A very different Christmas

Unfortunately due to circumstances I have been unable to spend Christmas with the people I have come to love. Both J and I have left the country and are spending our Christmas in separate locations but we both are safe. Please pray for those who have not yet been able to leave and also for the local people we left behind as they too will be having a very different Christmas than the one that we all looked forward to.

airport adventures part 2

I arrived safely back home after the adventures from the previous flight. Most of our flights are chartered by our organization but there are times that our schedule doesn't always fit with the charter bookings. my last R&R was one of those times. Instead of flying out of country for a break, I was given permission to fly to the capital where my fiancee lives thus allowing me to see him and also save some money since its cheaper to fly direct with a "commercial" flight that many of the NGOs use out here.

The organization chartered flights are pretty relaxed for schedule depending on our pilot's later committments. sometimes we leave really early, other times we leave later. the flight time is announced to those going the night before and we all just drive or walk out to the plane together, load up, and leave. We still have to count our kgs and be within certain weight limits or have to pay extra as it does affect fuel amounts and other technical stuff but it is very relaxed and we dont worry too much about it.

The commercial flights that come and go are much different. they are very much run like flights in north america where everything is weighed, tagged, screened, and accounted for 2 hours prior to departure.

heading out to the "airport"

waiting in the "lounge", 

snacks are just up the road at the local vendor

 loading up and getting ready to go. 

then its off to the capital.

Airport adventures

Note this is another post written back in August. 

Today was a very interesting morning and its only 10am. I've been told that flights through the capital are chaotic and the team I'm working with hates travel through there but for me it is worth it to see my fiancée (and it also benefits the team as I’m the first to volunteer for this flight if someone needs to go). My arrival to the capital was to a very congested airport but that was expected and I dealt with it (though I did manage to accidentally go through the process backwards…. It actually was pretty handy as the lines were much shorter this way J ).

My flight out brought a whole new meaning to the word confusion and now I better understand why my team avoids this airport. My fiancée dropped me off at the airport and I went through the standard security screening and checking in. Again it was very confusing and congested but I actually did it in the right order this time. After waiting for about an hour at the "gate", my flight was called so I lined up and boarded the bus to go to the plane. Once we were all settled in the bus and the door was closed, the official announced that my flight was cancelled but they were still going ½ way to another town (this town was a stop on the original itinerary). At first I thought it was some sort of joke but some other guy up front got all upset and the official confirmed that it indeed was cancelled. So there I sat wondering what happens now. I wasn't interested in going to the other location but it appeared that I was headed there anyways. We all got off the bus at the plane and most people started grabbing their luggage to board the plane except those of us wanting to go to the cancelled location. I grabbed my stuff and asked the guy what to do next and was told my portion of the flight was cancelled and it was only going to the first town - no other explanation. Soon after my bag was put on a truck and I was directed back to the bus to return to the terminal for which I was very thankful. As crazy as the morning was, I was totally happy that I could stay an extra day in the capital with my fiancée and  my flight was rebooked for the next day. And yes I did fly out the next day J

A new day and a new city (3rd location in under 4 days)

post written back in August

After a busy few days of shopping n the big city I headed to a different big city where my fiancée lives. I have to admit this is where the culture shock affected me the most. I had been warned that at some point I would feel overwhelmed with the big city after living in my remote location and I expected it to happen in the first city I was in as it was bigger and more modern. A huge contrast to the life I have been living. It didn’t affect me then but I sure felt it in this new location. The interesting thing is I had a much better understanding of what life was like from chatting with my fiancée and also seeing some pics/videos sent me over the years compared to the first big city. One of the first things I noticed is how much of both the big city and the rural areas there was mixed together to create its own uniqueness. Looking back I think this was the biggest factor in the culture shock as I couldn’t seem to process the combination of city and rural life in one place. I also noticed my preconceived perception from conversations and pictures was much different. Some things were bigger than I imagined and some were smaller. Overall it was a lot to process the first few days and had my brain working in overtime. I don’t even if there is a good way to explain all the thoughts/feelings I had going through my mind as even I didn't really understand my own thought processes.  It was like I knew what to do and expect yet I didn’t feel like I belonged and knew what was going to happen. It was definitely a weird feeling.

gardening

Since there are very limited foods available in the market many people on our team have started their own gardens.  SO far they are growing well out here. We are even getting some squash, pumpkin, tomato, and watermelon growing randomly on the compound. All of these foods will be beneficial and enjoyable when they are ripe and ready to eat. Next challenge will be my own herb garden. I think that will be next year though as seeds are hard to come by.

 the large garden with lots of tomatoes 

(the tomatoes unfortunately didn't survive)

garden with lots of pumpkin/squash

Giving blood

The need for blood is worldwide. We are all walking blood banks in one sense and out here that is truly more literal. There is no blood storage bank so when blood is needed, the local hospital checks family members for blood matches. If no family members match or if family is unavailable they check their donor list for potential matches and start calling people to see if they can come give blood. I got one such call a few weeks after being put on that list so off I went with a friend to the local hospital to give blood. In my past experience giving blood back in Canada it was a long process of getting a finger prick (to make sure my blood levels where high enough to donate), a long questionnaire, then some sticker thing to put on my bag to indicate if I really did want to give my blood or not, a chat with someone who again reviews if I want/am able to give blood and then I’m off to actually give the blood. Cookies and juice always follow J   Out here the process is somewhat different.  I chatted briefly with the lab tech and told her that I did not have the standard disease for which they are concerned (Hep A,HepB, HIV,AIDs, etc) and she then took a small vial of my blood to test for the above mentioned diseases, checked that I had enough to give,  check my blood type and ensure my blood was compatible with the patient’s. Once this was confirmed she went ahead and started the actual donation process which is pretty much the same as my past experiences. A BIG needle gets jabbed into my arm. This is attached to a tube that connects to a bag which collects my blood. It took about 20 minutes for me to give the blood and once it was done a nurse took the bag and went to give it to the patient. No fridge storage or any transport. Just blood there when you need it. 

cutting trees

One of our team members was able to trim many of the trees on our compound. The finished open space looked great but resulted in lots of branches that needed to be cleaned up. Most of the smaller branches with their leaves made good food for the local goats and the bigger branches make good posts for future fences. This means we have to cut the smaller branches from the big ones to clean things up. This is the fun part of things. It’s great to be able to grab a panga (Kenyan version of a machete) and clean off the branches. I’m not sure if it’s the type of wood or the panga that makes it easy but its simple to do J. Once the branches are clean the harder work of lugging the small leafy branches to the fence and tossing them over starts. These branches are quickly eaten clean by the hungry local goats. At times it seems easier to just let the goats into the compound for lunch instead of tossing them over the fence however there are some dogs who would enjoy it for other reasons……and I don’t think the goats would have much of a meal thus defeating the entire plan.