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| Testing blood for typhoid in the lab |
- First
time drawing blood: I finally worked up the courage to ask if I
could try drawing blood at the end of my first week. With coaching from
James and Zacchaeus, the lab technician in charge of reception that day, I
took blood from a young woman and it went really well. I started shaking
slightly once she left (I really am not a fan of needles), but somehow I
managed to stay calm during the procedure. Now the lab techs just leave me
in charge of reception.
- First
time being paranoid about mosquitoes: At home mosquitoes are just
a nuisance. Here they are a little more concerning. Thanks to them I take
preventative malaria meds every morning, spray myself with bug spray
everyday, and sleep under a mosquito net every night. So far, I haven’t
really been bitten, and I’m trying to keep it that way. One girl who went
home before I arrived did end up having malaria, so it happens.
- First
surgeries: In my first two and a half weeks here, I’ve already
seen eight surgeries. I’ve assisted on five, most of which I've written
about in previous posts. Not all of the surgeries are life-threatening
dramas (though it got a bit tense when Dr. Agullo hit a small artery
during the hysterectomy I assisted with), but I they're all interesting
and different.
- First
time eating Kenyan food: Since arriving in Nairobi, and
especially now in Migori, I’ve been able to try quite a few new foods. I
don’t always know what exactly is placed in front of me, but so far it’s
been quite good. There are a lot of beans, rice, ugali (a
maize flour…thing), chapati (sort of like pancakes, but
not really), and sukuma wiki (a cabbage-y dish). We
usually have some form of meat though we’re not always sure what it is. I
think mainly beef, goat, chicken and fish. One night there were chicken
feet with the rest of the chicken. I wasn’t quite bold enough to try
those…yet.
- First
cases of _____: Everyday at the hospital I get to see diseases
that are not that common in the U.S. There are lots of people with
tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid, and the other day I saw a girl with measles.
We've also had a couple snake bites and even bee stings that required
hospitalization (apparently the bees sometimes just appear in swarms and
go crazy). This week I saw my first examples of Karposi's sarcoma.
- First
time being “pimped”: “Pimping” in the medical sense is when a
senior medical officer questions a medical student on some medical
subject, usually a very difficult one, until they can no longer answer.
Dr. Migowe likes to do this with the medical students here, though in a
pretty nice way. Last week I had my first experience with that when he
started asking me what questions I would ask one of the patients, and what
I thought his condition might be. Honestly I didn’t know much, but he kept
giving hints and eventually one of the other students got what he was
driving at. It was a little stressful, but I feel like all the questions
help me learn better.
- First
encounter with Migori men: The last week we had a going away
party for some of the students who were leaving, and we ended the night by
going to Bell’s, a club in town. Clubs are not exactly my “scene,” though
I do really enjoy dancing with my friends. Here though, the Kenyans are
particularly thrilled to dance with a Mzungu, male or female, and you can
only keep them at bay for so long. They’re sort of pushy with both men and
women, but the girls definitely have to put up with more. The guys in the
program talk about how glad they are that they’re not women here in Kenya,
which doesn’t exactly help the situation, but they also sort of have a
pact to look out for us girls, which is quite nice. Anywho, Bell’s was
alright. I became pretty adept at keeping a buffer zone between me and the
men I didn’t know, so I enjoyed dancing with friends and watching everyone
else dance. We joke that the only person a Kenyan man finds sexier than a
Mzungu is themselves because whenever there’s a mirror in a club you will
inevitably find Kenyan guys crowding in front of it, dancing and checking
themselves out. It’s pretty hilarious. Less hilarious is how persistent
they are. Despite my skills, I did still have to deal with some of the
men. One just sort of grabbed me and started dancing. Initially it was
awkward but ok, but then he started getting closer and I decided to stop
him before he became a problem. However, he didn’t really want to take no
for an answer, and when I showed him my ring and told him I had a fiancé,
he didn’t seem to think that was a problem. I think I would’ve gotten rid
of him eventually, but two of my friends saw what was happening and came
to the rescue. Later another guy wanted to dance, but I was a bit wary so
I basically instituted a no-contact rule. He seemed fine with it though,
so we sort of salsa-ed around for a bit before I left. Since then, I've
been back to Bell's when it was less crowded and the guys left us girls
alone, and it was quite fun.
- First
Laundry by Hand: Ok, this one isn’t entirely true since I’ve done
handwashing before, but not a whole load of laundry, and not for a whole
month. Of course, if you’re Andrew, you can always just have the kids who
are always hanging out just do your laundry for you and then pay them in
sweets. ;)
- First
Attempt at Haggling: I don't like confrontation and haggling sometimes feels
like arguing or manipulating the other person, but we have to do it here,
especially us foreigners. There is definitely a "Mzungu price" and it
is always much higher (sometimes double or triple) the price for the locals. If
you don't haggle, you get hustled. I've only tried twice, and I've probably
given up way too early both times, but I'm still pretty proud that I at least
attempted it.
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| All the girls ready to go out |
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| Blood infected with malaria parasites (the red dots) |
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| Drying laundry in the backyard |
- First
Mass: During
my last semester at Gordon, my roommate and I talked about visiting a Catholic
church one time since we’d both never to one despite having Catholic friends.
We never made it thanks to the craziness of senior year. I certainly wouldn't
have guessed that my first Mass would be in Kenya, but that's what happened. My
first Sunday in Migori, my friend Elise and I decided to visit the church that
runs St. Joseph's Mission Hospital. There were three services to choose from
due to all the languages spoken here. The English one was unfortunately at 7am,
but we made it. I really enjoyed the service. The sermon was quite good,
and I enjoyed the music, even if it was in Swahili and I couldn't sing along.
My friends had told us what to expect, and it was pretty cool to see that, no
matter where you went in the world, the readings and the general format were
the same. It certainly made you feel like a part of the church catholic. Of
course, there was a bit of a cultural difference. For one thing, the men and
women were on different sides. For another thing, almost every song was
introduced by a driving drumbeat that made you want to get up and dance, which
is exactly what some kids did. It made me think of I Corinthians and Paul's
description of orderly worship because, unlike other services I've been to
where people dance in the aisles (granted I haven't been to many), this dancing
wasn't distracting. It was just some kids, and a couple choir members, who seemed
like they were simply dancing for joy, not to call anyone's attention to them.
Plus, it wasn't like everyone was expected to join in, which I appreciated. I
call enough attention to myself here just being white. Who knows what would've
happened if I'd tried to dance? ;)
Swahili Phrases of the Post:
Kunja ngumi -make a fist
Nina mpenzi -I have a boyfriend
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