Arriving in Kijabe

November 9, 2009

The sunrise from the plane this morning was incredible. I guess the sunrise always looks incredible from 30,000 feet, but this was our first sunrise over Africa! We woke up this morning flying over the top of Mount Kenya (the highest point in Kenya at 15,000ft). I was worried that Vy might be sleeping through this—she is an amazing sleeper, and I think she slept through every leg our our trip so far, including 3 hours from Seattle to Minneapolis, 8 hours to Amsterdam and then another 8 hours to Nairobi. Luckily they woke us all up for food—I got served a vegetarian, dairy-free breakfast on Kenyan Air—I had tried to tell them that dairy was fine, but I guess I clicked the wrong box on the website a few months ago when I bought my ticket.

Amsterdam was beautiful. We lucked out on the weather for a little while, and had 60s and sunshine so we could enjoy walking around, but then the sun disappeared and it was suddenly very cold and windy, and we were so tired! But it was nice to walk around and see a new city. We walked through the famous "Red-light" district. So odd to see women in the windows on their cell phones, texting--I guess it gets boring!

Arriving in Nairobi was surreal, but things went amazingly well. Our driver, Davis, picked us up after we flew through the visa line and whizzed through customs (“what did you pack?” “umm, just clothes”; “ok, enjoy your stay”). Too easy. Davis took us to a supermarket in Nairobi to do all of our grocery shopping for the month. I was feeling tired and overwhelmed, and had a difficult time wondering how many kilos of rice Dustin, Vy and I would eat in the month. Somehow we made it out of there and spent about 16,000 Kenyan schillings (about $200, since it’s about 77 schillings to the US dollar). We even got a delicious cup of iced Kenyan coffee, breaking the rule of not eating ice or water in a foreign country—whoops! But so worth it! Then off to Kijabe, with a quick stop at a look-out point over the Great Rift Valley, where we were heckled to buy Kenyan trinkets and in our sleep-deprived, foreigner naiveté, we spent WAY too much on necklaces, dishes, elephant carvings, etc, just to get out of there!

Kijabe is at just over 7000 ft elevation, and tucked away in the hills after passing slums, farms, sheep, goats, donkeys (no elephants yet, but we did see a herd of giraffe already, just as we left the airport in Nairobi!). We have met many very kind people so far, and everyone is eager to teach you about Kenyan culture and a few words in Swahili. Jambo, salama and habari, are all words to say hello, how are you, nice to meet you, etc. It is customary here to greet everyone and shake hands with everyone. Vy and I are staying at a beautiful complex, with a huge window overlooking the valley. We have 5 beds and a large kitchen and living space, but Dustin has to stay in a house about 200 yards away, since it would not be culturally appropriate to have Dustin staying with the two women. He has a housemate who is an engineer from Mississippi who is helping to build a surgical “theater” in Kijabe. Apparently, Kijabe Hospital has a great reputation for its surgery. We just had dinner with Doug and Kathy Trotter (from the pacific NW) and Doug tells us that of the 27 doctors on staff at the hospital, about 20 are surgeons.

Grand rounds tomorrow AM at 0700—our first time in the hospital and I think off to a running start! I’m sure I’ll have much more to write about then… I suspect I’ll sleep well tonight, in spite of the anxiety about my day tomorrow!