MBita and Suba
Trip Start
Jul 19, 2008
1
10
26
Trip End
Oct 10, 2008
Where I stayed
International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology
MBita, Kenya
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Its my last day in the field!! I was worried when I work up this morning because it was cloudy. I was afraid I it was going to raid and I would be out here one more day. I even went to check out at the desk early so that as soon as Joel arrived I would be ready to hit the road. By the way, the drivers do not stay at the same place as I do. These places are considered too expensive and since they are "local" they can find cheaper lodging in other places in town. I cant imagine what sort of place that is....But Joel did not seem to mind. He arrived 10minutes before 8am and I was ready to go. I mentioned to him about the clouds and he said those are not rain clouds don't worry. Old wise, Joel, what would I do without him. I am not sure if he was really telling me the truth about some of these things or not but he did set my mind at ease. This is probably another part of his job.
I told him I needed to go to the SUBA District Hospital and he told me he thinks it's the MBITA District Hospital that SUBA district is served by this hospital that was located right around the corner. I told him I didn't know, I was just told Suba District Hospital. So we go to the MBita hospital and he asks some of the drivers who are preparing for departure for some other NGO program. They tell him that SUBA District Hospital is about 20km from where we are and they gave him directions. I am not sure what he didn't like about what they told him but he asked me if I could call the person I was to meet and confirm where we should go. I did as I was asked. And guess what. The person I was to meet was about 10 minutes away from where we were and he told us to stay here and he would meet us here! Joel to the rescue again!
Oh I forgot to mention that when I woke up this morning I had a HUGE BACK SPASM!! Something in my back popped and I was in such pain. I took some pain relievers and just hoped that my back could tolerate being in the truck and traveling on the bumpy road, but I was not going to not go on these visits.
Off to the next and last place-Homa Bay! The bad thing is that we had to go back over that very, rough road again and my back was killing me. I was not looking forward to this bumpy ride and just tried to brace myself as much as I could. But my bigger mission was to finish these visits. My heart sank when I called my contact and he tells me he is just leaving KISUMU. I couldn't believe it because Kisumu was at least 3-4 hours away. But then he said he would have his assistant to talk with me! I was like great! At this point I would have taken any warm body that knew half way what was going on and could answer my questions. This assistant even arranged for me to talk to the lab personnel who handle the sputum samples. PERFECT! DONE! BACK TO KISUMU!
I never thought how elated I would be to be back in Kisumu! I was thrilled! I could not thank Joel enough. I felt like he was my life line and I was so appreciative of him. Now I need to get back to Nairobi.
Comments
wow! it's an adventure!
Hello Robin!
Wow! I just caught up on several entries - and ah...not sure how to respond??? Sounds like an 'experience?' Do you need more bug spray? Granola?
All is well here - busy as usual. EOY stuff is crazy!
Hugs, misses, Linda
Bad Back
OOOWWWWW!!! I'm so sorry to hear about your back. Have you been able to get back and rest it? I'll say a prayer for you. Do you have drugs? You mentioned it was the last day of travel. Does that mean that after this you won't be making any more field trips?
news
Oh, and I didn't hear about the attempt to capture that person on the news and I'm a pretty avid news-watcher. It might be on CNN International. But the news is saturated with the Olympics right now. Are you seeing any of that on TV over there? The other big international news story is the war with Georgia and Russia that just erupted. And of course the national story this weekend was John Edwards admitting that he had an affair in 2006. You know us Americans, everyone's personal life generates far more interest than any real news! Even if it happened in 2006! I'll keep you posted on any news about Paris Hilton or Britney Spears when I hear it.
I give you lots of credit....
for just hanging in there - bad back, bumpy roads, bad hotels, broken appointments etc...!! Hope you're feeling better, calmer, cleaner, and safer back in the big city! I think you're amazing!
Wendy
Back to back
Gosh Robin...I hope you have meds and are doing whatever exercises you do to strengthen your back, back .Here's a news story that Carlos didn't mention - a driver of a semi went over the jersey wall of the bay bridge and plunged 30 feet to his death; needless to say that the bridge traffic was wacked for 2 days.
Back to back
Gosh Robin...I hope you have meds and are doing whatever exercises you do to strengthen your back, back .Here's a news story that Carolos didn't mention - a driver of a semi went over the jersey wall of the bay bridge and plunged 30 feet to his death; needless to say that the bridge traffic was wacked for 2 days.
Re: wow! it's an adventure!
Luckily I am returning to Nairobi but otherwise more bug spray and granoloa would have really been needed.
Re: Bad Back
I did not have my drugs with me in the field. Only alieve, which helped. And I made it back ok. I went back to the site where the lady stood me up--Gucha on 8/12 and finally met with her. I pray that is my last trip to the field. More than I bargined for.
Re: news
Yes, I have been watching a lot of the Olympics. As there isnt much else to choose from on TV here. I never knew SABRE (fencing) could be so interesting (lol). I missed the womens gymnastics though and I fell alseep on the US women soccer playing somebody. Yes the events with Russia and Georgia has been in the news here as well. Havent been able to quite figure out what the conflict is all about. And by golly the news of John Edwards is definitely on the news here. Especially since the woman wont have a DNA test. Quite interesting to see how this is all portrayed in another news outlet.
Re: Back to back
Hi Dwight! How come you always have double entries. LOL
What happened to the truck driver! That is always a fear with going across that bridge because there is no room for error. Hopefully it didnt happen on a sunday when people where returning from the beach...
Hi Robin:
Please be very careful. Bugs, water, food too scary to think about. How far are you from the Congo? Far, Far away I hope.
Luv ya and be safe,
Me in PHX
WOW!!
THIS IS AWESOME. TRAVELLING AROUND WITH YOU AND AIN'T LEFT THE HOUSE. JUST FIGURED OUT HOW TO ACCESS THE SITE. OTIS SENT ME A DIFFERENT ADDRESS. HEARD ABOUT THE BUGS, ROADS, ETC., FROM OTHERS; BUT IT IS SO EXCITING TO HEAR ABOUT THE INTERESTING STUFF THAT YOU'RE EXPERIENCING! TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF.
LOVE YA,
J