Just a few days In the Rainforest.

Like I said yesterday, I am way behind on my blogging, especially on my weekend adventures! Now that we finally have power again (after being without for 2 days) I can blog all about some of them. 

Around the first week of February, me and 2 others here on base decided to go to the Kakamega Rainforest. If you ever get the chance to come to Kenya, this needs to be on your list of top 10 places to visit. It is absolutely breathtaking and home to over 450 different species of butterflies, tons of gorgeous birds, (most only found in the Kakamega Rainforest) 3 different types of monkeys, and also baboons. While we were there we stayed at the Rondo Missionary Guest House. You don't have to be a missionary to stay here... however,  it helps when the bill comes. If you're a missionary, with someone who is a missionary, or like me who is not a missionary but working at a Mission Hospital you can get a pretty significant discount. I'd say its worth it discount or not because of the beautiful, quaint, and relaxing accommodations are like none other in Kenya with impeccable 3 course meals all included. The chefs are freaking amazing! It was such a treat, and so nice to get away from the dryness for a few days. If you are ever in Kenya here is their website RondoRetreat, but their website needs MAJ work, because this place looks NOTHING like their website said it did!

 But as we were only just several kilometers away... We get a flat tire on a rather slight incline with no spare. So, the matatu driver paid a random guy on piki piki to take flat tire to Kapsabet to be fixed 30 minutes away.

Not to mention we had been traveling for 5 hours and we were completely famished and exhausted. Therefore, Becca and I decided to pay this random guy driving a piki piki to take us on up to Rondo the rest of the way so we could get a head start on lunch! (He totally ripped us off, but I was to exhausted and starving to care.)

We had Bob & Betty's Room incase you couldn't tell.

and if you were wondering what Bob & Betty looked like... no worries their pictures are hanging proudly on wall!

Becca's aunt slept here

and Becca and I had the twins

Everyday at 3 coffee, chai, or whatever else your choice of beverage is and cake is served where ever you want it.

 justa swangin

 

 This is a sandpaper leaf. The carpenters who live near or in the rainforest collect these to sand their furniture, and the women collect them to file their nails.

These women walk over 8 to 10 km into the rainforest to collect firewood, and then walk back to their homes. Want to know what my 2 questions are? 1. I sure would love to see what that neck and back MRI looks like. (ortho child coming out) and 2. Where in the HELL are men?! Sadly I already know the answer to that one. -Pure. Simple. Laziness. and/or Drunkiness. The women literally do everything while the men sit around. If the men do have jobs, it's usually in the larger cities hours away. Therefore, they are 9 times out of 10 fooling around with other women, therefore HIV, only come home a few times a year to see their family, and 8 times out of 10 they never share their earnings with their wife. So twisted.

nyways after that history lesson... This was the end point of our nature walk. If only those "rapids" were bigger and that water was CLEAN because I so would love to put a raft down that river!

ello pretty.

 You can hardly see, but his rake is made up of one large stick that has been smoothed down. And the "rake" part is made of a lot of very strong, skinny sticks, and then held together with strong rubber-band. So. There ya have it. When you are without, can't afford, don't have enough to go around, or don't trust your kids with a real one... Hello craft project! (By the way- they totally work and all the grounds men had them, and there were a lot of ground men.)
**To what I said above about the men... These men are part of that 1-2% that don't fool around with their wives, and do work. Primarily because they are working at a christian place. At the missionary guest houses the standards are set very high for their employees however, you will never find a woman working there. The reason? I have no idea, but it is on my list to figure out before I leave.**

On the last night in Kakamega, we took a sunset hike. For all you early birds out there, there is also a sunrise hike to the exact place that I'm sure is equally exquisite! I however, hands down no questions asked chose the sunset hike because yes, I am 23 and still young, but joints are way to stiff in the morning to climb a very steep hill thing just to see a sunrise. Not to mention, the back of my eyelids are very pretty as well! : )

These were all at the half way point.
 The smoke you see are people just being mean, and burning parts of the rainforest for no reason. The small steep mountain/massive hill you climb up to the view point used to be very green and pretty, but now it's very dry, has very few trees-aka dead trees, and red dirt, from people burning the forest because of that reason. Luckily in Kakamega, it isn't near as dry as it is in Kapsowar. It is at a lower elevation, and is much more humid. The humidity is what kept the fire from spreading and burning the entire rainforest down.

At the top. Only trees with green on them.

 I'm so nasty-please excuse my how unattractive I look in this picture. Haha this was the best out of the 3... and clearly that's not saying much. Haha.

Ok. 9 hours later. (christian honor) THE END! GOODNIGHT!

Time.

What I'm concentrating on these days...

I know, it has been a while since I sat behind the computer screen and typed out an incredibly "awesome" blog. I know. Sorry. But time sure is short these days, and I have been trying to ingest every second of every day with traveling to new parts of Kenya (which I will blog about when we get power again, my computer is about to die), trying to understand more of the sociology of the culture, and as to why they do the things they do, and spending time with the ones who have made this place home for me. So, really as you can see, yes, blogging is important to document what happens, but it really does take away from my time here. It takes a whole day for a blog to load. I know... modern convenience of wifi is one of the only things I miss from the states, besides chocolate chips!! I have a feeling I will do my best to blog here while I can, but when I get back home I will "catch you all up" on the last 3 months... when I have wifi again! Time is so precious.

 In the states, everyone is all about lets go here, there, and everywhere. And GOD FORBID YOU AREN'T ON TIME! If you aren't on time it's "rude"and "inconsiderate", but did anyone ever think that I have a life, chores, and responsibilities as well? Or not even me really the person next me or down the road, or the single mom raising 3 kids, or shoot not the single mom raising 3 kids, but just has her hands full? Yes, that may sound crude at first, but think about that for a few minutes. How many people are fired or yelled at because their 10 minutes late to work? Here, that's called being "on time." "So leave earlier" your supervisor says, but maybe you have little kids you must take to school first, or a really sick family member that you must care for in the mornings before help arrives. The list could go on and on. That is one thing I've learned here. You are on Kenyan Time. That is fine by me, because I don't like being on time anyways! What does Kenyan time mean? Say someone says I'll be over at 11a.m. That 11a.m. DOES NOT mean 11a.m. that means 11:30-12:30p.m. Because he/she has other responsibilities to attend to, and according to what time he/she finishes their chores is when they will come over. The chores including: Collecting firewood from several kilometers away, fetching water from the river again several kilometers away, laundry, cooking food for breakfast, and lunch for the children, preparing chai, getting his/herself ready, and then the time it takes to walk to your house etc, and I'm probably leaving out a WHOLE LOT of their chores. So yeah we live on Kenyan Time... and you know, it suits me just fine because whats an extra couple of minutes? Kenyans don't starts on time either. If the party starts at 7p.m. to kenyans that automatically mean 7:30-8p.m. 

So sometimes, we just need to give people a break.

 Being late to a function is not a "sin" even though some people treat it like it is. Stop and smell the roses. Give that person a break. Because really and truly you have NO idea what their life is like aside from the little tiny, did I say tiny?  bits in the day you see them. (Even your own family members) Enjoy the time time they are with you, and appreciate it instead of griping about how late they were, or how late we are going to be to church! Because in sense of it all, it's not about you, and what time your watch says. There is more to life than a Timex a watch. Unfortunately, it took me coming to Africa to figure all that out, and I am still learning. Everyday is school for me here. (Which is probably why I never want to step foot in a classroom again. I'm not kidding either.) But seriously, I feel like I could write a book on all of the things I am learning here, and what American's have long forgotten about. Starting with time. 

I love this verse. I've learned when I need to just stop, and enjoy myself, take a deep breath, and quit being in a hurry to places, or in a rush to do things. I've learned and realized that everything works out so much better, and is a whole lot more fun when you just let it be and relax! 

Just stop and smell the roses. (or any flower for that matter.) Life is too short. So enjoy it while your here. Travel to new places, hug extra hard, and take the long way just because... because time is too short. So use it wisely my friends.

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More of What I LOVE.

I LOVE that I have to talk in a kenyan accent or other wise NO ONE (Kenyan that is) can understand me. For instance, in Theatre (O.R.) when I need to ask one of the nurses where something is, or how to do something, or this, or that in my normal apparently "thick" southern accent, they look at me like a deer in headlights, OR they make something up to be nice to pretend they understood etc... BUT as soon as I switch the accent, 2 seconds. They understand what I'm saying. Mercy same way. Poor thing. Her english is okay, just not that great. If I don't speak to her in a kenyan accent you can forget it. However, everyone else for some reason can talk like their regular ole self, and be just fine... I reckon my accent is the only thing I can blame Mississippi for! : )

I LOVE my new Kenyan African name: Jelimo. Meaning I was born in the afternoon before the sun has set. So my name would be Julie Jelimo Michele Carter. To people of the same tribe as me I would be known as Jelimo, but to everyone else outside my tribe I would my American name, Julie. Make sense?  

Want to know what I LOVE MOST about my pretty awesome new name?!?!

Is this equally fabulous extremely very fast girl. HER NAME IS JELIMO TOO!!!! And she is THE Female Kenyan Olympic runner for LONDON 2012!!!!! GO KENYA!!! GO ME TOO!! SORT OF... YEAH!!! Pretty awesome eh?? Who knows... I've probably seen her running in Iten, and not even realized it. I reckon I should start walking now. Maybe I'll make it up to a brisk run come August! 

You know I LOVE a smiling baby especially when their sick because that means they need the MOSTEST attention of them all.

I LOVE how I got this sweet, little, shy deaf boy who wouldn't  even tell me his name or smile at first... to smile without using any words, sign, or an interpreter, but just by simply being myself. Anyone could do that. 

I LOVE that even though she is eleven, deaf, living at boarding school, and her clothes are old, dirty, worn, and tattered, she would still ROCK the cover of Vogue magazine better than any model I've ever seen pose clean and of hearing.

I don't "LOVE" that I now need to go on a diet because of all Mrs. Laura's insanely fabulous cooking! I thought I came to Africa to lose weight! Not gain more than I already had prior to coming! Ugh whatever.  

I LOVE THE KITTIES!!!!!!!

I LOVE watching Bill do surgery -because he is like so freaking good- and teach. This is him doing a skin graft with Cess. The only other surgeon here.

Oh how I LOVE the itty bitty sweet babies! Especially this one. Her name is Julie. She got the most specialist treatment of all the babies I've helped deliver. She had a rough delivery so Julie to julie I had to give her the royal treatment she ever did deserve. So I cut the cord, sucked the junk out, but only to replace it with glitter and sparkle of course! Rocked her, talked in english to her, because you know, it's never to soon to have them exposed to such a great southern accent. Made her smile so big, bathed her so she would smell delicious, and then I bundled her up like a cocoon, and kissed her goodbye! She was the sweetest little thing, I could have just squeezed that little cone head! But with a name like "Julie" how could she not be sweet and destined for greatness? I mean come on! 

I LOVE teaching Lewenei how to cook western food, and see him enjoy just as much as I do. He is so great and is such an awesome friend. I have enjoyed so much getting to know him, and making him try all new "American" foods! Oh and not to mention his English is so much better than his Kiswahili. 

I LOVE "Sunday Night Pizza Night." A tradition I started here at the hostel, and thankfully the roommates seem to LOVE it too! 

 Oh I just LOVE my sweet Mercy girl. I can never get enough of her. Sometimes I skip going into Theatre so I can lay on sheet and talk to her while she washes our clothes. She really is the best, and such a great friend. I am so thankful for her. (One day I tried to "help" Mercy wash clothes. In 5 minutes, I  no longer had feeling my hands, and my back was aching so badly that I just gave up, and laid right back down on my sheet, and did what I do best. Talk. And left the clothes washing to Mercy.) 

 I LOVE that for 2 weeks she never moved.

 I LOVE how Jephet is a "Man on a Mission" in Theatre prepping for cases. His lankiness and spasticness only add to the drama of him getting in trouble for reaching over sterile fields, because he somehow forgot 4 hours into the surgery everyone and thing IS STILL STERILE, dropping things, etc... Even though he knows more than most of the scrub nurses here. Oh he cracks me up so much!

and how I LOVE watching kitties dig for trash. 

Speaking of kitties and their food... I went with Mercy to lunch today, and I was telling Edna the "chef" of Kapsowar that the only Kenyan food I didn't like was Ugalli. (Which is their best dish apparently. Of course I don't like that one.) For 1. The taste. & 2. It looks like canned cat food. Edna laughed so hard, but then she looks at me in all seriousness and said: "Your cats don't eat trash?" I tried SO hard not laugh, but that's all they know. Here dogs, cats, and sheep all eat trash from the compost piles, it's less they have to burn! There is no such thing as cat food or dog food. 

What I LOVE.

Since this is indeed the month of LOVE I decided to tell, and of course show you all a few of the things that I am absolutely loving in Kapsowar right now!

LOVE that I FINALLY kicked the Ecoli and the Ameba to the curb! You have NO idea how liberating it is to feel good all day for once! (However, but as luck would have it... after 4 weeks of on again off again relapses of pure illness I finally got so sick that I went to OPD (Out Patient Department) to see Dr. Mike about putting me on the strongest stuff they had. Well, low and behold the patient that had JUST come in to see Dr. Mike DIED... On the table 5 minutes before I got there! This NEVER happens in Outpatient. EVER. They are mainly just going for check-ups, but of course my luck it happened to me... and frankly I was too sick to care. When the morgue finally came (again we are on Kenyan time not American time) they couldn't get the bed into the room... so... they had to mummy her up and have 3 people pick her and put her on the bed. Dr. Mike was like "Now Julie is this going to spook you at all?" Answer: "No." Because I could hardly see straight. The only sad thing for me was that she still had her black, dirty, biscuit tennis shoes on (that they all where). Nyways the nurse "cleaned" the bed (they don't clean like we do) and then I saw the doc, got my meds, got Mercy to clean every article of clothing I had on, showered and went right back to bed!)

 LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. The help. Beside me is Mercy. She does EVERYTHING from hand washing our clothes, washing our dishes, mopping/sweeping the floor, clean the bathrooms, etc. You name it she does it! Beside her is Edna. She works for 3 other families here. She is a wonder woman and an amazing cook! No one is better than Edna!!

 LOVE that there are literally 5 different types of mangos here, and they are all just as sweet as the next!

LOVE that I ate every single one of these!

 LOVE seeing Africans who still practice in tradition. The Pokot tribe being one of them. Her daughter was sick for over 2 weeks with high fever and seizers. She never moved. One reason Pokot still practices in tradition is because they are not educated. The majority of the Pokot children do not attend school because they cannot afford to pay their school fees. Pokot is also a warring tribe. For years and years they fought with other members of the Callengen sub-tribes (Pokot is a sub-tribe to the Callengens) because they believed they should be the only tribe with cows. Milk cows are equivalent to gold here. They are your bank. If you steal someones cow, you will be killed. (Literally.)  

 LOVE seeing such beautiful flowers covering whole trees in the midst of this dry dry dry season.

LOVE me some Hilda. (One of the Medical Interns)

  LOVE that this little boy is still smiling and laughing every time I see him even though he's been bed ridden for a month.

LOVE how many people and things Matatu's can shove in a small vehicle for a "dolla dolla bill" 

LOVE fresh close line dried clothes

LOVE my new "mom" for the next 3 months, Momma Michal. She has the sweetest heart!

LOVE my Zeke! Because life would be so boring with out him!!!

These are just a few of the things that LOVE right now in the month all about LOVE.