I find that working with stingless bees is very nice. You have to move carefully and slowly so that you do not bother the bees. But, since they can't sting me, it makes working with them so much easier. They kind of just crawl up and around my hands... It is kind of calming :)
So today at lunch, I sat my a group of girls from icipe who are very nice. Their names are Mercy, Karen, Halima, and Sarah. I was asking them about their hair today and how long it takes to get it done. (talking about the braids or twists that many women have here) They said it would usually take 2 to 3 hours for their hair for be done depending on how fast the hairdresser was and how many people are doing it. They then encouraged me to get it done! They said I should try it sometime. Now that would be quite the look on peoples faces when I arrive home. :) Who knows, maybe I will. Any thoughts?!
Being so far away from home, it is quite the comfort to have so many people I can consider my friends here. I think that has really helped with my adjustment here, along with having internet access while in the office and in my room. Even the staff at the guest house are all very nice to me. There is a man who cleans the floors everyday and I have enjoyed chatting with him before I head to work or while I am on my way to my room.
The mosquitoes here are absolutely terrible! It is like they know I am a foreigner, so they are helping me get the full African Experience. I have been putting medicine on religiously, and they are starting to fade slowly but surely. Thankfully, many of the scientists here have assured me that malaria is not present in the towns. It is when I go to the fields that I will be most worried. Thank goodness I have medicine! Of course... the 50% guarantee is worrisome....
My meals here have been rather.... monotonous. Rice with fish or beef. During lunch my friends always ask why I eat all my foods dry. At first I was confused, then they said I should put gravy or sauce on my food. It never would have occurred to me to put gravy on my fish and rice. It seems I will be branching out soon. They then asked if I liked salad. I said yes that its okay. They then asked why I wouldn't get the salad that the kitchen offered. I told them that I was worried about the water used to wash the veggies they use. I am sure it would be okay to eat, but who wants to flirt with montezuma's revenge?? Certainly not I!
I have a television in my room that I will turn on when I am tired of the silence. There are more "American" shows than I had expected! There are also a lot of Christian shows. There is always a "home church" channel playing, and Sunday is all church until the evenings. Christian rock and pop is nice to listen too!
One of the things I do miss from home that I didn't think I would is dairy. I haven't had milk, cheese, yogurt or anything like that since I left the US. Besides the milkshake, I haven't had much else. They offer milk here, but I haven't been able to bring myself to try it. Maybe for breakfast tomorrow.... And cheese.... some cheese sounds good! I never thought I would crave cheese!
I've attached some pictures for you to look at!
That is all I have for now. I will keep you posted about my weekend. I am shopping Saturday, and going to a Methodist Church Sunday. The Lutheran church is pretty far from icipe campus.
These are my main supplies while i work with the hives. My notebook, pen, flashlight, magnifying glass, and knife. This is like my hive tool.
Here is my lovely desk:)
This is one of the buildings at icipe campus.
These are the laboratorys at icipe campus.
This is the main building on icipe.
This is the building I work at. The silk is also manufactured here. They are both rather messy. Honey is sticky and silk threads like to stick to your clothes.
This is part of the hive that I am working with. The species is Meliponula Ferrunginea. They build their comb in circles one on top of the other with the columns surrounding them and above them. Here you can see the comb and the columns. You can also see a queen cell. It is the vary large cell in the back of the circle of comb. It is in the middle of the picture.
No comments:
Post a Comment