I went out to dinner with some co-workers. It was really fun to hang out with girls, not only my own age, but whom I work with. Over dinner they filled me in on all the games they grew up with. I could relate to some of them and others I want to try even now as an adult! They seem to have a lot of variations of the game dodgeball. We went out to Indian food which was the most expensive meal yet--meaning it was equivalent to what I would spend in the States. But it was really good! Plus, I had leftovers. Double yum. We took a matatu to the restaurant (public transport) and the particular one we took was totally hipster. We crammed into a van with blaring hip-hop music and black lights inside the interior. Once we started driving the sub-woofer kicked in and the bass was so loud it made my seat shake. Apparently there is a Swahili word for this really cool matatus. I have already forgotten it, but I bet it literally translates to something like "destroy your hearing." Still, quite an experience!
I was really excited to go to a play tonight. I even organized a whole group. We show up at the National Theater which is just around the corner from our apartments, only the find out there is no play. The play I thought was there, was actually at another theater. Oops. So we all trouped upstairs to the bar that happened to be conveniently located there. Here are we are showing just how excited we are to be at a bar rather than a play!
At work today, I spent most of my time at a press conference. I didn't really contribute much, but sure learned alot. The topic focused on human rights violations against human rights defenders in Sub-Saharan Africa. Apparently there are new and creative ways to suppress human rights workers by using legislation to control foreign funding-upon which so many NGOs rely. Therefore the governments essentially are gaining control over NGOs. There were a lot of journalists present, Kenyan and foreign alike. Absolutely fascinating.
Earlier in the week, the group visited the National Kenyatta Hospital. We visited a number of different wards, including their HIV clinic. There was a Q&A afterwards and I was able to ask a million questions regarding donor funding and have them answered by doctors, who are not only experts in their field, but also connected to UW through their research! It was very cool. I was so excited to have such experts in front of me, directly affected by an academic focus of mine, I felt like I was dominating the questioning.
There is a still a lot to think about following the hospital visit. Comparing the rural district hospital to the urban national hospital to the private hospital I went to when I was sick. The Kenyan national hospital, while large, felt like a rural US hospital with not much money. Privacy is also much different here. This time around in the wards, I noticed that while every single bed had a curtain, not a single person had it drawn. And there are an average of 6 people in each room. So different than the US.
I am leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Maasai Mara. Here is to watching the wildebeests migrate and spotting lions! Be back in a few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment