Warm Air Rises: Meetings, Airports, and Goodbyes

Hi Folks,
It's Thursday morning (at least it is here) and I'm writing this post from Heathrow Airport on the outskirts of London. I've just arrived after an eight hour overnight flight from Nairobi. After a large dose of Starbucks to perk me up, I've decided to update my blog for the last time - for this trip at least. I've seen people carrying around Krispy Kreme bags so that could be in my future as well.

I'll say a brief bit about the workshop held on Monday and Tuesday in Kisumu (Kenya), the purpose of which was to share our results and recommendations with the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, who sponsored our study, and the "stakeholders", of which many of whom were fishermen. The meeting was my first experience in a truly international conference setting and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. As a scientist, I was disappointed that we barely discussed the science of the project at all. The meeting largely consisted of parliamentary procedures, endless pointless speeches, and too frequent tea/coffee breaks. One man after the other would stand up and give a speech about how important it was to develop the region and how important the fishermen were and blah blah blah blah blah. What really killed me was that as soon as he would sit down the next person would stand up and give the exact same speech without displaying any signs of listening to the person in front of them. This drove me bonkers! In two days of 8 hours of meetings we accomplished absolutely nothing. My presentation went alright, good but not great, but the commission asked no intelligent questions and the meeting went on as if I'd never said anything at all. To cap it off the end of the second day was filled by spending two hours editing a summary of the meeting which was to be submitted into the official record. Rather than debating what we had actually accomplished (which was nothing), we had 45 people in a room arguing about where a comma should go or if we should use the acronym WMO or write it out (World Meteorological Organization). It was utterly pointless dribble. Below is a picture of the editing session with the camera pointed away from me to hide the disgust that was likely obvious on my face.

After the meeting I said goodbye to all of the colleagues I'd met along the way, including my travel companions, and flew back to Nairobi where I spent Tuesday night at the Nairobi Safari Club once again. Below is a picture of the "Departure Terminal" of the Kisumu International Airport, which was in reality a large tent set up adjacent to the runway. The wooden picket fence was their version of airport security. Back in Nairobi it felt good to relax a bit and I actually spent some time on Wednesday walking around and seeing more of the city. I had a good cup of espresso, decent Chinese food, and found the Parliament building and City Hall. In the end I decided that, with the exception of the air quality and the traffic, Nairobi isn't a half bad place. I had dinner at the hotel before hoping in a cab and fighting the traffic out to the airport. I spent a large amount of time in the airport trying to find an exchange desk willing to take my remaining Ugandan Shillings off of my hands. I finally acquiesced to trading them at a severe loss, getting around $25 US for my 90,000 USh. I didn't feel too bad about this because I had just read in the East African Community newspaper that afternoon how much trouble the Ugandans were having trying to stake their currency to the dollar, so it's understandable nobody wanted to take them from me. The rate has nearly doubled in the past six months, from around 1500 USh to $1 to 2500 USh to $1 now. This compounded my view of Uganda as a country facing many serious challenges in the coming decade.

I thought I might close my blog about this trip by writing a few hard-earned tips to anyone who may visit the region in the future. This list is by no means exhaustive, but I do think it's worth sharing.

1) Learn a few basic Swahili phrases to facilitate your initial interactions with people. You're much more likely to have good results if you take the time to begin the conversation in their main language. A simple thank you, asante, goes a long way.

2) Consult a travel book, but don't live by their recommendations. Most of the tourist I encountered along the way were doing prepackaged tours taken straight from their Lonely Planet guide. I felt more prepared by consulting the book before I came, but most of my memorable experiences came off the beaten path.

3) Talk to the natives outside of your hotel or safari club. I really enjoyed talking to my waiters, cab drivers, and a few random people on the street. They were all exceptionally friendly, curious and willing to listen, and had interesting insights into the world that I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere.

4) Take the time to allow them to be hospitable. The Africans I met along the way were a very proud people. They wanted to make a good impression on us and were exceptionally hospitable. When we went into a meeting you could tell it was their best tea-set and kindest manners. It is a point of pride for them to be able to welcome you to their country/office/hotel. If you're there for a meeting don't go straight into business, as we found out this can be considered quite rude. Proceed slowly and thank them for their genuine generosity.

5) At least try the native food. If you're staying in western-style hotels then you will have plenty of western food available to you, but you can get a pork chop anywhere in the US. I enjoyed tasting the Ugali, many varieties of sweet potatoes, and other native dishes. You may not like it but you should at least try it. Note - this doesn't necessarily apply to some types of fish (I was thoroughly grossed out after being served an entire tilapia cooked with only its eyeballs removed).

I think that's all for now. I'm flying to Raleigh this afternoon and I'm excited to sleep in my own bed, watch the Braves play, use my cell phone, and not use bottled water to brush my teeth. This trip brings my conquest up to eleven countries on four different continents in addition to 30 of the 50 states. Here and there, good and bad, there's no place like home.

Best,
Casey