2 weeks in...really!?

Saturday, January 14th.  Happy Birthday, Dadio!

Somehow I have seamlessly transitioned from the "I can't believe I'm actually in Kenya" belief to "How has it already been 2 weeks?!"  Seriously, how am I already 25% through my time here?  I'm so glad I'm here for 2 months because if this was the half-way point, I'd be really sad and I think missing out on a lot of the great stuff--like feeling at home here, and making real friends, and experiencing as much as I can.  Every day is still new and presents different challenges, but I've finally hit my stride.  I think the delay was partly because Eldoret, IU House, and MTRH were slow to get going following the holidays.  New people were still trickling in, the schedule of events was questionable, the medical students hadn't started yet, and I was stuck at IU House knowing that I was going to move at some unknown date in the near future.  And then there is the Jessica-has-no-idea-what-she-is-doing delay :)  At any rate, this second week here was filled with lectures, games, dinners, presentations, and meeting a whole lot of new people.  It's nice to have a routine back.  Yeah, I think that's a big part of it.  Guess I learned that about myself!  This post ended up getting rather long, so here are some handy headings so you may pick and choose what you want to know!

Wards
My wards experience is slowly but surely improving each day.  Switching to a new team this week did set me back a bit.  There were an awkward first few days because I couldn't tell who was a medical student and who was a nursing student, clinical officer, nutrition student, etc etc.  My team is literally 30 people.  I am not exaggerating.  I counted twice.  Imagine 30 people in white coats crowded around your bed, which you happen to be sharing with another sick kid and his or her mom.  It gets pretty claustrophobic, hot, smelly, and impossible to hear.  Kenyans think that the level Americans speak is disrespectfully loud, so to me everyone is walking around whispering!  Also, the bubble of personal space does not exist here...or at least you must sacrifice your bubble for the opportunity to hear.  The team I'm on thoroughly enjoys pimping which also makes that not-hearing thing a problem.  Half of the time I can't hear the questions, and the other half of the time I don't know the answers anyway, haha.  I am reviewing/learning a lot when I CAN hear, and I have started strategically choosing which beds I should push to the front, and which ones I will hang back.  Next week we will be acquiring at least 1 more student, which will change the way we will divide patients (yet again).  There is still a lot to learn on the wards, but I feel like I know the system now.  AND now that I have internet, I can actually study for the pimping sessions.  I'm thinking week 3 will be another giant leap in the right direction.

Sarah and I share a "front door" and triangle-shaped
entrance with the boys, who have a mirror-image room.
You can see our desk, situated between the wall and
our bunkbeds.  Our closet is 2 feet beyond the beds.
1 person at a time! :)

Hostel
The time finally came when Sarah, Josh, Micah and I moved from the pristine landscaping, prepared meals, and warm showers of IU House over to the Medical Student Hostel.  There is still a security gate, Brooke ;)  That is about the only luxury we have left.  The rooms can only be described as "comically small."  Sarah and I are sharing a room with bunk beds, 1 desk, 1 closet, and enough room for 1 person to stand, if the door is closed.  We share a paper-thin wall with Josh and Micah, which has been great as we settle in to this new location with new hilarious experiences at every turn. There is a "mess hall" cafeteria, which serves up huge portions of traditional Kenyan foods such as beans, rice, ugali and chapati for 30 shillings (not even 50 cents) at lunch, but apparently we are on our own for breakfast and dinner.  All of that is actually great--I love having home base across from the hospital, and being surrounded by our Kenyan colleagues will be great as I get to know them better.  The main pitfall: Sarah and I are living on a boys' floor and must walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to a girls' floor with a girls' restroom.  Oooh the restrooms!  Toilets without seats, which may or may not flush.  Cold water only out of waste-high faucets.  No toilet paper.  No soap.  Did I mention I have to walk up 4 flights of stairs to even get there?  Haha.  It just adds to the experience and comedy of it all! 

The Fun Stuff!
So the wards are a challenge, my living situation is less than ideal, but I am still having SO much fun!  The people here are amazing.  Us out-of-towners are having a great time getting to know each other and our new surroundings.  People that sign up for experiences like this, whether for a few weeks or a few years, are generally pretty interesting and fun people.  And then we get to surround ourselves with this amazing Kenyan culture!  For the vast majority, Kenyans are very welcoming of Wazungo (the plural of mazungu, thanks Kevin!).  They start every interaction with "Hi, how are you? How is your day?" even if all I need are directions to the restroom.  And then I often get a personal guide TO the restroom to make sure I found it!  Anyone I have met thus far now treats me as a good friend, even if my our interaction was ducking each others' dodgeballs.  The security guard at IU House greets me with a huge smile and a double-hand handshake every time he sees me, saying "Hey mamma! Welcome back to your home!"  Here's a shocker (note sarcasm): there is something different here.  A relaxed feel that I don't see in the US, even in the heart of Midwestern Hospitality.  (I've heard it theorized that it is because of the fabulous weather...?)  It does make time-sensitive activities a little frustrating, such as working in the hospital, but outside of the hospital I have adjusted to the feel.  Perhaps we are being treated better because we are foreigners...regardless, I quite enjoy it.  Of course there are those who try to take advantage of Mazungu, but I can hardly blame them.  We are spending a huge amount of money to get here and take our fancy site-seeing trips.  They know we have money.  It's hard to argue when the starting price of a watch is $5.

This weekend there were a couple trips planned, but all of us med students stuck around Eldoret.  I've been enjoying some of the regular events, including Wednesday night group dinner outings, Thursday evening dodgeball, Saturday morning cricket (I'm terrible, but it was fun!), and tomorrow I will attempt to keep up during an afternoon soccer match!  And if/when I fail, I can always blame the altitude :)  Last night a few of us went out to Spree, a club here in Eldoret, and had a blast!  Kelvin took excellent care of us, including the traditional dance-floor rescues, and made sure we met other great people while we were there.  We will definitely be going back for their karaoke Tuesdays!  I have done quite a bit more exploring of town and can now confidently dodge people and traffic with the best of them.  I have yet to purchase any souvenirs, but have my eye on several.  If anyone has any requests, I'd be happy to hunt it down while I'm here!

At Spree with my new friend Kelvin and my old friend Josh!

Here's to the next 6 weeks being even better than the first 2!  Cheers!