Kenyan Weekend

Alrightyyy, well sorry I haven't posted in a few days...let's see if I can remember everything this time. Thursday night, we all just hung around the hotel and played some intense games, per ush, but this time it was purely the Fishbowl game/Hat game (FINALLY played it lisa/drew! ...and I'm obsessed). Pretty sure the charades version of Sloppy Stacy was the highlight. The sun sets pretty early here, so it was pitch black by the time we wrapped up game night. Luckily, we have the best group ever and they were all willing to dig out their flashlights and walk Kate and me back to the guest house, even though they had all just gotten up out of their death beds that afternoon (it was Kenya: 11, US: 2 there for a while, but I think we are finally back in the lead). It was a nice little stroll..turned off all our flashlights a few times and the stars were absolutely incredible. Finally had a solid night's sleep...first one of the trip! Wasn't even woken up by the roosters or prayer chants...Phew!

trek back to the house 

Friday morning, Kate and I got up at 6:15 and went for a run. (have to work off some of these carbs!) It was such a beautiful morning...we just ran down to town and then back up around the house and towards the school we visited the other day. There are always so many people on the road...some of the little school kids thought we were chasing them and started running away..."we are just doing this for leisure, I promise!" Im sure they thought we were crazy! Oh and I definitely wiped out there for a hot second - the sides of the roads are super slanted and rocky, so your feet slide all over the place and there are motorcycles, cars and people everwhere so you never even know which side is best to walk/run on.
We went to the hospital at 8am as usual for the healthcare team meeting. It was a pretty laid back day but sometimes the cases are really tough (meningitis, pediatric mortality, HIV). I spent all day in Radiology and we had some super interesting cases. Got to do a skull x-ray, humeral spiral facture x-ray, infant x-ray and an infertility exam. Was not expecting that one! The exam was called a histosyringogram...? Anyhoo, we don't need too many details on that, but moral of the story is that it was interesting and I had no clue that radiologists did thing like that. And, while we're on the topic, let's just say the theme continued throughout the day...watched a birth! Oh. My. God. I was exhausted from just watching this poor woman. (sorry mom!) I'm going to be honest, I was pretty proud of myself for not passing out....it was so amazing to see this little nugget! Ended up being a healthy little girl :) The grandma came into the room and her eyes were just lit up. I am so happy I got to see a birth...there are so many injustices and sad cases here that it was great to be involved in something happy for a change. And I am thankful that the woman let us all observe...because if that was me, there's no way I would let 6+ American kids watch that go down...profanities would be flying, lemme tell you!

interpreting x-rays

dark room

X-Ray room

The hospital is always pretty slow in the afternoons and we were beat after the birth. So, went back to the hotel and basically hung out, separated everyone's laundry, and got ready for some Kenyan culture. We went to a local restaurant with the other group since everyone's stomachs were finally feeling up to it. Got a few Tuskers & Pilsners, finally tried some ugali (it was kind of bizarre...jiggly corn bread type of thing...? but we got brown so it was made of millet...? gritty texture...?) I think I need to give it another try. Chicken here is really difficult to eat because there is hardly anything on the bones. (not to mention that everytime I smell it I just think of the birds in the market...blah!) The masala fries were killer though....and yet again, carbs. Woof. Went from there to the bar attached to the hotel. It was a blast, but WOAH, the culture shock!!! It was about 90% middle aged Kenyan men. They were all super nice, but man, they love to dance...especially with American "mizungu" girls. A few more Tuskers were definitely necessary. The music here is great...steel drums, flutes, etc...love it!

group dinner at a local restaurant

group dinner at a local restaurant

dancing at the bar next door

owner of the hotel and bar knew us as "the girls who drink tusker"

new room at the house with makeshift clothesline

Today, we were supposed to leave for the safari, but plans changed...so instead, we slept in, had breakfast at the house, got some study time in, and then drove to Tanzania :) Add it to the list! The border is only about 45 minutes away from here and it is pretty crazy! The town right on the border is bustling...soooo many people, motorcycles, security guards and checkpoints. As always, people stare at us like we have 10 heads, but it's hilarious...you can tell most of them want to wave, so as soon as you take initiative, they get huge smiles and wave back. It was kind of creepy crossing over the border though, just because it was so busy and we didn't know the protocol. I felt like I was in a movie. We stopped at a restaurant about 5 minutes inside and all got a brew, stayed about an hour and a half, then drove back, played some games, ate some carbs and are trying to figure out the rest of the night...

entering Tanzania

crossing the border