well, after gallivanting around northern ethiopia for 2 weeks, i came home to a new place. i was leaving the mother theresa room at chris & lindy's Livingstone guest house in Karen and moving into "deb's place" in Hardy (not far from the Giraffe Centre if you want to google earth it). deb's place is modest and is like an appalachian shack sans the banjo music. here are more pics...
it's turned out to be cozy and all i need. need the critical word here. would i love a double bed or a queen size bed instead of the skinny single? surely. would i love a proper fridge? sure. a washing machine? consistent electricity? a good internet connection? a dresser? a closet? of course, these would all be great. but it's probably more than i "need" and in africa you get what you get and you don't get upset. true, it maddening working on a blog or doing a video edit session and suddenly the power goes out and all is lost (not saved), but such is life. i get roosters and exotic birds chirping in the morning instead of the WWII street sweeper that used to wake me twice a week in DTLA loftville, so it's all a trade off. deb's place is a 3 month tour and then i move to mark & su's 2 bedroom flat with an open floor plan and lots of flora and fauna on a 6 acre secure compound. you know it's secure when the 24 hour gate guy is in uniform! the new place is relatively huge, open, and beautiful. deb's place is relatively small and dark and it's all i need, but i'm glad it's not for life. (the white duct tape holding the drop down ceiling panels together is especially charming in it own way, a certain je nous se qua.). but it's home sweet home for now. my kitchen has served me peanut butter sandwiches and granola cereal, so far, with one fried egg sandwich off a dangerous looking propane stove. cooking will not be my strong suit here. the kitchen is the size of a small walk-in closet. hey, all i need, right?? and the new place is only three months away. sawa sawa!
work related stuff
so with over 3 hours of ethiopian footage to sort thru and cut together, and running around packing and unpacking and getting my new live/work situation sorted, it's been a little slow getting finished product cut for charity:water. but i'm uploading 3 clips today and have much more to do. i picked up an editorial asst/intern along the way (emily) who will be a big help, especially the busier i get. i did a 6 min vid for chris & lindy's year end report and it's been well received here. other NGO's (non-governmental orgs) have shown interest in a vid of their own. my next trip may be to Sudan and south sudan for a vid for Voice of the Martyrs. another adventure for sure. but the CW stuff is coming along, although i feel behind any implied deadline. need to finish everything by friday. that's the plan (internet and power withstanding). but once it's off my plate, i can do more travel for more work related projects. kinda cool. exotic places. more of africa to see.
holiday plans
i've been invited to an american family's house for a proper thanksgiving feast on turkey day, then looks like i'll be here for christmas then travel to joburg (johannesburg, south africa) for a few days on my way to a friend's place in cape town for a fortnight. while there, i'll try and visit katie taylor, a hollywood casting director who left it all to teach at a film school in south africa, north of cape town in stollensbech in the western cape. would love to spend a few days seeing what she is up to. then there is the remote chance my UK friends will have me up to their swiss chalet for a little skiing late january/february. so i should be busy outside of kenya over christmas and new years and into january. then come february, i'll move into my african bungalow in Hardy with a proper guest room and some space and a patio. very cool pad. commercial work may be forthcoming, but at the moment, the NGO vid business looks like it will keep me busy. plus salim amin has a screenplay i'll be reading and giving some notes on, a film about his father. an interesting project set to shoot here once funding can be found and a star or two is in place.
impressions
it's wild to think that only a month ago before i moved, i didn't know where i would live, what i would drive, who would be my friends, what part of town i would be in, what it would sound like at night, what it would be like driving on the left hand side, who my swahili tutor would be, how much rain and lightning there would be, and and and. but now the new life has taken root and i'm getting settled into my surroundings and have a solid toyota to drive and a cute shack to lay my head and cut my vids, and overall, a fantastic community of new friends and acquaintances. i'm discovering the cool places to go, and perhaps most importantly, i'm doing work for an NGO that i believe in (C:W) and on tuesdays i help chris deliver food to schools in the slums like kibera and kawangware (i'll deliver myself while chris is on furlough starting next week). i have been so blessed with a great life situation. i'm never homesick and the people i miss i'm excited will come visit someday. so far the great adventure/experiment has exceeded my expectations. i have no agenda for what the future will hold and i'm no longer waiting for my hollywood agent to call for an interview (for the first time in 25 years). i am present, i have a new set of problems, and the discoveries are new all the time. it will take a lifetime to outgrow africa. and i'm excited to start exploring the neighboring countries like zambia and zimbabwe. maybe i'll even drive to cape town from nairobi! that would be insane! via joburg. and vic falls. there would be so much to see! hmmmm...
jacken
and lastly, i am taking swahili lessons daily from 4-6pm at the karen blixen coffee gardens with a great swahili teacher named jacken whose been teaching for 25 years. it will a lot of work, but i love using my brain learning something new and i haven't felt subconscious learning something new in a long time. i'll get a pic of him for next time. he has such a great face. i hope to be street fluent by december!
well, all for now folks, things are good and getting better by the week. sorry this post is somewhat mundane. you can't discover skull and bones every week!
african hug, y'all...
kwaheri!
ddm
Great post - sounds wonderful to me - a perfect fit for you. We're in the process of fixing up the house in CC - got tenants for this one. They go to the Vineyard, so keeping it in the family :)
ReplyDeleteLove you, DDavid - bless you!
irina and family
Hey, you need a bank of batteries for backup power. You should have more than what a "normal" backup power situation in the states would look like. Think 4 to six car batteries with a converter. I have seen the setup in India, must be similar in Africa. There has to be a service or company that can sell you a system. With a proper setup you could go for a day or two with your computers. Also once you get settled what about solar? There may be a photo voltaic sponsorship angle?
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