Jambo everyone! I made it to Eldoret with only a few small snags. Last night we stayed at a hotel in Nairobi. It was really nice, and cheap. This morning I started off the day with an amazing breakfast. They have the best fresh fruit here. Mango, pineapple, pomegranate, fresh squeezed OJ and papaya juice. After breakfast, we headed to the airport for our flight to Eldoret. And boy was that exciting. I had an anxiety attack while on the runway getting ready to take off. I did not think I was that nervous about planes, but this one was only 12 rows. Needless to say, it was interesting. Eldoret is awesome! There are beautiful flowers everywhere. It is so green due to all the rain. I will have to post some pictures soon.
My living quarters are a bit frightful. The 4 of us girls are all together. We have bunk beds, and they are an awkward size, not twin but not full. We also have bed bugs. We all brought spray and coverings for our beds. But I bought a twin size mattress cover, and Molly and I were squweezing our mattresses into them like sausages. We do not have any storage. We have one wardrobe with one bar for hanging clothes and one shelf to stack clothes. I am having to get creative on where to store stuff. My bathroom is outside of the room. It is so small. There is enough room for a sink and toilet and barely any room for the shower. And when I say shower, it not one. I will be showering slightly over the toilet and there is a drain on the ground. Cool.
Today we had lunch at IU House. It was spaghetti lasagna with eggplant which was interesting. Not great food, but I was told it was not one of the better meals. After lunch, we went to the hospital. We met our Kenyan counterparts (pharmacy students at Moi University). They are all very nice, and it will be extermely helpful becuase they can translate everything into Swahili for me! We got to get a quick look at the wards today. It was different than I expected. Probably worse. They are all 2 to a bed, and then the beds are only about 3 feet apart. Cramped. And the smell was not too bad. It was raining for a short time, which cooled things off and made the stench better. I will be doing ALOT of mouth breathing and sucking on hard candies to avoid passing out or vomiting.
I got to come back and take a power nap before we went to dinner. Dinner was soooo good. On Wednesdays everyone goes out to eat. There are about 40-50 people that all go and dine together. Tonight we went to Sikh Union. It is Indian food, and really delicious. It was set up buffet style, so we got to have a bit of everything. Curry, Tofu (which was better than any tofu I have ever had), chicken, and lots more. Oh, and on the way to and from dinner, we took a taxi. We fit about 17 people into one van (we pretty much turned it into a matatu. We are not allowed to ride in matatus because they fit about 25 people in them. Pretty dangerous!
Speaking of the traffic and driving here...there are NO rules! It is pretty much a free for all. They drive on the left. They speed. The pedestrians and people on bicycles just run right into traffic to cross the street. No crosswalks, and the drivers here do not even put their brakes on when they see someone crossing. It is quite nerve racking just to watch. We walk to the hospital on a daily basis. There are no sidewalks here, just dirt trails on the side of the road. And it is rainy season here right now, so it is a muddy path. We got caught in the rain on the way in, and our feet were covered in mud when we got there. I think I am going to have to get used to that.
It is a different world over here...and I am loving every minute of it!!
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