In Kenya

So ladies and gents, I have left NYC and am currently in Nairobi, Kenya. It was an eventful day of travel. The trip over to London was ok. Thank the good lord that British Airways still accepts luggage that is 70lbs and under. So I didn’t have to pay any overweight charges. The flight was late leaving JFK but it was ok going over. I watched Dreamgirls, and that was good as well as slept. Then we get into Heathrow and would you know we are an hour late. we got in after 9 and my connection to Nairobi left just after 10, boarding closed at 10. so u know that I was booking it to get there on time. Then they decided to enforce the one hand luggage rule so I had to go check my little suitcase in. it’s a good thing I had to do that, cause they said that I had a seat change so the boarding pass I had was no good,.. basically, ‘you have to get a new one at the gate’. This is like 20 to 10 and it was such a friggin long way to the transfer. Neways I went through security and get to the ticket counter and would you know there was a line, so I spoke to an agent, told him the situation and he looked at the line and said, u better just go to BA info desk in the concourse and get the boarding pass there. So I went running upstairs, got to the desk and found out that I had been upgraded, so that was very cool and worth it. Then u should have seen me running through the airport to get to the gate. I did get there on time and boarded. But wouldn’t you know that the plane started to have trouble. They lost auxiliary power and so for a while we were in darkness and we had to wait till they fixed or semi-fixed the problem. Again the flight over was uneventful, thank the lord. But we had the same power problem once we landed and had to be towed in to the gate, after about 20-30 we finally disembarked. I got through immigration quick cause as a Jamaican I don’t need a visa for Kenya, so I didn’t have to join the long line to buy a visa for US$50. Then I waited for my luggage, and only my hand luggage came. So I was luggage-less, since the connection in London was so tight. Neways… that is all fixed now, I got my luggage 2 days later. It’s a good thing that I pack clothes and underwear in my hand luggage.

Ok so my impressions of Africa, Kenya specifically…… its cool. Very much like Jamaica. So much so its freaky. I mean vegetation, the trees and plants, the city, the dirt, amazing. Writing about it now I feel overwhelmed. It really gives me a sense that some part of me comes from here. And that some things that I love about my country originated here. Man god is amazing……tears just came to my eyes cause…. I can’t believe I am here. U all know that Africa is a place I had always wanted to visit, and to actually be here….. its just amazing. Neways.. for those of you who will understand, Nairobi has a feel of Mobay minus the beach…. In terms of the city centre itself, it doesn't feel as metropolitan as Kingston, the red dirt (very Bauxite), the buses and the people give you a feel of a very, very big country town like Ewarton, Linstead, May Pen etc. The faces of the People are mainly African in features, where as at home we will have a lot of mixed features due to our mixed heritage. There are whites, and lots of Indians in Kenya. I haven’t seen many orientals, though there are a few here…

the pics in this post (which i will upload later, it takes FOREVER) are of my friend'shouse, where I am staying. They literally have a farm on the property, and so grow most of what we eat, which I think is just amazing. They have all kinds of things, corn, broccoli, lots of bananas, onions, lettuce, all sorts of veggies and flowers. They also have chickens…there is a river running through the property and I saw some fruit that I had never seen before. They were tree tomatoes. So there is a pic of me trying them. They were ok, the taste is like a tomato but not, its was like a mixture of fruits, but I couldn’t pick the particular fruits that combined to give it its taste. It was weird not being able to pick them. so lets just say it tastes like itself….lol. The family are just simply lovely people. They are very impressive and I can see where my friend gets some of her traits, likes and dislikes from. Her sisterdoes some things just like she does. U can’t miss knowing that they are sisters. So I’ts cool to be staying with them.

Kenya has a large flower exporting industry. Did u know that over 50% of the flowers in Europe comes from Kenya. For that reason, flowers are cheap, cheap here. Cause they are on the equator the roses grow straight cause the light source stays pretty constant. They have optimal placement in terms of altitude and such. So it is a big industry and lots of research goes into it to get various combinations of colours etc. so it’s very cool. There is also a national park with all the wildlife in the middle of Nairobi. Its crazy, so I will be going there, as you all know that if I see animals then I’m happy. So I’ll keep you up to date with that.

In terms of what I will be doing here, I went to the hospital on Friday, I started today, Monday. I will be doing 2 weeks surgery and 2 weeks Paediatrics. I started with plastics today. I saw lots of burns, heaps. One young fella got burned running from a lion. Now seriously, where do you hear that. The plastics team is really a reconstructive team but they get over run with burns. So the week has started ok. We’ll see how it goes. It gets a bit difficult to get online here, so these blogs may be sporadic. Pray for me about how I get to the hospital etc….. that will be the real adventure. But the lady in the Deans office was very nice, so in that regard being a foreigner is an advantage here. On the street, its not an advantage. In NYC I fit in, but here, I look similar to other africans in a way but the moment i open my mouth and speak differently or better yet don't understand a word of what they are saying, its a dead give away. I’ll see how much of the language I can pick up…. It will be interesting…

So that is me, I am Here in Kenya… I’ll keep you posted… much love