The internet has been out for only one day, so I have not been able to connect with the rest of the world. That one day without internet felt like at least a week. I have been in my own Kenyan world here. We played a lot of card games and drank a few Tuskers. Other than that yesterday was pretty boring.
I learned how to use the washing machine here yesterday. It took 3 hours to wash my clothes, and then I had to hang them on the line to dry. It rained last night on my drying clothes, and it is sprinkling now so I had to bring all of them in so maybe they can finally get dry by tomorrow. I only washed my own clothes because I was about to run out of clean underwear. From now on, I am going to plan ahead and have someone else do my laundry for Ksh 250/= per load. It is definately worth it not having to deal with that again being that I have to rehang all my clothes in the morning before I leave for the hospital.
Last night we had our weekly dinner out, and went to Mama Mia's. It is a restaurant about a 3 minute walk from the IU House that has just about every kind of food you could want. It was served family style and we had: chicken and lettuce salad, sauasge and seasoned potatoes, basmati rice and carrots, sauted fish in a spicy sauce, supreme pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, and strawberry and chocolate ice cream. It was all pretty yummy.
Today was an extra smelly day on the wards. I do not know what was the cause, but it was rank! My Crocs have been giving me blisters on my heel and ankel. I had one of my new med student friends bandage me up. Her name is Sarah, and she is from Indy as well. She is a ton of fun and a sweet heart. She is working only in the Riley Mother Baby Hospital here, and delivers babies all day. I am sure you will see her in some of my pictures. There are many people here to get to know, but everyone leaves on different schedules, so you never know how long you have with everyone.
Another Thursday night, another round of dodge ball. It was just as intense this time as it was last time. I was on a team with 2 other Ellies. They are both Kenyan guys, one works for AMPATH, and the other is a guard here at IU House. We had a great time! I was the only one left in on my team for one round, and I took 3 people out to win for my team. Can you say dodge ball champion?! Of course it was at the expense of damage to my body. While throwing a ball, I think I pulled both my groin and my gluteus maximus, as well as falling an scraping the top of my foot and toe nail. Painful, but we won!
We had our fire side chat after dinner. Javin, aka Mr. Kenya, was there to talk about his experience with the post-election fighting in December 2007. It was an amazing story. He is probably one of the bravest men in Kenya, and one of the buffest! I failed to mention that he is a body builder and that is how he got crowned Mr. Kenya. If you want to hear a snippet about his story, read the epilogue of 'Walking Together, Walking Far' by Fran Quigley. The book is all about the program I am working with here in Kenya. One of the men who started the program still lives here, and we get to see him on a daily basis. He eats most of his meals with us, and he is a very humbling person. He has given so much of his time and money to the Kenyan people, it is just amazing. Read the book!
Well I am off to bed soon because working on the wards is wearing me out. And Myra is currently giving me a back massage, and I intend to fully enjoy it!
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