Road Trip # 2 Nakuru - a visit "home"

Out for a walk in the tea fields after work

Gloria's  parents and Tiger the guard dog

This weekend Gloria and I travelled to her home to visit her parents. It took about three hours on a mini-bus. I forgot to take a photo of the bus but as you can imagine it was a 15 seater bus with 20-25 on board. A cozy trip with lots of stops. I enjoyed snacks all along the way. Every time the bus stopped to let people on or off, ladies opened our windows to wave snacks in front of us for purchase. I couldn't help but enjoy some fresh slice pineapple at one stop, a mango at a second, then finally a bag a spicy chips at a third, then more pineapple later on.

Needless to say by the time we arrived home to Nakuru I had a hard time enjoying the wonderful lunch Gloria's mother had prepared for us.

Gloria and her Brother

Gloria's brother, Gilbert, was kind enough to drive us all the way back to Litein on Sunday afternoon.

I love listening to the worship music in church. The local Swahili songs are beautiful. On Sunday, we were able to attend Gloria's home church. Of course everyone was very excited to see her as she only returns home about once a month. 

A castle in Nakuru

While in Nakuru Gloria took me around to see the sights. We toured a castle in the country side. We toured around the city by car. Nakuru is significantly bigger than Litien. We went to a few bigger shops to make some purchases that you can not find in Litein. 

One of the many open air markets we passed by in the car on our trip back to Litein

Almost everyone I have met speaks perfect English. It is very easy to get around and to ask questions. Occasionally I have trouble with their accent, but for the most part communication is not a problem. 

I tried talking to these two tiny cutie pies in the few words of Swahili I have learned but they just starred back at me blankly. 

Morning Devotional Reading

Every morning at the hospital there is a different types of devotion. On Monday, the staff are assigned to go to different units and pray with the patients. This morning we were singing hymns and doing a short bible study and prayer. Wednesday, we will be doing a bible quiz and prayer. On Thursday all the staff meet outside under a tent for worship service followed by staff meeting/announcements. 

 

Me and my African Tree

All along the road I love looking at these beautiful trees. It reminds me of the Lion King movie. I am told it is called an Acacia tree, but I just call it an African tree.

Back at Litein hospital, we are discussing Bipap and practising applying different settings. I have been doing a ventilation lecture for the ICU staff most afternoons. So far I have not yet had a ventilated patient so it makes learning more challenging as our discussion have all been theoretical. It will be helpful to be able to apply our new learnings. The most challenging part is there is no blood gas machine at this hospital. Selecting settings and making adjustments is often a guessing game. I am making sure to make the most of my time here because I know it will go by very fast.