Surprise!

I have had many surprises in the past couple of weeks. All of them have been quite exciting and brought new epxeriences, people, and places into my life - which I am extremely grateful for!

Seth, a Western student who was with the group when I arrived here, popped into SIlivia and Emmanuel's house when we were eating lunch last week. I'm not sure who was more surprised to see him - me or Silivia and Emmanuel. He listened to some incredible interviews I had with HIV positive people, and we went on a fantastic hike with Paul, Berend, and Kevin, our piki piki driver, the next day. We hiked to the top of Homa Hill, and although my out-of-shape-quads screamed at me all the way up (and down), the view from the top was absolutely stunning. We were escorted up by barefoot, laughing boys - who ran past me and laughed at the sweaty Mzungu lady trailing behind. There were cows, baboons, and goats on our way up and down. All in all it was great to see Seth, and the hike was one of the best I have ever done.

We received an urgent call to come to Nairobi on Wednesday. It came around noon, and we were leaving that night. I found myself digging my feet into the ground and trying to stay - I have only heard negative things about Nairobi, and wasn't too excited to be travelling there at night. One piki piki ride and many hours later, we were on our way in a Matatu to Kisii, because apparently the bus we were supposed to catch had bypassed Homa Bay (woops). We were able to meet up with it around 10 o'clock at night, and luckily crawled to an empty seat over bags and people in the aisleway. The ride was desperately cold, and very bumpy. Don't sit in the back of an Akamba bus on the way to Nairobi. THere are more speed bumps on that road than any other place in the world, and if are able to sleep in the cold, you'll be woken up as you fly from your seat and bump into your neighbor!

I had the pleasure of staying with a woman that came to visit Abba, while I was there. She has a TV in her house, warm water, and wi-fi internet. I felt like I was on vacation, and enjoyed many movies and music videos with her kids. Nairobi is a bit like any other big city in the states, with less traffic laws and more gated communities/houses. There are stop lights here, but I'm not entirely sure why - because literally no one even looks at them, and you better watch out for matatus (small Nissan vans) because they will run you over if you don't move. For all the horrible things people have said about Nairobi, I found it quite thrilling. I think I'm still in love with New York after spending time there before I left, and people move as fast in Nairobi as they do in New York (unless you're in a vehicle at 8 am or 5 pm).

The ride home from Nairobi was a bit better. We left the station at 930 at night, and
arrived in Rongo at 6 in the morning. I was met there by some friends of Emmanuel and Silivia, and we caught a Matatu to Homa Bay. I was lucky enough to be put in the front seat. They pack these vehicles as full and tight as they possibly can, but the front was nice and roomy. The windshield was cracked and had orange tape over it, looking like someone had let their four year old child run wild with the crayons. The inside of the van was decorated with silver christmas tinsel, and the rearview mirror in the front hung by a thread. I watched (and heard) the driver push the van up to 80 mph, and said a silent prayer that we would make it to Homa Bay in one piece.

Today there was a mobile clinic with some of the dentists Silivia used to work with. I showed up expecting to not be able to help with a whole lot. Silivia pulled me over to an older lady, and explained that she 'was like me' - meaning she had type 2 diabetes. Emmanuel translated as I asked her if she was on medication, and how she was feeling. She has no meter, and goes to the doctor every 2 months, but has periods where she feels like she is going to faint. I scratched my head, trying to remember which foods have complex carbohydrates and telling her to avoid soda. I then instructed her to get her eyes checked by the opthamologist that had come - and steered her to that line, feeling good that I had at least sent her in the direction of a trained specialist.

I'm feeling a bit homesick, knowing that at this time the great migration back to Bellingham for college is beginning. Drop me an email if any of you get the chance - I would love, love, love to hear from all of you!