Safari Iliyofana: The Bora List

Habari zenu? What news of you all? We are back in Nairobi, which means our time here in Kenya is very near its end. This being a blog, us being bloggers, today being at the end of a period of time, we feel obligated to sum up the past two months with our very first "Best Of" List. We just couldn't rank the winners in some of these categories. Other categories, clearly, deserve only one nominee.

Be warned. This one's gotten long. And away we go...

Best New Friends

Philip & Robina- We've described already the generous hospitality shown us by our favorite double date companions. Philip & I accomplished more in the last few weeks than either of us reasonably hoped for at the outset of our project. I have really enjoyed our work together thus far and think we share the understanding that this will be the first of many joint projects to come. Robina was endlessly tolerant of my presence in Philip's room into the late hours and more endlessly gracious in taking care of me while there. Anne & I look forward to taking Philip & Robina up on their invitation to the Masai Mara next time we're here.

Lillian & Mojo - In addition to being a favorite student on my medicine team, Lillian took care of me in the market, showed me shops around town (including the ice cream factory), and taught me how to cook Ugali, among other things.

Dennis - My newest friend in my intern class, Dennis took us to the Busia and Port Victoria AMPATH clinics. He invited us to his house for nyama choma last weekend, and we spent some quality time with his wife, and three darling children.

Judy - I spent time with Judy last year during her elective at Brown. She's destined for great things in medicine, but she just doesn't have the patience for success teaching Kiswahili... to me.

Barb - A senior resident from Utah, Barb has plans to follow medicine to the upper reaches of the planet, working in Nepal and building on her past experience in high-altitude medicine. She went running with Anne & I on two occasions. Running up from the floor of the Rift Valley with a local Kenyan runner seemed a little more her style. Her husband, Peter, is a (the?) coach of US Nordic Skiing Team... which is pretty bad-ass.

Dave - We first worked together as intern & third-year student at the VA in Providence, which is the closest we come to a resource-poor setting in Providence. It turns out we stick needles into things with even less preparation here in Eldoret. He's headed to New Haven and fatherhood in the coming months.

Anand - An IU resident headed home to Baltimore & a hospitalist job. Anand was my resident on the medical wards and was very good at answering the question "so, what would we do in the states for ____?"

Honorable mention, of course, to all the old friends whom we worked and came to know much better. They were, however, disqualified on a technicality.

Favorites in the IU House Family

Dunia & Chelimo - Sisters, Dunia & Chelimo run the show at IU House. We were all very excited about plans to meet Dunia's family and share a hookah in a completely appropriate & legal cultural exchange... plans which were derailed by a ill-timed bout of gastroenteritis. Next time...
Margaret - A warm and motherly housekeeper at IU House & hostess at church.
Joseph Kimani et al. - One of the crew of guards on constant watch at IU House, Joseph or "Kim" was also a demanding training partner, preferring to finish runs first with a backwards run back up the hill & then a sprint to the bottom.

Peninah & Julius - The mother & father of the IU House dining room, both in Peninah's choir, last seen singing & dancing on the back porch behind the kitchen.
Naomi, Leah & Lucky - The younger generation in the family of Peninah & Julius, they were a nightly presence in the IU House dining & computer rooms, and the nighttime keymasters to the pantry.
Benson, Simon & Kelvin - Unofficial social chairs for visiting students & residents.
Gabriel* - To leave IU House, we pass through one gate & then another gate. Gabriel works six days a week at that other gate. All the hours without the IU House benefits. He always warmly received my Kiswahili greeting of the day, regardless of whether the sounds spoken made sense.

Favorite Foods

Ugali - Delicious, starchy, and tricky to make, though its only ingredients are flour and water.
Sukuma wiki - "Kales", translates to "push the week", suggesting that it fills those meals on days when shillings are especially tight.
Chapati - If you are a fan of tortilla, naan, flatbread, pita bread... chapati is better than the all those stacked up.
Samaki - I made substantial progress in my ability to eat the fish and not eat the bones. Philip sets the bar high. Practice, practice, practice.
Orange Fanta - A ballpark estimate, I drank upwards of 30,000 mL of Fanta. I love the stuff and somehow will not drink a drop once back on US soil.

White Cap Light (Kenyan light beer)
Mango (in Peninah's nightly fruit salad)

Favorite Patients

Annette - My first patient on the wards, who was carried into the Hospital and walked triumphantly out.

Victor - An adorable child who suffered years of abuse, eventually landing in AMPATH's orphans and vulnerable children division. We started out with a handshake, but when he was discharged I received a big hug.

Josephat - Truly a miracle, after 38 days in the ICU, smiling.

Faith - Enduring a 6 week hospital stay with grace and a friendly greeting during rounds.

Most Challenging Illnesses (AKA Most Common Illnesses on MTRH Wards) - This category deserves and hopefully will receive far more reflection than it will get right here.

Rheumatic Heart Disease
AIDS
Tuberculosis

Favorite Kenyan Medicine Terms

Hotness of Body (fever)
Awareness of Heartbeat (palpitations)
Branula (IV)
Sister (nurse)

Best Places in Eldoret

Roads surrounding IU House feat. the River Path - I had some of the best runs ever, and Joe spotted famous marathoners such as Ezekiel Kemboi.

Eldoret Cathedral

Bench in front of the Student Hostel - Best place to socialize.
Queen Chic - This restaurant has the best and biggest Ugali portions, plus fast service and chips masala.

Best Chorus in the "Barack Obama" Song

The "Barack Obama" chorus

Obama!

Best Medical Student Hostel Dorm Room

1-25L - Philip & I conducted the majority of nearly thirty interviews in his dorm room. More than a full day's worth of me at the foot of the bed with my back to the wall, audiorecorder near my left knee, Fanta to my right, Philip overseeing the operation overall.

Best Salespeople in Eldoret

Molo - One of the things Molo sells is metal clothes hangers. He occupies a choice location on the end of an especially industrial strip of market about a half mile from the medical wards, which are full of patients in desperate need of IV fluids but too often lacking IV stands. Molo quickly earned my business, that business being the task of turning clothes hangers into IV hangers. My interns quickly declared it the "best thing you've done".

Monica - Enthusiastic market woman who gave free bananas and Swahili lessons

Max - The gatekeeper to all things taxi for most of the IU House crowd... and yet another patient Kiswahili teacher.

Best Sightings on Safari

Sunset, Day Two

Two lions under a bush six feet away

Elephant baby
Vervet monkey baby (Close runner-up in the Vervet Monkey category is the electric blue monkey scrotum)

Birds on giraffe neck and buffalo nose. (Of note, those ears.)

Favorite Intern

Juma - At one point working without a co-intern, Resident, or attending, Juma managed a team of 40 something very sick patients during his first month of internship. I cannot imagine doing that come July.
Kairu, Pita, Omar, Blano - Fact is, all the interns claim the distinction of taking care of many, many sick patients with inadequate guidance or supervision, but plenty of gusto. This is an incredibly hard-working bunch.

Favorite Phrases Inexplicably Written on Matatus
(Please allow one more day in Nairobi for full data collection)

Favorite Kenyan Politician Traveling on our Flight to Nairobi

William Ruto - The Kenyan Agriculture Minister has been in the news frequently in the past two months. There was a "Maize Scandal" which I was never fully able to figure out. A maize shipment had been lost, stolen or otherwise mishandled, and blame landed on Ruto. There was a censure motion in Parliament, watched and listened to by most Kenyans, it seemed. He made it out with his political life but may have had to agree to reinstate some other Minister recently kicked out over corruption. That's either a gross oversimplification or a rational explanation where there is none. More recently, he was tagged as the Minister most likely to have been the Kenyan Minister banned from the US permanently for his corruption. We knew something was amiss when a helicopter landed at the Eldoret airport. I stared as much as I could to confirm his was the mug so frequently on the front page of The Nation.