day one hundred and two

This last week has been rather busy and somewhat dramatic that I have not found the time to catch you up on all that has been going on. Forgive me, and allow me to tell you now.

Firstly… wow! I made it through my first one hundred days rather unscathed! Sure, I am now a beautiful patchwork of different degrees of tan, have many scars where I have scratched my mosquito bites, and have lost about seven kilos, and I keep having this recurring dream where I’m back home (at Mum and Dad’s house) and I am getting sick from all the Australian food so I have to make ugali na nyama and I’m crying because I just want to eat chicken lasagne and salad… but other than that I’m okay! Nzuri sana

Last you heard from me I was telling you that the stima has been wanning, with the current not being strong enough to power the appliances, including my shower, but enough for some of the lights to work and to charge the phones. Well since then it’s gotten worse. Now we have no electricity whatsoever – hakuna stima. No lights, no mobile phone charging, no laptop charging… nothing. To top it off we now have no running water… because we’ve got no electricity to pump it from the rainwater tanks. I’m surprised at how well we’ve adapted – I charge my phone and laptop at work in the afternoons so that they’re fully charged overnight, we’ve pulled out the old kerosene lamps, we don’t buy things that need refrigerating, and I’ve learnt that my kindle is an amazing torch. In fact the other night I had a bucket shower by kindle light… hahahaha.

Another episode of sitalipa bei ya mzungu… I was quoted 5500Ksh to fix my blackberry Q10 screen. SAY WHAT?! That’s about $80AUD… money I just don’t have (my car hasn't sold yet). Luckily I have had very generous friends offer me their phones, so I’m all good to communicate with y’all (let me know if you need my details eh?). But 5500Ksh?! You can buy a brand new Android smartphone for that much! Of course there has been the matatu conductors trying to rip me off again (who then proceeded to say, “okay Iguhu daktari for you 100 bob is sawa) and piki piki drivers taking advantage of very tired wazungus trying to get home after a night out which my retort and subsequent declaration of the price we will pay has entertained the crowd. My favourite part of sitalipa bei ya mungzu this past ten days has been my acquisition of a new work skirt which I bargained down from 350Ksh ($5AUD) to 250Ksh ($3.50AUD)… best thing is it is a Veronica Maine skirt which would have cost a LOT more than that in the stores. I also got myself a new top for going out in for 90Ksh (about $1.40) which is from Zara.

You’re probably wondering where I’m getting these awesome bargains from. Well, have you ever wondered where your clothes go once you give them to the Salvos? Sure, some of them go to the Op Shop (thrift store/charity store) but others get packaged into large hessian-like bags, then into shipping containers, sent over here, sold to fundis who then sell them at markets… well at least that’s what happens in Kenya. At that same stall I bought the Veronica Maine skirt I saw a Kookai jacket, a Portmans skirt, and a few other labels. However due to money issues I restrained and bought the one skirt. So next time you’re going through your wardrobe think of the poor mzungu volunteers in rural Kenya and donate well… hahahahaha

The dramatic part has been the loss of two of the puppies, Bella and Chui, and my Kenyan family being sick. I came home on Sunday afternoon to find a very sick Bella – vomiting, diarrhoea, wasting… I tried my best to rehydrate her but alas she passed overnight. Monday was Madaraka Day (public holiday in Kenya) which involved me taking Mamma J to the hospital due to treatment failure for malaria. At this stage the other puppies (Chui and Simba) were not doing so well either, so for the next few days we forced water, milk and food into them. By Wednesday they were both doing better, however Anita was not… I took her to see the daktari that day, but unfortunately she got worse and on Thursday night we took her to the hospital where she was admitted. However unbeknownst to me a terrible accident occurred whilst we were at the hospital… Someone ran over Chui with the piki piki. The next morning he didn’t wake up. And when I went in early to see Anita she had not responded to treatment – three days of antibiotics to treat a UTI. Despite having being tested for malaria the past two days, instinct told me to test her again, which revealed she had a serious malaria infection, which she was then treated with IV artesunate for three days. Lucky I work in the lab and was able to just test her like that, I would hate to think what could have happened. Thankfully Mamma J, Anita and the remaining puppy (Simba) are all now recovered and well, and I have been exposed to the inpatient aspect of my hospital.

RIP Bella and Chui

As for romance… yes, there are some very good looking men here in Kenya. And boy do they know how to dance *swoon*. But in this quest to become assimilated into the local culture I have learnt that a Kenyan man can dance with a woman for a few hours and then be in love with her and miss her and somehow even now have claim to her. Yet all this time they have another girlfriend or two or maybe even a wife. This is perfectly acceptable behaviour apparently, even within marriage, with people telling me several reasons including because there are many more women than men in Kenya, or the Bible says it’s okay, or that you have to try before you buy… most people at work have laughed at my disdain of this practice and said good luck at trying to find a guy who can keep it in his pants. Overall  I think this is crazy but I’m having fun getting to know some locals I’ve met, including some members of the local rugby team (mmm muscles), and it’s helping cement my Swahili, so it’s all for a good cause. Also I know my Mum would love it if I came home with a Kenyan so she could maybe one day have chocolate coloured grandchildren… to that I say keep praying Mum because apparently polygamy is perfectly fine but I ain’t sharing.

So there you go. My laptop battery is about to go flat so I leave you here… tuonane badaaye.