sounds.

My Birthday and my... New Bike!

2008-11-02T10:59:00.003+11:00

So now I am 22. Next year my birthday will be my 23rd and it will be on the 23rd, which is kind of cool. Anyway it was a really quiet birthday this year. But that's okay, I just had dinner and went out to a movie with my family (+1 facebook friend)... Saw the new movie with Simon Pegg. It was a bit of let down after the excellent, critically acclaimed (haha) Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Hollywood-ization of Britisher's (a new demonym I coined) humour often fails--eg. The Office, Mr Bean in America, etc. And the whole male-genitalia-on-a-woman joke really is a bit crass/shock humour for me.

I just ordered my new bike at the local bike store. Its a Trek 520. Its shiny and pretty--pretty expensive too :-(. But it should be a good friend to me on the long day rides across Europe I am planning for the up and coming year (yes, Tim R, if you are reading, you should be a good friend across Europe too). As I have recently got my Grandpa's old car working its good to upgrade my bike so I again say "that my bike is worth more than my car" (this of course was an easier feat with my 350 dollar 1975 Volvo).

Getting respect on a single speeder

2008-10-15T21:04:00.002+11:00

So this past Sunday I did a bit of epic (epic by my proportions) bike ride. 150 km on the bike is far regardless of your gear options. This was made all the more difficult by the fact I was riding with some fairly quality riders from Melbourne Uni. The cracking pace and the wind didn't help.

Because the guys were pretty decent riders I kept a (Dungeon and Dragon style) scoreboard on what gets you and what loses you respect:

1. Because you will be riding a single speeder you automatically get a decent amount of kudos (+5)

2. However, also because you are riding a single speeder, you will probably struggle to keep up. Falling behind the peloton is not cool. You become a straggler (-4).

3. Having a super minimalistic bike may means you don't carry water or a pump. Therefore when you get super-dehydrated you go red in the face and need to stop at the drink taps (-2).

4. Hand gestures. Hand gestures. These are the key to the cycling world, some of the key ones are the left hand on the back when riding in the peloton. This signals that you are moving to your right and lets the guy behind you know. The second one is to put your hand straight down and make a stop gesture when you're slowing so the guy behind doesn't crash into you. Ability to pick these up is essential, and I didn't do too badly (+1).

5. Final task is to finish the ride. I just managed (+1).

So yeah, you can figure out if I missed any accounting of my ride. Yes, I know, I am a bit of a nerd. But what can I do...

Joy and Loss

2008-09-17T22:22:00.003+10:00

Losing things can be tough. I've lost two cars, a community of friends, a relationship, parts of my independence, and some of my mental health this year. Its caused me some serious grief. I guess I feel some sort of "why me" about it all. And a bit of a desire to hold on to these things.

Its funny because I think its because I feel like all of these things sort of made me who I am. I liked these things and people. I identified in them. That's good. And that's hard to lose. But it's not all bad. It's in losing these things I've had a bit of a contrast to see that I didn't need these things to be me. That's been nice to know that. More than just nice, its been freeing and joyful.

Its like clearing away everything has given more contrast to the things that deeply matter to me. I still miss all those things, but the contrast is important, its centering. I don't know quite how to capture it. Its like a character in a book I read once said "do we see the beauty despite the pain, or because it". I guess I see some reasons why it might be the latter.

Spring and an end to depression.

2008-09-14T22:30:00.004+10:00

Its been a while between posts again. Apologies all. I've been a bit depressed the last few months. And well this month has probably been the icing on the cake. Its interesting though. Tonight I had a sort of spiritual moment. In the midst of this pain, I think that I have made a decision to see it through. Wait for a new season, so to speak.

I don't know what inspired me to commit to such a thing. I made the decision while walking home late in the evening from the station. Maybe it was the freshness of spring air -- that always is a bit nostalgic for some happy moment in my past (not sure which). Maybe it was the resolve that arises after the period of contemplation is over. Maybe it was just the anti-depressants starting to work.

However, whatever it was I think that this resolve that I felt so galvanised by is important. I've always been such a stubborn person. And the decision to overcome this has been a difficult one to make. Having made it I know that I will make it out the other side. It won't just happen because I've made the decision. But I feel like a corner has been turned. Its a spiritual thing for me, but I don't want to explain it in too spiritual language. I think that might just confuse it all the more.

I guess the best way of explaining it is that I am an introvert. And that the things going on on the insides of me shape how I see the outside world. Deciding to alter the inside stuff is difficult. But now I know that I have the energy. And well that energy to me is a gift from God. The grace to be able to see life and beauty again after a period of darkness and loss.

Oh God, I hate how this all sounds a bit too sappy and cliche'd. I guess this post is me sharing an important moment, and its hard to explain it in any words. I think its maybe okay to be a bit sappy from time to time. As long as its genuine. Which it is.

To Blog or not to Blog?

2008-05-14T14:21:00.002+10:00

Okay. I need some crowd participation. I want to know whether I should spend some time blogging again. I am back in Australia, and well, probably going to be there for a while now. I am trying to figure out if I should keep blogging, and if so on what. I can make it just a general travel log, or a blog of my ideas, or I can just keep it all random like it is now. Or I could do something else?

Anyway I need your feedback. Vote for more blog by leaving me a comment suggesting what I should write about. Vote for less blog by not commenting and I will get the message!

Choice

2008-03-23T20:25:00.003+11:00

I lie on my bed. A moment of zen, between contentment and aloofness. This disconnectedness reminds me of the great freedom I have--to create, to destroy, think, act-- to do these things as a matter of choice. To not be compelled into action allows real choice. So in this moment I choose to sit and enjoy the chance to reflect. I have done this so rarely, I usually rush from cause to effect and never get the chance to dwell at cause. Examining all the causes I could become enables me to appreciate their effect when it comes--it gives me consciousness of my creativity.

Look y'all, it's George's house...

2007-08-09T00:01:00.000+10:00

Photos of NYC and Washington, D.C...

Summer so far...

2007-08-02T11:15:00.000+10:00

Hmm... I have really felt a lot less inspired to post my thoughts, feelings, reflections and general happenings this year. And as a result I have not. The ones I have posted have felt a little weak or lacking in substance. I'm not exactly sure what this lethargy is due to, but I have a few culprits...

This year has been hard for me, draining me emotionally and leaving a bit of a shell of the inspired boy I (felt I) was last year. Sometimes I am left to feel old even though I am still young. A part of this has been the fact that I have been less reflective and less sure of what I will find when I give myself the time to be alone, and "find" myself. Its sometimes scary to look inside and be unsure if what stares back through the mist is anything constructive, cogent or complete. Its a bit like someone who knows nothing about anatomy watching a dog chasing its tail, as I'm hardly sure which came first. I could point at one, but it is as likely to be the tail as the head.

I've always liked the quote of Thom Yorke that says something about the only problem with trying to win the ratrace is that you've got to be a rat. Its a confusing thing to be thrown into a world of wealth and privilege like this, especially after a year in such a feeling of solidarity with the poor. I guess a big part of me feels that this is the place to gain the skills to do something valid and something worthwhile. But how do you dine with the devil and not end up his chopstick? I feel repulsed by the idea of being sucked into a world of privilege, my soul rebels against the idea of becoming complicit, at one with the system that has left so many excluded, another in-house critic.

Summers nearly over. I am still here, still working, still thinking and still me. I hope to stay me, to stay on the journey to who I was made to be. We all need renewal on that journey and we never were doing it alone, we never could.

_______________________________________________________

Here's the essay on the Grameen I said I would post. And no, I don't think they're all bad. Just its no wonder cure!

On the American political discourse...

2007-06-17T13:15:00.000+10:00

Its interesting to watch as things heat up here for the upcoming Presidential elections. I have been spending a little bit of my time researching and reading, thinking and praying for America's political situation.

One thing that has struck me hardest has been that within the few seconds that it takes for the candidates pages I can already tell which side of the political divide they sit on. Neo-con's have pages plastered in Americana, Neo-libs less so but still present while Democrats their own distinctive less flamboyant layout. I even begin to wonder if Hillary and Barack had the same web design company do their pages?

Aside from the humor of this, their lies a deeper question. The question of whether in a country where politician have to fit a certain stereotype can their be an actual democratic outcome to elections? And has the marketing of truth become more important than truth itself? Is their any hope for God's redemption of this system, let's hope and pray...

Finals

2007-05-11T05:39:00.000+10:00

So the semester has passed quickly and now the finals are approaching. My first one is today, thus the reason why I am procrastinating. Its been a pretty eventful, tiring, inspiring, challenging and confusing semester but I feel that through it all I have kept most of my sanity.

Three things I have learnt are that; firstly realising that one year from study makes for a hard adaption, secondly that I need more than an average of 3 hours sleep per a night and thirdly that you don't always end up close to the people you expect to be close to. I suppose I have learnt some stuff in my classes too, especially my Development Sociology class... like for instance not to argue with the professor if you want a good grade.

Some fun things have been getting the chance to see real snow, have another cultural experience and a mad weekend in NYC. More importantly, its been the people I have met so far that have made this time important. So once I am done with my 4 exams, I look forward to getting to relax some more with my friends.

Adventures in Utah

2007-03-25T05:48:00.000+10:00

So I have just gotten back from a trip to Utah. I left last Thursday and skipped some classes so I could make it over to Michigan to road trip from there to Moab, Utah. At Michigan I met up with Jon my friend from Kenya and some other guys from his school. And off we headed to Moab, which is the land before the promised land biblically, in Utah it happens to be the mountain biking capital of US. Its a fantastic place to get away from all the things that have been clouding my mind over the last 8 weeks of semester.

We originally went for some hiking and camping but we also did some mountain biking and amateur rock climbing. The thing I most enjoyed was a mountain biking trail called Slickrock trail which is an amazing trail up and down very steep sandstone rock. If you picture the mental image you have of the Grand Canyon you probably aren't far off (it was similar to my mental picture at least).

On the last night there we headed out into Arches National Park, which is the home of one of Utah's state icons: "The Delicate Arch". The afternoon light slowly faded into a beautiful sunset with the red's of the sandstone being illuminated. It was amazing to sit at the top of the escarpment with canyon's all around and wait for the day to end. The surrounding rugged terrain somehow acts as a wake-up call to how insignificant we are at the geographic scale. I couldn't even move one of the smaller of the sandstone boulders into place to create an arch of such beauty.

With the sunset came the stars and while they were less impressive than the stars I saw in a clear night in Africa it again came with the great release of being outside and out of the complexity of Ithaca life.

As I write this I am actually procrastinating from the work that I have been set for my spring break. It will get done eventually I suppose, but it's sure nice to have a little perspective of the US outside of the soul grinding machine that is Cornell.... Cornell's really not that bad I suppose. That said, time to get back to it.

Mutunga Patnership Article

2007-03-06T15:19:00.000+11:00

Here is an article about me. I wrote it about my time in Kenya, its talking just a little about my experiences there, you should also check Mutunga out they're the NGO which is publishing the article... they are doing some fantastic work.

I am actually doing a research paper building from the thoughts that came from some of the things I saw with Mutunga. They are a micro-finance group and provide small loans to the poor with the aims of helping them access the wealth creation opportunities brought with market involvement.

Micro-finance as a method of development is tried and tested, and shown to be a great way of helping people gain basic needs. However I'm particularly interested to know what are the limitations of micro-finance to bring access to services and what conditions are necessary for this concept to bring about its objectives.

Perhaps I will put my paper up when its complete.

Colonialism: The Historical and Present Injustice

2007-02-24T08:08:00.000+11:00

It matters not
What they have got,
We have the Maxim
And they have not

- Hilaire Belloc

This is a short poem written by a European commenting on the disregard for life in which the colonial project was enacted in Africa. I read this and thought of this book cover I saw yesterday. It strikes me (and many) that a new colonial project has been built, and it is no better than the mistaken past attempt.

The questions of justice for the least are still not being heard. Can we really see the world as progressing or has just the exploitation changed to a more insidious form. Doesn't the poor farmer still face the same ruthless exploitation now through the hands of the trans-national corporation rather than the Colonial power?

The problem remains that of the legitimisation and structuralisation of the power abuse, and it will recur. We believe the lie that it is only "market" forces that cause the Bangladeshi sweatshop worker to earn far less than the Western designer. But is there any difference, any greater right to the benefits of wage for the American than the Bangladeshi?

No, these words are just words - mere excuses - and when they are boiled away what is left is the same injustice of before... and while its certainly ridiculous to think of the past with nostalgia, it is equally ludicrous to see the present with the same nostalgia. What future lies will we believe before we seek a more just world for all?

Hmm just finished the book by Arundhati Roy with the pictured cover above. In the book she's poorly reasoned and just ends up sounding like a grumpy and disgruntled cynic. I really disliked the book, although I thought some of her criticisms were valid, the way she posited them made her hard to listen to. Her lack of real alternatives kept getting me frustrated and the way she criticised those who were trying to work for a fairer world was plain immoral (ie NGO's). I don't think that anyone should read her book, its all rhetoric and no recommendation, not a single thing called me to action.

Snow Day!

2007-02-16T04:13:00.000+11:00

Cornell called its first snow in 14 years. It was too dangerous for anyone to be at school, so we went sledding. Here's a sweet video that someone put up on youtube, this is the slope near our Coop.

I'll try and get some photos up of our adventures, but this gives you some idea of what things went down. We are under about 2 feet of snow, its been fun! When I got back from sledding a took of my wind jacket and there was a layer of snow, then I took of my undercoat and there was a layer of snow, then I took of my jacket and there was a layer of snow then I took of my jumper and there was a layer of snow, then I took of my shirt and there was a layer of snow and then I took off my thermal shirt and there was a layer of snow... as you can see I had a few layers on.

Oh yeah and yesterday was Valentine's day... we had matchmakers in the house and had a Valentine's night games.

First the Von Cramm Coop under heavy snow.The actions on the slope.
Another photo of the slope (sorry about it being horizontal).Me in the middle of a run.
Me and Emilie at the bottom of a run (we flipped out and then took a photo)!

Australia Day

2007-01-29T09:23:00.000+11:00

Hmm. Well Australia day was celebrated a full 24 hours past when it began in Australia. Nonetheless it still went well. I managed to make it to house party of one of the students and it was pretty fun. Must say it wasn't particularly Australia to have it snow and have a snow fight for Australia day but it was fun!

Aside from that, I have been studying a lot (maybe 4+ hours a day) and trying to get accustomed to University life in the US. We had a large cleanup of our Co-op which lasted all of Saturday and in which we managed to clean near on every room. It was intense.

After that I've been feeling a little sore and tired but it was definitely worthwhile. The Von Cramm which is a three storey building has a tool shed, living room with fireplace (and many leather-bound books!), industrial-sized kitchen and some other cool stuff. It was built in 1956 and has burnt down once or twice since, apparently these days its built so you couldn't burn it down if you tried.

Anyway. Keep in touch. I'll try and tell you anything you ask me on blogger. Otherwise I guess I'll say I've made a few good friends and looking forward to some aspects of the year but am feeling daunted by the workload. I am doing modern African history, Microbio labs and lectures, General parasitology, Kiswahili Grammar and International Development for my subjects.

Steve.

Cold Ithaca

2007-01-20T10:47:00.000+11:00

Well, I was meaning to do this as soon as I got here but its been a busy time since I got here. I flew in at JFK in New York on Tuesday morning after a 12 hour flight and spent ages waiting for and travelling on buses.

Because of some delays I got to Collegetown, Ithaca pretty late. I also got dropped a fair way from my Co-op and in a place where no-one had heard of it. So after asking about 10 or so people where Von Cramm was with no joy, I caved in and got a cab.

Since then I've been trying to get everything organised for my semester which starts this coming monday. Most of it is done and while I'm feeling pretty stressed about everything, I do believe deep down that it should be all fine.

Anyhow my Co-op is this awesome building that was unfortunately funded by a Nazi, however the Co-op has a convienent cover-up story about a gay Swiss tennis player who also was named Von Cramm... Aside from that crazyness in its history, today its a welcoming place and looks like a really fun place to stay. There's a pretty cool library, some good dining halls and fully decked out kitchen which would impress many chefs.

In at Cornell

2006-12-13T13:45:00.000+11:00

So I am keeping this blog going, even though I am back. I do like getting the chance to write down and process some of the things that are going on for me. The news for the moment is that I am in at Cornell University, a school in upstate New York. Upstate means that its not the city and that it will be cold - very cold - so lots of white snow, furry jackets and ice-hockey. This will come somewhat as a shock as I still haven't come down off the expectation of African heat, which I enjoy a lot.

Really the reason I am going there is not for the weather, I am going for the University and for the travel. I must say that I have caught the travel bug and am now a bit of a junkie for different cultures, food and people. The travel is definitely going to give me a bit of a fix, but aside from that I would definitely love an American University experience, not so much for the crazy frat parties but for the more broad education. I really like how in the US you do a whole range of subjects, and also how they have smaller classes and more contact hours. I realise that it seems strange to be glad about contact hours, but really it just means that you aren't expected to work a job as well as study.

However between now and mid January when I leave I have to do a bunch of stuff to get a visa, flights and university stuff prepared. The amount of hoops you jump to get a US Visa is leaving me worried that the window of time to get it done is too short.

Anyway I shan't looking forward to missing all my friends for another long period of time. But I guess that I will be able to stay in touch through this page again. So keep checking it out, especially after January the 17th when things start to get more interesting.

Presentations.

2006-12-03T21:46:00.000+11:00

Hey all, Here's the ppt files of the talk I gave at SWAG and St Alfs. I felt the St Alfs went well but the SWAG went pretty average, let me know what you think:

St Alf's
SWAG

A Poem.

2006-11-14T09:59:00.000+11:00

Yells as they surround, defenceless she stands,
People gasp, as the crowds they linger,
They and them arrive in their trucks,
A mother's gonna feel the pain,
'cause the council on the move again.

They shake and they threaten,
produce falls and her wages waste,
Hearts are a flurry, beating fast,
But hearts are dead, beating cold,
'cause the council's on the move again.

Now she's crying in the ditch,
bedraggled and poor with nothing for her kids,
"oh why, oh why, oh why" she screams,
but there are no good answers for this scene,
'cause the council's on the move again.

Oh Mama is paining from the guards,
Who will comfort poor Mama?
Oh Mama you are fearing for your kids,
Who will comfort you, poor Mama?
'cause the council's on the move again.

Homemade furniture adventures.

2006-10-28T21:06:00.000+10:00

So this is a post about something I did in Africa, but I just started putting my photo collection together and its much cooler to post now I've photos. Its about me and Jon's room, and how we decorated.
Our shelves... we made it out of a guitar box case. I love them so much... I wanted to take them home.
Here's me and Jon (Hi Jon). And of course the work of art.
It serves its purpose. I'm almost certain that me and Jon could be employed by IKEA as designers. I do believe it has more strength than most of their items. Why pay $79 for a book shelf when you have cardboard boxes in your garage. Bring out the minimalist in yourself, do it, you'll feel better for it. Just in case I haven't argued the point, here's a puppy dog...

Perspective.

2006-10-23T17:31:00.001+10:00

Where do you fit in amongst rich and poor... do you feel like you struggle for enough money to live on? Go to find out that your not just coping, you can't be just managing (financially) if your among the richest in the world. This is not some sort of competition, its more to help you realise how much you have been given, and how much will be expected of you. What are we doing with our share?

Shock! Australian Culture. Shock, Shock!

2006-10-20T13:03:00.000+10:00

So I am now officially back. The official date is now because I am blogging for the first time since returning. I actually unofficially arrived on the 16th (Monday). It was a long and tiring trip, but I have made it here. I do not like flying as much after this one, but I am still a big fan of arriving (if that make sense!) .

For me its all a bit crazy being back. I feel so many different feelings about Australia, my home, my friends and my culture. Some good. Some bad. The weirdest feelings are those which tell me I am at not home here. Definitely a large part of this culture shock is around how freaking affluent we are in comparison to a lot of the world. However its not so much just this single thing but all the things that flow out of letting our lives - to some extent - be run by our money/possessions/financial demands.

A large part of me feels that we are just a bit mad here in the West. But that feeling definitely is mixed with a case of "either I'm mad or everyone else is", so at the moment I'm losing according to the Gallup Polls. However I am not convinced its me, and well popular wisdom is often wrong. My main gripe isn't quite figured out yet, but I hope that there is more people than just me asking questions like; "There's more to life than this", "I don't really care what our role models say, I want something that is more real than Hollywood love and a suburban home", "What's the point of my life right now?".

Yes, I do realise these are big questions, and no I am not claiming to have them figured as yet. But what I want to say is be aware about our culture. Australia is a young country and I kind of feel that we haven't the same strength of direction as other countries yet. I find this so exciting! It means we have an influence, a choice, an opportunity to ask questions about other cultures and not just let ourselves make the same mistakes. Please let's lead our country towards things that are of importance, don't just try to fit in!

I hate airports.

2006-10-15T18:40:00.000+10:00

Man I hate airports... Doha airport sucks big time. Its got nowhere to sleep except the floor. I was there for about 22hrs and while I did get some food coupons (feeling like a WW2 widow or something), it was just crap.

Now to make matters worse, I've had none of the TV's work on either of my longer flights... and here is possibly the final nail... I'm stopped at Kuala Lumpa now and they have somehow hashed up my booking, so I am on standby for a flight I confirmed... That means I could get ditched here for a further 14hrs or so.

On the other hand... I love the internet, I really love being able to vent all this and not get pissed off at anyone in person. The internet is also fantastic for wasting time... which I happen to have a lot of (damnit!).

Gotta see the funny side in all of this... just can't wait to be back.

"But I love you all!"

The Alps

2006-10-11T17:13:00.000+10:00

So this is a photo of the mountain we climbed... its called Alpspitze. We took a cable car up about 1.5km and this is still how high it looked over us. Its about 2.6km to the top... It was a pretty sweet climb, there were lots of belaying ropes and things like that. We didn't use any harnesses though, up the top its covered in snow and get pretty cold.

You can only climb the mountain in the summer and a bunch of people have died doing it at other times. Once your on the way up, its quite easy to see how it could get nasty if the weather went wrong.

Here is a photo of me part of the way up, the alps in the background, this is looking toward Austria... you get a pretty good idea of how large the Alps are. Nothing in Australia gets close.

So we've now moved on from the Alps and we went to the audi factory yesterday. Was pretty sweet, got to sit in a Audi TT and some other high end cars. Its all so... so very different from Kenya. I'm looking forward to coming home next week. Missing Kenya a lot... the place is magical... I'm thinking of it all, through all this other stuff here.

Tanks in Bavaria

2006-10-06T03:18:00.000+10:00

This is tank speed limit... on a fairly main road! I think this is the photo of the week.
Me in a side alley in Heidelberg
Tim and Catherine and in the background is the Schloss and a golden statue of virgin Mary holding Jesus.

On top of the Schloss castle.

We explored the Schloss in Heidelberg, here there's a huge beer keg (220,000l) and some very cool walls. Schloss is german for castle but the place is somewhat more like a palace and would have been a pretty classy place to live in back in the 1500's. But these days its a University town, and has loads of party posters and bands that come here. I think it would be probably one of the sweetest universities to study at.

This is the Munster, check below.
Still the Munster, the church is pretty much a skyscraper.

We stayed here in Ulm, another University town and possibly a better town again to study at because of the nightlife. Here there were some awesome bars and restaurants and the whole town has cobblestone streets in the city centre, very classy. Also there is the tallest church spire in the world, its 166 meters and took 500 years to build. Talk about commitment. Its called the Munster and its so huge!

Here is us driving, in front is the tallest mountain in Germany the Zugspitze (its hidden by cloud... but its real big).
Here is the Schloss Neuschwanstein, this is a pretty cool castle which Disney world copied for their castle... but Disney aint so cool cause it forgot to copy the Bavarian alps.

Today we arrived in Garmisch-Patternkirchen, home to the Winter Olympics some years back. Its right in the middle of the Alps and we had to come through some sweet Mountains in Austria to get here. At the moment we are lying at around 800m above sea level, around us are some of the tallest mountains in Europe, including Germany's highest peak. We are here for some climbing its going to be great.

Photos of Germany

2006-10-03T21:02:00.000+10:00

This is the town of Rotherburg, it is very old and very cool. In Germany use of land isvery controlled either its town, forest or preened looking grass.Here is a street in Rothenburg.

This is me and Tim relaxing in a garden near Rothenburg. This place was pretty awesome, gee the Germans are organised, everything here runs like clockwork. A bit of a shock after Kenya!

This is me and Catherine (my brothers wife), exploring some of Germany. This is pretty typical of so many places in Germany, its pretty fun to look around here.
We climbed a really old church spire, it was 90 meters tall and heres a pretty cool view from up the top. It was kind of trippy being so high on an old building and there was lots of support beams and stuff proping it up.
Here was the side view of the old town of Nordlingen, it has some cool architecture and the whole of the old part of town has a wall running round it. The wall has towers every 100m or so and it forms a near perfect circle around the houses with the church in the centre.
We also got to do some walking in the Blackforest or Schwarzwald (in German). Its really beautiful here, I'm thinking we will do some longer trekking in Southern Germany or into Switzerland.
This is up on a plateau through the schwarzwald up into the higher areas. Theres heaps of grass here in Germany... its so so green after Kenya!Again in the schwarzwald, some cool trees lit by the sun.

Thats the end of the photo blog, theres still heaps to show you all, so I will be saving some good-un's for those of you who ask me when I am back. Hope your all fine, I'm enjoying myself.

Villages in Germany

2006-10-02T00:43:00.000+10:00

Hello Germany... I arrived in Frankfurt on the 28th and have been enjoying some travel across the countryside here. The kezboards here have ys for zs and have a comma kez that is hard to find, but reallz the main differences are in the waz of life here.

I am here visiting mz brother and his wife, and we have had a chance to see lots of verz old German villages. I've taken some digital photos with their camera and I will post them all verz soon. Bze for now... sillz kezboards..

Last day in Kenya.

2006-09-25T22:28:00.000+10:00

Wow, its pretty sad to say goodbye and realise theres a lot of people here that I won't see again. I really look forward to coming back as soon as I can, but can't really see that happening that soon. However who knows!

Its been a really challenging time being away from everything I know and am used to. But the things I've gained seemed to balance this out to being an awesome but difficult trip. I really feel good about my time here but on the other hand really ready to get back to my own people.

Things I've learnt have been mainly personal stuff, like how to manage on your own and that. And I feel a lot stronger and more able to manage for myself wherever I am knowing that I did it here. I hope that I don't have to deal with the same isolation I've felt here for a while.

Anyways, so for now its on to Germany, to Frankfurt in particularly. I don't know how the culture shock will feel after such a long time in Africa but I am definately anticipating some. I think that it will be so weird not having the huge levels of poverty around me anymore. I kind of look forward to that but also hope that I can stay caring for those over here, at the same time.

Goodbye Kibera

2006-09-22T15:53:00.000+10:00

I was down at the Kenyatta National Hospital getting a checkup and it was interesting to see the place. It looks like a massive castle.... pretty sweet place for medical care if you ask me. But feeling better now and after a while of feeling sick and sore, I am back out on the streets. I will be heading to Kibera for one last time to teach at the school (St Judy's) there today.

I am really quite excited to see the kids there once more. Its been a little tiring being stuck at home resting for so long, I wish that I could have got sick when I got home, rather than now... but ah well.

St Judy's is located in the Gatwekera area and has about 100 children. You can check a ma p of the area on the University of Carolina's Kibera public health project webpage. As of now I have been all over the slum and seen most of the areas, its pretty small and you can walk past the homes of more than 600,000 people quite quickly.

The more I see people living in such squalid conditions the more I wish it were different, and well the more convinced
I become that something is terribly wrong with how most of us live in totally disregard for others. Kibera weighs on me like a stone, I feel a little overwhelmed by the thought of it. The magnitude of the problem is so huge and I feel somewhat responsible.

I will post some photos of the kids up here soon. I hope that you are all well, and I will probably be having a party for my birthday on return!

Streets are tough here

2006-09-18T20:23:00.000+10:00

Hmm, well I'm still not quite recovered and have decided to stay around in Nairobi for the present time. So I've had the chance to see some more of Nairobi, and have been staying in the 'burbs of Nairobi in a place called Tena (Kiswahili for "again").

I usually go into the city or around with the friends of the family I am staying with. However just the other day I got back to hear that someone had got shot right near our house in Tena. Safety isn't usually a concern here, and it had happened that the police had chased this thief into Tena and then administered some harsh justice by means of a bullet to the torso.

Thing is that got me more than them just shooting the culprit for running (which happens a lot here), is that he survived the bullet. So the police drove off leaving him to die on the road. Worse still, Irene, my friend was telling me people came to come look and watch him die.

I don't know how to process something like that, I just looked at Irene as she explained it to me (very matter of factly). I feel like people just have a different view on life here. But I couldn't help thinking of the good Samaritan story... what is the right thing to do to our enemies? Maybe its necessary to use force against them sometimes, but I really can't compute that we should drive off and leave them dying/watch them as we pass by.

I tried not to be too judgemental of how things are done here. So I tried to figure out a way in which our culture does a similiar thing. I couldn't get anything that comparable, but I guess one thing similiar is when we watch TV and see people dying in Sudan and go "Oh man that's terrible", and then head to the shops to buy a coffee and cake to make us feel better. Same principle of not helping those who we are commanded to give our compassion to.

Finished at MCF

2006-09-12T16:46:00.000+10:00

Well its been a fantastic time at MCF, I feel like even as a volunteer my time has been more beneficial to me than to those there. Its been such a great chance to see some of how a development project can work. I've learnt a bit of the language, a lot of great people, how to teach, a bit about Kenya and its culture and well just a whole lot of other things. Its definately something that will stay with me.

With the rest of my time in Kenya I've got the chance to work, and see what a Kenyan microfinance organisation is doing. I'm really keen to see how it all fits together, and here news from them. You can check there webpage here.

However before anything happens, I've managed to contract malaria and well at the moment feeling pretty crap. But its not so bad as I thought it could be. I'll try and put together a better post when I can think straight.

Swahili island

2006-08-30T00:30:00.000+10:00

Writing to everyone back in Australia has been a fun thing to do while in Africa, I think its been useful for me to write to everyone like this also to try and remember and bring out my favorite things out of my trip so far. I usually write about what has just happened and sometimes its writing from memory, at the moment I am in Nairobi writing about my trip to the coast, so its clear in my memory but I am not there now. Just thought I'd fill you in.

So we arrived in Lamu on a ferry from the mainland. Lamu is a town of around 12,000 people, and has got to be close to the oldest town in Kenya at 4000 years (I'm not 100% but that's what've been told). It has also got to be one of the most beautiful places in the entire country. It has a somewhat mystical feel with its ancient history and this feeling is kept very much alive by the fact that the streets are around 1.5 metres wide with tall rock arab looking houses on either side. It is much like the old town of Mombasa just older and much more beautiful. Getting lost in these maze like streets is one of the best ways to experience the town, and mixed with the friendly locals and colourful street activities it really is entertaining.

The place we stayed in Lamu was a perhaps 200 years or so old and we had 4 stories of it pretty much all for us (and one or two others sometimes). We were given an amazing price and the place was packed with traditional wood furniture and had splendid views in all directions from the rooftop. It is possibly both the cheapest and the most beautiful place I've ever stayed, weird combination I know.

From the house I was able to rest and recover from a bit of infection I managed to get from the beaches of Malindi. My right ankle had become something along the lines of twice my left and although I was well attended to by two fellow traveling nurses and another friend it took some time to heal. This left me inactive for a day and gave me a chance to chill and enjoy the view of the town a little.

After a bit of recovery we organized a dhow journey, a dhow is a sailing ship of around 5 meters with a large angled sail which sits at the front of the ship, they look very distinctive. We left early in the morning and sailed for an island further into the Indian ocean called Manda island. The trip was amazing, and it definitely made it extra fun that our boat had no means of power except wind (and some wood poles), leaving us at its mercy. Once out near the island we got out of the boat for some snorkeling.

I've never had a shot at snorkeling before and it was fantastic for me just to be able to swim with my eyes open and no need to shift my head to breath. Nonetheless it was definitely improved by the fact we were in a reef area and while not particularly great coral there was plenty of interesting things to see in the tropical waters. There were many varieties of fish with so many different markings and skin colourations. After about 40 minutes of snorkeling, a few dives under the sea and plenty of exploring we headed back to our boat.

Back at the boat we were treated to the catch of the day which included some of the decorated fish. The meal was possibly a highlight of the whole trip and included spices, rice and loads of vegetables all cooked on the boat. Wow, what a day, no words to explain how great this dhow trip thing is, amazing.

Day after our dhow trip we headed round the island to check out Shela beach. Again just amazing, miles of beautiful white sand, the green of the Indian ocean but lots of european tourists without bathing tops. There was some of the beach that had a little surf, so we got out for a couple hour swim, and enjoyed some body surfing.

Anyways, I had a great time traveling the coast. Back in the city today and we headed into Kibera once more for a more extensive tour. Was very interesting, but have neither the time nor the energy to explain now. Bye for now.

Mombasa and Malindi

2006-08-25T00:28:00.000+10:00

So Jon (a friend from the US) and I have made it through to Malindi a small town north of Mombasa and this is where I'm bloging from. I'll try and fill you in on our budget holiday adventures which started on Sunday with a bus ride which involved little sleep. We took a coach from Nairobi to Mombasa we arrived. We had been on board all night, neither of us slept much along the way, and we saw three car accidents which didn't seem to inspire sleep either. I saw on a news report later that one of the crashes had claimed 13 lives, and I remember seeing one in the coach's headlights in which two matutus (minivans) had been completely obliterated in a head-on crash. After that trip me and Jon thought about it and we are pretty sure we will try and take day trips in larger (and hopefully safer) buses, matutus aren't so bad until it gets dark and then it really gets too risky.

Crashes and poor sleep aside, we arrived in Mombasa at around 6 in the morning just in time for early morning Islamic prayer. We had little bearing of where to go so we found a restaurant and enjoyed a early morning maandazi (kind of like donuts). After that we had a bearing a little thanks to some locals and managed to do some hotel shopping, in the end we succeeded in finding a place within our budget ($2USD a night, sorry I've been converted to US dollars for the trip it seems). We headed to a Mombasa Pentecostal church for Sunday morning and it was interesting to be in a large church like this one in Africa, it had around 2000 members I think we were told. After that the day was pretty relaxed as we had some serious sleeping to do.

After some serious rest we headed out on the streets to find Fort Jesus, a Portuguese fort built for get a tax out of the Waswahili back in the 15th century. We managed to follow the river inlet bay all the way up to where it is, but upon finding the entry cost a little steep just explored the outside of the building, which is magnificent. It was fascinating and at the same time quite disturbing to sit in a place of so much history and more particularly so much bloodshed. I've got some photos of all the trip thanks to Jon so hopefully I will get some pics put up sometime soon. However until I do you'll have to rely on my explanations. After sitting in the mangrove trees at the foot of the high fort walls we headed down to see if we could do some in the nad swimming, it was a little too public so we headed home through old town.

Old town has a feel of the mixture of a Arabic city and west european and there are numerous small winding paved streets with houses built right on the road to either side. Houses here are mainly occupied by the more Arabic coastal people and some Indians who are also better off, the houses have wooden doors some with engravings and all the windows have shutters to hide the local women from prying (western?) eyes. Here there are children playing in the streets and its fantastic to see they're reaction as we walked through. As we bursted out onto the bustle of the main street the sensation we felt we were back in Africa.

In the evening we felt like we needed to chat about the homeless who had asked us for money all day. Jon and I have both given money in the past and on that day I also took a boy to a side alley and bought him a meal and through all that he still kept asking for more, this made us feel a little disturbing and difficult. However after a long chat Jon and I felt that buying some bread would be a good way of helping on the next day and we resolved to do that. Jon had felt that perhaps it was going to encourage a hand-out mentality but I'd disagreed however when we headed out on monday for our matutu ready to give the bread hidden in our bags to those in need we found that most people said they didn't want it when they begged and we pulled out some bread. This was challenging and I guess I need to think about it some more, however I was surprised as I had felt these people had needed bread to eat.

But Monday meant the road again and we traveled through to Malindi the town we are now at, after finding a fun little hotel in the older part of town we headed for the beach. We managed to get onto the part of the beach where all the high-end resorts are built and it was bizarre being around that culture again, was a bit of reverse culture shock. However we had come prepared with bathers on this time and after ditching our stuff went into that beautiful Indian ocean, the beach here was pristine with stunning white sand and the salt water felt so good to me after the muddy Thika river. It really felt like being in Queensland for me so I guess that's why I loved it so much, as Queensland has always been where I've felt most at home. After our swim we took a boda-boda (bicycle taxi) home and this is where I must admit that the plan of bringing my bicycle down here fell through, however it was so special riding through the coastal streets as the sun set.

After sunset and a meal of bread we headed for the roof. From our hotel room we are able to reach the roof by a flight of stairs and in the evening we headed out to see the bustle of a town that feels so very Islamic. The roof's just 2 floor up and high enough to get you out of vision and low enough to keep you able to see faces, which is perfect for viewing the going-on of the passers-by and local shop-keepers. The town feels so good in the evening and again I fell asleep that night after hearing the sounds of the Islamic call to prayer.

This brings us to today (23rd actually as blog failed to post) where we have been able to arrange our onward travel and get to see the Gede ruins. The ruins a dated from around the 14th century and are located south of Malindi, only being found again about 100 years before now after being lost for an amazing two hundred year period between the early 1700's and the turn of the 1900's. This was a prosperous little town of around 3000 and the ruins reflect that, with numerous Mosques and a huge palace ruins, so many wells and a large city wall also make the place to have a ancient feel.

A final side note that I thought was funny, was that on the matutu to the ruins when talking to a larger Muslim woman in full bui-bui (the dress were you can only see the eyes) I got asked for my phone number. It wasn't actually for that 'reason' everyone, its real common here to meet someone and ask to stay in touch. However that's it for me for now, and by the way I did say no I've never been too sure on how I'd manage a cross-religion relationship.

Travelling the Kenyan Coast

2006-08-19T21:22:00.000+10:00

Okay... its been a while coming but finally I'm getting the opportunity to travel and see some of Swahili coast of Kenya. This coastline is on the Indian ocean and has probably the oldest large settlements of people, as such it has some really cool architecture and has its on distinctive culture from the rest of Kenya in some ways.

The coast is populated by people called the Waswahili; who are a mixture of the Bantu and Arabic peoples. This means that it has some real affinities with the Arab world, and Mombasa the 2nd biggest city in Kenya and major trading port still imports a lot of arab produce.

The places we are planning on visiting that I am especially keen on seeing are Lamu and Malindi. Lamu is an island in the Indian ocean up near Somalia (which is a pretty bad place to be right now on a side note). Its a very old town and many of the buildings are stone buildings built many years. Its a bit more remote and only has one car on it which is owned by the local government official who's drives it back and forth at night to show it off (so I've been told, I can confirm later if you'd like).

Malindi is half way from Mombasa towards Lamu and is a more modern town but it has a ancient ruin just outside of the main place. The Gede ruins are old arab ruins and are not quite understood but are thought to be prisons for slaves taken by Arab slave traders for work in Oman and elsewhere in the world.

Anyways that's my plans for the next week and a half. Hope all is well. Be great to see you all in October!

Lunch with Steve in Kenya

2006-08-10T21:15:00.000+10:00

Okay just for something different I want to tell you about my favorite cafe in Kenya. It's a little place in a small town called Matuu of around 2,000 people (where I am right now). The streets are dusty tracks here and sometimes when a vehicle manages to gain some speed down them it leaves you in a trail of dust (especially at the moment as its so dry). Along the streets are colourfully painted shopfronts which sell everything from meat to mobiles. Its a busy place and always there's a lot of people walking about.

Anyway Silaom's is on the second biggest street in town (sorry I don't have a road name for you). It's got a decorative front like all the shops with some lattice work, but it doesn't really have a front wall so it's kind of those sitcom sets in that way (however I'm not sure they will ever film a sitcom here). Anyway the menu's quite hilarious, its lamented paper and well there's almost more incorrect spelling than correct, my favourite being "muximum hygene" which is kind of funny to read as a few flies crawl over it.

So the food here's is ridiculous cheap, you can purchase a full meal for about 2 AUD including a 500ml soda. Its fantastic, the shop serves some mean chips which are particular tasty due to the fact they don't often change the cooking oil (my guess at it). All over the walls are mirrors at eye level, which are good for admiring how hardened your face has become and how long your beard and hair has grown. A little higher all around the cafe are a some hilarious pictures of immense Western homes, they come complete with captions such as "lifes too short to hate" and other wise words regurgitated from the memory of some sold out author across the globe.

Its my kind of cafe, hope you can join me here sometime. Just call me and we will do lunch.

African Weddings, festivities and heaps of visitors

2006-07-29T16:38:00.000+10:00

Okay so sorry everyone who has been reading, I've missed posting for a while and well I've just had a lot on and haven't got to the net. Its been a busy past month and the more I think about it the more grateful I am for having come to MCF. Theres been a lot of visitors that have come in over July and has been really interesting meeting a bunch of people from Norway, USA, Canada and Perth (wooh some Aussies).

Now however I am back in Nairobi after coming in on Matatus, they are definately one of the funniest/scariest ways of travelling I've ever experienced. I am getting more confident moving around what is kind of dangerous city, the juries still out on whether this be a good or bad thing!

Back at Ndalani I have just been teaching the kids, theres been a lot exams which I don't mind writing but I'm definately no fan of marking! Jon (without a 'h') a guy from Michigan, the states has moved into my room and its been really fun sharing some of my time with another westerner even if it is an american (heh sorry jon, just gotta tease those yanks).

I think one of the biggest highlights of the month has been when two aussie couples came to MCF and they had an African wedding ceremony. They both had to slaughter a goat each, this involves a sharp knife (or fairly sharp in this case, ekk!) and lots of chanting and war paints (otherwise known as face paint). But yeah it was kind of bloody, messy stuff a lot worse than the chicken. I guess there's a bunch more blood in a goat than a chicken... well now I know there is. After all that business (which only the guys do) we go dancing down to where the women are, they're in a huge huddle and in the middle are the bride-to-be's (in this case however they were already brides). What the husbands have to do is get through the women who are all held tight together and then identify they're own wife. Identifying is made a lot more difficult by the fact they are completely covered in shawls along with about 10 decoy wives... so its quite the challenge and apparently in traditional culture the men have to pay the father an extra goat for any mis-selection (which I think should actually entail them marrying the one they got!). Anyways to cut it all short, they guys picked right and voila they are now married in Africa aswell as Western culture. I think that it was a whole bunch more fun than any Western wedding, I've got a mate getting married when I'm back, so I'll see what he thinks about it all.

Okay well that's a bit about me... now I'm in at Nairobi till Sunday and tonight me and some friends are going into Carnivore (its a wicked fresh restraunt). So I'll probably right something about that in a while. I think for now that's a good taste of my news... The post comments button somewhere below here is for your news:

Eldoret.

2006-06-27T00:34:00.000+10:00

So I'm over in Eldoret town at the moment, its about 4 or 5 hours west of Nairobi (which probably equates to 300 or so km). As you travel west you get to see some of the most developed parts of Kenya, over here things ain't perfect but they're a hell of a lot better than some of the worst of Nairobi and the Northern parts. Apparently on the way we travelled through one of the coldest areas in Africa, it was kind of cold but was a long way short of needing any serious clothing (around 10 degree perhaps).

Well I must say its nice to be over here in this part of Kenya, its green year round here and you can see that life is not so tough as it is for other Kenyans. It was really interesting to hear how all the development in these western parts were influenced by the tribal ties of whoever was leading Kenya. Just to fill you in on all this kind of briefly... The first president Jomo Kenyatta (who was Tom Morello's great uncle) was a Kikuyu which is Kenya's biggest tribal group (there are about 40 or so) with 20% of the Kenya population. And well Kenyatta spent most of his time developing his people and the rest of his time convincing the others that this was okay, now after around 14 years in power you have one people group with a big edge. Well power changed hands to Kenya's second president Daniel Moi, he was from another people group called the Kalenjin and well just like the first guy managed to help his people develop a whole bunch. Well to bring this story to a point, the area we drove through today was called Burnt Forrest and these two groups got angry at each other for the favours and injustice that had been (and is still) happening, shots were fired, people were killed, pregnant mothers were sliced open and you get the picture. It really shows what happens when you don't have justice, people get angry and eventually something has to give.

In the last few days I've also been driving around the Nairobi streets, its the most intense driving practice as everyone pretty much doesn't obey any sort of order. The car I've been driving is borrowed also, so I'm pretty scared about doing any damage to it. I think that Nairobi is the dirtiest place in terms of air and land pollution, I've never seen a place so covered in pollution, it makes driving hard at times even as the air pollution is so thick. Anyways I've been staying in a house of a friend here, its in a suburb called Tena (which means again) and everyone here lives behind a 10ft stone wall with glass on top. The streets are filled wherever you go with people who are selling pretty much anything they can (this is a result of extreme unemployment). Crime is rife here and you also gotta keep your door locked in the city, outside the city some roads have bandits and just the other day a World vision vehicle was stopped by 6 guys with Ak47's , the aid workers ran leaving the car to the bandits.

At the moment I'm out of all this though and staying in Eldoret for the night, I'm at the starting place of MCF which is kind of special. Now the home which started it all has only 1 kid who needs special treatment for disease. I've managed to get some photos here and maybe will put them up sometime.

A post about Mike

2006-06-26T02:12:00.000+10:00

Okay so here's a post about someone else you might find interesting. Mike's a guy in his early 30's who has been showing me around Nairobi for the last 4 days or so. His worked for a while in business, for a while with the NCCK (National Council of Church Kenya), and the whole of his working life his spent working with the poor. He currently lives in a slum in Nairobi, not because he can't afford a better house but because those are the people he spends his time loving and caring for.

So Mike has taken me around to all the spots where an micro-finance organisation called Africashare works (he works for this organisation). This works by giving the poor loans at interest to help them start and run different entrepreneurial activities. The poor otherwise in Kenya don't have collateral to prove to the bank they are creditworthy. Its been fantastic to see and meet all these groups who have fantastic business ideas for their future but what's even better is half of the people involved in taking out loans are doing it mainly to help their children, families and communities improve through the profits of their business.

Mike also took me to Kibera, he told me about the million or so people who live in the world's biggest slum. He told me that he used to go and spend the money he earnt from work buying bread to feed some of the multitude who inhabit this otherwise seemingly God-forsaken place. I just sat there and cried, the place is inhumane, and well we are all pretty inhumane for being able to sit by and not do something about it. I've never seen such a terrible place in all my life, its just this valley of shacks which don't look so bad until you see up close the squalor which so many live in.

There aren't many people I've met who would give up their opportunity to live in comfort for slum life, Mike is one of those guys. His a Kenyan man who really cares about the people around him, its not like he makes a big deal about it either he just kind of does the work that no one else wants to do. I think the difference between him and other people is that he really believes in the people around him, he thinks that they can realize what the hope for and so he sets about helping them get there. Really when I saw Kibera I was astonished at how terrible the place is, but still you get the strongest feeling that it doesn't have to be like this, we have power and influence in this world and well these people are only poor because we aren't doing anything. I'm not sure what I can do, but I know that I need to believe in other people than myself and be a bit more like Mike.

Exploring is fun.

2006-06-21T20:08:00.000+10:00

So been in an around Nairobi for a second day now. For all you travelling people who read lonely planet's webpage I've been to the famed "thorn tree cafe" (check out www.lonelyplanet.com to find out).Its a bit of an intense city in some ways, there aren't traffic lights here for one which makes road crossing sometimes just run run run. There's also a lot of people around and some of them are less than trustworthy, its strange having to be constantly on the lookout and wondering if people are following you. However despite its record I haven't really felt as in danger as I thought I might.

Visa's are no fun and while I managed to get one I'm needed to come back in 5 weeks to register as an 'alien' in Kenya and get a card that says the same. This is kind of amusing to us Aussies who don't really use ID cards, but apparently everyone whos anyone has one (if you get what I mean ;-) ). Aside from that the government needs me to leave about 10 days earlier than planned, so I had to rebook all my flights and now it means I've got a 10 day stay in Doha, Qatar where I'm really hoping theres some budget accomadation.

I'll be staying with a family friend here in Nairobi as of tonight. Its kind of good and kind of bad, its nice not have to be in an impersonal hotel on the other hand they are full of some very interesting people. At FPFK (Full Pentecoastal Fellowship of Kenya) Guest House I've met a bunch of different people. There was a finnish couple who had been working with CBMI as optic surgeons in Southern Sudan had some crazy stories of life there (its a region which has been war zone and in some ways still is). They told of how a army barracks caught fire and the missles and ammunition was just exploding and flying all over the place. I also met an American missionary couple who have invited me to their place in Kitale, they had some great stories too.

Anyways I've got to do some searching for some Qatari budget hotels. So no doubt I will update this sometime soon, and I think I may be doing a phone link with St A's so make sure you find out when thats on, and maybe you can ask me some stuff. Cool been great to be around the happenings of a big city again, be thankful for all that Melbourne gives you all, its really quite a great city.

Back to the big smoke... the big big literal smoke that is

2006-06-20T20:27:00.000+10:00

Okay well in case you didn't gather from the title I am back in Nairobi. Its so strange being here ater Ndalani where I was used to knowing everyone and having a good idea of what goes on; its culture shock but not from different Kenyan cultures. It was exhilirating to come here though, the whole way watching out of the car and seeing all the countryside and knowing I was going to a place where I have a lot more freedom.

So I am back in Nairobi for a week just so I can have a rest and renew my visa. It looks like I'll be free to do some stuff around and see the city a bit as the visa won't be a big hassle (fingers crossed). I really needed the break as well as I've had some infection in my toe which has left me feverish for a bit four days. I actually was so sick and couldn't stand up for the whole time, I know I couldn't walk cause I tried and I passed out. Yeah but I'm on the mend, and I've got a Yank filling in my classes for me so I don't have to rush back (he got suckered into it: teeheehee!).

The city centre here is a bit like any metropolis busy and populated with those business types who don't like people just money. But one things thats crazy is that there's lots of men with guns, at the immigration departmment where I just was there rolled up a car and 5 military guys with M16's on there shoulder walked in... I was look ohh ahh its gonna be a coup... but (un)fortunately I didn't get no coup (actually it was kind of intense for a minute). But that's just a normal guard for a minister or Mp or something apparently.

So I was mentioning about travelling around, looks like I'll need to get down to Tanzania as after 6 months they do something nasty to you for overstaing(like deport you or shoot you, well maybe not that harsh but I don't imagine they'll let it slide if I overstay for a month). Arusha, Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam look like the main spots I'd like to explore.

Well I as I'm here for a few days I'll write again soon. Its been amazing to have so many write to me here and while it takes 3 weeks for mail to arrive thankyou it does get here. If you write I'll try and say a personal thankyou as well. Great well I'll avoid the men with guns and hopefully be seeing you in October (its my birthday then! woo).

Habari yako? (How are you?)

2006-05-31T20:23:00.000+10:00

Well its been quite a while since I've posted here so I'll probably write a fair bit. The rainy seasons have ended now and the river (which happens to be the Thika river) is now dropping in its flow. Things are looking green and healthy, I'm no expert but I feel that its been a quite good rain and while there's always more that could be improved in the climate here the farmers sure have appeared to be grateful for the rains that have come. Its truly a spiritual experience when it rains here. You feel that this might have caused the difference between crops failing and people starving, and crops being enough for people to eat. Its both astounding and kind of sickening.

So this month has brought fewer different volunteers to MCF than the previous ones but those who have been around have been really great friends to me (partly because they've stayed for longer). However now both Casey and Charlotte (an Australian couple from Perth) and Jimena from Venezuela (all three were teachers) have all left. Its been a really special time sharing with different people in a different culture and I've really had some great time with them all. This now means though I am the only foreigner at MCF and will bring me some great but challenging times (I think I am the only one here for a few weeks).

Okay so here I am going to describe how to find me on a map (a decent atlas or google earth).
1. Look for Thika town north of Nairobi about 50km.
2. Find the Thika river that flows east about 40km into the Masinga Dam.
3. Now once at the Masinga Dam go straight south (20km) till your back a the Thika river.
4. If your using Google Earth check for a large settlement right on the river with two medium size towns on the road 10km to North and 5km to the South.
5.Voila. I am here, and you are there. :-P Long way eh?

Well that was a fun excursion in the use of an map. I hope you were all able to manage to find somewhere near where I am (just a little North of Yatta town).

I just wanted to recommend to all of you back home if you go to Africa, go by a bike and go riding. Its such a good way to see the countryside. First of all you avoid those nasty matutus (minibuses), which are cramped and have probably the stopping distance of a 747 at the speed they are driven. I'm yet to see a old matutu driver (says something about their safety?), while in the newspaper I read that there was a head-on just yesterday in which 13 people were killed. Apart from the negative reasons for bike riding there's plenty of positives. Firstly there's the fact that locals will find you hilarious and really warm to you, Kenyans are very welcoming normally but when riding they just can't stop smiling and its really great to get under the skin of the country in this way. Alongside this its just amazing some of the countryside I've ridden through. On the red dirt road there are so many goats, animals, fellow cyclists and carts you will see and friendly people will wave and probably shout Habari? (How's it going?) or the younger will call out Mzungu Mzungu (White person) with smiling faces. Then out all around you away from the road is the green of maize fields and then further into the horizon you can see to the rocky outcropings of the hills (the area I'm in is quite mountainous) which gradually get so far away that all you can see is just darkened lines against the horizon. Its the best just to learn back on your bicycle seat and coast down the hill you've just peddled furiously up (on your one gear cheap-o chinese bicycle you bought I might add). Its been my experience that the environment is the most welcoming part of Kenya (although the locals are great!), it just makes you feel so overcome and so right that you should be there.

Apart from the joys of riding one of my favourite things to do has been to swim in the river. The rainy season means that the river is at tremendous flow, it surpasses the murray in volume and definitely in speed. So its quite enjoyable to enter it upstream and let yourself get swept downstream. We sort of have had a game of trying to find an underwater rock pile in the middle of the river. If you find it and grab onto the grass growing out of it you can stand in the fast flowing current if you miss it you have to swim furiously back to shore before you get swept downstream to far.

So it hasn't only been relaxing that I've been doing. I spend most of my time teaching still and a fair bit working in the plant nursery. I've really got a lot out of this and hope that I have been useful to the students and plants too. At the end of the term I will be writing some exams so that will be fun too, I feel like maybe I will be able to have some of the basic skills of a teacher once I have finished my time here. However I think I've noted that teaching isn't really what I am cut out to do, I don't really have the patience for it and while the students are well behaved here I still find it quite a challenge to teach. One funny thing about teaching is that one of my classes has a boy called Nelson Mandela in it, so I can go home and say I have taught Nelson Mandela mathematics, a pity I'm not teaching him black politics or civil disobedience that would be an even greater claim.

I think I will just spend some time writing about a standard week day here at MCF:
The day usually starts somewhere between 7:20 and 7:40 depending on what sort of sleep I had (sometimes cats, dogs and dudu (bugs) can keep you up late). After waking I stumble around my house for a bit and sometimes do some marking of some students work. By about 7:45 I've got down to the volunteer kitchen where I spend some time eating my breakie. Breakie here is usually adapted to volunteer tastes and consists of bread and butter and a tea or coffee. Then by 8:10 its off to teach for 2 or 3 hours (usually teaching math to class 6 or 7).

After I've finished teaching (about 3 or 4 periods) I head back to my house to read or mark for a bit before lunch around 1:00. Lunch goes till 2:00 and then I head down to the plant nursery to do some work there. Here I do things like watering, digging, planting and other plant maintenance work. Its really great to work alongside workmen they (nearly) always have a good sense of humour and its good way of learning some Swahili also.

Around 4:30 I knock off from the work and head down to the soccer field where there's usually both the men's and junior girls teams training. Training in for soccer in Africa is often quite intense and goes for two hours or so. Its really funny to see how things are improvised to make up for the lack of equipment. An example of this is that because their are no cones to dribble the ball around the whole team line up to be run around, and instead of weights people are used as weight training (in one exercise two players wrap there legs around a player and then the player does squats).

By the time soccer finishes I head back to my place or via the river to bathe. Its so refreshing to dive into to the cold water after the heat of the training and the soccer field (which has no grass and is very dusty). Then its back to the volunteer kitchen for my dinner, dinner and lunch are nearly always traditional meals and involve foods such as Ugali (a staple that looks like mash potatos and is kind of gluey in consistency), french beans, tomatoes, cow (but unlike in Australia here the whole animal is eaten, so liver and stomach are often on the table), goat and chapatti (my favourite a sort of deep fried pitta bread made from maize flour).

Devotion time starts after dinner at around 7 and means some singing, prayers and sometimes a forum session on something like Aids or wife inheritance where the pupils discuss problems they will encounter in their lifetimes. This devotion time is really tops and I often get up and join in some of the presentations, just this week we did a dance to a rap song with some of the others. I can't imagine anything more embarrassing for me who is devoid of all dancing capabilities, to dance with Africans who are nortoriously good dancers, it was nonetheless great and got some laughs and compliments from the audience.

After devotion I go a teach for a while again. This is in the senior school and where I teach both maths and geography. The classes go for quite a while at night and sometimes classes are still on at 10 o'clock. So sometimes I'm glad for power cutouts which leave us in darkness and force an early bedtime. Back to my room after classes where I *always* write in my journal before going to sleep (thankyou so much Georgi and Myf!), I've also got some good novels to read and have already read voraciously through a whole pile (however I'm reading War and Peace and that one takes a while).

I think that gives you some idea of what a possible day for me looks like. We are 7 hours earlier in the day than you in Melbourne so you can think of what I'll be upto at the appropriate times. However days and time here work on a different basis and in actuality while I will usually do all those things above they often get rearranged for time and sometimes don't happen at all.
On a different note its been quite surprising to have had had the director Charles Mulli have his father attacked by a bunch of thieves. Its a rural area we are in and 15 thieves broke in and beat, kicked and attacked him with knives, this would be quite an ordeal for anyone but he must be near on 80 and its pretty low that people would see fit to attack someone so old. Tales have also been told of what happens to criminals here, and there's no such thing as community service here. Its quite common for thieves to be shot on sight, or captured and then set on fire, I think this is partly because on the whole thieves are far more likely to kill you. Some even maraud around in cars armed with AK-47's in Nairobi (Imported from the Warring countries to Kenya's north where a Kalashnikov gun can be bought for a mere $8US). But don't worry I'll keep safe, its not a country that feels overly threatening (apart from Nairobi) but its important to know that you need to be careful.

Well now your all worried about me I think that I will wind up. Just gonna say that when I left I got some of my favourite photos of my family out to take with me and its been so great to remind myself of home with them. Its sad to have been away from all you great people for so long. I'm having such a great time but I want to say that all my friends and family are so fantastic thanks for all your support and I look forward to hanging out again when I'm back home. So on that note I will go and buy some washing powder, a bite to eat (lunch costs $1.00AUD in town here!) and head for home, my home at MCF that is. Keep praying for MCF and me as there are challenges still ahead for both of us.

A month and a half through and seeing the differences

2006-05-11T22:35:00.000+10:00

Okay. So now I have been in Kenya for nearly two months, my time has been filled by the many activities of MCF. Its been really fantastic to experience a lot of what happens at MCF, I think I'm particularly keen to see more of Kenya after the time so far at the home, as I begin to hear stories of the different tribes and communities I've desired to understand them more by visiting them.

So the last month has been busy as I've got more and more involved in what happens around the place. I have really got into teaching; one of my highlights has been reading the Narnia book "The Magicians Nephew" to my grade 6 class. They love it so much and at the moment its acting as an incentive for doing maths as for every chapter we finish we get to read some more of the book. Its eye-opening to see how much things we take for granted are so special to lots of people.

After spending more time here you begin also to see the darker side of life that many of the children have experienced before being rescued from their circumstances. Some children have scaring, burns and bruises which are often caused by abuse and neglect from their lives either at home or on the streets. This is very difficult to see in children who are so lovely and are often so very young to have sustained such violence (particularly parental violence!).

On a brighter note, I have bought a bicycle (costed me around $75AUD) which is a cheap Chinese import. Its been so much fun riding around the dodgy Kenya road networks, they often make for unusual obstacles (that you wouldn't find even on the worst of Australian bike tracks). Its going to be and already has been a fabulous way to met locals and see Kenya at a relaxed pace. So listen out for more adventure stories on bicycling Kenya (apart from around this area I think I will do a decent trip along the Kenyan coastline with the Indian Ocean).

There's been many funny things that have happened in the last month or so, most of them have been at my misunderstanding Kiswahili or culture. However one thing that I would like to share is; the night I watched a movie with everyone for the first time. It was about 100 children in the Devotion hall to see Madgascar on a TV that had about a 30cm screen. It was really fascinating to see the different things that the kids laughed at. I think that I wouldn't have enjoyed the film otherwise. And its oh so hilarious to hear all the kids now singing "I like to move it, move it...", and oh so fortunate that the film doesn't teach the rest of the films lyrics (which you can research on your own time).

So after my time here I've begun to appreciate the life I had a bit more. Its not that I wish to be home but that you learn to be thankful for what you used to not even recognise. I have especially missed the friends and family of home, my freedom that comes through public transport and knowing your way around, the cuisine of Australia (which is really the ability to choose whatever you want to eat) and finally music which I miss more than I thought I would. All these things I have here but they are different and sometime I want to have them back the way I am used to.

Well here ends another post from Kenya. Hope all is well and that people are still reading. Its real encouraging to read your posts (usually, heh). And I'll try to be in touch again when I'm able. Until then stay safe and may God be blessing y'all.

Arrived and settled at MCF Ndalani

2006-04-18T21:07:00.000+10:00

So I spent a further two days at Nairobi where I managed to experience something of what big city life is like there, I think I will need to stay for a week or so to see what it's like a bit better. After my time there we traveled down to Ndalani the location where MCF homes most of its children. While we traveled I got to see the numerous fields of all different crops, nearly all the land is cultivated here, with the best being owned by large companies who have large plantations of cash crops, these large holdings are interspersed with the fields of the subsistence farmers who mainly grow cassava, maize or other sorts of staple foods.

The home at Ndalani is located in a picturesque valley with a river running through there 100 acres and hills surrounding them to the north. The home has many tress planted on the property which brings out the stark contrast to the cleared fields of the local farmers. The home has many buildings scattered around with a range in construction from simple corrugated iron buildings upto something resembling a Mediterranean villa house.

The orphanage has on site a primary and secondary school, a dispensary, kitchens, farm offices, numerous dormitories, offices, a library and many other assorted buildings. While having many trees and buildings the majority of the land is used for Agriculture, there is a huge range of foods grown here nearly all of which go to feeding the children and the surrounding villagers. Some of the crops include maize, pineapples, oranges, bananas and French beans just to name a few, Ndalani also has some cattle for use for dairy and meat.

I could continue to tell you about the orphanage but for now I will tell you what I have been doing with some of my time. After I arrived things seemed to move slower than I desired, this was as I wanted to get straight into working but I think as I am here for a while they prioritised me lower than those who were only here for a short time (which is perfectly okay).

My first week I spent mainly having a look around and touring the place, I also spent some time with an Australian Nurse who is training in Tropical Medicine. We took blood pressure, height, temperature and a few other details from 500 of the children. This was pretty intense as we did this over just two days, I managed to learn how to take blood pressure readings and that hours of stethoscope use is of immense pain to ones ears.

After this initial period of adjustment and organisation I was assigned some classes in the high school and upper primary. I am currently teaching biology, mathematics and geography, all of which I do without proper qualification so I hope not to damage the children's education too much. I especially enjoy maths teaching and while I am resigned to the fact I will never become a teacher I feel that I can do this kind of teaching fairly proficiently. However the classes do all pose a challenge as I wish to do them well or at least to the best of my ability.

Alongside my time in the school I have been starting to do some work in the tree nursery. I'd like to spend some more time doing this and learning some practical biology as I have been really enjoying learning Biology at University. I also like the chance it gives me to mix with some of the workers here who are quite good humored and help me to learn more of Kiswahili.

As well as all the time I spend working I have been having plenty of time to relax and enjoy my time in Kenya. I have climbed the surrounding hills with some other kids which was great fun. The track is fairly non-existent in parts and we managed to observe a baboon on the way. Once at the top you can see a fairly large amount of the countryside and enjoy your efforts of climbing. I also have been spending time playing soccer, the team trains daily and has a weekly match. My skills are bit below par here but hopefully the intense amount of training can help me lift them.

There are also daily devotions which involve singing and dancing, drama, prayer and sharing of God's word. These are great times and often can be quite funny and always are quite long (2 or more hours). I have learnt some Kiswahili rap here and also some native dances, both of which are hilarious.

I am currently in good health however I had a bit of a scare due to my antimalarials. Doxsig (the antimalarials) which sounds all too similar to toxic are quite strong as I found out the hard way. I happened to think it a good idea to take two on one day to catch up on the ones I missed, and when I happened not to have breakie the next day I was really quite sick. I ended up at the dispensary with a drip in my arm, so I don't think I will do that again.

Well it seems I have been writing for a while now and I am still not running out of things to say. I hope I written the more interesting of some of things I have experienced. It may be a while till I can next update but until then stay safe all of you. Just thought I'd mention I'm on one of the two PC's in Matuu and you should have a look on your map to see if you can find that town as this pretty near to me. I think next time I write here I will have bought a bicycle and hopefully have some stories of riding around Kenya.

Great trip and safe arrival

2006-03-29T19:20:00.000+11:00

So I am currently in a Mall near the MCF offices in Nairobi, I have had a great but tiring journey and have made some contacts along the way. I feel much anticipation for the experiences to come and am very thankful to be blessed with so many kind people so far.

From Kuala Lumpar I flew through to Qatar, on boarding the plane it did not take me long to notice that I was the only westerner on the flight. I sat in a see of Arab faces. This at first was disconcerting, I felt unwanted and out of place.

However I could not be so wrong, I soon started to chat with the 5 Muslim clerics from Oman who sat behind me. They were returning from a conference in Malaysia and were genuinely interested in my stories. We discussed politics and after a while of chatting, I was given some Arabic perfume (hopefully not a sign that I smelt) and they prayed in Arabic for my time in Kenya.

On arival to Qatar I was very exhausted and was not appreciative of the long wait between arrival and being taken to my hotel. However the hotel served a meal for us (even though it was 1am) and was very hospitable, my room on the 6th floor had fantastic views of Doha, a city which I now intend to visit again to experience more fully. Its housing is very traditional Arabic with most houses mad from sort of mixture looking like sand most houses have the flat roofs also (I hope I can post some of my photos of Doha when I get a chance).

My flight from Nairobi was delayed the next morning and I had to wait for an hour or two while technical difficulties were fixed. I have always thought this expression and after two hours of thinking of possible problems with my plane I felt more disconcerted. Technical is obviously included so there are no questions of the problem as they clearly too technical for you and me to understand.

Despite these problems our trip was safe and enjoyable. I made friends with two Chinese guys they spoke no English and I no Chinese so communication was difficulty. But as the flight was very empty we went to the back of the plane and played Chinese chess on the floor of the plane. He was much better than I, but I still took to victories out of our games. After our games he gave me the set, so I hope to improve my skills for future games. Its actually probably a more fun game for me at the moment than classic chess, I'm not sure it's because its novelty or its actually better.

Once in Kenya I was met at the airport and took a cab through, we illegally passed through a checkpoint as the cabbie decided not to pay for the tolls. However despite running out of fuel on the roads and some horrendous traffic, (which is quite normal I'm told) I arrived safely at my hotel.

That's all I can write for now as I do not have heaps of time. Please post comments and hopefully I can update everyone sooner rather than later (however I feel it may take a while till I can get in touch again).

Arrived in Malaysia

2006-03-27T16:40:00.000+11:00

So I am currently in Malaysia's KLIA airport which is about an 40 minutes trip south of Kuala Lumpa. I'm stuck here until 9.45pm local time which means I will have waited here at the airport for 14 long hours. I've managed to get some reading done (read all of The Restless Pilgrim this morning) and enjoyed comfy long chairs for catching up on last nights lack of sleep. I'm also using these free pc's they have at the airport, they're great!

The flight was actually quite fun, it was an 8 hour trip which is by far the longest time I have spent on a plane. I happened to be sitting next to two returning cyclists from the Commonwealth Games Malaysia team. They pulled some strings and I managed to get three dinners which was nice, I also played some draughts and lost a lot (apparently they play versus' their coach, and it was one of my first times playing draughts in years).

Malaysia so far is a bit of perverse place, just flying you see so much order and structure in the road systems unlike anything you'd see in Australia. And this airport is kept meticulously clean by cleaners who literaly guard parts of the airport and clean any mess up straight away. However upon landing there was a thick smoke of the runway at first I mistook for fog, but it turns out to pollution, it was unlike anything I've ever seen.

I really look forward to exploring Malaysia a bit more on my return in October, the Malaysian Airline flight I got was mainly filled with Malaysians (suprisingly enough) and they were nice and kind. Contrastingly at this airport no one really is friendly but I feel it is mainly because it is so sterilized and regimented that people just act a bit subdued.

Well that's all for now, I'm safe and well and a little tired (try to ignore any spelling and grammar errors in this post) but overall doing good. Hopefully I will be able to post again when I make it to Doha and then occasionally when I'm in Nairobi also.

My new banner

2006-03-24T13:44:00.000+11:00

Here's my new banner, when I learn how to put it at the top of my page I'll do that. It involved the buying of pencil case (I was getting it anyway), a bandana and a scanner. For now though check it...

Not Gone, yet

2006-03-23T18:53:00.000+11:00

So I'm still not in Africa yet so this is a post to fill in between now and my departure. Today I had to ring in and make sure that they didn't cancel my flights, apparently if you don't call Qatar Airline they assume that you've changed your mind and don't want to take that flight you just paid a bit under $2000 for. They also told me that the exercise books (you know those ones you can get for 1¢ at Safeways) would cost USD$8 a kg to travel with me, and at that price there no longer a saving!

It seems that leaving the country for 6.5 months has more complications than I previously anticipated. So far I've managed to change currency, pack bags, write goodbyes, get a visa, get vaccinated for Hepatitis A, Rabies, Meningococcal and Yellow Fever and buy medication and other supplies for other mishaps. This list may seem fairly normal but the hassles of getting all this done have taken a lot of time and really my feelings are that you should not try and travel without at least a week to tie up those small odds and ends.

In other news I'm still being given the run around by the Science faculty, I've been desperately trying to organise everything for 2007 on exchange before I leave for Africa but the faculty seems to be (desperately?) trying to counter these efforts. Today I got my subjects approved but they managed to approve the wrong things, just happening to decide that maybe I was no longer interested in the subjects I had written as my preferences! I mean seriously!

While in at University to sort things out with the faculty I happened to kick back for a few coldies at the Union House for his 20th Birthday (well it was actually the reason I was in, the faculty debacles was a side interest). Hmm... and from what I was being told (by the now 20yo) apparently after 2 decades there is meant to be a list of accomplishments, this got my thinking and here's my list (add yours in the comments if you like) keeping in mind I've still a little time to my 2 decades are up:

A) Born; was a good way to start I'm not sure if this is my or my mothers accomplishment but I'll take what I can.

B) Split head and nearly caused brains to come out; now this may not sound much of an achievement but to do it in prep takes real style; that and a bully and a teacher's chair with metal legs.

C) Winner of the best archer in my grade 4 camp; I scored three bulls eyes some hard earnt respect coming my way in the form of a yellow photocopy saying "BULLS EYE".

D) Unbeaten TA champion in year 8; my inner nerd shines through but it does earn me much kudos to beat all the other kids in a laptop school. Other kudos go to game designers for making one of the greatest games ever, and teacher who are lazy enough not to check if their students are gaming during lessons.

E) Fund raising; probably doesn't really fit in with the aforementioned stuff as its actually something worth achieving. Over the years from about year 9 onwards I managed with some others to organise groups to raise money for Oxfam and World Vision, maybe raising about $30,000 in total over 4 years.

F) Guiding school house team to a swimming victory; and what a victory it was the first in 13 years for our house. This is especially precious due to my inability to swim properly and to lead as a house captain properly.

G) Mission work; this again like the fundraising is something I've done that's been worthwhile. I've done a couple of beach missions and by the time I'm 20 hopefully some (good!) work at the MCF. It's really exciting to feel as though you've helped people in a way that they couldn't have done themselves.

Well the completion of a shoddy list makes me feel, oh so much better... well not really. There's a lot I've left out or at least that's what I'll convince myself. I've actually quite enjoyed the process of writing that list, helps me figure out what I've done which was worth doing and what I will do again.

Off to Africa

2006-03-19T21:23:00.000+11:00

So the goodbyes have been said, the last good ol' aussie BBQ has been had and the bags will be soon packed. I'm off to Africa; partly the reason for the creation of the Blog is so people who I would otherwise be seeing would like to be able to hear what's happening with me. So I hope to develop a nice little community here and rack up some posts worth reading. As for some ground rules:

1. Commenting is compulsory on completion of the reading of a post.
2. When commenting be nice and kind.
3. Enjoy your time confabbing.

So this site while having some immediate plans does come with its very own 3 year plan. Or rather I'd like to still have this site being updated 3 years from now, so really you can help ensure this occurs by obeying the above three rules. Great. Well, I look forward to the path ahead and stay tuned for my next posts which will be coming from Kenya. I'm sure to have some interesting things to say then.