Wooden Spoons and Presents

While we were gone, the Kilimanjaro Marathon took place here in Moshi. People from all over, including Kenya, Uganda etc… come to run it. Rachel ran the 5 k while our other friends Junior and Nathan ran the half marathon. I’m bummed I missed it and heard it was amazing.

Jasen was gone when we got back, but we got a new addition to our family. Zawaidi (meaning gift/present). Our neighbor’s dog had puppies so Rachel and I went to town and found flea shampoo along with a flea collar then we washed her and brought her home. She is this Chihuahua/rat dog looking thing with Rotteweiler coloring. She takes turns sleeping curled up next to us. She was cute the first week, but then after she chewed through two of my earphones, pooped in Jordan’s shoe along with everywhere else, peed on my shirt, and refuses to learn, I am at the point where I may just drop-kick her the next time I have to clean up after her. She leaves us more “gifts” then she is herself. After we all leave, she will be living with Craig, who absolutely adores her and all her evil.

The week was somewhat slower, which was nice for a change. It was Anna’s (the Austrian girl from the hospital) last week so we made sure to spend a lot of time with her. Rachel and I toured pediatrics and followed Philipo on rounds. It was very slow pace and it seems all the kids either had malaria or pneumonia or both.

After work on Tuesday we walked to Memorial, which is a huge, outside, second hand market with basically all the clothes that America didn’t want and we dumped in Africa. Some of the tags still say Goodwill and Value Village on them.

Fatuma, left for Arusha early that week to visit her mom who was sick. Her cousin, Frida, came to take her place. She is the cutest and sweetest African I think I have ever met. I got a call later that week while I was in the middle of stitching someone up that Fatuma’s mom had died that day. I didn’t even know what to say. How can you comfort someone who has just experienced that kind of loss and you have no way of relating to.

Besides Zawaidi’s constant accidents, and trying to situate our bug nets, our biggest struggle was Jordan’s bed. One night when we sat on it, the corner gave in and snapped. We looked under it and discovered it was being held together with a huge wooden spoon. We tried to jimmy-rig it every night to keep her from falling, but she eventually had to move to the top bunk.

This weekend was another slow one. We took Anna out as a final goodbye, lounged out at the coffee shop for a few hours, bought fabric to make dresses for only $4, and then cooled off in the pool at the YMCA. When we started to do actual swim strokes, all the Africans got so excited and were shouted, “Look! They’re swimming.” They then proceeded to attempt to imitate us. I guess some stereotypes are true.

Sunday, Jordan and I said goodbye to Rachel as she started her six day mountain climb up Kilimanjaro. We spent the day doing laundry, putting wraps in our hair, reading, tearing down the broken bunk bed and setting up the new bunk bed. That was an adventure and what should have taken about 20 minutes ended up taking more than two and a half hours. The bolts didn’t match up with half the holes because there were three new bunk beds and it was a gamble if we got the right pieces or not. In addition, the only tool we had was a pair of pliers. Even after three missing bolts and some shady tightening, the bed is sturdier than mine, so it should work…at least for now.

Three more volunteers showed up on Sunday and Monday as well. A 20 year old named Kali, from California, and then a couple Naiomi and Ami from New York or Canada or something. Kali and Naiomi went to the hospital with me and Ami with Jordan to the orphanage. I didn’t see much of either of them as Naiomi is a pediatrician and Kali is a nurse’s assistant.

I was left alone for the most part in minor theatre this week. The doctors would come in and ask if I was okay, and I would reply yes but I’m all alone. They would just smile and say okay well I’m around if you need me, and then leave before I could answer. We had more thieves come in with handfuls of lacerations, one of them had his ear cut in half. We also had three amputations and two c sections.

Friday we went to a reggae concert with a huge group. The band was actually the same one we had met in Arusha a few weeks back and that work with an orphanage there teaching kids how to play instruments. The next day was Kali’s last day and we went to town where an unexpected flash flood had us all dancing in the rain while the locals looked at us like we were on crack.

I have literally spent the entire day today reading, writing blogs, eating and occasionally peeing. It’s been awesome. Hopefully we’ll have internet tomorrow and I can finally post them all.