Categories
Loitokitok

Crossing the Road in Loitokitok

So there can be no confusion about just how muddy it gets here when it rains, here’s a clip of some trainees on their way to my session on “technology in the classroom:”  Forget “uphill both ways,” this is walking to school at its most dangerous.  We even saw a giant tree branch fly by!


And here are the two volunteers who joined me for a Christmas dinner of goat meat (here served on Christmas Day, after church is out).  And yes, I did go to church.

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Here’s a rare photo of me, as I ponder the profound meaning of family, peace, and goat slaughtering:

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Just like the above, here’s another pic my “little brother” took. This one’s of his sister.  Does this boy have a knack for natural lighting or what?

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Speaking of brothers and sisters, here’s the newest addition to the family since I left here a year ago  And yes, she was always this happy to see me.

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What’s a Loitokitok photo collection without Kilimanjaro?

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Lastly, here’s the Christmas present my Loitokitok family gave to their neighbors:  Who’s not a sucker for puppy pictures?

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I’m leaving Loitokitok tomorrow for Mombasa, where the next day I’ll be picking up (or just “picking,” as is the custom to say here) my mom and sister from the airport!

Categories
Loitokitok

Another Loitokitok Christmas

Well, it’s been a while and I wish I could say that I’ve been as busy as I wanted to be.  Since I got back from Nairobi I’ve mostly been cleaning and reading, but I’ve recently come back to Loitokitok, the place where I spent my first couple months in Kenya, to celebrate Christmas with my old home- stay family and some fellow volunteers.  The town is just like I left it, muddy and beautiful, and I look forward to a big Christmas dinner!  Hopefully I don’t have to hold the goat as it’s slaughtered this year.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Categories
Mombasa

YouTube Captions

Just a little news that applies to both my old job and to the Deaf community at large:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/automatic-captions-in-youtube.html

I think we all knew this would happen sooner or later, and it’s still not here 100%, but now a small subset of Youtube videos have the option of displaying Closed Captions based on some behind-the-scenes speech recognition.  I haven’t seen any examples of this used over difficult material, but it’s a start.