Match Day

So a short update on yesterday since I didn't write anything. I didn't write anything because I was having fun, so it's a good excuse. The hospital was okay. We learned a little about the oncology services at Kenyatta Hospital, but it wasn't a very busy day.

liquid libations

After rotations, Erin and I chillaxed for a minute at the hostel, then headed out to Nakumatt Junction to see some of the better off areas of Nairobi. There is a decent number of Westerns there, and the mall area is pretty nice. We walked around for a bit, then got some liquid libations at the market before heading to a nearby restaurant I had heard of for dinner and drinks.

We sit down on the terrace area in the cool breeze and order a beer each. We then got two beers each served to us. Neither of us questioned it for fear of them being taken back! But I finally asked, and they have a 2-4-1 special until 7pm. WIN! Since it was like 5 minutes until 7, I ordered another round. We drink our beer, eat our potato chips, and the soft pretzel I ordered, taking in some comforts of home. We have some awesome food, keep drinking our beers. I ordered two shots for dessert. Little did we know they would be flaming shots! How awesome!

We grab a cab back home and settle in for the night. Nothing major.

match day

Then today beings. It's Match Day. For those unaware, it's the day all applicants to pharmacy residencies across America find out where they will be going for the next year. Basically, quite a career defining day. We head off to the hospital for our routine business. Round with the pediatric oncology team in the morning, then do very little in the afternoon. Our preceptor let us leave by 2:45 to be back at our hostel by 3 for Match Day.

We arrive a little early. And the sitting and staring at the computer begins. We're just checking out the interwebs looking around waiting for an email. Right at 4pm, I get an email from the Match service. I don't really believe it's the results. But I open it without hesitation. It is the actual Match email! It reads:

Congratulations! You've been matched to:

NEW YORK - PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL.

Could not be more excited! I got an email shortly after from the director with a welcome and a few notes about getting licensed. I really don't want to even think about getting licensed, but I need to do it sooner than later.

We'll be at the beach Friday also! What a better way to celebrate?!

No personal protective equipment

tb meningitis

Day one of rotations. In true African spirit, our ride to the hospital (2 blocks away) arrives 20 minutes late. We travel the congested streets to Kenyatta National Hospital to meet with Rosie, our preceptor during our week at Kenyatta. We have a brief tour of the hospital and main pharmacy before heading up to the ICU to attend rounds. Being a very critical care kind of guy, I'm really excited to see how things are different in Kenya versus back home. We arrive on the unit. Around 20 patients lay in beds in a large room, all attached to new Philips vital monitors, respectable ventilators, and IV lines. Not much different than a patient at Grady. There are no individual rooms here, but rather a large open space with patient areas separated by curtains when desired, which wasn't often. We start off in rounds, which has a team of about 12 people - pretty large by most standards. The consultant (Kenya's attendings) leads the teaching rounds with the rest of the registrars and house officers (residents and interns). He's not shy to include his American visitors also, asking us about monitoring parameters for high dose acyclovir, physiological mechanisms of paralytics, and mechanisms of action of antibiotics. We saw a variety of cases, from broken limbs to refractory seizures to TB meningitis to ascending paralysis from Guillain Barre Syndrome.  Treatments aren't too different from back home, and the team works quite similarly to its American counterpart. Oh, and they don't use personal protective equipment. Most infectious patients back home are locked down in isolation rooms. No such thing here.

The main pharmacy is different. Everything is completely manual. Orders are delivered to the pharmacy, reviewed manually, billed manually, pulled manually, compiled manually, and nurses pick up prepared meds. Their inventory is completely manually kept. Their refrigerator was a large room cooled to 2-8 degrees Celsius and enclosed by a large wooden door. 

vacation

We spent a little more time in the main pharmacy, but after a few questions, our preceptor lets up go early for the day. We also confirmed that we could leave early on Match Day and on Friday for our vacation. 

Speaking of which, we are OFFICIALLY going to Mombasa's Diani Beach Friday at 6:30pm! I booked my flight just before Erin, and naturally when Erin went to select her flights, our return flight wasn't available any more. I called up Kenya Airways to make sure this was true, and they said there were seats, but for nearly $100 more than my fare. After a little internet searching, we got her on the same flight for a little more money than my fare. Regardless, our trip is confirmed and we'll be drinking on the Indian Ocean Friday night! Trust that Saturday and Sunday will be spent lying under the equator's burning sun, occasionally cooling off in the cool ocean waters. Sorry in advance for having fun.

travelers

We explored another hostel night that's nearby just to see what else is out there since we're here for so long. Considering moving there next week when we're done rotating through Kenyatta. There were definitely a lot more travelers versus church workers at the other hostel than Flora. Would be much easier to meet travelers like us.

Anyway, we're settling into our room about to watch Pulp Fiction. I know it wasn't an interesting post, but thanks for reading!

The eve of the last rotation

So last night was Erin and my first night together. As of now, 24 hours and no fighting. I call that a success. 

1.4 minutes

Knowing Erin would arrive after the registration office at the hostel closed, I left a note with the security guard telling him Erin's full name, when she was arriving, my name and room number, as well as my cell phone number. Upon Erin's arrival, the guards acted like they had no idea who she was. After questioning her intentions at the luxurious Flora Hostel, Erin noticed my note on his desk, promptly pointing it out. Naturally then he realized who she was and called me. After helping Erin navigate the dark campus into our cozy room, I gave her the grand tour. Which takes about 1.4 minutes. I had warned her previously of our living arrangements, so she had mentally prepared, but it's still a change from home for anybody. Fear not, I'll give you guys a tour soon.

Erin and my parents were actually on the same Amsterdam to Nairobi flight, and Brian kindly sent them each a picture of the others to help identify each other. The weren't actually able to tag up along the way, sadly. But since I knew Erin arrived, I figured my parents were in the lavish accommodations, so I gave them a ring. Caught up with both Mom and Dad for a bit, and agreed to stop by their hotel the next morning before they started their adventures.

Erin and I stayed up and told our travel stories and caught up on each other's lives. It's been a while since we've talked, so there's a lot to cover. We stay up decently late, but not late enough to merit celebrating St. Patty's Day unfortunately. We'll make up for lost time. After draping our mosquito nets over our beds, we drift off into sleep.

american pancakes

Waking up at 7:30 isn't too hard when you really haven't acclimated to the time. Most mornings have been stupidly early the past week or so, so it was just another morning for me, and Erin hadn't adjusted to any specific time zone yet after traveling across 7. We head over to my parents hotel, the Intercontinental in downtown Nairobi. Security to the max upon entering, but we finally spot the sweet Southern couple in the breakfast room. Hugs exchanged, introductions given, we sat down for an awesome breakfast. Strong black coffee, fresh fruit, and American pancakes. A nice reminder of home. The four of us talk for a bit and eventually head up to their room before Mom and Dad have to leave shortly. 

allergic to a/c

First thing we notice when we step in their room is how chilly it is. Soon thereafter, Erin lets out a nice sneeze. Must be allergic to A/C now. We take a few pictures, talk a little more, and bid my parents farewell as their start their whirlwind tour of Kenya. They're back in Nairobi in about 10 days though, so I'll see them again shortly. 

nakumatt

Erin and I head over to the ever-nearby Nakumatt (read: Kenya Walmart) to gather a few supplies, including a sheet to fashion a sort of privacy divider in our room. After perusing the 3 levels in a relatively small Nakumatt, we grab a cab back up to the hostel.

We quickly break out the travel guides and open the internet to begin planning our short time here. We agree that since Erin hasn't been on a safari yet, that's a must. Also, Mombasa for the beach is also required. We consider Lake Victoria and Kisumu as well. We also begin to explore the museums and cultural centers that Kenya has to offer. Our wall quickly fills with my stickie notes. Noticing that we don't have many weekends to travel, we have to prioritize. A day safari is possible for Erin in the nearby Nairobi National Park, so we'll leave that to be scheduled. I demand Mombasa be the priority, to which Erin doesn't argue. Who doesn't want to go to the beach? Reading a little more, we realize that April is the beginning of the rainy season, so despite the thought that I wanted to go to the beach for my birthday, we opt for a earlier weekend. Earlier as in NEXT WEEKEND. Flights are $125 round trip. 45 minute flight. We find a sweet lodge with open air tree houses by the beach for quite an awesome price. Plans will be finalized as soon as we know what time we're off on Friday, which we'll know Monday morning. Can't even tell you how excited we both are!

can you say iMessaging 

We grab some dinner and settle back into our room since it's not really too wise to walk around at night in our neighborhood. My favorite accomplishment of the evening was learning that I can broadcast my 3G mobile internet from my laptop to Erin's computer, as well as my iPhone and iPad. Can you say iMessaging? Yeah, me too. Now Erin and I are able to share our internet, which is actually super adequate. I even watched Breaking Bad to keep up with Colton, and Erin video chatted with Bob. 

Our weekend planned, we settle down into our beds before beginning our rotation tomorrow. Speaking of which, we start off at Kenyatta Hospital, the Grady of Kenya. Imagine my excitement! This is also our very last first day of a rotation. Only 23 days stand between us and graduation (ignoring the ever dreaded case week). 

6 pack

Also, I just have to say, Wednesday is Match day. The day I and many of my friends will know what they're doing and where they'll be for the next 1-2 years of their lives. Endless apprehension finally ends Wednesday. Be thinking of me. Because I'll be thinking of me. With a 6 pack beside me as well.

Goodnight, all.

The first days

This is my attempt to document my life and times in Nairobi for the short time I'll be here.


some dense fog


I'll start with a rather exhaustive review of the past week as an introduction, then post (hopefully) daily here on out. I traveled to Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after an amazing vacation in Barcelona with Carmen, Aimee, and Megan, but those stories are for a different time and place. I left bright and early (read: 5:00am) from our hotel in Barcelona to head to Barcelona's El Prat Airport. My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:30am to London's Healthrow, and the hotel said to head there 2.5 hours early. That was quite generous... I arrived seemingly as the first traveler in my terminal. After clearing through border control and finding my gate, I looked around to see that I was the ONLY person in the entire terminal. Only. Me. Sort of an eerie feeling in a major airport. But I gave it 30 minutes and people started to trickle in. A coffee shop finally opened up, so I managed to spend few of my remaining Euros on a chocolate pastry and a delicious espresso. I headed back to the gate to sit out the wait. A guy around my age was the only one at the gate at this point. Reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and blasting Skrillex from his iPod, I assumed American. Later found out he was traveling to Philly and was indeed American. I love being able to identify people's nationalities when traveling. Per usual non-American standard, everyone just forms a blob around the gate versus some sort of boarding order. Since this is far from my first time, I join in the mass, ensuring I'd have some overhead cabin space. Ask Colton his opinion on plane side checking of bags. Mine is similar. I settle into the flight, listening to some nice indie music until they tell me my music somehow interferes with the communication systems. Then the captain comes on. Apparently London has some dense fog early in the morning. I'm (almost) a pharmacist. I even knew that. Apparently this sort of thing is not accounted for. The number of flights allowed to land in London is decreased from 48 to 38. This delays our flight 1.5 hours, but out captain assures us the first officer is frantically working to get us in earlier. I just exhale, lean back in my seat, and close my eyes. We're supposed to land at 9:00am. Flight to Nairobi leaves at 10:15. You do the math. Not being even close to a stranger to travel delays, I just take it in as collateral damage of my worldly adventures. Indeed our flight is delayed and we land at 10:15, just as my other flight is taking off. Luckily, British Airways is awesome (although not for Carmen, Aimee, and Megan - just ask them) and rebooked me on a completely different carrier for free and gave me 20 pounds in meal vouchers. I have a 9 hour layover at this point, so I just explore the terminal, spend all but 10 cents (or whatever the cents are in pounds) of my vouchers, and talk to friends while I wait. Margaret Cho's 1994 stand up show even kept me company at one point. Finally board my flight to AFRICA.

A new paragraph is warranted because I'm about to fly to Africa. The week and days leading up to my trip, I had very mixed emotions. I absolutely love traveling. This is my fifth continent to hit and my longest trip ever. So much changed between the time I applied for an international rotation and actually taking off. School was finally coming to a close. Residency interviews had come and gone - ranks even submitted before the deadline. My short term career goals were coming into reality. But I also realized what I would be leaving behind for 7 weeks. I would be leaving my friends, my family, my boyfriend. It was very tough to take in in the days approaching my departure. But I knew my relationship and friendships were strong, so I knew I could do it. Even still, it's tough to swallow.

I boarded my plane. Kenya Airways flight 101 to Nairobi. I sat down in my seat (yes, going through the same non-American boarding process), listened to the accents around me, and FINALLY realized what I had gotten myself into. I was flying nine hours to KENYA. I quickly managed to swing my emotions over to the extreme excitement end of the scale. It would all be worth it. This would likely be a life changing experience. I would gain so much experience and knowledge that I would carry with me for my whole life.

the elbow jabber

Then my neighbor sat down next to me. Can you say elbow jabber, loud mouth, inconsiderate crazy crazy? Because I can. The flight left at 7:00pm, so I planned on downing my specially delivered vegetarian meal, popping an Ambien, and sleeping the flight away. I opted for a bottle of (too lately realized) cheap red wine versus my chemical friend. My neighbor opted for about 5 Tusker's beers. Nothing is better than the burps of cheap beer for a few hours. Not to mention when I closed my eyes, a kind elbow to my side was introduced all too often. With no remorse, mind you. She eventually went to sleep, laying down across the seats with her head on my armrest. I was trapped! But my bladder can handle it. I don't like to get up on flights. Window seats, for the win. My favorite part of her antics was that she failed to realize my reading light button was on her armrest. Quite frequently she'd shift around, hit the button, and look around like something shorted. Me being who I am said nothing. Just turned off the lamp and closed my eyes. Until it happened again. That part wasn't annoying to me. Just comical. Some people's delay in realization of their surrounds is humorous.

traffic is a tradition

I took my contacts out after realizing they were sticking to my eyes, so when we landed, I was in more of a haze than I usually would be at 7am in a foreign land. I passed easily though border control and immigration, receiving my visa without providing ANY of the documentation I had so carefully prepared. Grabbed a taxi, traveled an HOUR through stand still traffic to meet Stuart at the hostel. I have come to learn that traffic is a tradition here. As my Kenyan friend says, if there isn't traffic, you wonder what is wrong. I was excited to see one of my oldest friends and best traveling buddies again after a long time. Stuart and I have traveled both near and far, from Boston and Chicago, to Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland, and even to Hong Kong. He arrived late the night before after we both had delays. The perils of travel.

The next morning, we called a friend of a friend who is a private driver to help us get a few chores done, exchange money, get some food, etc.  We get our belongings organized and repacked and head to bed early because in the morning, we begin a long adventure into the hills of Kenya for some wildlife adventures!

maasai people

Stuart's friend of a friend, Paul, agreed to take some time off his job at a game lodge to drive us around. We traveled to Chulu Hills of the Maasai people, which he knew like the back of his hand. We saw many animals and beautiful landscapes. We stayed in the border town of Loitokitok, just a few kilometers from Tanzania. Such a little town. Seems like slums by any American's standards, but just standard of living in Kenya. After a night of rest on a foam pillow and hard bed, we set off for Amboseli National Park for some more animals. 

matatu

Our journey back to Nairobi consisted of a car we borrowed from Paul's friend, then a matatu (read: packed minibus taxi - google it), then a cab. Let me tell you, driving in Kenya is insane by any Westerner's standards. Traversing a single lane highway with transfer trucks chugging up hills, jackknifing, stalling, stopping, all while our matatu is weaving in and out of traffic at 40-100 kph. At one point, we crossed into oncoming traffic, onto the opposite shoulder, passed back into oncoming traffic, and returned (safely) to our appropriate lane of travel. Craziness. Insanity.

Finally back at our hostel, Paul charged up his iPhone (yeah, even here Apple is pervasive), and headed back to the lodge to meet guests the next day. Paul is awesome, if you can't tell. We would not have been able to do the type of traveling we did if it wasn't for him.

mzungu mecca

So that was all Wednesday and Thursday. We're now back at the hostel. Friday is Stuart's last full day, so we travel to two markets: Junction Market and Village Market. Both are in affluent Western neighborhoods. I was finally able to find a USB modem for internet at Junction Market, which is about as Western as you can get. Even a frozen yogurt place, which yes, we took advantage of. Then off to Village Market where there is a traveling Maasai market every Friday. Can you say mzungu mecca? That's Swahili for white person. Merchants take you by the arm to show you their theoretically superior product. Haggling is the name of the game here. Prices start easily at 10 times the final price. Persistence is the key, but for a guy like me, I can last about 5 minutes in that type of place. I need to peruse merchandise on my own time. This is not a remote possibility here. I didn't get anything, but Stuart got gifts for friends and family, navigating the complicated pricing schemes of merchants. We got lunch with two of Stuart's friends before heading back to the hostel for his last evening.

Now off to dinner with some other friends. We're headed to the famous Carnivore. Carnivore. Yes, as in meat eating central. I, a vegetarian, have adopted a general policy that I'll eat meat when traveling for 'cultural enlightening' but generally keep to sampling. This was NOT an option. At least 10 different preparations of multiple meats, from chicken to bull balls (no jokes, please). I sampled them all, eventually netting what would be a huge American meal of various meats. Was the most meat I've had in 5 years. I was afraid I'd immediately have a heart attack, but so far, I've survived. After the insane dinner, accompanied by Tucker's beer--a local favorite--and Dawa--an African drink meaning medicine (appropriate, right?)--I finished off dinner with some chocolate gateaux and tawny port. The meal is finally over, and it's time to head home.

Stuart has to pack it in early because of an obscenely early flight (a trend of this trip), but I stay up to check out some of my pictures from the trip so far. I'm blown away at what I've been able to see already. Fear not, pictures will follow.

our official adventure

Seeing as Stuart left early in the morning, my Saturday was spent (finally) sleeping in, exploring downtown, where I was one of 2 other mzungus, and catching up on some tasks, I find myself sitting in a very Western cafe sipping an iced latte listening to a usual playlist enjoying the open air seating. In a few hours, Erin will arrive and our official adventure as two pharmacy intern from America explore the Kenyan healthcare system. I can't even tell you how excited I am to have Erin along for the ride. We have some great ideas in store, and I'm sure plenty of crazy stories to tell. Erin and I met the first day of school back in Communications class in the same small group. Now we finish our educations together as well. Perfect bookending if you ask me.

Until next time, asante and usiku mwerma.