The past week

The past week or so has been interesting. Much of my time has been spent in the computer room at IU House (the place I use as my office space more than not) working on two research projects. I have spent hours in front of my computer, designing & writing proposals. And now I am waiting, waiting for various people to get back to me so that I can move forward on the research. I am learning how to have patience here. In addition to being cooped up in my "office", I have found a bit of time for a few other things around town. Last week I went into town to once again find a working fax machine to fax one of my documents in order to receive my absentee ballot via email. I finally had success & have now officially voted & am sending my ballot in the mail, back to Arlington County. While in town last week using the fax, I also went into a little shop to buy some new closed-toed shoes. I have had a horrible time with getting blisters on my feet with any & every shoes I wear here. I did buy some new shoes before leaving the US and hadn't broken them in yet but I don't think this is the only contributing factor to my now very sore, beatup feet. I am walking a bit more than usual but I am starting to think that part of it might be related to the high elevation (I blame a lot of the high elevation). At least, I should be able to blame the very slow process of healing of my blisters. Needless to say, the new shoes (which were nice leather, kinda matronly looking but comfortable) gave me two new blisters.
Other things that have occupied my time in the past week - I went out to lunch on Saturday with my preceptor Dr. Nangami. We went to this nice restaurant called Poa Place. It has both indoor & outdoor dining. Of course, I wanted to sit outside for lunch. There is a picture below of the landscape from our small dining tent & the foreboding sky just before the skies openned up on us and rained. Aaaahhh, the rain. It has been raining here in Eldoret since Saturday - today is Thursday. The rain brings cold air & lots of mud. The temperature has been around 55-65 degrees most days. I can say that I did not prepare for that kind of weather in Kenya!
The first pictures below are from Sunday evening. I spent the evening with the Gachengechi family, eating dinner & watching a movie at their house. We had ugali, a goat stew, ribs and what I call "chicken-on-a-stick".
Here are a few snapshots from my activities in the past week or so.

Chicken-on-a-stick!

Me, chowing into the chicken-on-a-stick.

Dan Gachengechi, sitting in their home.

This was taken at the secondary school where there was a ceremony taking place. Ruth & I were helping to prepare tea & snacks for everyone. The pictures show some of the conventional stoves & ways to prepare food. There is coal burning in the bottom of the small stove.

This is a larger, wood burning stove with a chimney where multiple things can be heated at the same time. Note the kettle for tea - milk being heated, not water.

This is Poa Place, taken from our dining tent outside.

One of the streets in Eldoret, outside of the small shop where I bought new shoes.

Another view of the street.

There is the shop & the Gachengechi's car.

Goatball

At last, I have posted some of the promised pictures from the "goatball" game last Friday evening. This is truly an interesting cultural experience! So "goatball" as it is named, is really a game of basketball where the prize is a goat. Actually on the day, they got a sheep rather than a goat which really surprised me because Kenyans love their goat meat! So the game was between American med students (who live at the IU House) and Kenyan med students. Unfortunately the Americans lost to the Kenyans in the game - they were quite motivated by the animal prize. In the end, everyone gathered together for the sheep roast on Monday evening (Monday was a holiday here). Below are a few of the pictures from the game.

This is before the game, some folks went into town to get the goat/sheep. This is Benson leading the sheep. He is one of the Kenyans who works in the Pharmacy at the hospital & lives at IU House.

Loading the sheep into the back of the car. Lots of little children gather to watch the spectacle.

The sheep in the back of the car, awaiting the game.

The American team & on-lookers/cheerleaders at the game site. The game took place on an outdoor basketball court across from the hospital, in front of the Medical School Dorm. Note how the goat is in the cheering section.

The American team - Kareem, Sonak, Keith, Phil, & Naomi

The KC Connection

These are some pictures that were taken this past weekend. I spent much of my weekend with new friends from the KC here in Eldoret - Petras Community. Sammy Gachengechi is the pastor & I have gotten to know his family well. They live just up the street from me, within walking distance (if one is taking a long walk). Pastor Sammy & his wife Judy have a number of children who are close to my age & I have gotten to know them well. I have spent a good deal of time with their daughters Ruth & Joy. On Friday (which was a holiday here in Kenya - Moi Day), Ruth, Joy & I went to Kerio View in the afternoon for a relaxing time. Then on Saturday, I spent the morning with Judy, Ruth, & Joy taking care of errands "in town". We spent about 2 hours or more to find a working fax machine so that I could fax the application for my absentee ballot. Sometimes doing simple things like faxing a document can take a lot of effort. Then we went to a store called Nakumatt which is a small version of Wal-Mart and I found a small hair dryer that can be used with the plugs & electric voltage here! I was excited! So now, I am able to control the hair a bit more and not look so disheveled. Then Sunday I went to Petras Community and stayed into the afternoon for a leaders meeting. Afterward I took a few pictures standing outside of the school building where we meet for church. The school is Emmanuel Primary School that they Gachengechis started. They also have a secondary school called Emmanuel High School. After we took these pictures, Ruth let me drive the car back to my house. My first drive in Kenya! It is interesting, lots & lots of potholes, pedestrians, bicycles, carts, animals, Matatus, and other cars, not to mention the left side of the road but I am used to that by now.

Me, after church, standing in front of the school (self portrait).

Ruth & I standing in front of the school.

At Kerio View on Friday, enjoying the view of the Rift Valley & some dinner of chips (french fries) & chicken wings.

Joy & I at Kerio View.

Kerio View Part II

Here are a few more pictures of my trip last weekend to Kerio View & Iten where you can look out over the Rift Valley.

One of the overlooks into the Rift Valley. The morning was a bit cloudy & it was hard to see the entire valley.

The crew from the IU House. (left to right) Me, Crystal, My-Phong, Phil & Susan.

Went went hiking down on a trail - it was quite steep & most of us slid part of the way. I took this picture looking up from just a few steps away at My-Phong & Susan who were directly behind me.

My-Phong took this picture of me from the same point. I had turned around but we were actually hiking down. Below me is our driver & guide, Frances. He is the head of transportation of AMPATH.

My-Phong and I sitting on a rock with the Valley behind us. My-Phong is from Alexandria, Va and is here in Kenya for 2 months visiting her close friend who is the director of Orphans & Vulnerable Children at AMPATH.

The hike also took us through a field of maize. Here is My-Phong & Frances through the maize.

The town of Iten where Kerio View is located. This is the busy market that takes place on Saturdays.

Another view of the Saturday market in Iten. Lots of clothes, food items, etc.

Kerio View

Last weekend I got the chance to go to this place called Kerio View. It is about 45mins from Eldoret and is a place where you can look down into the Rift Valley. It is the place of highest altitude in Kenya (outside of Mt. Kenya I believe). Below are a few pictures taken from a resort/restaurant there where we had lunch. I have a number of other pictures but am unable to load them at this time. I will try again soon.

Views of the Rift Valley, mid-day with a clear sky.

Another amazing view of the Rift Valley.

This is the sign for the training centre for the famous long-distance runners from Kenya. Many of them come from this town called Iten because it is at the highest altitude in Kenya.

A look at Kenyan life

So today started out on a funny note. A few of us usually walk from IU House to Moi University each morning - the walk is about 10-15 mins. As you can see from the pictures below there is not a sidewalk to walk on but only dirt or mud beside the road. It is a bit tricky when it has rained as you go sliding everywhere in the mud. Anyway, so myself and one of the ED physicians (Susan) that is visiting here decided that we wanted to take a Boda-Boda ride. Boda-Bodas are bicycles with a small seat on the back and are used like taxis. They got their name because people would go from border to border on them and eventually the name got shortened to Boda-Boda. So Susan decided that it would be fun to have a Boda-Boda race to the hospital. She & I climbed on (unfortunately I had decided to wear a skirt this morning) the Boda-Boda & encouraged our "drivers" to go faster. I didn't win the race but I'm not sure that either driver really understood what we wanted to do. Lauren stood by and took pictures for us. The whole experience was hilarious! I think people were laughing at the silly Mzungus (foreigners or white people). Here are a few pictures of us on the Boda-Bodas.

So this is the road to the University, me on the back of the Boda-Boda.

I thought I would give you a little look at my life in Kenya. Below are a few pictures of where I live.

Welcome to the IU House compound. This is the front gate of the compound. It is guarded, not only by guardsmen, but 3 dogs as well.

This is my house - it is called House #7 or as I like to call it, The Frat House. I currently live with 3 other guys and it is where everyone hangs out. The next few pictures will explain a bit why I call it the Frat House.

Big TV, Wii, XBox, Rock Band accessories, etc. The guys like to stay up late at night & play Rock Band.

Another view of the living room with lots of couches.

The dining room has a pool table in it. Need I say more?

This is my bathroom.

This is my bedroom.

Below are pictures that I took on our road trip back from Kakamega. It is a little peek into what life in the countryside looks like in Kenya.

A typical "strip mall" of various shops in the countryside. My favorite is when they put the butcher shop & the bar together in one shop.

My favorite tree - the Acacia Tree, a hallmark of Kenya landscape!

This is a small market - you can see some of the wooden stands where people bring their things to sell, usually fruits & vegetables but can be an assortment of other non-food items too.

A house & shed along the road from Kakamega.

More of the landscape with houses. But I specifically took this picture for the sign in the right corner - VCT is Voluntary Counseling & Testing for HIV. I have seen the signs a lot of places which is a tremendous improvement to the last time I was in Kenya when no one wanted to speak of HIV/AIDS.

This is a fairly typical partial mud house in the rural parts of Western Kenya.

Weekend in Kakamega rain forest

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to the rain forest in Kenya, near a town called Kakamega. It is about 2hrs drive from Eldoret along a very bumpy road. The road was paved most of the way but the potholes were so significant & it was extremely bumpy. Myself and three colleagues who are staying at the IU House went from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. It was such a peaceful & relaxing weekend. We stayed at this retreat center called Rondo in the rainforest, far away from anything else. It was amazing! The pictures don't begin to do it justice. Below are just a few of the pictures that I took.

In the thick of the rain forest in Kakamega.

Relaxing on the veranda at Rondo Retreat Center.

Our cottage at the Rondo. It was so quaint!

Beautiful roses in one of the many gardens at the Rondo Retreat Center.

We took a sunrise hike to the highest point in the rainforest to watch the sun rise over the mountains. It was beautiful! You can see the evaporation coming up off the river (in the middle, right of the picture).

Field of tea growing - tea plantations are popular in this part of Western Kenya near Kakamega.

My colleagues, Dan, Susan & Lauren (all from PA) along with our hiking guide, Ben.

Me, standing in front of the rushing, muddy Yala River.

This is fig tree growing on top of another tree in the rainforest. The original (larger) tree will eventually die from being suffocated by the smaller tree.

This is a large "banana" tree. It does not grow edible bananas but the leaves are so enormous they can be used as umbrellas.

This is the reception house at the Rondo Retreat.