We’ve now been in Arusha for 3 days and I think we’re kinda starting to get the hang of things. We still haven’t really figured out what we’re going to do for dinner on a daily basis but hopefully we’ll figure that out soon. Going out for food can really add up and it would be really nice to have a place to ourselves where we could cook our own meals. Dr. Lee is checking out a place for us so we’ll see what turns up.
This weekend has been fun getting to explore the area and today we got to go on a hike where everything in terms of plants and bugs is 50x bigger than anything we’ve got in the states. We got to hike up to our friend Roger’s village at the top of Mt Meru. We got into the village just as church was finishing and got to hear them singing which was so beautiful and amazing. Roger later told us as Lindsay and I were goofing around singing on our hike that they think European/American women have beautiful voices. We thought that was pretty funny considering we thought they had beautiful voices and harmonies (and considering that Lindsay is tone deaf). Some of his friends came up and talked to us (in excellent English) and asked where we were from. When we said we were from the west coast, he flipped open his book and in the back there was a world map and sure enough, there was Portland!!
We continued our hike into a national forest area where we bumped into a few other tourists and got a bit muddy hiking to find a waterfall. It definitely was no hike for wimps. We were hopping over rocks, climbing up a few spots that were almost straight up and the last 45 minutes or so to get to the village was at a 45 degree incline. Roger was running it as we were carefully trying to find our footing. Apparently he runs it every morning for a workout and then runs back down. Go figure… Upon leaving the village the rest of the hike to the waterfall was down a narrow path that was very muddy and we were very careful not to slip, except for Roger of course. Once we got down to the stream, we hiked in the stream for most of the way up to the waterfall. We took a ton of pictures, which we’ll post if we get a chance here, but it may need to wait until we get back to the states with faster internet. Needless to say, we definitely got our exercise in for the day and will be sore tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow… we start at Mt Meru in the morning. We will be starting together on Ob/Gyn and then likely split up once we feel a bit more comfortable. But we thought for at least the first few days, sticking together and learning our way around the hospital and meeting the staff would be a good idea.
Our trip thus far has mostly been fun and exploring, but I think the real reality of why we’re here hits tomorrow. On Friday when Dr Lee took us to The Blue Heron, we bumped into some nursing and medical students from the UK who were not exactly thrilled with their experience here at the hospital. I think they were very taken aback at what they saw, and we might be as well. I’d like to think that we’re a bit better prepared and understanding of the things that we’ll encounter in the coming weeks, but only time will tell. Some of the things that I am glad to know before we start are 1) “Shikamoo” is the greeting of respect for an elder or superior. 2) They do not by any means have the same resources that we do and are much more rustic in their approach to women in labor, for example. And 3) go with the flow. We didn’t come here to preach at them, fix the system, or perform miracles. We came to be an extra pair of hands to help with what they do every day.
We’ve had the chance to meet plenty of fellow travelers including some UN interns at the Greek Club Sports Bar where we were watching the USA vs Ghana game. A very sad loss, but even more sad was the fact that many of the other Americans in the bar were the obnoxious ones that give us a bad name in foreign countries. We also discovered that there were a couple Canadians at the bar as well who noticed us being dorky tourists and taking pictures holding the World Cup sign. We found out this morning that they were staying at the same hostel! Sadly they left today, but it was nice to meet some other English-speaking friends and hear about their travels. They’ve been traveling to different places around the world since last fall and had some great stories.
We’ve also met a girl from Boston/DC/Arizona named Daaimah (pronounced die-ee-mah) who has been very friendly and helpful and we’ve all become fast friends. She’s here with SIC (Students for International Change) doing some inventory on how projects over here are going. She’s worked for a vaccine company in the past and was trying to study for and take the MCAT but her work schedule was just too busy. We think she’s still interested in applying for med school at some point, but she’s got her hands full for now! She’s going to be here until the end of July and we’ve talked about going on Safari together before she leaves.
The people here are all very friendly, but we definitely get stared at a lot. As Linds said in her blog, I think we’re all getting a little tired of being stared at and called “mzungu” (white person) but I guess it’s something that we’ll have to get used to. The kids are adorable and typically either run when we wave or give us a huge smile back. One asked Lindsay to take his picture, laughed when she showed it to him and then apparently got mad that she didn’t say “bye” and threw some sort of dried branch at her. We’ve also discovered that they like to “pound it” instead of high five, which is very entertaining.
For all the mzungu’s back home… =)
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