I'm not crying, I just got pepper in my eye.

I’m currently sitting in the airport in Mombasa, Kenya, waiting to board the first of 4 planes to get me back to Indianapolis.  I really can’t believe 2 months have already gone by!  A full reflection post may happen in the future (or talk to me in person!) but I at least want to get another post in about my last 2 weeks.  Author's note-The majority of this post was written on an airplane with nothing but time, so I went on a few tangents.  I apologize for its extreme length!  Headings have been provided again for your convenience :)

“PROBABLY the best rafting in the world…”

I back-loaded my weekend excursions, which ended up making for an action-packed finale to my time in Kenya.  Another perk: Just as I was getting rundown by “the system” and/or “the man,” I was able take a few breaks from it all.  The weekend following our fabulous safari at the Maasai Mara, a group of 14 of us headed over to Jinja, Uganda to white water raft THE NILE!  WHAT?!  You can

Cruising on the Nile!

 DO that?!  Yes!  (And if you are ever in the area, you should!)  Kelvin helped us plan a fabulous weekend and it ended up being a HUGE success.  The drive took about 8 hours which included a long stop at the border into Uganda.  More stamps in my no-longer-empty passport!  We did have to purchase a $50 visa to enter the country, but it was totally worth it.  We stayed at a campsite overlooking the Nile, complete with an outdoor bar and neighboring delicious chapatti stands.  Friday evening we went on the “Sunset Cruise,” aka booze cruise, on the river.  Basically, we hung out on a double-decker pontoon boat as it motored around our little bay area of the Nile…+/- choice beverages and singing along to the classic American bar playlist.  I have a host of hilarious pictures and videos from the cruise and the evening that followed!  Of course, several in our party weren’t quite 100% the following morning, but it was all in good fun. :)

As for the rafting—SO MUCH FUN!!  The culture on the Nile is to find a group of like-minded rafters (either “wild” or “mild”) and then hang on!  I unsurprisingly found myself with the wild chunk of our party, although I will admit to a little anxiety.  My previous rafting experiences (The New and The Gauley in West Virginia) were a blast, but I never fared well if/when I fell out of the boat.  For the “wild” Nile rafters, it’s not a matter of IF but HOW MANY TIMES you will fall out of the boat!  The guides know exactly where to send you for flips, and if you aren’t flipping on your own they will flip the boat for you!  The first 2 falls were a little rough, made more ominous by the rain and thunder surrounding us, but once I learned how to override my underwater-panic-reflex, I also was asking for more flips!  Our guide, Alex, quite enjoyed flipping Team Kabina (the Ugandan word for buttocks, the only Ugandan word our boat could come up with so we ran with it).  Multiple times our heads would pop up around the overturned raft to find our guide playing air guitar on top of it!  There was one extended rapid where our boat flipped 3 times!  I made it back into the boat for the second flip, but was in a rescue boat for flip 3, which can be blamed on Shyamal quickly shifting the boat’s balance on a surf by prematurely cheering its success.  Hilarious to watch unfold from the safety of my rescue boat.  The sun eventually came out, we had a delicious lunch of crackers and pineapple while floating through the currents, and save the few expected scrapes, bruises, and in my case a broken toenail (which I have coined my SchisToe, for you medical people) we all survived.  I might not have time to load pictures with this post, so see facebook for a good one of me falling out of the boat!

The following morning, 3 brave souls in our party bungee jumped over the Nile as well.  I was extremely tempted to join them, especially once I saw that it was off of a seemingly well-constructed platform and not so terribly high that you couldn’t survive the fall into the water if something DID go wrong, but of course I had promised both my mom and my sister that I would not bungee jump while on this trip.  They couldn’t talk me out of rafting, but I do agree that bungee jumping might be best left to more regulated locations.  One day I will pull another skydiving maneuver and just show my family the video after I’ve already survived the jump.  It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? ;)

Kwa’heri Eldoret



Dodgeball Thursdays.

The last 2 weeks in Eldoret were filled with the usual work, didactics, dodgeball, dinners, etc.  By the end of my 2 months I was functioning more as an Intern.  I tried to follow all of our patients and help with as many procedures as possible.  I was still very frustrated by the system in the hospital, but the majority of my frustrations have transitioned to the corruption within the government.  I just keep thinking about this huge AMPATH program and all of these people involved who give hugely of themselves.  I love the Kenyan culture and people, and it would be great if their government would help them out a bit more.

I moved back into my old room at IU House for the last week, this time with my Hostel roommate, so that the new February-March students could enjoy the Hostel living.  Moving back to IU House did literally and figuratively distance me from my new Kenyan friends, but it ended up leading to a smooth transition back to Americanized luxuries.  They eased me in, I had a 6 week dip into the Kenyan culture and lifestyle, and then I eased back out.  The very last week I made sure to do all of my favorite things one more time.  All-out karaoke Tuesday, dinners at our favorite restaurants, one last chocolate Tusky muffin, last-minute souvenir shopping, a Wazungu Palooza party in the Hostel, and of course the many goodbyes to my new friends and new home away from home.  I expected some of the goodbyes to be difficult, but there were several which were unexpectedly emotional.  Michael, the security guard at IU House, who called me Mamma Jessica for 2 months, pulled me aside for a goodbye blessing.  Sarah, my roommate for 2 months, only got a half goodbye because I started getting misty-eyed.  Shadi, one of the abandoned kids at MTRH who I visited daily, and if I were in a place to adopt the paperwork would be in the mail, didn’t even get a goodbye!  I stopped by Sally Test to see him one last time and could feel the lump in my throat before I even found him.  I spotted him in the playground being pushed around on a tricycle and decided that it was better that he continue having fun than some blubbering mazungu come in and ruin the party for everyone.  Shadi is another kiddo who has a whole backstory that I don’t believe I fully shared on this blog, except maybe the part about him biting me on day 2, but I’d be happy to tell you in person.  He is so bright and so many people love him that I am confident he will have a happy ending to his story, but it is hard to leave without knowing.  Blah, emotions, I’m now sniffling on an airplane surrounded by sleeping Germans somewhere over Egypt, haha.  Thankfully, many of the goodbyes were made easier by the fact that I will see them again!  A big chunk of the wazungu are from IU, at least for another couple months, and Kelvin and 2 of the Kenyan pharmacy crew will be spending some time in Indiana in April!  Yay!

Mombasa Raha!

Shyamal convinced the IUSM crew to join him in his hometown of Mombasa, Kenya for our last weekend in the country.  Thank goodness, because it was another weekend of new experiences and crazy fun!  We decided to take a 12 hour overnight bus to the coastal city of Mombasa to save money, which ended up being quite the experience, as you can imagine.  The glimpse into another side of Kenya was nothing like the warm and welcoming atmosphere I was surrounded with while in Eldoret!  Before we even left the bus station a random passenger threw a fit about Natalie taking a picture.  I found myself in the (un)lucky position of having an empty seat next to me since one of our friends backed out, and I was repeatedly harassed from other passengers wanting the seat.  The gentleman behind me and I had a tense conversation, which lead to uneasy rest and repeatedly checking that my belongings were still present.  We quickly realized that we needed more friends on the bus, which was successfully accomplished during our dinner break, so we were able to relax more for the remainder of the trip.  Then there was the driving!  I seriously thought I was on

 The Night Train from Harry Potter.  There was a moment when we somehow squeezed between another bus and a mutatu that I was sure would scrape off the sides of our ride.  In the end, we made it to Mombasa just fine and did end up saving a lot of money, so I’m happy for the experience, haha. 

We stayed at the very swank Reef Beach Resort for a super-discounted price.  We again ran into several people who were less hospitable than my previous blanket-assumption of Kenyan culture, but overall we had a fabulous time.  Shyamal made sure to show us the sites (the tusks, Fort Jesus, Old Town, the lighthouse, delicious street food, etc) and a great time at the amazing club scene.  Friday night we “took it easy” and only stayed out until 3am.  Saturday we took a tiny canoe/outrigger out to the reef for some amazing snorkeling.  We were told it would be an hour of snorkeling, but only 1 application of sunscreen and 4 hours later we finally made our way back to our little boat.  4 hours snorkeling + equator + doxycycline – sunscreen = painful sunburns for everyone, even Shyamal.  (“When non-white people get white people problems, it’s a big deal.”)  That night we went to an amazing resort bar on the beach with pool tables, dancing and THE BEACH right there!  Clubs in Mombasa don’t necessarily have a closing-time, so we hung

Sunrise on the beach of the Indian Ocean!

out there all night so that we could watch the sunrise over the Indian Ocean the following morning at 7am.  A few people took naps on the couches, but the majority of us used the opportunity to dance, request our favorite Kenyan songs, dance, take a little dip in the Indian ocean, and dance.  SO much fun!  I have already mentioned this, but I will really miss the club scene in Kenya!  Unfortunately the sunrise was covered by clouds, but we tried.  Later that day, our wake-up call at 2pm came from a man on the beach letting us know that our CAMELS were ready.  Yes, we all rode camels on the beach!  So awesome!  We took it easy the last

night in Mombasa and spent our last day poolside with fruity drinks and football.  Natalie and I did some last-last minute shopping on the beach and had fun talking their crazy muzungu pricing down.  “We lived in Eldoret for 2 months—we don’t want muzungu prices!”  “I can get the same thing from my friend for 100 shillings.”  It’s amazing what a little Kiswahili and dropping the fact that you worked in Eldoret for 2 months will get you here, particularly in respect.

Heading home

I now find myself on a giant plane heading towards Amsterdam, currently somewhere over Egypt.  My time in Kenya, at least for round 1, is officially over.  I am so so grateful to have had this experience and am genuinely proud of myself for completing it.  I was talking with Joe in the Nairobi airport tonight about how this was the longest he had ever been outside of Indiana, which got me thinking…and the realization struck me that I haven’t been outside of Indiana for more than 1 week at a time!  Is that even possible?!  Indiana has always been my home base, it has provided my undergraduate and medical educations, and I can’t think of a trip longer than 1 week that I have ever taken IN MY LIFE.  What was I thinking signing up for 2 months in Kenya?!  There are several moments in my life where I look back and think, “dang Gina, I can’t believe you did that,” and this is obviously one of them.  You know what else is great about this realization?  It’s that I don’t mind that I still call Indiana home.  I am so blessed to be able to say that I have loved my life, my education, my friends, I love having my family close by, and I wouldn’t change a thing.  I am very much looking forward to my 3 year residency within the borders of Indiana.  Perhaps a fellowship will finally pull me away, but for now I will continue growing my deep roots into the Indiana soil. 

I'm wearing the Indianapolis flag while cruising on the Nile.
REPRESENT!

This trip has given me a huge appreciation for how big AND how small the world is, and how accessible it can be.  I will continue to take advantage of international medicine opportunities, and depending on where I land for residency, could definitely see myself back in Kenya.  However, I would love the opportunity to see more, learn more, and help more wherever the destination may be!  For now, I will be forced to quickly adjust back to my “old life”…where I have to use utensils, punctuality actually matters, I don’t have to ask for my drink to be cold, 2 grown men holding hands is an unnusual sight, toilets/toilet seats/toilet paper are provided, a pothole is worthy of a phone call to my political representative, and where I blend in with the crowd.  ((sigh))

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I imagine this will be my final post on JessDoesKenya.  Thanks to everyone who read it, whether or not I actually knew you were reading it.  It has given me the excuse I needed to document my experiences.  As always, please feel free to comment or email me with any feedback or questions!  Also, check out my youtube channel, as I will momentarily be posting additional videos -- JessDoesKenya VIDEOS!  Jessica karaoke, Hostel Cribs episode, and more! See you back in Indiana!  Who’s up for Qdoba?! J