Out and About in Eldoret

This weekend was all about Eldoret. Friday night a big group of the pharmacy and medical students went out to eat at "Klique". Supposedly their pizza is really good and that is something that I have been missing here since it is such a huge part of my diet at home. Unfortunately upon arrival we were informed that the ovens were broken that evening. We were all pretty bummed but we stayed anyway for some drinks and dinner. I had a chicken kiev which was actually really good. The food in general in kenya is not the best quality nor the most flavorful so it was nice to enjoy a pretty decent meal (and only for 350 kenyan shillings which is about US $4.5o). Afterward we went to a rendezvous with our preceptor and a few others who were already at a local bar called "Wagon Wheel". A live Luhya band was playing and they were pretty good. From what I could tell it was contemporary african music - very beat driven and pretty repetitive. Good band though complete with drums, bass, two guitars, keys, and vocals. Some of my friends and I went to dance by the stage and it wasn't long before we were coaxed on stage to dance (Ashley was more than coaxed, she was literally picked up by a kenyan and placed on stage!). It was fun though I am sure we were quite a spectacle.

The following day I relaxed by the pool a little bit and read (The Fountainhead - almost done, I don't want it to end!). In the evening, we arranged to meet up with some friends from work and go out again in Eldoret. We started out at a local watering hole called "bliss" which offered super cheap Tuskers (kenyan beer) for 70 kenyan shillings (about 90 cents US). We then went to grab some dinner at Will's pub at which point the lights went out (luckily just after we received our meals). So, we ate by candlelight. We then proceeded to a club called "Places". The power was still out and when we walked in it we were greeted with a bar in complete silence. I am not sure if it was that quiet before we arrived or it became quiet once the patrons saw us, but I was reminded of the scene from "Animal House" where the guys go into the soul club and the music stops playing and everyone just looks at them in silence. It was strange and very funny. So, we took a seat, and talked over some Tuskers in the dark. Intermittently the lights would flicker on only to fail again. Eventually the power came back or they fixed their generator and we were able to dance.

It was a relaxing weekend and it was nice being able to sleep later than 6 AM (something I haven't been able to do since I arrived here). We may go into town sometime during the late afternoon one day this week - I'll try to take some pictures...