My GI tract questions why I came to Kenya

Yea, my digestive system has a hard time adjusting. Luckily, I never got the 24 hour bug that went around, but I still have had some issues. The worst though was today. We had our first trip to Amboseli National Park where we were sure to see lots of the large mammals. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning feeling not so hot. All night long I had weird burps that would wake me up and make me think I had vomited, plus a delightfully endless flow of poop. That I would have dealt with so I could have gone to Amboseli, but by lunch, my gut hurt so much that I could barely move. I had no appetite all day and just felt horrible. So I stayed back while everyone left. It was weird being at camp by myself (besides some staff). I stayed in my banda and napped for awhile and watched Freaks and Geeks on my laptop. I felt like I was back at college, lying in bed all day like that. But now I feel much better! I'm a little bummed out that I missed our first trip to Amboseli, but we'll be going three other times this month alone so it's not that big of a deal. Plus I got the camp to myself and I caught up on much needed sleep.

Since my past entry, we have had several field lectures. These lectures are easily the best lectures I have ever had. Two were at the top of small hills where we learned more about the geography and ecology of the area. Another one was held just outside KBC's gate so that we could learn how to make strong field observations. The lectures themselves weren't necessarily too interesting, but it was so nice to get out. The first two lectures on top of hills were especially great because of the fantastic views.

On Tuesday we had our first non-program day. We went to Oloitokitok (pronounced usually as Lay-tok-tok, but people spell and pronounce it in several different ways). It is the largest town in the area, about an hour drive from KBC (distance-wise it isn't that far, the roads are just that bad). Oloitokitok is on the slopes of Kilimanjaro so it is right next to the Tanzanian border. We did a short hike into a gorge that was full of vegetation but dried out (it's currently the end of the long dry season) and then browsed around the town for a bit. I wanted to try some of the local beer there, but unfortunately this was when I started to have digestive issues. I think I'll give myself another week or two to adjust to the diet here.

Some other things that I'll just list:
- For whatever reason my internet browser is in Italian (Sarah, you should have figured that out). I think I made the blog correctly regardless?
- Some critter lives in the roof of my banda and makes a lot of noise at night. It scares the hell out of me! At first I thought it was a bat, but I saw a small rodent running around the banda today...
- My malaria pills give me weird dreams. I kind of like it. It mostly affects me when I doze for a few seconds, like in class. I'll think someone was talking to me and wake up two seconds later to realize that they obviously weren't.
- I really enjoy being dirty and lowering my hygenic standards. I successfully handwashed my laundry the other day, but I think I'm going to wear my clothes an extra day or two from now on because it was a pain to do.

I tried to upload one photo but the Internet is that bad. Maybe next time.