update #8
on Beatriz Pujol (Kenya), 10/Mar/2009 12:01, 34 days ago
Hi Again,So, here I am still in Nairobi. I have been sick since last Friday. It started with feeling like I was getting a cold, a little stomach upset, very tired. But I had gotten a massage and thought it was just pushing all the toxins through. Saturday a little better in the am, by pm feeling like I was achy, flu-like symptoms (red flag for malaria). I napped during lunch. Sunday not so well. Napped during part of the pm training session, which made me miss some of my much-needed Kiswahli lesson! Made an apt to see a doc. on Monday am. Monday went to one of the VSO doc.’s that is around the corner from where I am staying. Decided to walk, fresh air would do me good. I took the long way by mistake and was knackered by the time I arrived. Had a 10 am appt., got seen at 11:20, not bad. Dr. was very good. Took a thorough case history and exam. He took blood and a urine sample and told me send in a stool sample (sorry about the details, some of you have asked about daily life in Kenya!). I was very pleased because in Kitui when I have gone to the clinic they ask about 3 questions and test you for malaria then they send you on your way. Obviously if you don’thave malaria they can’t imagine what else you could have, nor are they equipped to diagnose or treat much else! Dr. told me he thinks I have girardia or Ecoli. Showed me what the suckers look like on his computer. Ruled out malaria with a rapid test (which we don’t have in Kitui). Put me on a mix on antibiotics and gave me probiotics. I really appreciate the East meets west approach to treatment!I took a taxi back to the hotel and let the facilitator know I would be resting. I came to my room and stayed put for a while. Rachael checked on me periodically. At some point I had run out of drinking water and wanted a ginger ale. I also had to get my stool delivered to the dr. office. So, feeling lack crap, I head downstairs. The cleaning lady is mopping the stairs so of course I wipe out on the stairs with stool sample in hand (I had put the container in a bag). Not fun! Now I am crying and miserable. I find Lucy, the language teacher and facilitator who is very sweet. She helps me get my ginger ale, gets me back to my room and assures me stool sample will be delivered to dr.By last night I felt a little better and cabin fever had gotten the best of me, so I headed down for dinner. It was good to eat something and socialize but I only lasted about an hour before I had to lay down again. Rachael came up later to keep me company.It is cool in the evenings in Nairobi and I need a sweater when I go out. But the hotel room is hot! So I put down my mosi net and opened the windows. I tried to go to sleep. Even with the net down I was getting bitten by mosis. I couldn’t sleep, was sweating (may have had a fever, fairly sure I did) and was getting eaten. I finally fell asleep and woke up from a disturbing dream. Was covered in sweat and could not go back to sleep. Felt like CRUD! Finally at 3:30 am I took a shower and washed my hair to cool me off. I eventuallyfeel asleep. Woke up to my alarm and hit snooze several times. I felt worse today. Called Lucy and told her I would be down later, went back to sleep. Around 10:30 I was going to go down and check in but was having a hard time getting myself together. Rachael called at tea break and told me to stayput. So I did. Lucy checked on me and we called the dr. Good news: no girardia, ecoli or malaria, just a stomach virus. Keep taking meds and rest. Back to sleep.I am feeling a bit better now. This I know because I actually wanted to read my book. Which, is really light and funny and I recommend especially when you are sick and need something to lighten the mood and make you laugh. It is called: The Sex Lives of Cannibals; Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by: J. Marten Troost. Laugh out loud funny. Also, since I am up writing I must feel better.So, just thought I would share my last few days in detail (probably more detail than most of you wanted). The upside is I am sick in Nairobi where I can get good medical treatment, stay in a nice hotel and get dotted (sp) on by VSO, friends and hotel staff. The staff here are fab! The downside is I have tons of things I want to do and buy in Nairobi such as a printer, clothes, yummy food, get my hair henna’d (sp) and have fun with my friends. None of which has happened yet. Good thing I came early and got a few days of pampering in!So, in response to my update I just sent out over the weekend I got many questions, which I really appreciate. So, I will respond to them.You got all sorts of shots before you arrived in country. Do you take any regimen of pills for prevention, like for Malaria?Yes, I had to get a ton of vaccines, which did not make me happy. The only vaccine I really wanted was Rabies. I am scared to death of getting bitten by a rabid dog. Apparently with good reason, rabies is ramped here. However, there is a shortage of the vaccine in the States and I could not get the preventative vaccine before I left. I was told if I got bitten by a dog I would have to be flown to Europe to get treated and quite quickly. Thankfully I am in Kenya and that is not the case. Every hospital and even vets have the vaccine. I still want the preventative since it buys you more time. I was going to get it this week but since I am sick I will wait until I am here next time!I take anti-malarials. I am switching every few months between doxcycline and malarone. Even on a profolactive you can still get malaria, but usually much milder. My neighbors Jeremy and Jerica both had it last month and Jerica just got it again last week. It is more like the flu, which is why I thought that was what I had. It is a simple blood test and you are given medicine and life goes on. As one of my Kenyan friends assured me when I arrived,“you WILL get malaria”. It is just a fact of life here. However, I feel people in Kitui are too lax about it in that they don’t look at all the preventative things that can be done to help reduce it. Many people still die of untreated malaria. It kills more Africans than anything else (even AIDS). At the hostel I am constantly going on about the standing water and mango pits that are mosquito-breeding centers! So far I have not gotten malaria!Besides boiling and filtering your water, do you disinfect your (non skin) produce such as by washing it in a very weak Clorox solution?Yes. I boil and filter my water. I also wash all my fruit and veggies in filtered water with bleach. The first time I did it, when I first arrived, I called Abdu (a VSO public health dr) as I couldn’t believe I was going to put bleach on my food. But now I don’t blink an eye. All fruits and veggies immediately get soaked before they hit my shelf. And I can’t bring myself to eat raw veggies (possibly due to the taste of bleach). However, in Nairobi I feel it is safe and upon arriving lastweek I promptly ate a nice green salad. Now I am not sure how wise that was!Or is your electricity reliable?That is funny. First of all, because I only have partial electricity in my house. My landlord has wired our homes to his house so we have lights. But has not gotten us hooked up with the electric co. and fitted with meters, a fuse box or electrical outlets. So, the lights work most of the time. Several times a week there are outages for a few hours during the day and occasion at night. Lots of businesses have back up generators. But not my hostel. When it rains the electricity can be out for days. I experienced two days of no electricity in Kitui back at the end of Jan. when it rained for two days. And I haven’t been here through a rainy season yet!Do you see any weapons among the populace?Not really. You see people in their shambas (gardens) with a machete to cut the weeds. I see the prisoners doing community service of cutting weeds and grass with machetes. (Machetes are used as weapons to break into homes and for more violent crimes, but mainly they are used as functional items). The watchmen (guards) all have weapons, which usually are a slingshot or bow and arrow (I kid you not!). Police, security and military in front of banks and govt. buildings have machine guns.What is the local attitude toward women? Second class citizens?This depends on where you are and how Westernized the area is. In Nairobi things are moving along. Yes, women still fall behind men. But the younger generation is really quite different in their attitudes. However, with the older generations and in more rural areas women have it really bad. Most women do work outside the home and are still expected to do everything else; cook, clean, gather fire-wood, care for children and the elderly. Men aren’t expected to do much. In villages it is really rough for women. Even though polygamy is dying out, it is perfectly ok and acceptable for men to have women on the side. However, I think in comparison to other African nations, Kenya is moving forward in gender equality. SLOWLY.Matriarchal or patriarchal society/tribes?Patriarchal overtly. In some ways, women have power behind closed doors. But this is definitely not always the case.You report that Kenyans love Americans/Obama. What have you observed, if anything, about the native attitude toward foreigners among the population?Surprisingly they are open and friendly. They seem to want what the West has so much that they tend to overlook everything the White man has brought upon them. In many ways colonialism is very alive. It is frustrating to witness. White skin gets you anything (also higher prices). But they see white skin and they see money!!! I struggle with that a lot.What is the transit time for a package mailed from the states to you?Thanks to many wonderful friends and my sister I have received some great packages. However, most of them get opened in costumes and a duty price is affixed. There is no rhyme or reason for the price. Just the officer who opens it decides it’s worth. The bigger the package it seems the longer it takes (I am sure it is just sitting the in the costumes office). I got some DVD’s mailed in small manila envelopes that took about two weeks each. Letters are a week or less. Bigger envelopes about a month. It is expensive to send things here. I can get most things I want or need in Nairobi, but I still love getting packages!!!How do you get to Nairobi and other towns? Do you take the bus or does someone have a car and you ride with him or her? Do you walk around Kitui or ride a bus?I get around on Matatus, which I explained in update number 9 I believe. When I come for work and the school bus is coming in I ride with them. To the coast I flew to Lamu and took a big bus back. In Kitui I walk, there are no buses. When it is late (dark) or I am really tired I may take a taxi. Jeremy and Jerica are great at giving me a ride if they are headed my way. Also, the school vehicle sometimes drops me if it is work related. But I have a nice 30-minute walk to work. I am thinking of video taping it so I can show everyone my town.In your update you talked about not getting enough time with the kids, will that change in the future?I hope so. My new manager is arriving tonight and will be here at the rest of the training (which I hope I will feel better to attend) and I plan to work out those details.What is the weather like there right now? How often do you get rain?In most of the country it is dry. There are areas that get more rain throughout the year. I think near the mts. in the center of the country. There are also areas that are quite cool. I have not visited them yet! It is HOT in Kitui and most of the country. The coast is REALLY HOT and HUMID! Kitui is hot and dry, but not as dry as Santa Fe. There is usually a mist in the am and then it lifts. My skin is not cracking like it does in NM. But it is still dry. The short rains should have come from the end of Oct-end Dec. in my area (it is slightly different in diff. parts of the country). However, it only rained a little the first month. From the time I arrived in mid-Nov. until Jan. there wasn’t a drop. That is what has caused such food shortages here and all the crops to die. In Jan and Feb. we have gotten a few days of hard rain (causing the floods in my house). The long rains should be approaching now in March and April. I understand that when it rains it POURS! People say they arecoming and it does get cloudy many days but there hasn’t been any rain. I am not sure if they are saying the rains are coming because they can read the weather patterns or because Kenyans are forever optimistic and “they/it/I am coming” is just what they say about everything. That essentiallymeans “one day it will come”. So, I will update this when I experience the rains. Global warming at its best!When you say you are planning on staying, what exactly do you mean?Good question. I am not sure. But I plan on looking for a job when my VSO stint is done and go from there. I always felt I needed to live in Africa and so far it is confirmed. So, time will tell…….Bye for now,Trixie