Tanzania>Ethiopia>Rome>Toronto>Saskatoon

After over 30 hours and several Ebola screenings, I arrived safely in Saskatoon and was greeted by my entire family!

Here are a few things that will take some getting used to:

-Having space between me and the person next to me in a vehicle.

-Not having to hold my breath in order to avoid inhaling pungent b.o. when someone passes by me closely.

-Eating fresh fruit and veggies and not being scared of getting the poops.

-Drinking water and not being scared of getting the poops.

-Brushing my teeth with tap water and not being scared of getting the poops (or black teeth).

-Swimming in a lake and not being scared of getting the poops.

-Taking a poop and knowing the toilet will flush.

-Having a shower with hot water.

-Having a shower with a constant stream of water.

-Having a shower knowing the water won’t shut off halfway through, causing you to walk outside in a towel and shampoo in hair to restart the pump.

-Having a shower without being scared of flooding your bedroom.

-Having a shower where the "hot" tap gives hot water, and the "cold" tap gives cold water.

-Having clean feet.

-Having clean fingernails.

-Using soap after using the bathroom and knowing water will come out of the tap.

-Having the power always on, and never eating/reading/playing cards by candlelight.

-Not carrying a flashlight with you at all times, "just in case".

-Not having frogs outside keeping you up all night. 

-Washing machines. WASHING MACHINES.

-Not getting rust on your clothes from hang drying outside, then having it rain.

-Clothes that don't smell like musty dampness.

-Breathing in fresh air that isn't smoke from burning garbage (plastic) piles.

-Blowing my nose and not seeing black.

-Hugging children without being scared of getting ringworm and/or scabies.

-Pot holes in Canada really aren't that bad.

-Sleeping without a mosquito net.

-Internet that doesn't take 15 minutes to load a page.

-Not having random children run towards you to be held, or hold your hand.

-Not having people randomly touch your arm, smell you, sneak a picture with you, just because you have white skin.

-Being surrounded by mzungus.

I wouldn't have changed a thing.

My last goodbyes.

Tamara and I stopped by the pharmacy so I could buy more supplies for the hospital. I bought gloves, sterile gloves, soap, and umbilical cord clamps. We then headed to Levolosi so I could say goodbye.

Some of the Labour and Delivery nurses

Natalia!

Another view of the labour room

My favorite pharmacist, Milan

An attempted panoramic of the hospital courtyard

We then went to St. Dymphna’s so I could get one last hug from my kids.  I took pictures of them with my polaroid, and they too went crazy! We played in the school yard with them until it was time for their next class. I gave them each a big hug and said goodbye.

Sadiki

Brian

Thomasi

Amani

Julius and Sadiki

Carol

Julius

With Agnes, the Class 2 teacher

Amani

Neema and Clinton

I came home for lunch (rice and beans! Best last-lunch ever!), then had a (cold) shower (of course) to attempt to clean my horrendous feet before catching the plane. After a teary goodbye from my beautiful roommate Hana, Jimmy picked me up and drove me to Mount Kili Airport.

My home. Tembo House:)

Kwaheri Arusha!

Jimmy!

Stepping up the stairs to the plane was tough. I flew off, leaving Tanzania by sunset. Mount Kilimanjaro peeking through the clouds, saying a final goodbye.

Kilimanjaro Airport with Mount Kilimanjaro behind.

Last view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Nairobi, Kenya!

Emily, Katie, Dani, Elise, Amber, and I decided to spend the weekend in Nairobi, Kenya. What a perfect way to end my trip!

We caught a bus, and slept most of the way. The departure from Tanzania, and arrival into Kenya was a bit confusing with visas, and the need to walk over the border. There was an “Ebola Screening” area where a man with a mask and hand sanitizer stood, but we never got called over.

Nairobi! We have arrived! Traffic was horrendous! It took forever to get dropped off. Nairobi was completely different than Arusha. It was developed, had big buildings, giant malls, and advertisements on every corner (“is your child being abused? Get a nanny cam!”) We caught a cab to our hostel which was called Milimani Backpackers. I recommend it for everyone who goes to Nairobi! It was clean, cute, and the owners were fabulous. The 6 of us stayed in a 6 room dorm, it was perfect. The showers were even lukewarm! Score! It was also the first time I had seen a TV in 6 weeks. What is that?

We went to David Sherwin Elephant Orphanage where we watched baby elephants being fed and saw them play. Most were orphaned because of poachers killing the mother, but also from falling down a well, or Maasai people killing the mother. They would wrestle and play in the mud. I wanted to take one home.

We then went to a giraffe center where we met Stacey, Daisy, and Jacque, the cutest giraffes ever. They would head butt you if you didn’t feed them fast enough. There were also wart hogs, including a baby. I wish Shelby was here!

We were taken to a few Maasai markets, but they were no different than the Maasai markets in Arusha.

I wanted to purchase a Doppler u/s for Levolosi Hospital, but it ended up being more difficult than I expected. First off, Arusha doesn’t even sell them, so I was hoping to get one in Kenya. Turns out stores are closed weekends. I was able to get a hold of a store that sold Dopplers and was willing to open the store for me. However, all he had was a $6000 machine. I wanted a small handheld one, but that wasn’t available.  I even spoke to the Nairobi hospital pharmacy, and their supply store. No luck. So I was definitely disappointed.

Saturday night we went to a restaurant called Carnivore. It was the same idea as Saboroso in Saskatoon where it is all-you-can-eat and servers constantly come around to serve meat off a skewer. Lamb liver, chicken gizzard, ostrich, ox balls, and crocodile to name a few. Game meat has been banned since 2004. After 6 weeks of almost no meat (other than goat on Thursdays) it was a treat! We also had amazing dessert. It was the perfect Goodbye Supper for me.

The Nairobi marathon was happening this weekend, so we went to watch. There were huge crowds singing and dancing.  We had a slum tour planned for the morning, but I had to catch my bus early afternoon and with roads being closed and traffic terrible, I didn’t want to risk missing my bus.  The girls ended up doing the tour that afternoon, and they said it was incredible.

Kibera, the largest slum in Africa (seen from the road)

My last goodbye to my roommates/Tembo Sistahs

My bus back to Arusha was uneventful, and a bit lonely. I had to go through an Ebola screen at the Tanzanian boarder. I stood in a circle while they did a test using a thermal scanner. I passed! The sunset was so incredible, I am sure it was more beautiful than normal tonight to celebrate my last night in Africa.    

Tanzanian/Kenya border

Hard to capture on a moving bus.