Getting Supplies

April 20, 2017

What a productive day today! It went like this:

1. I woke up early this morning (7am) so I started painting some plain air watercolor
2. Did a little bit of work in the shop (cutting the bed slats)
3. We drove to Kisumu to get wood finishes (and some other supplies)
4. We went by a small Masai Market to buy some souvenirs
5. Since we are in Kisumu and there is Nakumatt (There’s none in Maseno, only Kisumu), I was finally able to buy some grocery to make Chinese food for the family!
6. Last stop was the farmer's market. William's uncle bought two chickens here.

Here are the photos in chronological order:

Backyard Watercolor

This is what I was painting

Using my jig to make a 1/4" deep cut

Then, off to Kisumu! First stop was the woodworking supply shop.  We needed wood glue, clear varnish, sanding sealer, clamps and a piece of 1/4" MDF.  William's dad dropped us off here while he went to do other errands.  They had clamps but weren't the quick-grip ones (and they were expensive!), they also only had 3/4" MDF and sold by like 8 foot which was too big.

These were the ones they had, which takes forever to tighten

I didn't take pictures here, because it didn't feel safe.  There were a lot of people on the street, and they were looking at me, some of them shouted "hey China!" and some try to speak Chinese to me, while others tried to stop us and one of them I think tried to grab me.  We tried to get on a motorcycle as soon as we could (here there are a lot of motorcycle taxis).  It was quite fun. I always like riding on motorcycles.  We didn't have helmets on so thank god we didn't fall (haha). I enjoyed the wind passing by me.  The next stop is Kisumu's Masai market.  The sellers were all shouting and directing us to go to their stores, but the overall experience was a lot better than the Masai market in Nairobi.  The sellers were persistent, but not as aggressive or trying to trick you.

Corner inside one of the shops. All the products were handmade by wood or soapstone and painted by hand.

After I got some souvenirs from here, we took another motorcycle taxi to Nakumatt to meet up with William's dad.  I got groceries here to make Chinese food for the family.  Our last stop was so interesting, it was a farmer's market.  William's uncle (Federick) bought two live chickens here, they will raise the chickens at home to make eggs.  One chicken cost 600 shillings ($6 USD).  The shop owner would pick up a chicken from the cage, Federick would take it, and then said "This one is not good, give me another".  I asked him how to select, he said by weight, and the look of their feather. If the feathers are patchy or falling off it's no good.  The heavier their weight, the better.

To use, you just cut a piece from the long bar.
This bar looks like it will last a while.

They sell soap by long bars. These can be used for laundry or dirty dishes

They use a manual weight to measure the onions

This is where we bought the live chickens

William's uncle with the chickens

LOL! can you spot the chicken?
They were really quiet and calm in the car. 

The kids were treating the ice cream truck like a playground

When we got home it was dark, so we glued/nailed some pieces with flashlight.  It's called dedication. Good thing no one nailed their thumb in the dark.  

First assembly done with flashlight