I'll be home in three weeks!

Hello everyone, so I know that I am the worst blogger ever (at least for this site.) I also know that Caitie is likely the only person who will read this! Hey Caitie I miss you! Oyy the scope of what has been happening is something I am not capable of covering in one measly blog post, or even by words. I figured I’m just going to upload as many pictures as possible from my time here and you can sort of see for yourself. So far I have finished three classes; Ecology of the Turkana Basin, Geology, and Paleoanthropological discoveries of the Turkana Basin and I am halfway through vertebrate paleontology and paleobotany. Our last class was super interesting, but a lot of work (Matt I have so much sympathy for you, memorizing bones is crazy.) I also have a new favorite anatomical word, Trochanter, “a very great prominent eminence”, which led me to believe that a trochanter is really a wizard or something. I read a really good book entitled “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet”, which I now recommend to you all because it was amazing. I also read a book written by Richard Leakey entitled “Wildlife Wars.” It focuses on his time as the head of the Kenya Wildlife Service, which he founded, and his efforts to eliminate poaching and the trade of ivory. It is amazing, informative, depressing and heartwarming, I recommend it as well! I am steadily working my way through the collection of books by Richard Leakey here.

           

Enough about books for now! We’ve been doing a lot here, I went camping in the desert, found a bat cave, found fossils that date to 3.5 million years ago, saw crocodiles, found a really cool crocodile fossil, planted trees and did more presentations than I’ve ever done in my life! I am happy here though. Every day is an adventure, even the ones where we don’t do anything. I am simultaneously so homesick that it is painful, and yet never wanting to leave. I feel a sort of panic setting in as I realize that in less than a month I will be getting on the plane to head back to New York. I have one thing to comfort me though; the director of TBI told me that they have a TA position available for the fall semester. If I manage to take a few summer classes and then maybe either do an independent study or do research for credit here in the fall I can still graduate on time in the spring. I am really excited because not only do I get to return to Kenya and TBI, but it would definitely be beneficial to my prospective career. This is all depending on whether I get the spot or not, but I am hoping!! 

Life is different here, different to the point that I don’t think I can adequately explain it. Sunday we went to one of the local schools here to plant trees and play with the kids. There are several small buildings there, smaller than TBI and yet over 170 kids attend school there. It’s hard for many of the parents to send their children to school because they need them at home to help with the animals or other activities and on top of that there are always fees to attend the school. So if anyone is interested in sponsoring some kids here in the Turkana Basin, let me know and I will do my best to help you make a donation. Besides the difficulties the people face here clean water, adequate food, it is really a beautiful place. During the day the temperature settles at around 115’, and yet it doesn’t feel that hot to me anymore. I’m sure I’m going to freeze when I come home and it is 50’ out! We go hiking around TBI a lot and the variation in terms of the landscape is amazing. The riverine forest borders the turkwel, which you see in a lot of my photos, that is what I see at my dorm and the mess hall during every meal. Sometimes I look up and am struck by how amazing the things I see everyday are. It is sad because I find myself getting used to the stark beauty of the desert, but I know that I will miss it when I go back home. To the south side of the Turkwel, where TBI is located, is the riverine forest which is bordered by steep rock formations that were deposited by an ancient river. They also still flood annually during intense seasonal rain storms. These formations are filled with amazing caves and hidden gorges with fossils protruding from the sediment. It really is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I have over 2000 pictures oy.

We had rain the other day! It was totally amazing! It actually drizzled a few times this week, but it wasn’t at all what I expected. Drizzle?! Then finally a few nights ago at 4 am I awoke to what sounded like pebbles being dumped on the metal roof. It was raining! This rainstorm lasted only an hour or two but it was intense!

            Anyway I have so much more to say but I think that is all I can get out for now. I love and miss you all especially you Caitie! I can't wait to watch Doc Whobies with you!