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January 13, 2005
Screened-in and Lightheaded
Campfire Songs - Two Corvettes
This is one of the better (and sadder) things Animal Collective have ever done. Recorded on a screened-in porch in Maryland on three mini-disc recorders, and in one nonstop take, 'Campfire Songs' is maybe the prettiest album that AC have done- it's all acoustic guitar ebb and flow (similar to, if you know the song, 'Visiting Friends' on 'Sung Tongs'), and their ridiculously solid vocal harmonies. I like to think of 'Two Corvettes' as a love song between cars (which it's not). This album is out of print now, but Catsup Plate (which is a great label) has plans to reissue some time in the next few weeks, hopefully.
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Now, something a little different: in September 2002, one of my friends from school, Dan, went to Kenya on a Fulbright scholarship, to study the training methods and the religion (which is apparently a mix of Christianity and animism) of the marathon runners there. He sent out emails to people back home in the States about once a week, and these little notes always struck me as being particularly funny and well-written. I've always wanted to publish them in one form or another, and this seems like as good a forum as any. So on Fridays from now until the forseeable future, there'll be a song, some comments from me, and then an installment of what Dan called his 'version of 'Heart of Darkness' if Conrad had been on ecstasy the whole time'. Here's the first email- enjoy.
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The past two weeks in Kenya have been kind of up and down.
Nairobi is a really bad place to be if you look like a foreigner. It pretty much was really not very good. I would say that someone tried to rob or scam me at least 2 or 3 times a day. You fortunately (or unfortunately) learn in maybe a couple hours that being "streetwise" just means being completely paranoid (at least for the first few days). That man with no legs - DANGER! That kid on the corner who dances for shillings - DANGER! That stranger asking you which hotel you are staying in - well, that's okay. In one scam, these guys on the street said that they worked for a tour company, and just wanted you to take a brochure from their office upstairs. I didn't go up, but I heard later in the day that they pulled a knife and rob some tourist once they got him into a building. Given my expertise in ka-rate, I would have probably tried to (unsuccessfully) use my "angry cat" form on him, blindly clawing at eyes and genital region(s).
The only good thing that came from being in Nairobi was that I met the national cross-country team coach, who said that I could stay with the team when they have training camp in february. I was pretty glad to leave, thinking anywhere has to be better than there. then I got to Eldoret.
In Eldoret I stayed in a brothel/hotel for the first 4 nights (about 2 bucks a night, 1.25 for a "half-night"). It wasn't really that bad, except the noise kind of keeps you up at night. But Eldoret is a much smaller town, so crime is generally much less of a problem. I think that once people see you are there for the long haul (not just breezing through), they start to generally treat you a lot better.
But now I am at Moi University, where they are really going overboard. I feel bad, because I think they had to have thought I was a visiting professor or something (the last and only other Fulbright person here was, so I was told). Upon my arrival they were no doubt immediately disabused of that notion. In anticipation of my arrival, they set up an office for me (hopefully not kicking someone else out to do it), and also let me use one of the University guest houses for the year. For about 200 bucks a month, I practically get my own house about a mile from campus (I will have to share it if other people come), and a nice old lady who cleans and also cooks breakfast in the morning. It's pretty sweet.
So my days can now best be described by that episode of Seinfeld where George sits in his office all day trying to look like he's doing something with the Penske file. It's not all that bad.
Did my first workout yesterday. Ran a mile at 5:20 on the grass track, and thought I was going to start coughing up blood. A group of soccer playing children laughed at me.
today, I did another workout on the track, and every mzungu runner's nightmare came true. Those soccer-playing 6 yr olds started running with me. I was running neck and neck with them through the backstretch. when we hit the home stretch, though, guess what happened? I totally wasted them. Then everything started turning orange and I went home.
Anyways, that's the abbreviated version of what has happened so far. If you would like a postcard, send me your address, because I really need to look busy doing something during the workday. I will send them as long as I can afford it (I am trying to stick to a 1000 shilling/day budget, which is about 12 bucks).
Posted by matt at January 13, 2005 06:56 PM