Trip to Kisumu

First, I just need to show you this. Prawn-cocktail-flavored chips.

What the what?

Moving on.













So, here's the thing. I thought I didn't love Kenya. But, after my 9-hour road trip west to Kisumu, I decided that I just didn't like NAIROBI itself! Kisumu, a smaller city, is located on Lake Victoria, next to gorgous mountains, nested in a lush, green valley.

 The scenery, in a weird way, reminded me a little bit of Ireland -- kelly-green farmland divided haphazardly by dark hedges. Or maybe it's because the only two countries I've been in outside of North America are Ireland and Kenya. Still, I'm going off of what I know.


I'll be living in Kisumu during the month of November, so a couple friends and I took a trip to check out apartments and to see the city. Nairobi is bustling, crowded, polluted, and full of trash. Kisumu seems less urban, cozier, cleaner. I think it's because I'm a midwestern girl at heart, but I love the quieter feeling of the town.

The tea plantations outside the city

The city itself

Gorgeous, no? I met a few incredible people on my trip, too. I'm now conducting research with the Chief Public Health Officer in Kisumu about the prevalence of parasitic worms in bovine carcasses in Kisumu slaughterhouses. Awesome? Yes. Disgusting? Absolutely.

I also met the Assistant Director of the CDC Kisumu offices, who invited me to conduct research there this summer and after I graduate. Tempting...

Headed to Tanzania this weekend for a 10-day trip. I'm sure I'll have lots and lots to say when I return!