Safari!

*In a sing-song voice* I got to go on a safari, I got to go on a safari! Jealous? ;)

I have to day it was one of the most magical experiences every! It's so beautiful in the Maasai Mara (aka The Masai), indescribable. So good look at the videos I'll put up :D I'm working on them, no worries. ;)

I'll keep this post short because 1. I'm not bothered to write about everything, because I can't. And 2. I think pictures tell a million words! So cue pictures of pretty birds and roaring lions:


Safari pt. 1:

Safari pt. 2: Coming soon!

Day Tuesday: (aka on our way to work, but it cut very short because I forgot to film! :D)

Day Wednesday: 

Thursday: 

A lizard

On the Kenyan and Tanzanian border!

Some zebras and Pumba! ;)

Our safari car

See anything funny in the picture? ;)

A hyena! 

We even saw a cheetah! :O

Our "tent" :P

Zebras <3

We each had our own bed!

Crossing streets in the Maasai

Apparently the giraffes with white heads are fully grown...

Two baby elephants and a mummy elephant

Four lionesses lazing about

A wildebeest grazing in the evening

Some vultures taking off

Scenery

Some more lionesses lazing about

It was a very hot day! She looks like a kitten relaxing!

Can you spot the leopard?

A wildebeest 

We visited a Maasai village and these were the warriors of the village. They even had a jumping contest! :D
Whoever can jump the highest gets the most ladies ;)

Traditional mud huts the Maasai live in.

Making fire

Sunrise

A vulture 

Sunrise and some zebras grazing

A lioness and her cubs

"It's better to eat here, kiddos!"

Dragging the carcass to safety

A 2 year old cub walked right past our car!

Cubs with a lioness

These are just a few of the 1200 photos I took while on the safari! More coming up later on! (:

Homesick ;(

How much is it possible to miss a person? I don’t think I can even begin to describe what I’m feeling right now. I’ve never felt so helpless, so unable to express my feelings, so confused. On the other hand I’m having a blast here, while on the other I can’t wait to be home, with my husband, not missing him.

Tonight’s been crappy. We had a fight (about a stupid, unimportant thing) and traditionally after a fight we cuddle up together and make up and just… be. Do nothing. Say nothing. That’s the part that’s killing me right now. Not being able to cuddle up and fall asleep next to my baby the way we always do.

It’s funny, I don’t miss him as much as I thought I would. Mostly because I don’t have a lot of time to myself so I can’t think about things enough to miss him. But at night, when I’m trying to fall asleep (unless I’m falling asleep standing up) I miss him more than anything in the world. I want him to whisper goodnight to me right before I fall asleep, safe and sound.

Enough sappy, drippy, icky stuff! This week’s been pretty boring for the most part like I posted last time. Today we went to the Maasai Market again (again) with a few of the teachers from Finland. I bought a few things and the teachers bought souvenirs. Then we went to the Kiboko Bay Resort and ate there and got some sun. Then the teachers treated us (Mira, Nadja and I) to a boat ride on Lake Victoria, the same one we went to last time we were at the resort. This time we saw three hippos! And one of them pooped in the water and the other (or maybe it was the same one, just later on) yawned and I got pictures!!! :D It was awesome! :P

Obama's grammy (with the picture)

Yesterday we went to see Obama’s grandmother. It was nothing special in my opinion to be honest, but I admit it was pretty cool in some way, though. Not a lot of people get to see that. We gathered around her to ask questions and whatnot but I was among the last to arrive (we all had to sign in) and I couldn’t hear a thing! I was bummed. It would’ve been interesting!

Our group all fancy and schtuffsh

After that we went for lunch (paid for but NSS, the exchange program) and set off back to Kisumu. About 20-30 km from Kisumu the bus broke down. The brakes didn’t work so well! The driver went to buy some brake fluid from the nearby town we’d just passed, a few hundred meters back. 

*Added four days later*
So we stand around for about an hour while the driver comes back and leaves and comes back with a local mechanic who leaves and comes back with a single tool and leaves again to get more tools and to get a mechanic friend and they fix bus and we're off again. I got good pictures out of it and we had a blast even though we were stuck in the middle of nowhere and we didn't know when we'd get back home. 

After we got back we headed straight for the apartment and into the shower!  We get dressed, put on some make-up for about the first time here and we're off again. We barely had time to eat. but at least there'd be food!

The band

We dance and chat and eat all night and I even have a Smirnoff Ice, which is a lot because I rarely drink alcohol! It tasted very refreshing after such a long day. We had fun. We were all very tired so we declined an offer to go clubbing with the girls from the Ugandan team and some locals and just went straight to bed when we got home, around eleven or twelve, I can't remember.

Saturday I've already told you about and umm.. I can't remember if we did anything worth mentioning on Sunday. I doubt it! :D

This week's been a bit blah. My stomach's been upset and I stayed home yesterday to get better and it helped! I feel so much better today and I'm glad because we're leaving for the safari today! I'm so excited!!! I can't wait! :P

Hippo farts!

Everyone we've told has said that we'll love it, so I hope it lives up to our expectations! I just really wanna see some animals! A lion would be cool or a cheetach. Or a zebra. Or giraffe. Or anything really! I've already seen a hippo but that would bee cool too. I've been rtying to empty all my memorycards so I have as much space as possible to take pictures and possibly video. I have to try film some things at least!

The only thing bumming me out is that I won't get to share the amazing experience with my hubby. :( I wish he was here too! Maybe I'll bring him back one day... Plus I don't get to talk to him until Sunday as there's no internet and probably no reception whatsoever at the Maasai Mara.

But now I have to continue with my thesis, which I want to get seriously underway. But the internet's slow so we'll see... -.-'

Bus broke down so we took pics... :D

Day 25:

Day 26:

Day 27:

Day 28:

Day 29:

Day 30:

The Internet Hates Me!

Crocodile! It was HUGE!

So I've been trying to write a blog entry for a few days now and every time I want to write something the power goes out or the internet's not working or I have no battery left on my computer! Argh!

So On Sunday nothing too exciting happened but I did go "potty" in a hole-in-the-ground toilet!!! :D SO EXCITING! I've never done that and it probably shouldn't be that exciting but it is! I feel a little silly but oh well... We were at a friend of a friend's house with Nadja and we were served some delicious food (tilapia and rice) and we stayed there chatting for about three hours.

The minibus that took us to
the museum had fold-out
chairs!

When we got home we just ate (again) and chilled out watching tv (a dance competition). We were all getting ready to go to bed soon and I was talking to my husband on Skype in the front balcony when I saw something drop to the floor from outside. I didn't have time to react because it wa up again and it flew into our livingroom! I asked the girls if it was a bat and they ran away screaming their heads off! I took that as a yes. They didn't even notice it before I asked!

So I was left, by myself, in the balcony! I watched for a long while from the balcony while the bat flew around in circles in our livingroom, poor thing! I crept, keeping low, through the livingroom to the door the girls had shut to keep the bat out to get to "safety" and slid through a crack in the door to get to the other side! Phew!

We had no idea what to do and if you listen to our tones and words (in Finnish) we honestly feel kind of sorry for the bat! It must've been going around for 15 minutes before it finally got out through one of the open doors. (See video from the last entry! ;P) So that was our first real experience with bats. The poor things get confused especially during thunder storms!

Then we have a moth fly in and I get paranoid! But that story's not that interesting because we can't even find the damned thing after the initial sighting! It just sort of disappeared.

Traditional home

All this week we've been at a conference/intensive course that's a compulsory part of this exchange. It's been ok mostly, very boring at times because there are lectures/presentations all day every day. Some of them have been very interesting and some not so much. I'm not going to go into detail about what the presentations have been about so just ask if you want to know more!

Yesterday we went to the Maasai Market with the teachers from Finland, who are here for the conference. They absolutely LOVED it! I even interviewed Maria really quickly afterwards. I bought lots of stuff (ok, not lots but some). Stuff as in gifts. And I bought a beautiful dress and a clutch! I think I payed a little too much for it but it's probably the only dress I'm buying here! There are so few! :( I'd like to get some other ones too but the choices aren't to my liking in the places we've been to. The dress I found today was from MegaCity, where we frequently go food shopping because the Nakumatt there is big.

Today we went to MegaCity as well and I bought a bracelet to go with the dress I bought yesterday! Some sort of seed that's been dyed pink. I really like it! I'll wear it tomorrow to the outing to the Obamas'. The US president's dad is from around here so we're going to see where he's from. Kind of cool! In the evening we have a dinner and a dance so we get to play dress-up! Yay!

Ticket

Today we had a half-day and we went to either The Impala Park or to the Kisumu Museum. We chose the museum because it was free and we have  a chance to go to The Impala Park later if we have time and money. We're poor little students strapped for cash! ;) The museum was mostly outside and there was an aquarium, crocodiles in cages, snakes and tortoises! They were so cute the tortoises, especially the tiny small ones!

A "few" snakes

At the museum there was a "community" or family yard of a traditional African (I want to say Maasai) home. The huts were made in the traditional way from cow dung and hay and the (imaginary) husband  had three wives. I got a "tour" from one of the locals that came with us from the conference. I hope she doesn't mind that I'm using her narration in my vlog! It was very informative and I enjoyed it!

So until next time!

Lots of love, Rosie <3

A turtle upside down

Vlog links:

Day 22:

Day 23:

Day 24: 

First Week of Practice

At the hospital

So we started work practice this week at the District Hospital on Monday. I woke ups with a headache and felt nauseous. I decided to go to work even though I felt like crawling back to bed and pulling the covers over my head! It was the first day and I didn't want to miss out on anything important!

We got there long before we needed to and sat on the street waiting for the person from the university to come take us in. It was past long 8.30 and we were wondering where she was when someone came up from behind to greet us. She'd been waiting inside for us! We had no idea and apparently we were meant to call her when we got there. Nobody told us! Oh well. So we got going and stepped inside the gates.

Surgical ward

Inside the gates all we saw was run down buildings along a rocky road. This was in the middle of a city, mind you, so we were a bit stunned. nothing like I expected. I wasn't expecting anything near as fancy as in Finland but at least a building where everything was located. Instead we got ten or twelve smaller buildings connected by a pathway.

We were taken to the far corner where the reception/administration building was and were taken to a teaching room to wait for the head nurse of the hospital to come and greet us. We waited for quite a while, chatting.

When the nurse got there we introduced ourselves and she told us a little about the hospital. I don't remember anything about what she talked about! :D She had a fairly think accent, hard to understand at times. Plus a speech impediment. For example she said "hosiptal" instead of "hospital". A few of the girls looked confused! After introductions and some planning we were taken around the whole premises. The grounds are vast but everything is clearly marked, so it's not too hard to find your way around.

Surgical ward

After being taken around we went to our placement wards, two in maternity and four in the surgical ward, including me. The first day we just watched. We didn't get to do anything on our first day, but I didn't mind too much. I wouldn't have known what to do anyway!

We were all dead tired and hungry when we got back to the apartment! We barely did a thing in the evening :D Everyone went to bed early that night!

On Tuesday I felt a LOT better! We got to work practice at 7.30 am and saw a lot more than we did on the first day. nobody's in charge of us and no one person is assigned to us during work practice here, so on Tuesday I went along with a local student. He wasn't very talkative and didn't let me do very much, but I did assist him in wound cleaning a little. He took his time and seemed a little unsure about waht he was doing. In all honesty I could have done as god a job as he did, if not better! I have the aseptics down a bit better than he does but he's been there longer so I said nothing. He did a decent job but he didn't have all the appropriate stuff you'd need for wound cleaning, but that's not his fault! He can't help what tools he's given!

Before lunch I went to the operating theatre with a patient to see a toe amputation. He was a diabetic and his foot was rotten! Luckily it didn't smell or I'd have puked no doubt! The only problem I had with the theatre was, that people kept coming in and going out during surgery! And nobody used hand disinfectant even though there was a (Finnish!!!) bottle on the table! I don't thing it had ever been used! :D

Surgical ward

The rest of the day was spent looking and taking a few blood pressures. I didn't learn much but at least I had something to do!

On Wednesday I saw how they resuscitated a man. An all new experience for me! All I'm going to say about that is that here you can't expect the doctors to tell you what to do, you have to do everything yourself! Taking charge is almost unheard of here! In Finland I would've gotten direct orders from a more experienced nurse/a doctor, but here nothing. watch the video. I still (4 days later) don't know how I feel about the situation! I'll no doubt be seeing that again!

Power's out!

That night the thunder and lightning was AMAZING! I've never seen lightning hit within half a second of each other! Lightning after lightning after lightning! For a full hour! It was so beautiful! The electricity went out and kept going on and off for the rest of the night. I couldn't get a video up so I'm still a little behind on videos... Oops! :D

Because it rained on Wednesday no nurses came to work on Thursday. Apparently it's fairly normal here. The roads are blocked or flooded so people can't get to work on time or at all after a big storm like Wednesday's! So it was just 6 students and the matron of the ward. No big deal. We got on with it, but didn't get to do anything. We weren't taken along so for the most part we just sat an talked and drew with an orphaned boy.

In the afternoon a nurse came and she actually has a Finnish friend! She's eager to learn about new and better ways to treat patients and she's worked with Aussie nurses so she has the basics down very well! She said she's be our student for the day! So we taught her the Finnish way to do things. She was glad and took our teachings seriously. It felt good that at least ONE person listened and did the right thing!

Surgical ward

On Friday we were very frustrated with the whole system here! An old lady was brought in on Thursday (if I remember correctly) and she was clearly dying! She was laying in her own feces and urine and as soon as we changed the linen they were dirty again. There was nothing to do, no extra linen to change for her! I felt horrible! But at least we tried to clean her up a bit, which is more than you can say about the locals! They would've just let her lay there and barely wipe her clean. We got some wet wipes and cleaned her up with those.

maasai Market

There are things here that make my blood boil, things that could easily be fixed to better everyone's lives! Like the physiotherapy: it sounds like the physiotherapist's torturing the patients, especially the kids! I get that you have to keep everything moving so e.g. the skin of a burn victim stays elastic, but if it sounds like torture, it's not right! Especially if the patient in question is a FOUR YEAR OLD! And in pain! And he doesn't get medication BEFORE the physiotherapy! The pain relief is close to nonexistent here!  With everyone. Nobody gets pain relief.

Maasai Market

But onto happier things! :D We went to the Maasai Market on Friday after work practice and bought LOTS of stuff! I got about 50€ worth of things, mostly gifts, some stuff for myself. I loved it! There was everything you could imagine to do with Africa and Kenya! I got a few pictures in secret because they don't like it when pictures are taken.. :/ But I really want to remember what it was like here when I look back on this in 40 years! We have to go again one of these days! Before we possibly get sent back...

Speaking of getting sent back... The Marburg virus/fever: It's like the Eblola virus except deadlier. the death rate is about 80% while with Ebola it's 70% or so. Plus the symptoms develop in two weeks whereas it's three weeks with Ebola. So there have been a few cases in Uganda, right across the boarder and the students that went to Uganda aren't being sent back after the conference next week. They're either going to stay here or get sent back to Finland. Which would suck for them. But I have a sneaking suspicion that at least not all of them can stay because they barely have work placement places for us six here, so nine more would be a huge problem! But we'll see tomorrow, on Monday what happens..

Yesterday, Saturday, we went to the Kiboko Resort by Lake Victoria to the pool to get some sun because we heard it was a lot fancier than at the Kisumu Hotel where we've been going. And it didn't disappoint! The place was gorgeous! I think it's an all exclusive type of thing and wow was it amazing! We got some sun and then we decided to go on a boat ride. It lasted for an hour and I felt like I was in a wildlife documentary on the Discovery Channel or something! It was so beautiful! Lake Victoria's polluted and I'd never go swimming in there but we did see a local swimming in the lake! :O We asked out tour guide about it and he said yes, locals do swim in the lake! We were flabberghasted. Why would anyone swim in such murky waters. With crocodiles and hippos and the pollution! Speaking of hippos we saw two! A baby hippo and its' mummy! So cute! <3  no crocodiles, though.. Maybe next time!

We saw a hippo!!! :O

Day 15:

Day 16:

Day 17:

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