Glucose

Describing low blood sugar has always been difficult for me.  I used to just go the easy way out and say "it's hard to understand unless you have it" and end the conversation there.  It seemed to be a lot easier and a lot less awkward than going into full details of something that I'm not even sure I completely understand.  But lately so many people have been asking that I felt I should design a "no questions", clear-cut, no interpretation, factual way to explain being low.  Well, at least for now, because the proportions change person to person, day to day.  

Recipe for a low blood sugar:

4 cups desire to sleep for 8 days straight

1 cup awkward giggles

1/2 cup extreme anger

2 tbsp spinning scenery

1 tsp trembling

1 gallon urge to eat enough food for 2 full days and usually proceeding to do so

2 tbsp vibrating tongue (I realize this is weird)

3 tsp tingly stomach

3 cups need to lie face first on a tile floor because it is cold   

1/2 cup feeling very out of shape (aka walking down stairs causes you to be out of breath)

1 cup not making sense and getting frustrated that nobody understands

3/4 cup denial

1 pt copious amounts of sweat

2 cups desire to do absolutely nothing for the rest of your life

Put in the freezer soaked in juice for 15 minutes, check and retreat if necessary.

Oh and although lows have been pretty normal here, the treatment is getting pretty cool.  They literally have cookies named glucose.  Aka perfect for lows!  And the funny part is that their slogan is eat healthy, think better.  Not sure if cookies literally named glucose are healthy, but since they say they are I am going to eat as I please...which could end badly.  Very badly. 

Rainforests in Kenya???

For our non-program day today we picked the option of going to a nearby town to see a different market and go for a hike to have a picnic lunch.  What they forgot to say was that this hike was going to be the most gorgeous scenery in the world.  It was like Lion King: rainforest edition.  Lush plants and a 20 foot waterfall makes for one of the most beautiful gorges I have ever seen.., not that I have seen that many really.  And of course all with some of the coolest people I have ever met makes it all the better. 

After the hike we traveled to a local AIDS support group.  Three women started this place after being tested HIV positive and it is really just an incredible place.  They offer test results for free and have regular support groups for those affected by HIV.  They not only provide education about nutrition and drugs but also emotional support.  What moved me the most was that one lady said her entire family stopped going to visit her in the hospital once they realized it was HIV and that she wasn’t able to come back to her community and her church no longer accepted her.  There is this huge stigma about HIV/AIDS and one of the main goals of the AIDS support group is to educate people and get rid of the stigma by talking with community members and even schools.  Seeing first hand just how much hard work and passion goes into this was definitely uplifting and inspiring.

But since I can’t get over how beautiful the hike was I wanted to share with you pictures which at least attempt to give it justice…

Beautiful corn fields

Hey there beautiful!

Waterfall, in case you didn't know

The group

Balance isn't my strong suit

Shower Power

Showering in Kenya is quite the adventure.  They have a door, your own separate stall and a shower head, all of which you would expect going into the shower.  The water is ice cold unless you go when the generator is on, but you also have to be in the hot shower and be tall enough to turn the switch on, which being vertically challenged is a struggle for me.  The generator is "generally" on from 7-11 pm which by the way it is completely dark out and anytime at dinner or after you have to be wearing close toed shoes and pants to be safe from the poisonous snakes so flipflops can only be worn in the shower.  Putting on sneakers while wet, not so fun.  But all of these things don't really bug me that much, but the bugs do!! (no pun intended).  They literally dive bomb your head the whole shower, everything from grasshoppers to beetles to baby rhinos (beetles that have a huge horn and are about half the size of a fist).  Oh and by the way if you want a warm one it is dark so you can't even see them coming.  Showering with a headlamp is quite dangerous because although it allows you to see whether you are putting sparkly body lotion or shampoo in your hair it also attracts 5 times the amount of bugs.  So you will end up with beetle shampoo which frankly I'm not sure is healthy for your hair.  So over the weeks I've decided that the warm water is just not worth the craziness of showering at night and that ice cold water has more benefits than you would think.

Safari Numero Dos

Once again we ventured into Amboseli National Park and worked alongside the Kenya Wildlife Service to create a total count for the entire park.  We got to offroad which was the coolest thing ever and we pretty much thought we were gonna die sometimes.  We also had to push the car out of mud twice...to which I volunteered to "document" both experiences haha.  We got split up into sections of the park by vehicle and luckily my group got to go in the car with my favorite professor, Shem.  He takes approximately 9 minutes to respond to any sort of question and when I say respond I mean that he stares at you, rubs his arm for an awkwardly long time, half rolls his eyes and then says "ok fine".  It doesn't matter if it is a comment or a question the "response" is the same.  At first I hated it and was like can you show some sort of enthusiasm but he is really growing on me.  

Speaking of Shem... so a lot of people went to Club Kimana the other night but me and a couple people stayed back to catch up on work and chill.  So I decided to go for a walk on the trail around the camp right before dinner.  Since everybody else was either in the chumba doing work or at club Kimana I knew it was a safe time to be absolutely ridiculous.  So I was listening to my ipod, singing fairly loudly (and singing is most definitely not my strong suit), and occasionally busting out some dance moves...basically having a good old time knowing that nobody would see.  Promiscuous girl comes on my ipod and I hadn't heard that song in forever so obviously I start jamming even though it is totally not Kenya appropriate.  So I'm singing loudly and dancing and all of a sudden I hear footsteps coming up behind me.  I panicked and turned around slowly to see Shem jogging up beside me.  I quickly muttered Jambo Shem, Habari?  To which he answered... "Wow, that's nice. Ok fine. Kwaheri." and kept on running.  So obviously I was mortified and kept looking back every 3 seconds the whole rest of my walk.  I haven't seen him since but it could be quite interesting when he returns from his days off...but nonetheless he's my new favorite.  

Oh and so back to the Safari...here are my favorite pictures.  Enjoy!

Craziest thing ever.  A giraffe lying down!

Date night

Road block

Sad elephant, Happy elephant

Homestay

Sorry about the lack of updates.  The internet crashed for the past week but a lot has happened so many posts will be coming soon!  Love you guys!

A week ago I did a home stay and lived the life of a Maasai woman for the entire day.  I went with my bandamate Ana to a boma with just two homes to stay with a lady named Lydia.  The mommas were informed to not change any part of their daily routine and so we really did not know what to expect going into it considering every family has a different routine.  My momma’s routine consisted of making chai (tea with milk and sugar aka the most delicious thing ever), fetching water, getting firewood, cooking lunch, cleaning the home, and making more chai.  Overall it has been my favorite day here.  I felt so involved and welcomed regardless of the language barrier.  At the same time I was continually impressed with the strength, wisdom, and love of my host momma.  And of course I’m in love with the kids.  My extreme love for the sassy diva teenagers of Whispering Pines is being transferred to the little munchkins in Africa and I just can’t resist giving them a giant hug.  But as great as it was a couple of things went slightly wrong during the homestay…

1) my cooking skills are subpar… we set up some small sticks and lit them followed by covering them in charcoal to create smoke to boil the water for the chai.  Lydia motioned to me to put the pot of water on the charcoal.  This apparently meant setting it on the charcoal but instead I poured the bucket onto the charcoal therefore filling the entire kitchen with smoke and causing an evacuation.  However, many laughs followed so I was again at ease.

2) I need to start lifting weights… I asked Lydia in my minimal Swahili if I could help her with the large water jug at the swamp.  We had trekked a kilometer to fetch water and I thought I would offer.  She let out a laugh and then said okay.  As soon as she put it on my head I realized why she laughed.  It was so heavy that I could barely stand with it on my head, nevermind carry it a kilometer.  Lydia quickly realized and gave me a gallon jug to carry instead. 

3) I like feeling like a warrior… When we went to fetch firewood I carried a machete and although it was a miserable fail trying to chop the firewood with it (I found using my feet easier) I felt super awesome to be carrying that with a pile of firewood on my back.  It was awesome.

4) Always find out the word for bathroom in the language being spoken… I was going to try and hold it considering I knew it would be a bush I would use at best, but by the time lunch came around I could not hold it any longer.  I tried saying a couple of words that I thought meant bathroom but she took me into a room with a chair.  I was pretty sure that she didn’t just want me to pee on the floor but I quickly realized that it was just a washroom and not the toilet.  Finally after a full on charades game of acting out going to the bathroom she realized what I meant.  A classy hole in the ground a short walk away from the home was what I needed and sign language definitely works miracles.

But I can’t really explain how much fun and what an experience it was through words so I uploaded some of my favorite pictures for you to enjoy.  And I will forever be grateful for running water in my home because in case you didn’t know….water is heavy.  

I love cats!

My favorite kid in the entire world!

Me and my momma

I want one...or two

My host family and the neighbors

Love <3

Playing some games

My host family

Host mom and dad

I've drank more tea on this trip than my entire life combined

Collecting firewood

Love my bandamate!

Fetching water...I wanted to cry

Perfect

The past few nights I've decided to go on a hike around the campus before dinner, mostly to see the bush babies hanging out in a certain tree every night at 6:30.  Also, for a little bit of alone time considering the amount of time we spend together.  But Africa is always full of surprises and I have seen the most incredible sunsets and luckily I brought my camera on the last two so that I could share them with you.  I've never been super into sunsets.  Sure they are pretty and relaxing and even romantic if you will.  It is not to say that I didn't enjoy them, but they never seemed to catch my eye the way they do now.  I'm not really sure what is different about the sunsets here.  Maybe it's the Lion King feel of the Acacia Umbrella trees.  Or maybe it is the bright colors standing out from the brown brush from the drought.  Or maybe it is the fact that you can see for miles out in the distance.  Or maybe, just maybe, it's that end of the day, what could be more perfect than listening to the birds, watching the sunset, keeping an eye out for zebra herds kind of feeling that I just hope will stay with me forever.  I hope that every sunset I see for the rest of my life brings back the memories of Africa and that every day will feel as perfect as these do.  Because right now I can't think of anything better than this.

Love my bandamate Ana!

WTS

There is this thing in East Africa.  It's called WTS (Weird Tropical Shit).  It's this crazy illness that varies from person to person with an unknown cause, unknown length, and unknown symptoms.  Exactly two weeks in I contracted it.  I won't go into the nasty details but let's just say I'm glad to have recovered and I apologize for slacking on the blog posts.

I went to the nearby clinic, which apparently is the best in the country outside of Nairobi and it was seriously one of the most incredible places I have ever been to.  If you know anything about me you will know that I am not too keen on the doctor’s office thing.  But after just a couple hours there, let’s just say that I already got the contact information to volunteer there at the end of the program.  Another post on that later.  

Quick update on the past few days.  I milked a cow.  Or at least I tried to.  I would say about 50/50 on the amount of milk that ended up in the bucket vs my skirt.  I have to say that maybe I should have gone to UConn after all so I would have this life skill.

We also took another game drive through Amboseli National Park on our way to a tourist lodge.  We got to lay out by the pool and yell at vervet monkeys not to eat all of our food and watch lizards chase each other under our feet.  I wouldn’t call it relaxing, however it was interesting to see other mzungu (white people).  People were decked out in the typical khaki zip-off pants, wide brim hats and button up quick dry shirts.  Sunscreen in one hand, camera in the other, and binoculars around the neck.  Just like in movies.

Today we did a homestay but I don’t have the time or energy to even express in words how wonderful it was right now.  So that update will be coming later as well.  But the updates will pick up again now that WTS has been defeated.  Well that is as long as I don’t get bitten by a black momba on my way to the banda.  Goodnight!

Oh and ps.  I uploaded a lot of the pictures from the last few posts so they should show now! :-) Sorry about that.