More Matatu Adventures

So apparently no matter what something happens to make the trip between Kisumu and Mpala last 10 hours (n=2). This time for some reason the matatu to Nakuru decided it was only going to Nyahururu so we had to wait for another one there. Then in Nakuru I was successfully scammed into paying $3 extra for my ticket…everyone riding with me on the matatus had been so nice that I forgot not to trust people that try to sell me tickets on the street. Luckily they actually did get me a ticket, just for too much money. ANYWAY now I know how that one works and it won't happen again, and $3 is not so much. Also, in general in terms of travel I think it is very fortunate that I don't get frustrated and upset by delays and can be relaxed and know that we will get there eventually. It helps. Also, we saw TWO overturned trucks on the road, thankfully neither of them was carrying people on the roof, and also thankfully neither of them was a petrol tanker, which seem to make up at least 50% of trucks on the road. One of them was carrying sticks, which I determined must have been sugarcane, and people were happily looting it and taking a few sticks each. It's really interesting that people here will all crowd around an accident, and loot (which is especially horrifying when they are stealing petrol and then it explodes, like what happened TWICE (at least?) last year), and also apparently occasionally mobs take it upon themselves to punish people…I was just reading in the newspaper that some people were driving in a car that someone claimed was his which had been stolen, and a mob started to beat up the guys in the car until the police intervened, and drivers that hit people will get attacked too...

ANYWAY ANYWAY everything is wonderful, really, and the drive through the Rift Valley is beautiful, and tea plantations are an obscenely bright shade of green, and the referendum passed peacefully!! Work on the project is coming along, I wrote up most of our sample collection protocols and this week we are meeting with a mobile phone technology working group at CDC/KEMRI and I think I will present on our system as we have it worked out so far, and maybe get some suggestions for how to best handle data transfer! Whee.