PCV in Kenya: Week 1

Monday

I woke up early so I could leave the house by 7:30 to walk the 20 minutes to the market to catch a matatu. On the walk there, I saw one of my fellow teachers. It’s nice to already have familiar faces in the community. I got in a car matatu (different from the large van matatu I described in the Week 3 Pre-Service Training blog) to get to the next market town over. I then switched to a van matatu that took me the rest of the way to Kisumu. Once in Kisumu, a Peace Corps car came to get me from the main stage to take me to Peace Corps headquarters because the pain in my leg was so great. At headquarters, I filled out paperwork before going to Aga Khan hospital. A member of Peace Corps medical staff went with me to the hospital. My checkup took no longer than a normal appointment would have in the United States, and the doctor determined I had a cyst that had become infected (ouch!). He prescribed me four different medicines to take three times a day for a week and if that didn’t reduce the size and swelling, I would need to come back so they could remove the cyst and clean the site (double ouch!). After collecting my prescriptions, we dropped some things off at headquarters then the driver took me to United Mall so I could do some shopping before I got on a matatu to go back home.

At the mall, I ate loaded BBQ fries at Java House and they were delicious. After eating, I shopped at Naivis and Carrefour. I bought only what could fit in my four shopping bags and the security woman at Naivis was super helpful in helping me make sure everything could fit. From here, I walked to main stage and successfully found the right matatu to head home (this was my first time traveling from Kisumu back home). The matatu conductor sat me in the front seat for the first time and I sat next to a man who lives in the same village I do. He worked in the United States for the Kenyan embassy for a number of years. When he returned to Kenya, he worked in the tourism industry. He was lovely to talk to and I now have another friend in my community. When I arrived back to my market town, I went to baba Charles’ shop. I lived with baba Charles for a week when I visited this village for the first time. You can read about that experience here. He was delighted to see me again, and I was just as happy to see him. I got back to my house right before dark and organized my purchases before eating dinner at the main house. I’m super thankful my new host family is helping me with food while I organize my house because I have yet to organize a kitchen setup.

Tuesday

Today was a relaxing day around the house. I finished unpacking my belongings and did my laundry. My infection was painful today, so I rested for the remainder of the day. This allowed me to watch an episode of “The Crown” and I finally watched the movie “The Firm”.

Wednesday

Peace Corps medical called to check in today and determined I should come back to Kisumu because of how my infection was progressing. They told me to pack an overnight bag. I managed to walk slowly to the matatu stage in town and take the ride to Kisumu. I knew where the hospital was this time, so the matatu dropped me off in front of Aga Khan. On this journey, I got a bit car sick, so I ate my emergency bag of peanuts on the curb while I waited for a Peace Corps medical person to arrive. They went with me back to the same doctor. The exam went quick, but the consult was when I started to get a bit worried. It was determined that the infection needed to be cleaned out and it was recommended that the cyst be removed as well. Local anesthetic couldn’t be used because it could spread the infection and it would be too painful to do the removal without anesthetic. This meant the removal options would involve an epidural or put me under completely.

I had a panic attack on the ride to headquarters because this was not what I was expecting when I left my house this morning. Back at headquarters, I had another consult with the 2 doctors on staff that day to go over reasoning and more explanation for this course of action. They have to submit my procedure for approval by Peace Corps doctors in Washington D.C. because their approval is needed before anesthetic can be used on a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was then taken to a hotel in Kisumu to stay the night as we waited for D.C. to answer. The hotel was nice because it had hot water, air conditioning, a TV, sink, and Wi-Fi. It also had a mosquito net which was unique 😊 After taking a lovely hot shower, I called my parents then had pizza and ice cream for dinner which I think was well deserved after the day I had lol. I couldn’t eat or drink past midnight in case I had to have the procedure done tomorrow, so I made sure to take my leftovers to the room so I could munch until midnight.

Thursday

When I got up, I still hadn’t heard anything about the plan for today, so I watched many episodes of “The Crown” and “Suits” to keep me from thinking about the fact that I couldn’t eat or drink anything. The doctor called around 9 and he said I could eat breakfast because the D.C. doctors didn’t approve the use of anesthetic and instead recommended drainage, cleaning, and more antibiotics, but no cyst removal. I continued to watch my shows until 12 when the driver picked me up to take me to Aga Khan. The drainage and cleaning were extremely painful and I made the Peace Corps doctor hold my hand the whole time lol 😊 They gave me more antibiotics and pain meds. Before I left, I also had to have lab work done to ensure nothing else was going on and the medicines were not being too harsh on my body. I was back at the hotel around 2 and I had lunch then relaxed in my room until dinner because I was exhausted after today’s adventure. The doctors are going to keep me in Kisumu until the 24th for monitoring so that I don’t have to come all the way back to the city if something goes wrong.

Friday

This morning, I was able to enjoy the hotel continental breakfast for the first time since being in the hotel. They had Christmas cookies which was very exciting. I also got access to “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” that I was on the waitlist for to read on my Libby app. I started reading this while I ate breakfast because I’ve been waiting for this book for almost three months. I was starting to feel better today, so I took my time and walked the 30 minutes to West End Mall and shopped at Chandarana from 10-1. I took a break to have cake and drinks with Savannah. This month, the bogo cake was spicy apple. I then continued to shop until 3. The people at Chandarana were so helpful and even helped me get a membership card so I could get points for my purchases today. They also helped find me a tuktuk to take me and my items back to the hotel. I got a mini fridge, 2 burner stove top, fan, air fryer, electric tea kettle, vanity, shoe rack, and more storage. Back at the hotel, I relaxed until dinner and I again had pizza 😊

Saturday

I enjoyed continental breakfast before walking to Megacity Mall. I found some final household items. I also went to Maasai Market where I found a necklace. James made me a Kenya and United States beaded bracelet. I sat with him while he made it because I had nothing else going on today and I even ate lunch with him at the hoteli across the street. I walked the 40 minutes back to the hotel and called my parents and Aunt Rhonda. For my last dinner in the hotel, I had a chicken burger and fries and carrot cake (I miss Chick-fil-A). I watched the 2018 version of “The Grinch” to end the day 😊  

Sunday        

On Christmas Eve, I ate my final continental breakfast and a driver picked me up at 9:30. We stopped at headquarters for my final checkup before I could be sent home. All went well, so I got back to my site around 12. I met all of Archer’s 3 kids who are all around my age: Tina, Babu, and Priscah. I spent the next 8 hours working to organize my house with the new buys. At dinner, there was still cake from Priscah’s graduation party which was a highlight of dinner. Before going to bed, I called Grandpa and my cousins and it was nice to talk to everyone. I am really enjoying my house. It’s the first place I’ve ever had to myself and I feel so content here. After a crazy week, it felt really good to be back home 😊

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.