Kwaheri (Guest Entry)
Shortly, I will be saying Kwaheri (goodbye) to Kenya and our friends here at NEGST.
This trip really has been wonderful and I have many good memories. I also have some not-so-good memories, many of them computer related. A case in point was the comedy of errors as I attempted to print a document this afternoon. The notebook computer kindly loaned to me by NEGST has not been functioning correctly, so I was using the rather old computer alloted to me at the library. When I attempted to print this document, I discovered that the computer was not configured for the printer. The library systems person attempted to set things up, and after a while called in someone from campus IT. Shortly, the campus IT person disappeared without resolving the problem. I then came up with the bright idea of saving the document on a disk (there have been a number of times in the past days that I have become the "computer
expert"- those who work with me at the Wheaton College library are now having a hearty chuckle at this concept.) The staff produced several disks, all of which contained other documents and not enough memory. Things were deleted off of these disks, still not enough memory to save my largeish document containing various screen capture images. I then had another brilliant idea about e-mailing my document to someone else to print. Webmail took half an hour to load my attachment, then I sent it, then the person realized that he gave me the wrong e-mail address. I tried again, and after another half hour was able to e-mail my document to the correct address. I then got a message from Webmail stating that my attachment was too large to send. Elapsed time: 2 hours. In the U.S., this would have taken me about 1 minute. Fortunately, David was able to move my document to a location where he can access and print it.
Things I will miss about Kenya and NEGST: Incredibly kind and friendly people, beautiful green countryside that looks like a cross between Southern Calif. and England, scores of amazingly colored birds, seeing plants that I only knew as houseplants flourish (did you know poinsettas grow into small trees?), and marvelous tropical fruit, including bananas, papayas, and mango. Things I will not miss: Computer issues, Alice issues (and don't get me started on that one), having to brush my teeth with bottled water, roads that can be unbelievable and traffic that is worse, and strange shriveled meats served in the dining hall. I actually bent my fork trying to saw up the lamb chop served for dinner tonight; it was gristly, charred but strangely squishy on the inside. Let me just tell you that Kenya is not a good place for vegetarians, of which I usually am not but may become one temporarily in response to eating lots and lots of meat, including more chicken than I usually eat in about 6 months.
Asante sana (thank you very much) to our kind friends here who have been such good hosts. And best of luck to the library staff in their ongoing challenges, of which Alice is not the least! Much effort and care is being given to the NEGST library, and it will continue to facilitate and support the graduate programs here that are preparing future African church leaders.
Mary Sue
This trip really has been wonderful and I have many good memories. I also have some not-so-good memories, many of them computer related. A case in point was the comedy of errors as I attempted to print a document this afternoon. The notebook computer kindly loaned to me by NEGST has not been functioning correctly, so I was using the rather old computer alloted to me at the library. When I attempted to print this document, I discovered that the computer was not configured for the printer. The library systems person attempted to set things up, and after a while called in someone from campus IT. Shortly, the campus IT person disappeared without resolving the problem. I then came up with the bright idea of saving the document on a disk (there have been a number of times in the past days that I have become the "computer
expert"- those who work with me at the Wheaton College library are now having a hearty chuckle at this concept.) The staff produced several disks, all of which contained other documents and not enough memory. Things were deleted off of these disks, still not enough memory to save my largeish document containing various screen capture images. I then had another brilliant idea about e-mailing my document to someone else to print. Webmail took half an hour to load my attachment, then I sent it, then the person realized that he gave me the wrong e-mail address. I tried again, and after another half hour was able to e-mail my document to the correct address. I then got a message from Webmail stating that my attachment was too large to send. Elapsed time: 2 hours. In the U.S., this would have taken me about 1 minute. Fortunately, David was able to move my document to a location where he can access and print it.
Things I will miss about Kenya and NEGST: Incredibly kind and friendly people, beautiful green countryside that looks like a cross between Southern Calif. and England, scores of amazingly colored birds, seeing plants that I only knew as houseplants flourish (did you know poinsettas grow into small trees?), and marvelous tropical fruit, including bananas, papayas, and mango. Things I will not miss: Computer issues, Alice issues (and don't get me started on that one), having to brush my teeth with bottled water, roads that can be unbelievable and traffic that is worse, and strange shriveled meats served in the dining hall. I actually bent my fork trying to saw up the lamb chop served for dinner tonight; it was gristly, charred but strangely squishy on the inside. Let me just tell you that Kenya is not a good place for vegetarians, of which I usually am not but may become one temporarily in response to eating lots and lots of meat, including more chicken than I usually eat in about 6 months.
Asante sana (thank you very much) to our kind friends here who have been such good hosts. And best of luck to the library staff in their ongoing challenges, of which Alice is not the least! Much effort and care is being given to the NEGST library, and it will continue to facilitate and support the graduate programs here that are preparing future African church leaders.
Mary Sue
posted by David Malone at 4:26 AM
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