After many months of life on the coast, E and I are taking the roadshow to a new venue, known to Kenyans as “upcountry”. Geographically, it is further north from where we are now, and altitude-wise, it is also up, about 8,000 feet up where we’re going.
The actual experimental portion of the vaccine research has wrapped up, and the UTI project is thankfully going well and can continue in my absence for a while, so we’re taking the opportunity to head up to Kijabe to see what life is like there. As mentioned in earlier blogs, there’s a hospital there that was started nearly 100 years ago by African Inland Missions, and has since grown to be one of the largest and best hospitals in all of Kenya. The population that it serves is still largely the destitute, as I saw in Msambweni, but the standard of care is higher, as they are better staffed and have relatively more resources. I’ve been in touch with several of the surgeons there, and they’ve invited me to do a rotation there for two weeks. E selflessly encouraged me to do this rotation, even though it means that she can’t teach her kids this month and will have to find other projects to occupy herself with while in Kijabe. She’s too good for me, I swear.
Though we’re not leaving Kenya for almost a month, we’ve packing up most of our things to taken them to Nairobi. It’s amazing that we’re already at the point of “last this” and “last that”. Nine months has seriously flown by. We’re just trying to cherish these last few weeks here, as we realize that we were so blessed to have this opportunity, and we’re likely going to have only one shot at living in a foreign country before we start a family, so we’d better enjoy it! Definitely looking forward to another chapter in our lives when we get home, but the African nostalgia is starting to set in.
Stay tuned for updates from upcountry!
M
This next phase will be a good one for you both. Having adapted so seamlessly into your now familiar Kenya, this new area and your rotation here will be a good segue to "real life" back in America. The two of you are so good for each other, and I am so thrilled when I see the mutual appreciation and care of one another. It's very special.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more upcountry posts; for some reason I thought the last and final entry was E's last one, so this is a treat. Congratulations on the experiments going so well, and absorb and savor.
I know someone who is really, really looking forward to driving to an airport on a certain day in May. :)
XOXOXOXOX,
Linda/Mom