So, according to my mother, my last post sounded like I was really upset and did not know how to deal with problems, haha. Sorry if it came off this way! I'm am not that upset... everything is still good. I was just venting and sharing details of how things usually (don't) work around here.

I can already tell that at the end of my two months here, when people ask me "How was Kenya?" my reply will be: "It was awesome! There were so many little headaches: nothing worked right, you have to wait forever, the roads are terrible, things are not at all efficient.... but come on, I was surrounded by animals and amazing views, and I learned so much. I got to sit out on the open Plain and watch zebra all day and see cheetah and lions at night. And now I can consider myself pretty comfortable with things I was not before coming here: driving stick, driving 4-wheel-drive and offroad, changing a tire, a little bit of Swahili (which I hope to learn a lot more of). I also feel so much more prepared to start thinking about and working on a PhD dissertation, because I see what is feasible and how things really run here.

The problems are all starting to get worked out. Lisa and I have been going out together in my car the past couple of days. And while we each get less done than we would alone, we are still being somewhat productive. Today was pretty good, we got a fair amount done. They also took Lisa's car up to the workshop today and it appears to be fixed as they just brought it back! Tomorrow we are going to drop my car off to be looked at while we drive her car into town to get my phone fixed. So hopefully that will all go well and we will be back to fully functioning shape by Wednesday.

The research is also going well. I made some interesting observations today, but I will save that for a later post.
Oh, and all the Earthwatch volunteers just got here. So the place is now full and will no doubt be less quiet than the past few days. I'll have to go meet them all at dinner in a few minutes. I hope everyone is doing well back in the states (or wherever you are in the world at this current moment).