Uganda: my third African country.
The first time I went to Uganda it was raining…I mentioned this shortly after we crossed the border to Uganda and it was pouring down rain. I was promptly made fun of for writing my personal memoir…but secretly I think they loved it and here I am using it. It’s the truth. A couple other truths include that it took almost 2 hours to leave Kenya and to enter Uganda (thanks to the laid back nature of the two countries) as well as nearly being hit by a train as soon as we proceeded beyond the border. I heard a loud honk, glanced up from my seat, and saw a train on its way into contact with my passenger door. Luckily we got out unscathed.
The drive through Uganda was gorgeous. It is a much greener country than Kenya and the landscape seemed drastically different. Whether it actually was or my imagination because I knew we were somewhere different, I don’t know. Unfortunately, we had stayed out too late the night before dancing at Spree in Eldoret that as soon as sun down happened, I passed out from exhaustion. Apparently I slept through some pretty rough stretches of road, but I was out. I do remember passing through another rainforest in which there were tons of baboons sitting in the road that we had to stop until they moved.
I awoke shortly before we arrived at our campsite. We enjoyed a delicious Ugandan meal of nachos at the Black Lantern Restaurant, before we were showed to our bunks and joined the other adventurers at an outside bar. This bar was open air and had a balcony overlooking the Nile River. Because it was dark, we couldn’t see the Nile, but we could hear it. I hiked down the hill with Benson, Jordan, Anand and a single flashlight. We couldn’t see much until we got to the edge of the river and the moonlight illuminated it for us. To be honest, I have never been that intimidated by water before: in the dark, gushing by, and spreading out forever in front of us. That is, until I was completely re-intimidated the following day during our main weekend activity: WHITE WATER RAFTING.
After a short night’s sleep in our bunks, we were up and at it in time to catch an open air bus to our starting site. There we were fed a wonderful breakfast (fresh pineapple, toast, boiled eggs, chapatti), given instructions for the day, fitted for life jackets and helmets, and then signed our lives away. We were herded back onto the bus and headed down to the river. There we were split into groups, given an oar, and shoved off. I was a little apprehensive, but our guide was very good and gave us lessons on how to row (very important), how to get back in the raft if we fell out (even more important), and how to tuck down, hold on, and pray (the MOST important).
I was feeling pretty good about things as we approached our first rapid, a measly class 2, until Jane instructed us to jump OUT of the raft and ride it through in the water so we knew what it was like to fall out. Yikes. So we all tucked and rolled out and gasped our way through the white water. Not too bad, until we had to get back in the boat on the other side of the rapid – not my talent. Every time I fell out, Pat had to haul be back in by my life jacket straps. I need to work on my upper body strength.
So, we were ready to go as we approached our first real rapid: a class 5. The Nile River is known for having the best class 5 rapids in the world…and I’ve been through them (not necessarily rafted them, but been through them). Our first rapid was such a rush! We paddled hard, tucked when appropriate, and rode it out until we made it through. We came out laughing on the other side as the ride was so rough! We made it through the next couple of rapids until we came to one of our last ones before lunch. We nearly made it through until our raft got carried by the current the wrong way and we ended up sideways against a rock with the water rushing past. I was a little confused as to why our guide, Jane, looked so frantic trying to get us unstuck and back into the stream of water. It wasn’t until AFTER we were through the rapid and we looked back that on the other side was a 20 foot drop that ended on a rock if we had broken free to the other side. I probably should have been more nervous than I was at the time.
Lunch consisted of fresh Ugandan pineapple while we floated through a calmer part of the river. Every rapid we had about a 50/50 chance of flipping. Nothing was scarier than when you’re plunged in the water before you even have time to take a breath, get tossed and turned in the water until you don’t know which way is up, then surface about 100 meters from where you fell in. The most memorable flip occurred on our last rapid which was a class 6. These are deemed impassible and, as suggested, no one made it through without flipping. I fell off the rapid backwards, swirled underwater for what seemed like an eternity, and then came up under the raft. Problem was, every time I tried to take a gasp of air another wave washed over me. After swallowing four mouthfuls of water and getting no air, I started to panic. I really thought I was going to die. Eventually I struggled my way out from under the boat and sputtered my way around until the boat was righted and I was hauled in.
Fortunately for all you readers out there who are thinking “man, that sounds like fun. I wish I had nearly drowned”, we have a documentary of our trip! We were videotaped while rafting and a movie was compiled. Of course we bought a copy and burned enough for everyone so anyone who wants can watch our trip down the Nile. That night they premiered the video on the wall of the open air bar and we all got to watch ourselves and make fun. It was a great time!
The next morning we made breakfast of chapatti, nutella, and bananas and headed off to the source of the Nile: Lake Victoria. It was beautiful there with lots of little craft shops. We even got to see where Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were spread into the Nile. After a five hour trip home, our weekend was concluded. I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but it was such an amazing trip! We all had such a great time and will never forget it. It was also a fun weekend to end on. It was our last weekend excursion as we will be sticking around Eldoret this weekend. It was a bittersweet feeling driving home knowing it was our last trek across the African country side. I’m ready to come home and see family and friends, but I’m also not ready to leave. The country is wonderful and the friends I’ve made are even better. I could defiantly see myself living here or someplace like it in the future…I’m sure my mother is not too excited to hear that….
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Eggy Bread From Hell
I’ve been to Hell and back. For real.
This weekend nine of us opted to spend a little time camping at Hell’s Gate National Park just outside of Nairobi. It is named such that it is supposedly hot as hell. The drive was about 5 hours, and it was dark and raining by the time we arrived at our campsite. As none of us packed sleeping bags or tents, we had to go for the little banda cabins.
These bandas actually turned out not to be sleeping quarters but spider houses with beds. These spiders were monstrous. A couple of them were the size of silver dollars and jumped. Ashley, Kate, Alan, and I were staying in one banda and so with Alan being the macho man of the group, he was elected to kill the first one we saw. When the sandal hit, the spider exploded, and Alan squealed like a school-girl. I’m not sure, but I think I about died from laughter. At Alan, not the spider exploding. Before we crawled into bed, we all checked our beds thoroughly, and got Alan to squeal for the second time by scaring him as he was intently looking for spiders under his bedsheets. At that time, Kate found the third and largest spider in the bathroom. We shoved Alan in to kill it, and he came screaming out for the third time. Spiders don’t bother me much, so to my objection, we slept with the light on to keep them away. A bunch of 23, 24, and 29 year-olds sleeping with the light on. Yep. Luckily around 1AM everyone was asleep so I crawled out of bed and shut the light off.
Unluckily enough, around 5AM, a hippo decided to wander his way up outside our banda. This actually made me glad I was in the spider house as hippos are very dangerous creatures. I don’t know what was going on out there, but he grunted and snorted and howled until 6AM. Needless to say, none of us in either bandas got any sleep, but we do have a good story to share now.
Our object for Saturday was a bike riding safari. This was absolutely fantastic and absolutely exhausting. After breakfast that morning, we picked up some bikes and biked the 2km to Hell’s Gate entrance. Given the altitude and that I haven’t rode bike for a while, I was exhausted already and dreading the rest of the day. It turned out to be the coolest thing. We literally rode our bikes around the savannah and right next to zebra, giraffe (which I learned are called “twiga”), warthogs, impala, ostrich, etc. The first part of the trip wasn’t too bad as we were so excited about everything we didn’t mind the workout. The huge, orange canyon walls loomed around us and the rising sun light made the setting so ideal. We had a guide biking with us that shared stories of how the Masai used to live here and the people that were murdered here (nice, right?).
The first leg of the bike ride ended at the actual gorge. We took about a 2 hour hike down into the gorge and hiked along the river through the canyon. The walls were impressively high around us and the pathway was pretty narrow at times. It was cool to imagine what it was like during the rainy season and filled with water. We timed ourselves pretty well to arrive in the dry season as the large amounts of quick sand they’re known for are not active. The hike was exhausting and hot as hell (haha). I got to show off my stellar hiking skills when I bit it a few times. There are also active hot springs in the gorge and at one point, we had to run through the river under a mini waterfall as the only way to pass it. Turns out the waterfall is actually a hot spring and we were pleasantly surprised. Hotness (LB).
Once we hauled ourselves out of the gorge, which took quite a bit of work, we had to bike ourselves back to our starting point. This was quite a feat as we were already tired, but my back tire brake was permanently on, and my chain kept falling off. That was the time I wished I hadn’t always had my dad fix my chain and I could do it myself. Eventually my guide got tired of fixing it for me and switched bikes. Of course that chain then fell off promptly, so I’m not sure what was up. The ride was SO bumpy that my bum was painfully sore. You could tell everyone else felt similarly as we were all half standing half sitting for the ride back. Overall I think we biked just under 20 miles and were relived to find our matatu waiting for us to take us to lunch. I ended up burning the tops of my hands…that’s never happened to me before.
Lunch was delicious overlooking Lake Naivasha with good conversation. We then went on to a smaller, saltwater lake to check out the huge array of flamingos. Those things stink so we didn’t stay long. The hippos also looked peeved so we didn’t stay too long. When we arrived back to our bandas, we were greeted by loads of monkeys around our banda, and they were trying to steal our stuff!! They only got away with a granola bar, but they sat at a safe distance to unwrap and eat it as if mocking us. One actually charged me and, I’m not going to lie, I ran. They were on our roof, in the trees, and all around outside trying to get in. We thought we could intimidate them, but they ended up intimidating us.
That night we had some dinner and played Uno outside. We had a lot of fun. Breakfast Sunday morning was followed by a boat ride across Lake Naivasha. This was really to get us to a wild life sanctuary, but it was quite thrilling in itself. We rode pretty close to some angry hippos, and enjoyed the cool breeze from the water. Our boat captain, Willis, also served as our guide on the walking safari we took. No sooner had we stepped off our boat, than five giraffe came strolling by. They are so ridiculously tall!
We took about a 2 hour hike around the sanctuary which included a 20 minute haul up a 70 degree incline. I didn’t think I’d ever make it to the top, and my legs were burning so bad. It was a good work out though and well worth the view of the lakes from up top. To one side was Lake Naivasha, and the other was Crater Lake. Crater Lake was so full of flamingos that the water looked pink from the distance. That’s a lot of birds. We then continued to hike down the “mountain” and found many more giraffe, zebra, baboons, gazelle, antebeast, and other animals. It is quite an experience to literally stand 10 feet from a wild giraffe. They’re so graceful and peaceful. No wonder they’re my favorite animals. I want to try and fit one in my suitcase to bring home, but I’m not sure it’s going to work out. Maybe I should stick with an acacia tree instead.
The boat ride back to mainland was felt amazing with the cool breeze after our intense hike. On the water, we stopped by a fisherman in the water catching fish with a net and his hands. I took a picture for my dad because I thought he might want to alter his fishing techniques when he hears how efficient they were. We bought some fish from them and Willis proceeded to whistle the shrillest noise. From far off, you could see these huge birds take flight – fish eagles. He then would toss the fish just outside of our boat and the eagles would swoop down and snatch the fish from the water right beside us! It was the coolest thing. You could hear how fast they were flying and see their feathers rippling in the wind and quick as lightening grab the fish with their claws (talons?). We got some National Geographic-esque shots so I’ll be sure to show those off later. I never realized how HUGE eagles are. Pretty impressive.
After docking, we loaded up for the long ride home. Half way, we crossed over the equator and got to take pictures with the sign that says “You are now passing the Equator. 0 degrees. Kenya.” Pretty neat. It’s nice to be home and sleep as my body is exhausted and can rest comfortably knowing giant spiders, hippos, and crazy monkeys aren’t looming just beside my head.
This weekend we’re going to Uganda so we’ll have more adventures to share…
This weekend nine of us opted to spend a little time camping at Hell’s Gate National Park just outside of Nairobi. It is named such that it is supposedly hot as hell. The drive was about 5 hours, and it was dark and raining by the time we arrived at our campsite. As none of us packed sleeping bags or tents, we had to go for the little banda cabins.
These bandas actually turned out not to be sleeping quarters but spider houses with beds. These spiders were monstrous. A couple of them were the size of silver dollars and jumped. Ashley, Kate, Alan, and I were staying in one banda and so with Alan being the macho man of the group, he was elected to kill the first one we saw. When the sandal hit, the spider exploded, and Alan squealed like a school-girl. I’m not sure, but I think I about died from laughter. At Alan, not the spider exploding. Before we crawled into bed, we all checked our beds thoroughly, and got Alan to squeal for the second time by scaring him as he was intently looking for spiders under his bedsheets. At that time, Kate found the third and largest spider in the bathroom. We shoved Alan in to kill it, and he came screaming out for the third time. Spiders don’t bother me much, so to my objection, we slept with the light on to keep them away. A bunch of 23, 24, and 29 year-olds sleeping with the light on. Yep. Luckily around 1AM everyone was asleep so I crawled out of bed and shut the light off.
Unluckily enough, around 5AM, a hippo decided to wander his way up outside our banda. This actually made me glad I was in the spider house as hippos are very dangerous creatures. I don’t know what was going on out there, but he grunted and snorted and howled until 6AM. Needless to say, none of us in either bandas got any sleep, but we do have a good story to share now.
Our object for Saturday was a bike riding safari. This was absolutely fantastic and absolutely exhausting. After breakfast that morning, we picked up some bikes and biked the 2km to Hell’s Gate entrance. Given the altitude and that I haven’t rode bike for a while, I was exhausted already and dreading the rest of the day. It turned out to be the coolest thing. We literally rode our bikes around the savannah and right next to zebra, giraffe (which I learned are called “twiga”), warthogs, impala, ostrich, etc. The first part of the trip wasn’t too bad as we were so excited about everything we didn’t mind the workout. The huge, orange canyon walls loomed around us and the rising sun light made the setting so ideal. We had a guide biking with us that shared stories of how the Masai used to live here and the people that were murdered here (nice, right?).
The first leg of the bike ride ended at the actual gorge. We took about a 2 hour hike down into the gorge and hiked along the river through the canyon. The walls were impressively high around us and the pathway was pretty narrow at times. It was cool to imagine what it was like during the rainy season and filled with water. We timed ourselves pretty well to arrive in the dry season as the large amounts of quick sand they’re known for are not active. The hike was exhausting and hot as hell (haha). I got to show off my stellar hiking skills when I bit it a few times. There are also active hot springs in the gorge and at one point, we had to run through the river under a mini waterfall as the only way to pass it. Turns out the waterfall is actually a hot spring and we were pleasantly surprised. Hotness (LB).
Once we hauled ourselves out of the gorge, which took quite a bit of work, we had to bike ourselves back to our starting point. This was quite a feat as we were already tired, but my back tire brake was permanently on, and my chain kept falling off. That was the time I wished I hadn’t always had my dad fix my chain and I could do it myself. Eventually my guide got tired of fixing it for me and switched bikes. Of course that chain then fell off promptly, so I’m not sure what was up. The ride was SO bumpy that my bum was painfully sore. You could tell everyone else felt similarly as we were all half standing half sitting for the ride back. Overall I think we biked just under 20 miles and were relived to find our matatu waiting for us to take us to lunch. I ended up burning the tops of my hands…that’s never happened to me before.
Lunch was delicious overlooking Lake Naivasha with good conversation. We then went on to a smaller, saltwater lake to check out the huge array of flamingos. Those things stink so we didn’t stay long. The hippos also looked peeved so we didn’t stay too long. When we arrived back to our bandas, we were greeted by loads of monkeys around our banda, and they were trying to steal our stuff!! They only got away with a granola bar, but they sat at a safe distance to unwrap and eat it as if mocking us. One actually charged me and, I’m not going to lie, I ran. They were on our roof, in the trees, and all around outside trying to get in. We thought we could intimidate them, but they ended up intimidating us.
That night we had some dinner and played Uno outside. We had a lot of fun. Breakfast Sunday morning was followed by a boat ride across Lake Naivasha. This was really to get us to a wild life sanctuary, but it was quite thrilling in itself. We rode pretty close to some angry hippos, and enjoyed the cool breeze from the water. Our boat captain, Willis, also served as our guide on the walking safari we took. No sooner had we stepped off our boat, than five giraffe came strolling by. They are so ridiculously tall!
We took about a 2 hour hike around the sanctuary which included a 20 minute haul up a 70 degree incline. I didn’t think I’d ever make it to the top, and my legs were burning so bad. It was a good work out though and well worth the view of the lakes from up top. To one side was Lake Naivasha, and the other was Crater Lake. Crater Lake was so full of flamingos that the water looked pink from the distance. That’s a lot of birds. We then continued to hike down the “mountain” and found many more giraffe, zebra, baboons, gazelle, antebeast, and other animals. It is quite an experience to literally stand 10 feet from a wild giraffe. They’re so graceful and peaceful. No wonder they’re my favorite animals. I want to try and fit one in my suitcase to bring home, but I’m not sure it’s going to work out. Maybe I should stick with an acacia tree instead.
The boat ride back to mainland was felt amazing with the cool breeze after our intense hike. On the water, we stopped by a fisherman in the water catching fish with a net and his hands. I took a picture for my dad because I thought he might want to alter his fishing techniques when he hears how efficient they were. We bought some fish from them and Willis proceeded to whistle the shrillest noise. From far off, you could see these huge birds take flight – fish eagles. He then would toss the fish just outside of our boat and the eagles would swoop down and snatch the fish from the water right beside us! It was the coolest thing. You could hear how fast they were flying and see their feathers rippling in the wind and quick as lightening grab the fish with their claws (talons?). We got some National Geographic-esque shots so I’ll be sure to show those off later. I never realized how HUGE eagles are. Pretty impressive.
After docking, we loaded up for the long ride home. Half way, we crossed over the equator and got to take pictures with the sign that says “You are now passing the Equator. 0 degrees. Kenya.” Pretty neat. It’s nice to be home and sleep as my body is exhausted and can rest comfortably knowing giant spiders, hippos, and crazy monkeys aren’t looming just beside my head.
This weekend we’re going to Uganda so we’ll have more adventures to share…
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Hometown Glory
(Note: I’m posting this late and so this was actually from last weekend.)
Throughout all my stories, I realize I haven’t said much about Eldoret itself. Perhaps this is because I hadn’t done much venturing out here. That is until this weekend. We opted to hang around Eldoret to relax and save a little cash. We had a few ideas of what we wanted to accomplish, but didn’t realize it would actually be just as great as our fancy weekends abroad.
Before I get too much into this weekend, I also wanted to talk about the inauguration and the excitement that occurred here. I recognize just how lucky I was to be in Kenya during the inauguration with Obama’s ties here. The celebrating was incredible. There was so much buildup in the days leading to the big day. Everyone was eager to talk to the Americans about the man himself. What is more unique is that Obama’s grandmother lived in a town nearby and her house is now basically a shrine. A group of people went from IU house to celebrate in the town wide festival. During the actual inauguration (which was at 8 o’clock at night) everyone across town was glued to their TVs and parties ran wild until the late morning hours. On Wednesday, no one was interested in work and several people took the day off in honor of the big event. In fact, Nigeria declared a five day holiday for its people and they have no direct ties to Obama. I always knew America’s politics influenced the world, but to see the direct effect it can have was quite an eye opener. It really drove home the point of how careful we must be in the decisions we make as a country.
Back to this weekend. Friday night was started at Klique, a restaurant we had tried to dine at before for their well-known vegetable pizza. Though they told us it was too late for them to make a pizza (at 8:00 at night), after some convincing they agreed to make us some. It would have been delicious had I not been so sick and the sight of food made me want to vomit. I had to go straight home that night as I was pretty certain I was going to die. A big thank you to the little old man living in my stomach.
Saturday morning Ashley and I had pedicures lined up with Chilemo, a lady from the office. She took us to her favorite salon and we got the most amazing, hour-long, pedicures/massage for FOUR dollars!! I’ve only had one pedicure before with my mom and sisters, but this was amazing. My feet and lower calves felt great. We then met up with the boys downtown at Sizzlers for lunch. Imron, a clinical pharmacist we work with at Moi, has aunts and uncles as well as his parents who own the restaurant. We had a delicious lunch with Imron and took off out of town in a taxi to a waterfall on the outskirts of Eldoret.
Umbrella falls was absolutely gorgeous. The fall itself was probably one of the tallest I’ve seen (aside from those in Glacier National Park). There was so much water surging over the edge of the cliff it was unreal to believe it is now the dry season. The best part was indeed the fact that there is a cave-like structure carved out behind the fall and you can walk underneath/behind the fall. It was pretty incredible. We sat mesmerized by the water for a while until we packed our belongings and headed back into town.
Saturday night IU house does not provide meals so we were on our own for dinner. I had wanted to learn how to make chapatti for a while so we figured that night was the best night to learn. Leyah, our chef (Peninah)’s 18 year old daughter whom we’ve become friends with, became our teacher and we proceeded to make the most wonderful meal I think I’ve had here. It was a true Kenyan meal without any American influence. I took control of making and cooking the chapatti while Leyah and the others peeled potatoes and chopped garlic, tomatoes, and onions. Kelvin, a Kenyan who hangs around the IU house a lot, cooked an amazing beef stew, and we topped the meal off with boiled-and-then-friend potatoes. The whole process took about two hours, and then we sat down to enjoy our product. We were all so stuffed, but completely satisfied.
Sunday morning Leyah took us to church which was very enjoyable. There was singing and dancing, and lots of loud, “Amen!”s. We actually arrived a half an hour late, but still were able to enjoy another 1.5 hours of service. After, we proceeded into town with Leyah and found some nice fabric and souvenirs. We had to endure plenty of stares in the market as well as cat calling and shop owners begging us to come into their store. I was able to leave with lots of beautiful fabric and only 200 shillings down (~$3.00 – not too shabby).
After our rendezvous in the market place, we caught a matatu to one of the IU guard’s house. He had been asking us to come visit his house and meet his wife and daughter, so this weekend was the perfect opportunity for that. Sammy, who is a professional body builder, has the most contagious smile and such an inviting personality. His wife is an equally beautiful person and their daughter, Kelsey, is a little ham. We enjoyed chai and biscuits at Sammy’s house and talked with them for around 4 hours. The time was quite enjoyable. The most hilarious part of the evening was when Sammy wanted to show us a movie of one of his body building competitions. So, there we were with Sammy sitting next to the TV, watching him prance around onstage in a thong and flexing his huge muscles. It was slightly awkward, but he was so proud of his hard work, that it took the edge off the uncomfortableness.
As I said before, this weekend was an amazing time, but it was also quite a thought provoking weekend. I couldn’t help in the back of my mind to have our country’s history. Since my arrival in Kenya, the local people have been the most inviting and gracious host I could have imagined. They are so excited to see us everywhere we go and love to give us warm smiles, two-handed waves, thumbs up, and shake our hands. How can it be that they are so excited to see the rare white person, when not to long ago in our country, we were treating them as animals? I wonder how much they know and understand about our country’s history, and how forgiving they are of us. I have never felt unwanted or unwelcome at any moment in my time here. The Kenyans are so warm-hearted and such a beautiful people that I couldn’t help but to set back during our Saturday night dinner with them and revel in their generosity. I’m going to miss their culture and more importantly, them, when I leave as the American personality just doesn’t compare.
Throughout all my stories, I realize I haven’t said much about Eldoret itself. Perhaps this is because I hadn’t done much venturing out here. That is until this weekend. We opted to hang around Eldoret to relax and save a little cash. We had a few ideas of what we wanted to accomplish, but didn’t realize it would actually be just as great as our fancy weekends abroad.
Before I get too much into this weekend, I also wanted to talk about the inauguration and the excitement that occurred here. I recognize just how lucky I was to be in Kenya during the inauguration with Obama’s ties here. The celebrating was incredible. There was so much buildup in the days leading to the big day. Everyone was eager to talk to the Americans about the man himself. What is more unique is that Obama’s grandmother lived in a town nearby and her house is now basically a shrine. A group of people went from IU house to celebrate in the town wide festival. During the actual inauguration (which was at 8 o’clock at night) everyone across town was glued to their TVs and parties ran wild until the late morning hours. On Wednesday, no one was interested in work and several people took the day off in honor of the big event. In fact, Nigeria declared a five day holiday for its people and they have no direct ties to Obama. I always knew America’s politics influenced the world, but to see the direct effect it can have was quite an eye opener. It really drove home the point of how careful we must be in the decisions we make as a country.
Back to this weekend. Friday night was started at Klique, a restaurant we had tried to dine at before for their well-known vegetable pizza. Though they told us it was too late for them to make a pizza (at 8:00 at night), after some convincing they agreed to make us some. It would have been delicious had I not been so sick and the sight of food made me want to vomit. I had to go straight home that night as I was pretty certain I was going to die. A big thank you to the little old man living in my stomach.
Saturday morning Ashley and I had pedicures lined up with Chilemo, a lady from the office. She took us to her favorite salon and we got the most amazing, hour-long, pedicures/massage for FOUR dollars!! I’ve only had one pedicure before with my mom and sisters, but this was amazing. My feet and lower calves felt great. We then met up with the boys downtown at Sizzlers for lunch. Imron, a clinical pharmacist we work with at Moi, has aunts and uncles as well as his parents who own the restaurant. We had a delicious lunch with Imron and took off out of town in a taxi to a waterfall on the outskirts of Eldoret.
Umbrella falls was absolutely gorgeous. The fall itself was probably one of the tallest I’ve seen (aside from those in Glacier National Park). There was so much water surging over the edge of the cliff it was unreal to believe it is now the dry season. The best part was indeed the fact that there is a cave-like structure carved out behind the fall and you can walk underneath/behind the fall. It was pretty incredible. We sat mesmerized by the water for a while until we packed our belongings and headed back into town.
Saturday night IU house does not provide meals so we were on our own for dinner. I had wanted to learn how to make chapatti for a while so we figured that night was the best night to learn. Leyah, our chef (Peninah)’s 18 year old daughter whom we’ve become friends with, became our teacher and we proceeded to make the most wonderful meal I think I’ve had here. It was a true Kenyan meal without any American influence. I took control of making and cooking the chapatti while Leyah and the others peeled potatoes and chopped garlic, tomatoes, and onions. Kelvin, a Kenyan who hangs around the IU house a lot, cooked an amazing beef stew, and we topped the meal off with boiled-and-then-friend potatoes. The whole process took about two hours, and then we sat down to enjoy our product. We were all so stuffed, but completely satisfied.
Sunday morning Leyah took us to church which was very enjoyable. There was singing and dancing, and lots of loud, “Amen!”s. We actually arrived a half an hour late, but still were able to enjoy another 1.5 hours of service. After, we proceeded into town with Leyah and found some nice fabric and souvenirs. We had to endure plenty of stares in the market as well as cat calling and shop owners begging us to come into their store. I was able to leave with lots of beautiful fabric and only 200 shillings down (~$3.00 – not too shabby).
After our rendezvous in the market place, we caught a matatu to one of the IU guard’s house. He had been asking us to come visit his house and meet his wife and daughter, so this weekend was the perfect opportunity for that. Sammy, who is a professional body builder, has the most contagious smile and such an inviting personality. His wife is an equally beautiful person and their daughter, Kelsey, is a little ham. We enjoyed chai and biscuits at Sammy’s house and talked with them for around 4 hours. The time was quite enjoyable. The most hilarious part of the evening was when Sammy wanted to show us a movie of one of his body building competitions. So, there we were with Sammy sitting next to the TV, watching him prance around onstage in a thong and flexing his huge muscles. It was slightly awkward, but he was so proud of his hard work, that it took the edge off the uncomfortableness.
As I said before, this weekend was an amazing time, but it was also quite a thought provoking weekend. I couldn’t help in the back of my mind to have our country’s history. Since my arrival in Kenya, the local people have been the most inviting and gracious host I could have imagined. They are so excited to see us everywhere we go and love to give us warm smiles, two-handed waves, thumbs up, and shake our hands. How can it be that they are so excited to see the rare white person, when not to long ago in our country, we were treating them as animals? I wonder how much they know and understand about our country’s history, and how forgiving they are of us. I have never felt unwanted or unwelcome at any moment in my time here. The Kenyans are so warm-hearted and such a beautiful people that I couldn’t help but to set back during our Saturday night dinner with them and revel in their generosity. I’m going to miss their culture and more importantly, them, when I leave as the American personality just doesn’t compare.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
On The Shore Of Bronze Waters
I’m behind on my updates so I haven’t even told stories of my last weekend adventure (barring Friday night’s festivities at the Wagon Wheel and my debut on stage). Saturday morning Ashley and I packed up with 11 other folks from the IU house to head to Lake Baringo for the night. The boys opted to stay home so we were free of them for the weekend. Our destination on Lake Baringo was Island Camp – a camp on an island. Brilliant.
First off, Lake Baringo is one of two freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley. Our drive down into the valley was absolutely gorgeous. The views went on forever, and we could see many waterfalls coming off enormous cliffs in the distance. I have pictures to show, but they don’t do it justice. The drive was short with good roads. So good, that they were still in the process of repaving a portion of it and we barreled through throwing oil and tar all over the vehicle, but the driver didn’t seem to mind.
Once we arrived on the shore of Lake Baringo, we were met with a long, wooden boat that would motor us over to the island. We stepped lightly across the sketchy dock, as it was barely above water, to get to our boat. We were told Baringo is home to crocks and hippos. I didn’t want one of those critters popping up to say hi while I’m stepping over the foot wide hole in the walkway. We safely made it into the brightly colored boat and took off for camp.
Camp was an understatement. This place was a glorious resort. Though the water was murky, they played it up greatly by calling it “bronze waters.” Not quite, but I suppose it works for them. This place was amazing. We stayed in permanent tents built on rocky ledges overlooking the water. Each tent was completely privatized with its own real bathroom and views. The “tent” was basically mesh to keep the skeeters and lizards out, and inside were real beds! We also had a little porch with chairs and a table that they brought us fresh passion fruit juice to sip in the morning at. Ashley and my tent faced east over the water so we literally laid in our respective beds and watched the sunrise over the water. It was absolutely incredible. Pretty romantic too, sure glad I got to share that with Ashley instead of Matt!
The tents were built spiraled up the main hill on the island and crooked little paths lead us up to the tip top where a pool and a bar were located. It was so hot down in the valley with such little breeze that we lounged around the pool all day and swam. We met a wonderful couple with two young children who live in Nairobi and they bought us some drinks. We spent about 4 hours talking with them throughout the day and ended up watching the sunset with them and their children from a lookout point on the island. After sunset we had the most fascinating evening. I felt as though I were in a fairytale. While we were gone, they had transformed the pool area/yard into an outdoor dining room. We had a cookout and ate our dinner under the stars by the light of candles on our table and white Christmas lights hanging in the trees. The (very light) breeze picked up once the sun went down and carried cooler air from off the lake. Because the island is pretty much electricity free, we could see all the stars in the sky. I know I called the Mara a magical place, but this also qualified as a magical night in and of itself.
After dinner we sat around and played darts in the outdoor bar and chatted until late. I had such a great time with the group of people that went and it was so nice to get to know some of them a bit better. It’s always easier to chat lightly when you’re not in the middle of a stressed hospital. After we watched the sunrise from our beds that next morning and sipped our passion fruit juice on our porch, we spent some more time swimming and reading by the pool before we had to pack up. It was there I found a book about the 54 top resorts in the world. As I was flipping through it dreaming up vacations I can go on when I’m rich and famous, I was surprised to find Island Camp near the very beginning! No wonder we felt so spoiled and relaxed! We were at a world renowned vacation spot.
The owner was right there too making sure you were enjoying yourself and hanging out. He is a British guy in his late 50s who up and rented the island from the local people and built Island Camp. There are no walls in Island Camp. I forgot to mention that. Everything is open air and free flowing. Anyways, Perry knew we were from IU house and gave us his special discount for our hard work we do. I didn’t realize until I read in the book just how special that discount was. A regular night at Island Camp is around $350 and he gave it to us for a mere $60 a night. What a nice man!
We ended the weekend by driving home and stopping for some fresh bananas and mangos which were the most delicious fruit I have ever tasted. Aside from the fact I got sick on Monday, it was the most relaxing weekend I could have ever imagined. I hope to make it back someday as that is where serious relaxation needs to happen!
First off, Lake Baringo is one of two freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley. Our drive down into the valley was absolutely gorgeous. The views went on forever, and we could see many waterfalls coming off enormous cliffs in the distance. I have pictures to show, but they don’t do it justice. The drive was short with good roads. So good, that they were still in the process of repaving a portion of it and we barreled through throwing oil and tar all over the vehicle, but the driver didn’t seem to mind.
Once we arrived on the shore of Lake Baringo, we were met with a long, wooden boat that would motor us over to the island. We stepped lightly across the sketchy dock, as it was barely above water, to get to our boat. We were told Baringo is home to crocks and hippos. I didn’t want one of those critters popping up to say hi while I’m stepping over the foot wide hole in the walkway. We safely made it into the brightly colored boat and took off for camp.
Camp was an understatement. This place was a glorious resort. Though the water was murky, they played it up greatly by calling it “bronze waters.” Not quite, but I suppose it works for them. This place was amazing. We stayed in permanent tents built on rocky ledges overlooking the water. Each tent was completely privatized with its own real bathroom and views. The “tent” was basically mesh to keep the skeeters and lizards out, and inside were real beds! We also had a little porch with chairs and a table that they brought us fresh passion fruit juice to sip in the morning at. Ashley and my tent faced east over the water so we literally laid in our respective beds and watched the sunrise over the water. It was absolutely incredible. Pretty romantic too, sure glad I got to share that with Ashley instead of Matt!
The tents were built spiraled up the main hill on the island and crooked little paths lead us up to the tip top where a pool and a bar were located. It was so hot down in the valley with such little breeze that we lounged around the pool all day and swam. We met a wonderful couple with two young children who live in Nairobi and they bought us some drinks. We spent about 4 hours talking with them throughout the day and ended up watching the sunset with them and their children from a lookout point on the island. After sunset we had the most fascinating evening. I felt as though I were in a fairytale. While we were gone, they had transformed the pool area/yard into an outdoor dining room. We had a cookout and ate our dinner under the stars by the light of candles on our table and white Christmas lights hanging in the trees. The (very light) breeze picked up once the sun went down and carried cooler air from off the lake. Because the island is pretty much electricity free, we could see all the stars in the sky. I know I called the Mara a magical place, but this also qualified as a magical night in and of itself.
After dinner we sat around and played darts in the outdoor bar and chatted until late. I had such a great time with the group of people that went and it was so nice to get to know some of them a bit better. It’s always easier to chat lightly when you’re not in the middle of a stressed hospital. After we watched the sunrise from our beds that next morning and sipped our passion fruit juice on our porch, we spent some more time swimming and reading by the pool before we had to pack up. It was there I found a book about the 54 top resorts in the world. As I was flipping through it dreaming up vacations I can go on when I’m rich and famous, I was surprised to find Island Camp near the very beginning! No wonder we felt so spoiled and relaxed! We were at a world renowned vacation spot.
The owner was right there too making sure you were enjoying yourself and hanging out. He is a British guy in his late 50s who up and rented the island from the local people and built Island Camp. There are no walls in Island Camp. I forgot to mention that. Everything is open air and free flowing. Anyways, Perry knew we were from IU house and gave us his special discount for our hard work we do. I didn’t realize until I read in the book just how special that discount was. A regular night at Island Camp is around $350 and he gave it to us for a mere $60 a night. What a nice man!
We ended the weekend by driving home and stopping for some fresh bananas and mangos which were the most delicious fruit I have ever tasted. Aside from the fact I got sick on Monday, it was the most relaxing weekend I could have ever imagined. I hope to make it back someday as that is where serious relaxation needs to happen!
Working Class Hero
Work. I don’t even know where to start.
It has been quite a while since I’ve addressed my work situation. Namely because the past week has quite rough in that area. My new diet plan: “get Giardia in Africa.” It works, guaranteed to shed pounds in days. I lost a 10lb bag of salt. Can you imagine what it’s like carrying around an extra 10lb bag of salt everywhere you go? I’m on day #6 of my illness and day #6 of not eating. Basically, I have a little parasite living in my intestine that steals all my food so I don’t get any. Matt was kind enough to send me a photo of what the little buggers look like under a microscope so I know what’s living inside of me. How sweet and thoughtful. They look like old men.
Being sick and on the foul smelling wards while standing for four hours at a time and not eating for days all combine to some hard days. The week was kind of a blur of being miserable and leaving early to go home and sleep. I knew someone was looking out for me one day, however, when I left work early because my stomach hurt so bad I couldn’t even stand up straight. I was actually crying walking home because I didn’t know how I was going to make the 15 minute walk when a woman, whom I had only met once before, pulled over and offered me a ride. Talk about the best moment of my life!
I’m still on the Umoja ward at MTRH. We were supposed to be able to rotate through the women and peds sides, but our Kenyan counterparts who were supposed to arrive on January 15 to work with us, decided they weren’t going to come until FEBRUARY 15 which is just a week or so before we leave. Therefore, if we leave our teams, nothing gets done about the meds so we feel the weight on our shoulders. Let me tell you, with HIV/AIDS all around, that weight can get pretty heavy at times.
I felt terribly defeated one day last week. It was actually the day after Obama’s inauguration. We admitted the night before so we had many new people on our ward. I felt everyone was in pretty bad condition, but for the most part were fairly stable. I then left for lunch and upon returning an hour and a half later, found three of my patients dead in their beds. My head was spinning. How could three people go in such a short period of time? Two of the deaths were difficult to take in, however, they were both elderly men who had lived long lives to be proud of. One had an exacerbation of his congestive heart failure while the other had a suspected pneumothorax with a collapsed lung. Both were in respiratory distress. The third death was outraging. A young man came into the hospital because he had become drunk, threw up, and aspirated his own vomit. In the states, this would have been easily reversible and the patient would have been fine if everyone acted quickly enough. He had inhaled enough to clog his lungs and we weren’t able to get a suction machine and oxygen to him. Though he was looking “okay” when I left, he apparently vomited again and suffocated on the wards. What a way to die. Especially in a hospital. As if to kick me when I was down, I got to watch my fourth patient of the day die when he hemorrhaged and slowly faded out over 10 minutes with painful gasping of air. Change we can believe in is needed here.
My favorite day this past week was on Tuesday when I went to the inpatient psych ward with Michael and Thad, two Brown University residents who are conducting research here. Anyone who knows me knows my affinity for psych so I was pretty excited to go. I can’t even begin to describe what this was like. First off, the “psych ward” is an open dirt yard with a wooden fence around it. That’s it. The patient spend all day and night outside in the dirt. Upon walking in, I was greeted by NINETY patients in this small enclosed area. Of course by my walking in I caused a scene and when this many patients get riled up it’s quite a show. EVERYONE came running at me. Some wanted to shake my hand, some wanted to touch my hair, some wanted to yell obscenities at me, others just wanted to stare. One guy found a cookie in my pocket (in case I was getting faint or dizzy) and told me, “God loves me and I love you, so give me my daily bread.” My two favorite people were a woman who stood about ten feet away the whole time and just yelled over and over, “Muzungu! Muzungu! Work harder!” and a young boy with a pervasive development disorder who looked half awake with a silly grin on his face that stole the doctor’s sports jacket, ran to give me a hug, then dropped in the dirt to roll the doctor’s clean jacket in the red soil.
Interviewing the patients one at a time with the team was also interesting. I can’t even begin to explain what it was like. First off, mental illnesses here are so incredibly taboo that no one talks about it. When they present in the midst of an episode, they all show up at the ER claiming they have malaria. Depression is not talked about here, so most everyone in the ward has schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the manic phase. The other big thing is substance abuse. Mainly alcohol and glue sniffing. Another thing is no one admits to problems with alcohol. If you ask someone if they have a problem with alcohol they say “NO!” However, if you side step a bit and ask questions from a different angle, you’ll find out they drink an average of 12 bottles of beer a day and changa, which is homebrew.
While we’re “interviewing” the patients, they’re up and wandering around the yard and occasionally come back to see if we’ve become any more entertaining since they left. One woman decided we were so boring she needed to entertain us by dancing and singing in her native tongue. It took three guys to sit her back down. Another guy stripped down and started chanting prayers to God – which was obviously him. One interesting thing I noticed on a lot of the patients was the presence of burns around their ankles and wrists. When I inquired about them I came to find these were rope burns from being tied down. When the patients are manic or psychotic and not in their right minds family members literally tie them down. This is for their own safety. The example given was that if a lion was around, the patient wouldn’t know to be afraid, and would instead try to approach it and possibly their own death. I’m glad we don’t have to worry about lions in Indiana. One custom that really bothered me on rounds though was the medical team’s laughter at the patients. In the states, this is absolutely forbidden and terrible when it happens. Here, everyone laughs freely which is sometimes enough to make your blood boil. Often these differences in culture are hard to take in. A working class hero is something to be.
It has been quite a while since I’ve addressed my work situation. Namely because the past week has quite rough in that area. My new diet plan: “get Giardia in Africa.” It works, guaranteed to shed pounds in days. I lost a 10lb bag of salt. Can you imagine what it’s like carrying around an extra 10lb bag of salt everywhere you go? I’m on day #6 of my illness and day #6 of not eating. Basically, I have a little parasite living in my intestine that steals all my food so I don’t get any. Matt was kind enough to send me a photo of what the little buggers look like under a microscope so I know what’s living inside of me. How sweet and thoughtful. They look like old men.
Being sick and on the foul smelling wards while standing for four hours at a time and not eating for days all combine to some hard days. The week was kind of a blur of being miserable and leaving early to go home and sleep. I knew someone was looking out for me one day, however, when I left work early because my stomach hurt so bad I couldn’t even stand up straight. I was actually crying walking home because I didn’t know how I was going to make the 15 minute walk when a woman, whom I had only met once before, pulled over and offered me a ride. Talk about the best moment of my life!
I’m still on the Umoja ward at MTRH. We were supposed to be able to rotate through the women and peds sides, but our Kenyan counterparts who were supposed to arrive on January 15 to work with us, decided they weren’t going to come until FEBRUARY 15 which is just a week or so before we leave. Therefore, if we leave our teams, nothing gets done about the meds so we feel the weight on our shoulders. Let me tell you, with HIV/AIDS all around, that weight can get pretty heavy at times.
I felt terribly defeated one day last week. It was actually the day after Obama’s inauguration. We admitted the night before so we had many new people on our ward. I felt everyone was in pretty bad condition, but for the most part were fairly stable. I then left for lunch and upon returning an hour and a half later, found three of my patients dead in their beds. My head was spinning. How could three people go in such a short period of time? Two of the deaths were difficult to take in, however, they were both elderly men who had lived long lives to be proud of. One had an exacerbation of his congestive heart failure while the other had a suspected pneumothorax with a collapsed lung. Both were in respiratory distress. The third death was outraging. A young man came into the hospital because he had become drunk, threw up, and aspirated his own vomit. In the states, this would have been easily reversible and the patient would have been fine if everyone acted quickly enough. He had inhaled enough to clog his lungs and we weren’t able to get a suction machine and oxygen to him. Though he was looking “okay” when I left, he apparently vomited again and suffocated on the wards. What a way to die. Especially in a hospital. As if to kick me when I was down, I got to watch my fourth patient of the day die when he hemorrhaged and slowly faded out over 10 minutes with painful gasping of air. Change we can believe in is needed here.
My favorite day this past week was on Tuesday when I went to the inpatient psych ward with Michael and Thad, two Brown University residents who are conducting research here. Anyone who knows me knows my affinity for psych so I was pretty excited to go. I can’t even begin to describe what this was like. First off, the “psych ward” is an open dirt yard with a wooden fence around it. That’s it. The patient spend all day and night outside in the dirt. Upon walking in, I was greeted by NINETY patients in this small enclosed area. Of course by my walking in I caused a scene and when this many patients get riled up it’s quite a show. EVERYONE came running at me. Some wanted to shake my hand, some wanted to touch my hair, some wanted to yell obscenities at me, others just wanted to stare. One guy found a cookie in my pocket (in case I was getting faint or dizzy) and told me, “God loves me and I love you, so give me my daily bread.” My two favorite people were a woman who stood about ten feet away the whole time and just yelled over and over, “Muzungu! Muzungu! Work harder!” and a young boy with a pervasive development disorder who looked half awake with a silly grin on his face that stole the doctor’s sports jacket, ran to give me a hug, then dropped in the dirt to roll the doctor’s clean jacket in the red soil.
Interviewing the patients one at a time with the team was also interesting. I can’t even begin to explain what it was like. First off, mental illnesses here are so incredibly taboo that no one talks about it. When they present in the midst of an episode, they all show up at the ER claiming they have malaria. Depression is not talked about here, so most everyone in the ward has schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the manic phase. The other big thing is substance abuse. Mainly alcohol and glue sniffing. Another thing is no one admits to problems with alcohol. If you ask someone if they have a problem with alcohol they say “NO!” However, if you side step a bit and ask questions from a different angle, you’ll find out they drink an average of 12 bottles of beer a day and changa, which is homebrew.
While we’re “interviewing” the patients, they’re up and wandering around the yard and occasionally come back to see if we’ve become any more entertaining since they left. One woman decided we were so boring she needed to entertain us by dancing and singing in her native tongue. It took three guys to sit her back down. Another guy stripped down and started chanting prayers to God – which was obviously him. One interesting thing I noticed on a lot of the patients was the presence of burns around their ankles and wrists. When I inquired about them I came to find these were rope burns from being tied down. When the patients are manic or psychotic and not in their right minds family members literally tie them down. This is for their own safety. The example given was that if a lion was around, the patient wouldn’t know to be afraid, and would instead try to approach it and possibly their own death. I’m glad we don’t have to worry about lions in Indiana. One custom that really bothered me on rounds though was the medical team’s laughter at the patients. In the states, this is absolutely forbidden and terrible when it happens. Here, everyone laughs freely which is sometimes enough to make your blood boil. Often these differences in culture are hard to take in. A working class hero is something to be.
Monday, January 26, 2009
These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things
What I miss from home:
1) Matt, my parents, my siblings, my grandparents
2) Brushing my teeth without bottled water
3) Knowing how much things actually cost
4) Not eating curry and rice every night for dinner
5) Speaking the language (actually being able to TALK to my patients)
6) Alone time
7) Not having to worry about stepping in fresh cow dung on my walk to work
8) Not being stared at everywhere you go
9) People knowing my name – not just “Hey, muzungu!”
10) Not having to carry toilet paper with you everywhere
11) Driving on the right side of the road
12) Not watching people die on a daily basis
13) Drinking tap water
14) The pace in which you can get things accomplished
15) Being on the same time
16) Being ON time
17) Not having to take malaria prophylaxis
18) My mom to take care of me when I’m sick
19) Matt
20) Katie : (
21) Soy milk
22) Not having to wear a watch
23) Not sleeping under a mosquito net
24) Driving
25) The people
What I love about being here:
1) Being able to walk to work
2) PASSION FRUIT JUICE
3) Always having friends around
4) Weekend excursions
5) Learning the language/culture
6) Trying new things
7) Being popular (haha, they just love me for my hair)
8) Seeing the difference you can make in someone’s life
9) The music
10) The difference a simple smile makes
11) How excited people are to talk about Obama
12) The number of times a day I get asked if I know Obama personally
13) The number of times I get asked if I’m related to Obama
14) The number of times I get asked if Ashley and I are sisters
15) Everyone’s go-with-the-flow attitude
16) Telling Benson Obama called to tell him “hi”
17) The power of a Jolly Rancher
18) Leyah’s enthusiasm
19) Realizing I’m in Africa
20) Talking to the tomato lady
21) Embarrassing Dennis
22) Learning
23) Watching the Kenyan runners
24) Drinking water out of wine and vodka bottles
25) The people
1) Matt, my parents, my siblings, my grandparents
2) Brushing my teeth without bottled water
3) Knowing how much things actually cost
4) Not eating curry and rice every night for dinner
5) Speaking the language (actually being able to TALK to my patients)
6) Alone time
7) Not having to worry about stepping in fresh cow dung on my walk to work
8) Not being stared at everywhere you go
9) People knowing my name – not just “Hey, muzungu!”
10) Not having to carry toilet paper with you everywhere
11) Driving on the right side of the road
12) Not watching people die on a daily basis
13) Drinking tap water
14) The pace in which you can get things accomplished
15) Being on the same time
16) Being ON time
17) Not having to take malaria prophylaxis
18) My mom to take care of me when I’m sick
19) Matt
20) Katie : (
21) Soy milk
22) Not having to wear a watch
23) Not sleeping under a mosquito net
24) Driving
25) The people
What I love about being here:
1) Being able to walk to work
2) PASSION FRUIT JUICE
3) Always having friends around
4) Weekend excursions
5) Learning the language/culture
6) Trying new things
7) Being popular (haha, they just love me for my hair)
8) Seeing the difference you can make in someone’s life
9) The music
10) The difference a simple smile makes
11) How excited people are to talk about Obama
12) The number of times a day I get asked if I know Obama personally
13) The number of times I get asked if I’m related to Obama
14) The number of times I get asked if Ashley and I are sisters
15) Everyone’s go-with-the-flow attitude
16) Telling Benson Obama called to tell him “hi”
17) The power of a Jolly Rancher
18) Leyah’s enthusiasm
19) Realizing I’m in Africa
20) Talking to the tomato lady
21) Embarrassing Dennis
22) Learning
23) Watching the Kenyan runners
24) Drinking water out of wine and vodka bottles
25) The people
Friday, January 23, 2009
'Cause I'm Your Lady
Tonight was probably the most fun I’ve had since I’ve come to Africa. About 14 of us went out to eat at The Klique as we heard their vegetable pizza was supposed to be delicious. Unfortunately, when we arrived, they claimed the oven was broke. We didn’t quite believe it and think they told us this because they would make more if we each ordered an individual meal. Whatever, it’s the price you pay for being a muzungu. After a good meal and interesting conversation, we decided to head over to The Wagon Wheel. There was a local Luhya (a tribe in Kenya) band playing live music and the place was quite crowded. Upon arrival, we learned they are the most popular band in Eastern and Central Africa – or at least according to them. Anyways, the Kenyans were all out dancing, enjoying themselves to the beat of the drums and African rhythm and we thought, “what the heck, why not?” and joined them out on the floor. They LOVED us! There were so many people on the dance floor that we each had our own dance instructor and learned some of the common dance moves.
All was going well until Nick, an IU medical resident, found himself a lady who liked him a little too much. I’m so used to guys having to help bail me out from dancing with other creep-os and this was the first time I would get to bail a guy out as he was giving me the “come-dance-with-me-get-her-away-from-me eyes.” As I was working my way over to him and picking my path, I realized everyone was looking and pointing at me. Before I knew it, I had been picked up and carried onto stage with the band!! The lead singer took me by the hand, asked my name, introduced me to the crowd, and started to sing his next song. It was all in Kiswahili, so I’m not quite sure what it was about, but I suspect it was a song about a lady as everyone kept pointing at me during the refrain of the song and I heard my name mentioned once or twice. Long story short, I danced on stage holding hands with the lead singer for the entire song (which lasted about 15 minutes!). Eventually I got Alan to come up and dance with me so I wasn’t the only muzungu up there. We danced together and the last few minutes Ashley came up to join as well, but the majority of the time I was up there with all eyes on me! I had a few ladies in the front that kept telling me to move my hips more but I just wanted to holler, “I’M WHITE! I CAN”T MOVE THAT FAST!” So, I was a hit and I got many compliments on my dance moves from the Kenyans and Americans alike. Sonak was in the crowd and I could see him shaking his head as if he was saying, “what are my students doing?!”
Oh, great African memories….
All was going well until Nick, an IU medical resident, found himself a lady who liked him a little too much. I’m so used to guys having to help bail me out from dancing with other creep-os and this was the first time I would get to bail a guy out as he was giving me the “come-dance-with-me-get-her-away-from-me eyes.” As I was working my way over to him and picking my path, I realized everyone was looking and pointing at me. Before I knew it, I had been picked up and carried onto stage with the band!! The lead singer took me by the hand, asked my name, introduced me to the crowd, and started to sing his next song. It was all in Kiswahili, so I’m not quite sure what it was about, but I suspect it was a song about a lady as everyone kept pointing at me during the refrain of the song and I heard my name mentioned once or twice. Long story short, I danced on stage holding hands with the lead singer for the entire song (which lasted about 15 minutes!). Eventually I got Alan to come up and dance with me so I wasn’t the only muzungu up there. We danced together and the last few minutes Ashley came up to join as well, but the majority of the time I was up there with all eyes on me! I had a few ladies in the front that kept telling me to move my hips more but I just wanted to holler, “I’M WHITE! I CAN”T MOVE THAT FAST!” So, I was a hit and I got many compliments on my dance moves from the Kenyans and Americans alike. Sonak was in the crowd and I could see him shaking his head as if he was saying, “what are my students doing?!”
Oh, great African memories….
The White Masai in Tanzania
The internet hasn’t been working very reliably the past week so I’m sorry to have left you on the edges of your seat. This past weekend we went to the Masai Mara (a national park) in southwestern Kenya. This is the northern tip of Serengeti National Park found in Tanzania. This savannah is one of the best world-wide and was absolutely amazing. I can’t begin to describe how wonderful it was so, as a preface, my writings may sound lame…
This trip will always remain so magical to me and I’m unsure any vacation could ever trump it. If anyone has the chance to take a 16 hour car ride through Sub-Saharan Africa I recommend it without reservation. Watching Kenya fly by the car window was quite an event. The topography changed so fast and so frequently it was hard to believe we were still in the same country. We started out in Eldoret, which is located at the edge of the Rift Valley. From there we passed through the mountains which are covered in tea fields which are such a bright, beautiful shade of green it felt like we were driving through a painting. We left before 6am, so the sun was rising as all the workers were busy picking tea leaves with large baskets on their back in the midst of the acres and acres of fields in the morning light. Gorgeous.
My personal favorite part of the trip was when we stopped to fill up the gas tank at a station and the four of us ladies used the restroom. Ashley and I went into our respective stalls (with walls and doors from ground to ceiling) and we each heard a click, a moment of silence, then Ashley saying, “uhm, I think I’m stuck” She was stuck alright. The door knob fell off and there she was. Sarah, Johanna, and I tried body slamming the door and at one point I pulled out a Tae-Bo kick (we’ve been doing these workouts periodically since we’ve arrived) but the dang door wouldn’t move. Eventually I had to go get our driver who saved the day by pulling out some contraption from his pocket and easily flipping the door open like this happened every day. It was pretty entertaining.
From there, we passed through the dessert-like area where the Masai tribe live. Talk about living in isolation. There was nothing there, and I mean nothing…no visible trees, animals, water. Nothing. And these Masai lived in the middle of it. It was so dry and dusty and every so often there would be a cluster of dried mud huts surrounded by brush where numerous families lived. It seemed like such a desolate life, but I suppose if you don’t know anything else, it wouldn’t seem so strange to you. The Masai are beautiful people. They dress in the most brightly colored fabric. They don’t really wear clothes so much as they wrap this cloth around them to make elaborate outfits. Their favored color is red as lions are said to be scared of it and thus shy away from the people. One of their main traits for women and men alike is to stretch out their earlobes. This is seen as beautiful in their culture so all the elders have stretched their earlobes almost to their shoulders. I’m pretty sure I saw a couple earlobes I could put my fist through. (which reminds me, Camille, you’ve been wanting your ears pierced…) They decorate themselves with brightly colored beads which stand out beautifully against their skin and cloth. Their diet mainly consists of meat, milk, and blood (yum). I wasn’t able to take any pictures as the Masai reserve the right to stone you for a photograph. Not a risk I was willing to take. If you’re interested in seeing some info on them (and I highly recommend you do) google “Masai” and read up. They’re very interesting.
Upon passing through the dessert area, we entered the Savannah and eventually came to the Masai Mara. It is named this as the land was unfortunately taken away from the Masai people to form the park. They are generally nomadic people so I suppose when the land was taken away, they just moved to the desert. The savannah is so beautiful, and this is where all the animal action happened! We were told not to expect much as we came during migration season and a majority of the animals move to Tanzania for the dry season. Our driver was great and seemed to have a sixth sense for where the animals were located. He said the animals left in the Mara were Kenyan residents and not allowed to cross the border. Haha! Everyone talks about the Big Five when you go on game drives. This consists of elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, and water buffalo. We were told it is very rare to see leopards, rhinos, and cheetahs in the mara so we didn’t get our hopes up too much, but we made these animals our goals.
We went on four game drives while there. Two sunrise and two sunset. Our first game drive was Saturday evening and what was the first thing we saw? A giant leopard! Not only that, but he had drug a huge antelope into a tree and was eating it for dinner! We were so close we could hear the bones crunching. I know this sounds morbid, but it was so fascinating that we couldn’t turn away. Apparently this is so rare that even our guide was excited and taking pictures! Beyond the leopard we saw elephants and babies, monkeys, baboons, GIRAFFES, wildebeest, hippos, crocodiles, lions, lionesses, cheetah (four grown cheetah and two baby cubs!! – also rare!), impala, antelope, gazelle, secretary birds, meerkats, warthogs and babies (they look just like Pumba!), zebra, ostriches, antebeasts, hyenas, and basically every other animal you could think of except a rhino. It was a pretty fruitful trip! The best part was that we went down into Tanzania (my second African nation!!!). This is supposedly illegal to do without a visa, but our guide liked us so much that he took us down. (shhh, don’t tell anyone). We also got so close to some lions that I could have reached out and petted them if I wanted to. They’re so cute and fluffy it was kind of hard to resist the temptation. At one point though I locked eyes with one and, while we were staring at each other, I imagined his cat-like reflexes jumping up and snagging me. I closed the window after that.
Ashley and I decided that everything from the Mara can be related back to some Disney film. Mainly The Lion King, but we also found The Rescuers Down Under, Dumbo, and many others being played out in front of us. Luckily we encountered Rafikis, Nalas, Mufasas and Timons rather than Scarface, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. I was, however, slightly disappointed we didn’t get to visit Pride Rock.
Our lodge, Keekorok, was another experience in itself. For being in the middle of nowhere it was absolutely amazing! It reminded me of a five-star resort and they served three gourmet buffet meals a day. The best part was that it was not a gated lodge so the animals wandered freely amongst our cabins. We would wake up in the morning to impala outside our door or zebra just outside our window. That would never happen in the states. We had to ensure our doors were locked when we left as the monkeys were quite mischievous and loved to come in and cause trouble. Another best part was the hippo bar! Below our house was a lake where hippos lounged 24/7 and there was an enclosed veranda on the shore where we could sit and watch hippos. They’re such funny, pudgy creatures. We were there for three days/two nights and sadly returned to Eldoret Monday night. It was such a great time and I would love to go back again to relive the magic.
This trip will always remain so magical to me and I’m unsure any vacation could ever trump it. If anyone has the chance to take a 16 hour car ride through Sub-Saharan Africa I recommend it without reservation. Watching Kenya fly by the car window was quite an event. The topography changed so fast and so frequently it was hard to believe we were still in the same country. We started out in Eldoret, which is located at the edge of the Rift Valley. From there we passed through the mountains which are covered in tea fields which are such a bright, beautiful shade of green it felt like we were driving through a painting. We left before 6am, so the sun was rising as all the workers were busy picking tea leaves with large baskets on their back in the midst of the acres and acres of fields in the morning light. Gorgeous.
My personal favorite part of the trip was when we stopped to fill up the gas tank at a station and the four of us ladies used the restroom. Ashley and I went into our respective stalls (with walls and doors from ground to ceiling) and we each heard a click, a moment of silence, then Ashley saying, “uhm, I think I’m stuck” She was stuck alright. The door knob fell off and there she was. Sarah, Johanna, and I tried body slamming the door and at one point I pulled out a Tae-Bo kick (we’ve been doing these workouts periodically since we’ve arrived) but the dang door wouldn’t move. Eventually I had to go get our driver who saved the day by pulling out some contraption from his pocket and easily flipping the door open like this happened every day. It was pretty entertaining.
From there, we passed through the dessert-like area where the Masai tribe live. Talk about living in isolation. There was nothing there, and I mean nothing…no visible trees, animals, water. Nothing. And these Masai lived in the middle of it. It was so dry and dusty and every so often there would be a cluster of dried mud huts surrounded by brush where numerous families lived. It seemed like such a desolate life, but I suppose if you don’t know anything else, it wouldn’t seem so strange to you. The Masai are beautiful people. They dress in the most brightly colored fabric. They don’t really wear clothes so much as they wrap this cloth around them to make elaborate outfits. Their favored color is red as lions are said to be scared of it and thus shy away from the people. One of their main traits for women and men alike is to stretch out their earlobes. This is seen as beautiful in their culture so all the elders have stretched their earlobes almost to their shoulders. I’m pretty sure I saw a couple earlobes I could put my fist through. (which reminds me, Camille, you’ve been wanting your ears pierced…) They decorate themselves with brightly colored beads which stand out beautifully against their skin and cloth. Their diet mainly consists of meat, milk, and blood (yum). I wasn’t able to take any pictures as the Masai reserve the right to stone you for a photograph. Not a risk I was willing to take. If you’re interested in seeing some info on them (and I highly recommend you do) google “Masai” and read up. They’re very interesting.
Upon passing through the dessert area, we entered the Savannah and eventually came to the Masai Mara. It is named this as the land was unfortunately taken away from the Masai people to form the park. They are generally nomadic people so I suppose when the land was taken away, they just moved to the desert. The savannah is so beautiful, and this is where all the animal action happened! We were told not to expect much as we came during migration season and a majority of the animals move to Tanzania for the dry season. Our driver was great and seemed to have a sixth sense for where the animals were located. He said the animals left in the Mara were Kenyan residents and not allowed to cross the border. Haha! Everyone talks about the Big Five when you go on game drives. This consists of elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, and water buffalo. We were told it is very rare to see leopards, rhinos, and cheetahs in the mara so we didn’t get our hopes up too much, but we made these animals our goals.
We went on four game drives while there. Two sunrise and two sunset. Our first game drive was Saturday evening and what was the first thing we saw? A giant leopard! Not only that, but he had drug a huge antelope into a tree and was eating it for dinner! We were so close we could hear the bones crunching. I know this sounds morbid, but it was so fascinating that we couldn’t turn away. Apparently this is so rare that even our guide was excited and taking pictures! Beyond the leopard we saw elephants and babies, monkeys, baboons, GIRAFFES, wildebeest, hippos, crocodiles, lions, lionesses, cheetah (four grown cheetah and two baby cubs!! – also rare!), impala, antelope, gazelle, secretary birds, meerkats, warthogs and babies (they look just like Pumba!), zebra, ostriches, antebeasts, hyenas, and basically every other animal you could think of except a rhino. It was a pretty fruitful trip! The best part was that we went down into Tanzania (my second African nation!!!). This is supposedly illegal to do without a visa, but our guide liked us so much that he took us down. (shhh, don’t tell anyone). We also got so close to some lions that I could have reached out and petted them if I wanted to. They’re so cute and fluffy it was kind of hard to resist the temptation. At one point though I locked eyes with one and, while we were staring at each other, I imagined his cat-like reflexes jumping up and snagging me. I closed the window after that.
Ashley and I decided that everything from the Mara can be related back to some Disney film. Mainly The Lion King, but we also found The Rescuers Down Under, Dumbo, and many others being played out in front of us. Luckily we encountered Rafikis, Nalas, Mufasas and Timons rather than Scarface, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. I was, however, slightly disappointed we didn’t get to visit Pride Rock.
Our lodge, Keekorok, was another experience in itself. For being in the middle of nowhere it was absolutely amazing! It reminded me of a five-star resort and they served three gourmet buffet meals a day. The best part was that it was not a gated lodge so the animals wandered freely amongst our cabins. We would wake up in the morning to impala outside our door or zebra just outside our window. That would never happen in the states. We had to ensure our doors were locked when we left as the monkeys were quite mischievous and loved to come in and cause trouble. Another best part was the hippo bar! Below our house was a lake where hippos lounged 24/7 and there was an enclosed veranda on the shore where we could sit and watch hippos. They’re such funny, pudgy creatures. We were there for three days/two nights and sadly returned to Eldoret Monday night. It was such a great time and I would love to go back again to relive the magic.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Let Them Eat Cake
Marie Antoinette was thought to have used this phrase during a famine caused by a bread shortage just prior to the French revolution in the late 18th century. Upon being alerted that her people were starving due to having little bread to eat, she is said to have replied, "Then let them eat cake."
Sometimes I think this is how the hospital staff feels about our patients. Work seems to be more frustrating by the day, and we seem to be falling further behind. In the states, in order to pass med school, internship, or residency, it is required to come to work everyday. This only makes sense. However, here, the medical students, medical interns, and medical residents generally come whenever they feel like it and this doesn’t seem to be very often.
I am nervous every morning as I walk to work because I don’t know how many of my patients survived the night and I’m generally upset as I walk home from the lack of progress we made throughout the day. I think the most upsetting loss was a 16 year old boy who was wrongly diagnosed with a glioblastoma causing an infarct of a portion of his brain. They do not treat this here and gave the boy little chance of survival on his own. As we watched him lay there day after day, he slowly became weak, stopped moving, became mute, and was unable to breathe completely on his own. He developed a new onset murmur, Janeway’s lesions on his palms and soles of his feet and Osler’s nodes on the pads of his fingertips. These are all classic signs of late stage infective endocarditis in which bacteria grows on the valve of the heart. He was placed on oxygen and had an x-ray of his chest that found a cardiac tamponade needing to be tapped and the fluid tested. Turns out the boy had thrown an emboli of bacteria into his brain causing an infarct while he slowly deteriorated as more of his brain died. His last chance was to tap the fluid and treat with appropriate antibiotics. Problem was, no one wanted to do this and, while they went back and forth about who’s job it was, the boy passed away. Such a loss. I’ve never felt so helpless watching him lay there suffering.
You always know in the hospital when a death has occurred. The culture states that if you do not mourn loudly and very audibly, then you are not grieving properly. So, every time a patient passes away, family members wail and cry loud enough to fill up all four wards. It’s very uncomfortable listening to someone in such distress and wondering if it could have all been easily prevented.
On a happier note, we do make many good saves and those stories are always a welcome relief from the normal day. We found a 16 year old boy with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I dosed his chemotherapy regimen (first time I’ve ever dosed chemo…a little scary, but I suppose you have to start somewhere) along with prescribing adequate fluids, antiemetics, and pain medications as the doctor did not think to add these (pharmacists can prescribe here). He received his first round of chemo yesterday while we were on the wards and Mercy, a Kenyan pharmacy student I recruited to help me speak Swahili, and I talked with him while he received it. He was very scared and crying, so we sat on his bed and talked with him until he fell asleep. Today he was looking slightly better and his father was there rocking him so he was in brighter spirits. I can only imagine how scary it is to be in the hospital all alone at 16 when you’re unaware of what to expect. I was very happy to see his father today.
We have been without electricity on and off both at the hospital and at our house the past few days. We had a wind storm (which here, during the dry season, equals a dust storm) and this easily knocked the electricity out for a majority of town. We got a good laugh when it went out while Avery was in the shower and he ran into the door. Unfortunately, this also means our internet goes on and off so its been touch and go the past few days.
Tonight (Friday night) we are going in town to listen to a live, authentic African band. Then, we are heading out early in the morning to go to the Masai Mara with a few other people. We will go on some game drives and hopefully see lots of animals. I’ll be sure to include some stories if everyone is interested.
Sometimes I think this is how the hospital staff feels about our patients. Work seems to be more frustrating by the day, and we seem to be falling further behind. In the states, in order to pass med school, internship, or residency, it is required to come to work everyday. This only makes sense. However, here, the medical students, medical interns, and medical residents generally come whenever they feel like it and this doesn’t seem to be very often.
I am nervous every morning as I walk to work because I don’t know how many of my patients survived the night and I’m generally upset as I walk home from the lack of progress we made throughout the day. I think the most upsetting loss was a 16 year old boy who was wrongly diagnosed with a glioblastoma causing an infarct of a portion of his brain. They do not treat this here and gave the boy little chance of survival on his own. As we watched him lay there day after day, he slowly became weak, stopped moving, became mute, and was unable to breathe completely on his own. He developed a new onset murmur, Janeway’s lesions on his palms and soles of his feet and Osler’s nodes on the pads of his fingertips. These are all classic signs of late stage infective endocarditis in which bacteria grows on the valve of the heart. He was placed on oxygen and had an x-ray of his chest that found a cardiac tamponade needing to be tapped and the fluid tested. Turns out the boy had thrown an emboli of bacteria into his brain causing an infarct while he slowly deteriorated as more of his brain died. His last chance was to tap the fluid and treat with appropriate antibiotics. Problem was, no one wanted to do this and, while they went back and forth about who’s job it was, the boy passed away. Such a loss. I’ve never felt so helpless watching him lay there suffering.
You always know in the hospital when a death has occurred. The culture states that if you do not mourn loudly and very audibly, then you are not grieving properly. So, every time a patient passes away, family members wail and cry loud enough to fill up all four wards. It’s very uncomfortable listening to someone in such distress and wondering if it could have all been easily prevented.
On a happier note, we do make many good saves and those stories are always a welcome relief from the normal day. We found a 16 year old boy with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I dosed his chemotherapy regimen (first time I’ve ever dosed chemo…a little scary, but I suppose you have to start somewhere) along with prescribing adequate fluids, antiemetics, and pain medications as the doctor did not think to add these (pharmacists can prescribe here). He received his first round of chemo yesterday while we were on the wards and Mercy, a Kenyan pharmacy student I recruited to help me speak Swahili, and I talked with him while he received it. He was very scared and crying, so we sat on his bed and talked with him until he fell asleep. Today he was looking slightly better and his father was there rocking him so he was in brighter spirits. I can only imagine how scary it is to be in the hospital all alone at 16 when you’re unaware of what to expect. I was very happy to see his father today.
We have been without electricity on and off both at the hospital and at our house the past few days. We had a wind storm (which here, during the dry season, equals a dust storm) and this easily knocked the electricity out for a majority of town. We got a good laugh when it went out while Avery was in the shower and he ran into the door. Unfortunately, this also means our internet goes on and off so its been touch and go the past few days.
Tonight (Friday night) we are going in town to listen to a live, authentic African band. Then, we are heading out early in the morning to go to the Masai Mara with a few other people. We will go on some game drives and hopefully see lots of animals. I’ll be sure to include some stories if everyone is interested.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Kakamega Rain Forest
Caution: This is a long one…
The social aspect of living at IU house is pretty great. It’s similar to living in dorms – just in a house – where all 40 of us live, eat, and work together. The cool thing is we’re all medical and can have some pretty interesting conversations. Someone is always ready to do something and there is never a dull moment. Ashley and I have been waking up every morning before work to run. We get up when the sun rises (around 6am) and take a nice jog through the farm lands close to our house. Sounds good, right? Except we are at an elevation of 5,000 ft. You can really feel the altitude difference in everyday things such as climbing the stairs, walking to work, and exercising. The first day, we about died as it is all hills here. We cracked up when we were both huffing ½ mile down the road and had to walk even though we both run at home. We have worked our way up to 1 ½ miles, but I tell you, it’s hard. Eldoret is the training place for many world class runners specifically for the elevation and hills. Many Olympic gold medalists have trained here and when a pack of them are out running for the morning it really is amazing to watch. They are so lean and fast and look just like on TV during the Olympics. The Kenyans are proud of us though. They even clap sometimes when we go puffing by….which makes us laugh all the harder.
Sonak has a second-hand living room set up with a TV and some game systems (including rock band – Anna’s jealous) and the medical students and residents and the four of us gather to hang out and watch movies. We watched Slum Dog Millionaire which our preceptor, our role model, ripped from the internet. It was very good, I recommend it. Has a nice Bollywood ending to poke fun at.
We also get to play sports in the evenings which are another good way to get some exercise. So far we have only taken part in soccer and volleyball. Ashley and I frequently cream Avery, Alan, and whoever else dares take us on in volleyball. We make a good team.
This brings us up to the past weekend. I explained earlier about our goat-roast on Friday evening. Our Kenyan counterparts in the hospital joined us and it was a great way to socialize and meet others from the hospital. It was just unfortunate a young goat had to lose its life in the process.
How often does one get to go camping in the rain forest? Not many, so sign me up! We left early Saturday morning to head to the Kakamega Rain Forest which is in the Western Province. About a 2 hour drive from where we are in the Rift Valley Province. The drive was incredible as the roads are pretty much potholes within another pothole. Many times we flat out abandoned the roads and drove in the fields next to them. The children were quite excited to see us pass as it’s not everyday you get to see a “muzungu!” as the children yelled and waved at us. This literally translates to “whitey!” which is what they call all foreigners. They were very excited to practice their English such as “Give me my can-dy” (aw, Haiti memories, Julie, they just need to whisper it creepily into our ears) and “How are you? Give me money” and, my personal favorite, “Take me to Chicago.”
So we actually stayed in little cabins as none of us had the foresight to pack tents, sleeping bags, and other camping gear in our carry-on. We stayed at the Rondo Hotel in the middle of the forest where electricity was scarce and animals were high. Within minutes of arriving we were greeted by monkeys chattering in the trees, birds squawking, and mosquitoes buzzing. It was great. As the forest is very deep and grown up, you are not allowed to venture out without a trained guide. Our guide was Joe and he was pretty darn cool. He was very intelligent and taught us about the ecosystem of the forest. He actually trained in forestry at a nearby school and has a deep passion for preservation of the forest. This is a few things he taught us:
- The Luau are the tribe which lives around the forest
- Kakamega is the only rainforest in Kenya and home to 70% of butterfly species in the world
- Three kinds of monkeys, the grey, red, and black and white collubus live here
- Other animals he pointed out were wild pigs, baboons, flying squirrel, mongoose, and small antelope
Dad: You would have loved walking through the woods and checking out the trees, though you couldn’t have brought your saw mill along for furniture. Many of the trees’ bark are used for traditional medicine to treat malaria, upset stomach, fever, and other things. There is also the Demon Tree which is not allowed to be cut down as tribal folklore states if you chop this particular type of tree, it is inviting demons into your home.
Mom: The flowers were absolutely gorgeous and I even saw a chrysanthemum like Grandma has next to the house. Every color you could imagine for flowers…neon orange, pink, and yellow as well as purple, blue, and red. It was wonderful walking through with the massive amounts of butterflies swirling around you. Also, there are native ferns here that grow to be about 7 ft tall. I don’t think you could have hung those off our porch like you do ours at home!
Elliott: Again, the butterflies. Your collection would have quadrupled easily. There was one butterfly in particular I tried to photograph for you. It is called the “map” butterfly as when it closes its wings it looks like the map of Africa. Kakamega is also the home to many species not found anywhere else in the world.
Camille: You would have had to hang tight with your guide as I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to find your way out. Swinging vines fell from every tree and we attempted to swing across a rapid on one. OK, just kidding, but we would have had fun attempting it together.
Anna: (and Oriana) MONKEYS EVERYWHERE!! Some were particularly cute with babies on their back. The black and white collubus looked kind of like a skunk though with its pattern. I took pictures for you but it will be a bit to get them to you.
I had a hard time focusing on the forest as I was watching my feet closely. Probably the most hypervigilant I’ve been all trip. Kakamega is home to the viper and 17 other poisonous snakes. Yuck.
We hiked most of the day on Saturday including one four hour hike in the evening. We made it to the top of the tallest mountain in the forest to watch the sun set above the canopy of trees. The colors were gorgeous and it was such a feeling of accomplishment knowing we made the 6,396 ft trek to the top – and that’s not including the already 5,000 ft elevation! The sad part of the trip was that the top of the mountain had actually burned the week before and everything was covered in black soot – including us from the knees down.
We made a small stop enroute to the top of the mountain to check out a bat cave. Joe asked us to bring our torches along but, having left that one on the plane as well, I took my flashlight. Mike, a med student, Avery, Alan, Ashley, and I went in with the first group Joe took. We went in the cave about 200 ft before we found the first group of bats. Joe blinded them with the light so we could get pictures of their beady eyes and disgusting little rodent bodies. Everything was going well until Joe wanted to move further into the cave and Ashley decided she didn’t want to pass the bats. The order we were in was the same as I mentioned above: Mike, Avery, Alan, Ashley, and me last. Ashley grabbed onto Alan about the time he stepped in a pile of guano – or maybe it was mud – and she slipped in it too. I’m not sure of the order of events but it ended with Ashley and I screaming and startling the entire cave of bats. They took off flying as the two of us ran toward the entrance leaving our boys and guide behind. No one shared with us that if we kept the light by our faces they would leave us alone, no, instead we ran with bats hitting our faces and brushing our backs and nasty little bat wings fluttering next to our ears. I started half laughing, half screaming, as I thought I would pass out from fright otherwise. I eventually made it to the cave entrance to a bunch of flashes as the other med students, who heard us (and the bats) coming and had their cameras prepared to get us on our run out. They are quite amusing shots and we now have a good story to tell. Unfortunately, we caught jungle fever from the bats and ended up dancing under the moon with vipers. Okay, that’s a lie (only the jungle fever part), but I did it for Scott because he cracks himself up.
We crashed after our hike and woke the next morning for breakfast and our last hike in the forest. We made this one a silent hike which is quite a feat for 12 twenty-something year olds traipsing through the forest. This was nice as it was also Sunday and we got to enjoy the beauty of outside in reflective thought. After a bumpy two hour ride home, we prepared ourselves for the coming day of work. It was a nice weekend to bring all our housemates closer together and to have a little fun exploring the Kenyan terrain. We are already at work planning our next getaway. The possibilities are endless.
The social aspect of living at IU house is pretty great. It’s similar to living in dorms – just in a house – where all 40 of us live, eat, and work together. The cool thing is we’re all medical and can have some pretty interesting conversations. Someone is always ready to do something and there is never a dull moment. Ashley and I have been waking up every morning before work to run. We get up when the sun rises (around 6am) and take a nice jog through the farm lands close to our house. Sounds good, right? Except we are at an elevation of 5,000 ft. You can really feel the altitude difference in everyday things such as climbing the stairs, walking to work, and exercising. The first day, we about died as it is all hills here. We cracked up when we were both huffing ½ mile down the road and had to walk even though we both run at home. We have worked our way up to 1 ½ miles, but I tell you, it’s hard. Eldoret is the training place for many world class runners specifically for the elevation and hills. Many Olympic gold medalists have trained here and when a pack of them are out running for the morning it really is amazing to watch. They are so lean and fast and look just like on TV during the Olympics. The Kenyans are proud of us though. They even clap sometimes when we go puffing by….which makes us laugh all the harder.
Sonak has a second-hand living room set up with a TV and some game systems (including rock band – Anna’s jealous) and the medical students and residents and the four of us gather to hang out and watch movies. We watched Slum Dog Millionaire which our preceptor, our role model, ripped from the internet. It was very good, I recommend it. Has a nice Bollywood ending to poke fun at.
We also get to play sports in the evenings which are another good way to get some exercise. So far we have only taken part in soccer and volleyball. Ashley and I frequently cream Avery, Alan, and whoever else dares take us on in volleyball. We make a good team.
This brings us up to the past weekend. I explained earlier about our goat-roast on Friday evening. Our Kenyan counterparts in the hospital joined us and it was a great way to socialize and meet others from the hospital. It was just unfortunate a young goat had to lose its life in the process.
How often does one get to go camping in the rain forest? Not many, so sign me up! We left early Saturday morning to head to the Kakamega Rain Forest which is in the Western Province. About a 2 hour drive from where we are in the Rift Valley Province. The drive was incredible as the roads are pretty much potholes within another pothole. Many times we flat out abandoned the roads and drove in the fields next to them. The children were quite excited to see us pass as it’s not everyday you get to see a “muzungu!” as the children yelled and waved at us. This literally translates to “whitey!” which is what they call all foreigners. They were very excited to practice their English such as “Give me my can-dy” (aw, Haiti memories, Julie, they just need to whisper it creepily into our ears) and “How are you? Give me money” and, my personal favorite, “Take me to Chicago.”
So we actually stayed in little cabins as none of us had the foresight to pack tents, sleeping bags, and other camping gear in our carry-on. We stayed at the Rondo Hotel in the middle of the forest where electricity was scarce and animals were high. Within minutes of arriving we were greeted by monkeys chattering in the trees, birds squawking, and mosquitoes buzzing. It was great. As the forest is very deep and grown up, you are not allowed to venture out without a trained guide. Our guide was Joe and he was pretty darn cool. He was very intelligent and taught us about the ecosystem of the forest. He actually trained in forestry at a nearby school and has a deep passion for preservation of the forest. This is a few things he taught us:
- The Luau are the tribe which lives around the forest
- Kakamega is the only rainforest in Kenya and home to 70% of butterfly species in the world
- Three kinds of monkeys, the grey, red, and black and white collubus live here
- Other animals he pointed out were wild pigs, baboons, flying squirrel, mongoose, and small antelope
Dad: You would have loved walking through the woods and checking out the trees, though you couldn’t have brought your saw mill along for furniture. Many of the trees’ bark are used for traditional medicine to treat malaria, upset stomach, fever, and other things. There is also the Demon Tree which is not allowed to be cut down as tribal folklore states if you chop this particular type of tree, it is inviting demons into your home.
Mom: The flowers were absolutely gorgeous and I even saw a chrysanthemum like Grandma has next to the house. Every color you could imagine for flowers…neon orange, pink, and yellow as well as purple, blue, and red. It was wonderful walking through with the massive amounts of butterflies swirling around you. Also, there are native ferns here that grow to be about 7 ft tall. I don’t think you could have hung those off our porch like you do ours at home!
Elliott: Again, the butterflies. Your collection would have quadrupled easily. There was one butterfly in particular I tried to photograph for you. It is called the “map” butterfly as when it closes its wings it looks like the map of Africa. Kakamega is also the home to many species not found anywhere else in the world.
Camille: You would have had to hang tight with your guide as I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to find your way out. Swinging vines fell from every tree and we attempted to swing across a rapid on one. OK, just kidding, but we would have had fun attempting it together.
Anna: (and Oriana) MONKEYS EVERYWHERE!! Some were particularly cute with babies on their back. The black and white collubus looked kind of like a skunk though with its pattern. I took pictures for you but it will be a bit to get them to you.
I had a hard time focusing on the forest as I was watching my feet closely. Probably the most hypervigilant I’ve been all trip. Kakamega is home to the viper and 17 other poisonous snakes. Yuck.
We hiked most of the day on Saturday including one four hour hike in the evening. We made it to the top of the tallest mountain in the forest to watch the sun set above the canopy of trees. The colors were gorgeous and it was such a feeling of accomplishment knowing we made the 6,396 ft trek to the top – and that’s not including the already 5,000 ft elevation! The sad part of the trip was that the top of the mountain had actually burned the week before and everything was covered in black soot – including us from the knees down.
We made a small stop enroute to the top of the mountain to check out a bat cave. Joe asked us to bring our torches along but, having left that one on the plane as well, I took my flashlight. Mike, a med student, Avery, Alan, Ashley, and I went in with the first group Joe took. We went in the cave about 200 ft before we found the first group of bats. Joe blinded them with the light so we could get pictures of their beady eyes and disgusting little rodent bodies. Everything was going well until Joe wanted to move further into the cave and Ashley decided she didn’t want to pass the bats. The order we were in was the same as I mentioned above: Mike, Avery, Alan, Ashley, and me last. Ashley grabbed onto Alan about the time he stepped in a pile of guano – or maybe it was mud – and she slipped in it too. I’m not sure of the order of events but it ended with Ashley and I screaming and startling the entire cave of bats. They took off flying as the two of us ran toward the entrance leaving our boys and guide behind. No one shared with us that if we kept the light by our faces they would leave us alone, no, instead we ran with bats hitting our faces and brushing our backs and nasty little bat wings fluttering next to our ears. I started half laughing, half screaming, as I thought I would pass out from fright otherwise. I eventually made it to the cave entrance to a bunch of flashes as the other med students, who heard us (and the bats) coming and had their cameras prepared to get us on our run out. They are quite amusing shots and we now have a good story to tell. Unfortunately, we caught jungle fever from the bats and ended up dancing under the moon with vipers. Okay, that’s a lie (only the jungle fever part), but I did it for Scott because he cracks himself up.
We crashed after our hike and woke the next morning for breakfast and our last hike in the forest. We made this one a silent hike which is quite a feat for 12 twenty-something year olds traipsing through the forest. This was nice as it was also Sunday and we got to enjoy the beauty of outside in reflective thought. After a bumpy two hour ride home, we prepared ourselves for the coming day of work. It was a nice weekend to bring all our housemates closer together and to have a little fun exploring the Kenyan terrain. We are already at work planning our next getaway. The possibilities are endless.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Workin' Hard For No Money
Thursday and Friday were my first two official days on the Nyayo wards. I am currently assigned to the all male ward. I believe later we will switch things up so I will spend time in the women’s ward, pediatric ward, and the inpatient psychiatric unit. I will be the only one on the inpatient psych ward as no one else wanted to. My interest in psych prevailed on top of the fact that three psychologists are here from Brown and I can work with them in their research which may get published.
The work here is difficult, and that’s not even factoring in the emotional component. Thursday I rounded with Sonak, my preceptor, so he could show me the ropes. With 30 patients to round on, it took 4.5 hours. My legs and back were killing me. Our main jobs as pharmacists are to order medications when the doctors prescribe them (they do not write orders themselves) as well as ordering medications when we feel they need to be. This means you must hang on to every word the doctor says which is harder than you think because Kenyans are THE most soft spoken people I have ever encountered in my life. On top of this, we must ensure the patient actually receives the medications they are prescribed as the nursing staff here has a tendency to just skip over patients or not give meds if its too time intensive. When we’re talking antibiotics and antiretrovirals, this is a HUGE issue and builds worries of resistance.
I learned a lot from talking with Sonak on Thursday and learned even more just from watching. On a side note, they do not use IV pumps here so there are no set infusion rates. Everything is hung and flows by gravity. I saw a patient in bed receiving a blood transfusion. The bag was hanging on the IV pole, but the nurse hadn’t put the patient’s IV in correctly and so the blood was simply flowing over his arm and onto his sheets so he was literally lying in a gigantic pool of blood. Sonak urges doctors here to not give blood transfusions unless they absolutely can not avoid it as donated blood is not checked for HIV/AIDS or hepatitis which puts patients at an enormous risk I’m sure they are unaware of.
Friday I was to be on my own but I paired up with Evelyn, a pharmacy student from here at Moi. I learned more from her than I thought was possible in one day. I suppose when you don’t know anything there is no where to go but up! She trained me in the therapy of toxoplasmosis, PJP pneumonia, malaria, TB, and cryptococcal meningitis. All of which are not seen often in the states and can be acutely life threatening (some within hours) if not treated properly right away. She was a wealth of information and also very sweet. Rounds on Friday only lasted 2.5 hours as I had a different medical resident (called registrars here) and the attending came so everything was much more efficient.
Friday we also had our first patient pass away. Day 2. There’s no easing your way into this. The lady was up and talking just fine with the team one minute, and ten minutes later she was found dead in her bed. They suspect a pulmonary embolism but no one really knows as x-rays, labs, and every other test takes forever to get back. They also do not do autopsies as they would probably not get much else done with the time they would need to spend on all the deaths. It is just so unfair and frustrating. Kind of feels like a punch in the gut and all the wind is knocked out of you.
It is so bizarre here. Patients are allowed to get up and move around at their leisure. You’ll pass a man in the hallway and, 20 minutes later, you’ll round on him and learn he has a hemothorax with a collapsed lung (blood filling the space between the lung and chest cavity causing the lung to collapse), advanced AIDS, and TB! A patient like this in the states would be in isolation and bed ridden for days on medical orders and here he is strutting around the hallways and outside on the grounds. You can never guess here which the patient is and which a visitor is. The Kenyans are so tough and can put up with a lot. I really respect them. As one Kenyan explained to me, “we are very simple people, but God still smiles on us.”
The work here is difficult, and that’s not even factoring in the emotional component. Thursday I rounded with Sonak, my preceptor, so he could show me the ropes. With 30 patients to round on, it took 4.5 hours. My legs and back were killing me. Our main jobs as pharmacists are to order medications when the doctors prescribe them (they do not write orders themselves) as well as ordering medications when we feel they need to be. This means you must hang on to every word the doctor says which is harder than you think because Kenyans are THE most soft spoken people I have ever encountered in my life. On top of this, we must ensure the patient actually receives the medications they are prescribed as the nursing staff here has a tendency to just skip over patients or not give meds if its too time intensive. When we’re talking antibiotics and antiretrovirals, this is a HUGE issue and builds worries of resistance.
I learned a lot from talking with Sonak on Thursday and learned even more just from watching. On a side note, they do not use IV pumps here so there are no set infusion rates. Everything is hung and flows by gravity. I saw a patient in bed receiving a blood transfusion. The bag was hanging on the IV pole, but the nurse hadn’t put the patient’s IV in correctly and so the blood was simply flowing over his arm and onto his sheets so he was literally lying in a gigantic pool of blood. Sonak urges doctors here to not give blood transfusions unless they absolutely can not avoid it as donated blood is not checked for HIV/AIDS or hepatitis which puts patients at an enormous risk I’m sure they are unaware of.
Friday I was to be on my own but I paired up with Evelyn, a pharmacy student from here at Moi. I learned more from her than I thought was possible in one day. I suppose when you don’t know anything there is no where to go but up! She trained me in the therapy of toxoplasmosis, PJP pneumonia, malaria, TB, and cryptococcal meningitis. All of which are not seen often in the states and can be acutely life threatening (some within hours) if not treated properly right away. She was a wealth of information and also very sweet. Rounds on Friday only lasted 2.5 hours as I had a different medical resident (called registrars here) and the attending came so everything was much more efficient.
Friday we also had our first patient pass away. Day 2. There’s no easing your way into this. The lady was up and talking just fine with the team one minute, and ten minutes later she was found dead in her bed. They suspect a pulmonary embolism but no one really knows as x-rays, labs, and every other test takes forever to get back. They also do not do autopsies as they would probably not get much else done with the time they would need to spend on all the deaths. It is just so unfair and frustrating. Kind of feels like a punch in the gut and all the wind is knocked out of you.
It is so bizarre here. Patients are allowed to get up and move around at their leisure. You’ll pass a man in the hallway and, 20 minutes later, you’ll round on him and learn he has a hemothorax with a collapsed lung (blood filling the space between the lung and chest cavity causing the lung to collapse), advanced AIDS, and TB! A patient like this in the states would be in isolation and bed ridden for days on medical orders and here he is strutting around the hallways and outside on the grounds. You can never guess here which the patient is and which a visitor is. The Kenyans are so tough and can put up with a lot. I really respect them. As one Kenyan explained to me, “we are very simple people, but God still smiles on us.”
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Mom's birthday was on Friday. I wasn't able to post it then, but I was able to talk to her on the phone which was great. So, Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Manje
Creole for "food" because I don't know the word in Kiswahili...
We slaughtered and are roasting a goat tonight over an open fire for dinner.
I may become a vegetarian after this.
The goat was so cute...
We slaughtered and are roasting a goat tonight over an open fire for dinner.
I may become a vegetarian after this.
The goat was so cute...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Jambo, Rafiki
Kiswahili for Hello, Friends! My time here is paying off.
This morning we had the most amazing juice made from Passion fruit. Delicious. We drank this and ate homemade bread on the way to the airport. We were afraid we were going to miss the flight as we only got there 20 minutes before take off, but our worries were eased when we arrived and realized the four of us made up 1/3 of the passengers and they would hold the plane if needed. We made it just fine.
Our flight to Eldoret went smoothly. It was a pretty unique experience. Our plane was a little twin engine jet that sat about 15 people plus the pilot. I was behind the pilot and one of the propellers was to my left so it was quite loud. The surprising thing was that our flight attendant, who passed out snacks before we took off, was also the co-pilot. Or so we thought until we took off and she turned out to be a STUDENT pilot! She did well though. Just a bit wobbly on the landing but I suppose I would be too trying to land in the middle of a field! We flew low and got a good view of the terrain. I was actually able to watch over the pilot’s shoulder to see out ahead which isn’t a view you get often. I didn’t realize how mountainous Kenya is. We flew to the west and I’m pretty sure we were able to see Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to the south in the far distance.
The airport was a dream. All open air to the 70 degree weather, maybe 20 other people besides us, and all in the middle of the field surrounded by the most beautiful view you’ve ever seen. Our preceptor, Sonak, picked us up from the airport. Here, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is also on the left. I suppose this is from the strong British influence. Sonak drove us through town and gave us a tour. There aren’t really rules to travel other than “don’t get hit.” So this meant we were weaving in and out of traffic –both sides—and pedestrians at a high rate of speed. Kenya is much greener and cleaner than I expected. I suppose I was expecting to have similar surroundings to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but there are lots of trees, no humidity, and people pick up after themselves for the most part.
Upon arrival to the IU house we were assigned our rooms (Ashley and I in the Candelabra room and Alan and Avery in the Sausage Tree room). Our rooms are right across the hall from each other and we share a bathroom. It’s nice to have everyone close. We then took a tour of the hospitals in which we will work. I suppose at this time I should take the time to explain for everyone what I’m doing here.
I’m on a two-month Adult Medicine rotation for my last year of pharmacy school. I will be working at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) as well as AMPATH, a hospital set up specifically for HIV/AIDS patients. Moi University is a medical school named after a past president. Apparently, the tradition here is when someone is elected president in Kenya, he makes significant donations and improvements to his hometown and tribe. This is why there is such a vested interest in the elections, thus helping to explain the post-election violence last winter. (Speaking of, a lot of the violence happened right here in Eldoret and there are still about 1,000 displaced people living in tents on the edge of town). MTRH and AMPATH hospitals are directly next to each other and connected by an outdoor corridor. The center is huge and they are still expanding through donations and grants with a beautiful 3 story mother-and-baby hospital newly built. They are only waiting to open it by hiring staff. MTRH has four wards: males, females, male children, and female children. Each ward has 6 “cubes” and each cube has 8 beds and each bed has 2 patients…this equals a lot of patients. Each of us four will be assigned to a ward. We will find which ward we are assigned to on Monday. The smell of the hospital is unbelievable. You about hit the deck just walking in. Combine body odor, human waste, and just the normal hospital smell from a couple hundred people and multiply that by 1000 and that can give you an idea of what it smells like. The UNC medical resident we are with actually threw up about 5 separate times and had to eventually leave. The tuberculosis prevention mechanism (as you know, TB is contagious and spreads via cough droplets and subsequent inhalation) is open windows at the end of each cube. Not very reliable. This does provide a nice breeze which is nice as it is quite crowded and hot in the hospital. MTRH care is all on the patient to pay. For example, though x-rays cost about 25 cents US, patients can’t afford the cost and usually go without. This also applies to surgeries, medications, and other basic, essential care which is quite discouraging.
AMPATH on the other hand is a free service to HIV/AIDS patients. Currently about 75,000 patients are treated with appointments on a regular basis and free ARVs (antiretrovirals). We are responsible for assuring patient compliance and reviewing patients charts to identify drug interactions and initiate medications where necessary. AMPATH smells better but is just about as crowded a place as Moi.
We were all overwhelmed with our responsibilities we learned on the tour so Sonak gave us the afternoon off to unpack and get settled in to our new Kenyan life. With the 8 hour time difference and travel we were getting pretty sleepy so we took power naps and checked out the IU house compound. For dinner, everyone at the IU house –about 30 of us, went out to eat at an Indian restaurant in town. The med students and residents here were going out to explore Eldoret night life, but we elected to head home and sleep to try and adjust to the time. Everyone keeps telling us to give it a few days and we’ll be pros both at the Kenyan life and our duties at the hospital…I trust they’re right because at this point, the 4 of us are in over our heads. We have to prepare ourselves to work and to work hard. Everything we do is not for our job or because our preceptor asked us to do it. Our work here is to ensure patients survive. And that is motivation in itself.
This morning we had the most amazing juice made from Passion fruit. Delicious. We drank this and ate homemade bread on the way to the airport. We were afraid we were going to miss the flight as we only got there 20 minutes before take off, but our worries were eased when we arrived and realized the four of us made up 1/3 of the passengers and they would hold the plane if needed. We made it just fine.
Our flight to Eldoret went smoothly. It was a pretty unique experience. Our plane was a little twin engine jet that sat about 15 people plus the pilot. I was behind the pilot and one of the propellers was to my left so it was quite loud. The surprising thing was that our flight attendant, who passed out snacks before we took off, was also the co-pilot. Or so we thought until we took off and she turned out to be a STUDENT pilot! She did well though. Just a bit wobbly on the landing but I suppose I would be too trying to land in the middle of a field! We flew low and got a good view of the terrain. I was actually able to watch over the pilot’s shoulder to see out ahead which isn’t a view you get often. I didn’t realize how mountainous Kenya is. We flew to the west and I’m pretty sure we were able to see Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to the south in the far distance.
The airport was a dream. All open air to the 70 degree weather, maybe 20 other people besides us, and all in the middle of the field surrounded by the most beautiful view you’ve ever seen. Our preceptor, Sonak, picked us up from the airport. Here, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is also on the left. I suppose this is from the strong British influence. Sonak drove us through town and gave us a tour. There aren’t really rules to travel other than “don’t get hit.” So this meant we were weaving in and out of traffic –both sides—and pedestrians at a high rate of speed. Kenya is much greener and cleaner than I expected. I suppose I was expecting to have similar surroundings to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but there are lots of trees, no humidity, and people pick up after themselves for the most part.
Upon arrival to the IU house we were assigned our rooms (Ashley and I in the Candelabra room and Alan and Avery in the Sausage Tree room). Our rooms are right across the hall from each other and we share a bathroom. It’s nice to have everyone close. We then took a tour of the hospitals in which we will work. I suppose at this time I should take the time to explain for everyone what I’m doing here.
I’m on a two-month Adult Medicine rotation for my last year of pharmacy school. I will be working at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) as well as AMPATH, a hospital set up specifically for HIV/AIDS patients. Moi University is a medical school named after a past president. Apparently, the tradition here is when someone is elected president in Kenya, he makes significant donations and improvements to his hometown and tribe. This is why there is such a vested interest in the elections, thus helping to explain the post-election violence last winter. (Speaking of, a lot of the violence happened right here in Eldoret and there are still about 1,000 displaced people living in tents on the edge of town). MTRH and AMPATH hospitals are directly next to each other and connected by an outdoor corridor. The center is huge and they are still expanding through donations and grants with a beautiful 3 story mother-and-baby hospital newly built. They are only waiting to open it by hiring staff. MTRH has four wards: males, females, male children, and female children. Each ward has 6 “cubes” and each cube has 8 beds and each bed has 2 patients…this equals a lot of patients. Each of us four will be assigned to a ward. We will find which ward we are assigned to on Monday. The smell of the hospital is unbelievable. You about hit the deck just walking in. Combine body odor, human waste, and just the normal hospital smell from a couple hundred people and multiply that by 1000 and that can give you an idea of what it smells like. The UNC medical resident we are with actually threw up about 5 separate times and had to eventually leave. The tuberculosis prevention mechanism (as you know, TB is contagious and spreads via cough droplets and subsequent inhalation) is open windows at the end of each cube. Not very reliable. This does provide a nice breeze which is nice as it is quite crowded and hot in the hospital. MTRH care is all on the patient to pay. For example, though x-rays cost about 25 cents US, patients can’t afford the cost and usually go without. This also applies to surgeries, medications, and other basic, essential care which is quite discouraging.
AMPATH on the other hand is a free service to HIV/AIDS patients. Currently about 75,000 patients are treated with appointments on a regular basis and free ARVs (antiretrovirals). We are responsible for assuring patient compliance and reviewing patients charts to identify drug interactions and initiate medications where necessary. AMPATH smells better but is just about as crowded a place as Moi.
We were all overwhelmed with our responsibilities we learned on the tour so Sonak gave us the afternoon off to unpack and get settled in to our new Kenyan life. With the 8 hour time difference and travel we were getting pretty sleepy so we took power naps and checked out the IU house compound. For dinner, everyone at the IU house –about 30 of us, went out to eat at an Indian restaurant in town. The med students and residents here were going out to explore Eldoret night life, but we elected to head home and sleep to try and adjust to the time. Everyone keeps telling us to give it a few days and we’ll be pros both at the Kenyan life and our duties at the hospital…I trust they’re right because at this point, the 4 of us are in over our heads. We have to prepare ourselves to work and to work hard. Everything we do is not for our job or because our preceptor asked us to do it. Our work here is to ensure patients survive. And that is motivation in itself.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Leavin' On A Jet Plane...
I have just arrived at my hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. It is 10 o’clock pm local time and about 2 o’clock in the afternoon back at home. The flights went well, though very long. I flew with Avery, my cousin, and Ashley, a girl from my pharmacy class. We met up with Alan, our fourth pharmacy student, later in Nairobi. They are who I will be spending all my time with.
Our first leg from Indy to Detroit went fast and was easy other than having to say bye to my family and friends. Detroit to Amsterdam was a long flight but tolerable. We were each able to watch our own movies so I watched The Duchess to occupy 2.5 hours of the 8 hour flight. Being the pharmacists that we are, we were convinced we would get DVTs from the long flight and throw a clot so we made sure to get up and make regular laps around the 777. At one point Avery told us if he passes out to just leave him, which we told him we would.
By the time we reached Amsterdam, we were delirious of sleep deprivation (about 3 am home time) and waited half awake for our connecting flight to Nairobi (another 8 hour flight). I was able to sleep the first 3 hours then watched the movie Blood Diamond. It was really good but probably not the best choice on our way to Africa. It is the true story about conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone and portrays lots of violence and child soldiers. By the end of it I was pretty convinced I was heading into a war zone. We flew through Europe then over Libya, Egypt, The Sudan, Ethiopia, and then finally Kenya. It was incredible seeing the Sahara Desert. Then over the Sudan we passed refugee camps which were astonishing sights. Very heartbreaking, but another eye opener to what we may encounter in Kenya.
By the time Nairobi was in sight, the three of us were miserable and convinced we had pressure sores on our bums. Not to mention how dirty we felt after a full 24 hours of traveling. We gathered our luggage, purchased our visas and met our driver to take us to our hotel for the night in Nairobi. On the way I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me from the lack of sleep. I was staring out the matatu (taxi) window and next to us, on the road, a 15 foot giraffe was walking along!!! In the middle of downtown Nairobi! It was the PERFECT way to start out my African adventure as giraffes are my favorite animal! Our driver then gave us a mini Kiswahili lesson and rolled us out at the Fairview hotel…”the country inn, in town”. Or so they claim. The hotel was wonderful – all white and clean—and we met Alan there. After sending arrival emails to our parents we showered and hit the hay around 12am with a wakeup coming at 5am to catch our flight to Eldoret. A long, but very fun experience!
Our first leg from Indy to Detroit went fast and was easy other than having to say bye to my family and friends. Detroit to Amsterdam was a long flight but tolerable. We were each able to watch our own movies so I watched The Duchess to occupy 2.5 hours of the 8 hour flight. Being the pharmacists that we are, we were convinced we would get DVTs from the long flight and throw a clot so we made sure to get up and make regular laps around the 777. At one point Avery told us if he passes out to just leave him, which we told him we would.
By the time we reached Amsterdam, we were delirious of sleep deprivation (about 3 am home time) and waited half awake for our connecting flight to Nairobi (another 8 hour flight). I was able to sleep the first 3 hours then watched the movie Blood Diamond. It was really good but probably not the best choice on our way to Africa. It is the true story about conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone and portrays lots of violence and child soldiers. By the end of it I was pretty convinced I was heading into a war zone. We flew through Europe then over Libya, Egypt, The Sudan, Ethiopia, and then finally Kenya. It was incredible seeing the Sahara Desert. Then over the Sudan we passed refugee camps which were astonishing sights. Very heartbreaking, but another eye opener to what we may encounter in Kenya.
By the time Nairobi was in sight, the three of us were miserable and convinced we had pressure sores on our bums. Not to mention how dirty we felt after a full 24 hours of traveling. We gathered our luggage, purchased our visas and met our driver to take us to our hotel for the night in Nairobi. On the way I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me from the lack of sleep. I was staring out the matatu (taxi) window and next to us, on the road, a 15 foot giraffe was walking along!!! In the middle of downtown Nairobi! It was the PERFECT way to start out my African adventure as giraffes are my favorite animal! Our driver then gave us a mini Kiswahili lesson and rolled us out at the Fairview hotel…”the country inn, in town”. Or so they claim. The hotel was wonderful – all white and clean—and we met Alan there. After sending arrival emails to our parents we showered and hit the hay around 12am with a wakeup coming at 5am to catch our flight to Eldoret. A long, but very fun experience!
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