Papa

On our last day in Rome, we went to visit the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. We spent several hours touring the infinite Vatican museum, which was full of amazing stuff...more that we ever thought possible. Then, we traipsed over to St Peter's. I don't know what I wasn't expecting but the church was just so MASSIVE. As we wandered up to the front of the the basilica we were a bit disappointed that it was closed for mass. Out of curiosity, we joined a small group of people watching the procession leave mass.

the procession leaving mass

And then...everyone started pushing and shoving us and we soon saw why:

Pope Francis

There was the Pope! We didn't get a good picture because everyone was pushing and shoving and exclaiming "Papa, Papa!" and he walked by and gave his papal blessing.  Nevertheless, it was pretty cool to be only a few feet away from such a famous personality. Not a bad last day in Rome.

these are a few of our favorite things...

Vacation in Italy was great. The Colosseum was amazing, the Mediterranean sea was beautiful, and the leaning tower of Pisa was a sight to see. But we were just excited about some things slightly more amazing. Have you ever thought about what a miracle cheese is?

Hamburgers! Yep, we were those American's on vacation in Italy who ordered hamburgers...but they weren't for our kids. They were for us and they were amazing! 

Fresh strawberry and hazelnut gelato (and raspberry, lemon, berry....). 

Laundry fresh out of the dryer...so soft, warm, and fresh-smelling! We tried to find another laundromat in Greece to repeat the experience. Unfortunately we couldn't find one...which then led to the Luke accidentally bleaching some clothes when he washed them in the hotel bathtub because he can't read Greek at all. Whoops. (can you spot us inside the washing machine?)

Look at all that blue cheese! Blue cheese on a buffet! And it tasted just like blue cheese in America. 

All in all it was an awesome trip with awesome food. We'll put up some pictures of some of the places we went later. It is all down-hill from here because the food was the best part.

where to begin...

Um, its been almost a month since I wrote a blog. And now there is so much that I could write about that I don't know where to begin. So I haven't. To get up and running again I'm just going to start small. :)

there...

After spending three weeks away in Greece and Italy, We've now been back for a week. Lets just say it has been, once again, quite the adjustment. It is quite shocking, really, one week to be walking down a Roman street lined with Ferrari and Louis Vuitton stores and the next week to be on a street lined with mud-brick huts filled with people just hoping for enough rain this year so they can feed their families.

...and here

Its impossible to describe the emotions, thoughts, and feelings that come with the jump between worlds. It feels like we have returned from another planet, far, far away. But, we are slowly adjusting back to life in the desert. More vacation stories to come. :)

another world

We are on vacation in Italy. Its bizarre to be in a different part of the world after not leaving Africa for 16 months. A few pics from our trip so far. First, we said goodbye to some dear friends.

Goodbyes...we're gonna miss these guys.

Then, we continued our journey by plane.

sleeping in the Not Constantinople airport (its nobody's business but the Turks') after our red-eye flight, waiting for our flight to Rome

the sight that met us as we stepped off the metro in Rome

 the Colosseum is bigger and more impressive than we imagined. Also, I love the cold weather. Cold weather is AWESOME. I am now convinced more than ever that I am a cold weather person.

Strawberries!!! so delicious. When the vendor saw my eyes light up when I saw them, he stuffed the tray in my hands and said; 1.50! What a STEAL!

breakfast 

we have eaten some pizza  at every meal (except breakfast) so far. I cannot get enough PIZZA. It is my favorite food and it seems every restaurant here knows how to make very well.

would you rather....

There are three ways to travel from our remote hospital to the capital city: plane, bus, or car. We don't have a car, but it is our preferred method of transportation if we can catch a ride with someone else. The plane is convenient, fun, fast, and reliable...but it is expensive (and not always available). The buses are cheap and widely available...but you are taking your chances on reliability and comfort. So, we often choose the bus.

Of our last four bus trips, three of them have involved vomiting:
  

First, a lady vomited in the aisle. Someone put some sand over it. It still slid up and down the aisle the whole rest of the trip..

Second, I (Tab) vomited on Luke's lap. I was feeling sick that morning so I had a ziploc bag with me just in case. At least the vomiting was pretty controlled. Luke still likes to tell everyone that I vomited in his lap.

Third, a Fulani boy vomited sour milk on us. Within the first 20 minutes of an 9 hour bus ride. Luke almost lost his cookies, too, just from the smell. He hates rotten milk (whole other story).

The fourth bus trip involved minor neck injury from banging my head on the ceiling when we hit a huge speed bump (we were in back row of the bus). That was also the bus ride where we waited three hours in 110 degree weather for the bus to pick us up.

Yesterday the "vomit on the bus streak" ended, only to be replaced by something worse: total bus breakdown.

The ride was going well. We had arrived at the bus station at 7:30am as instructed and by 8:30 the bus had arrived and we were on our way. We didn't have a problem finding seats, but by 10:00 the bus was starting to get very warm. I thought, "I wish we were on an air-conditioned bus, because this is going to be very uncomfortable when it is 120F this afternoon."  Then, the air-conditioner came on! I thought, "This isn't so bad" and we settled in for a nice ride. Two hours later we smelled burning rubber. Shortly thereafter, the bus driver turned off the air conditioner and the bus slowed way down...and we pulled over to the side of the road next to a big tree. Uh oh.

by the side of the road

People slowly filed off the bus. The driver set up his cot under the tree. No announcement was made. We all knew something was broken, and out in the middle of the desert it can take a long time to fix anything. So we waited. A bush taxi pulled over and a few men grabbed their bags and ran to catch a ride.

at least there was some shade

people from the nearby village brought mangoes and water to sell 

Eventually, a couple of buses from other companies stopped and the fastest, most prepared 2-3 people ran to catch a ride in their available seats. One hour passed. Then two. Then three. We were still at least three hours from our destination and were starting to wonder how we would get there. We made a back-up plan to have someone from the capital come and get us if it took much longer. Then, after almost four hours of waiting, another bus from our bus company stopped. Everyone grabbed their bags and rushed to the bus door.

boarding the bus (didn't get a good picture of the crowd, but it didn't always look this calm)

We hurried but we were almost the last in line to get on the new bus. But, we eventually got a seat that we shared thanks to the insistence of a lovely Christian pregnant lady that ended up sitting on a cooler in the aisle. The bus had seats for 48 people but now there were an additional 20 people on it. To say the bus was overcrowded would be an understatement.There were eight people between the bus driver and the door and another 8 standing in the aisle.

the front of the bus (see Luke and the right) with 8 people crammed between the driver and the door!

Before long,  the bus started to overheat and the bus driver turned of the air conditioner. Only, this time we didn't mind the heat so much. We were just happy to have a ride!

It is amazing to me how calm and relaxed the bus passengers remained throughout the whole ordeal. There was barely any complaining and the only pushing/yelling happened at the very end when everyone was trying to get on the new bus (a few people still didn't make it).

So, would you rather ride a moving bus with some vomit or have your bus break down for hours in 110 degree weather? I'll take the vomit, thank-you. 

real vacation

Our time in Kenya was amazing...it was the first real vacation I've had in years in that it lasted longer than 9 days and I wasn't studying for boards or preparing to move to Africa! We did have some work/training...but even that was a chance to catch up with friends and be encouraged! Much of our time was spent celebrating and enjoying life, food, and creation:

I celebrated my birthday along with some friend's birthdays.

Happy Birthday to us! 

A beautiful, delicious, hand-decorated cake (Thanks, K!)

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary (on our real anniversary I was on call doing C-sections).

And, on our way home, we bought ourselves an early Christmas present:

A small chest freezer!!!

Its amazing. I can freeze vegetables and we won't have to go months without eating anything green. I can cook and freeze meals on the weekends so during the week we just have to pull something out of the freezer and bam- dinner! The possibilities are endless. :)

we're back

After almost four weeks away we have returned to our African home. We've had several interesting adventures since our safari....but for now I will leave you with some random photos from our last week in Kenya.

Since there are no Halloween or Thanksgiving celebrations, its already Christmas season in Kenya!

We watched the solar eclipse in Kenya...the small half-moon shaped light is a projection of the eclipse.

Cappuccinos and strawberry milkshakes...amazing!

love this

So, while in Kenya I was tempted to buy an American magazine to peruse ...but $19 was the cheapest I saw. Yikes! Needless to say, I did not make that purchase. 

Big five

We have had an awesome couple of days on Safari here in Kenya. We have seen more animals and animals doing crazy things than we had thought possible. We saw a leopard marking his territory (the most difficult of the big five to find), a newborn giraffe learning to walk, lions mating, and a lioness extracting and eating a fetus wildebeest from his dead mother!  Within two days we saw the big five: leopard, lion, rhino, cape buffalo, and elephant. We have really enjoyed a chance to enjoy creation and remember what it's like to wear long sleeves and sleep under the covers!

It's a boy!

Here on Lamu Island they have lots of donkeys. They call them the "Lamu taxi" because only one person on the island owns a car, the district commissioner. And he can only ride it up and down the one street along the seafront that is big enough for a car. Donkeys and boats remain the main methods of transportation.

One thing we noticed right away is that the donkeys here seem healthier than the ones where we live. They are fatter, gentler, more compliant and endure fewer whippings from their owners. There are probably several reasons for this...one being the relative abundance of food here and the other being a seafront donkey sanctuary! There, all sick donkeys get free treatment, donkey orphans are cared for, there is an annual competition for the best-cared-for donkey in Lamu, and twice a year they de-worm every donkey on the island.. Pretty cool.

We've stopped by several times to watch the donkeys. Today when we walked by the donkey keeper motioned us to come inside to watch a donkey giving birth! Sure enough...just the nose was already out and we got to watch the whole delivery! It was pretty cool. Then the donkey keeper showed us the operating room and stables inside. One had a donkey with a very distended stomach lying in it. Luke asked, "does he need an operation." The donkey man replied, "no, his life is done." We looked closer. Yep, he was dead. Then the donkey keeper asked us to give him money...not in the donation box but to him. And thus was life and death in the African donkey sanctuary. The End.

This is the organization's website. http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/

Luke loves it here...

We made it to Kenya...after five days of travel we are settling into our guesthouse. First stop, breakfast on the roof. As you can see...Luke doesn't quite know what to do with all the fresh fruit!

Stay-cation

After (almost) six months in Africa, we took our first week of vacation. After almost a year of constant travels and transition, and with the prospect of lots of speed bumps, non-air conditioned buses and guest houses in 110F weather, we decided to stay at home.  We had a pretty good time. 

Following are  five things to do in the middle of nowhere for vacation:

We wanted to grill some hamburgers (we haven't eaten hamburgers since arriving in Africa). So, we bought some beef in the market and ground it.  It was a painful, laborious process. And, unfortunately the meat went bad a couple days after grinding and we didn't even get to eat it. Lesson learned for next time.

Make "cream cheese" by putting yogurt in a cheesecloth and hanging in the refrigerator overnight. It made some pretty tasty cream cheese frosting. Maybe next vacation I'll try cheese cake!

Read a book (yay for friends and packages!)

And last, but not least, watch termites build some "modern art" on your bedroom wall. (This fine work of art was created in less than 48 hours!)