After a rather longer journey home than anticipated I have safely landed, showered, eaten, slept and awoken much refreshed. Time for my last update on this blog, ready to close this chapter in the life of Charlotte, once medical student, soon to be doctor (eek).
After leaving Kiwoko (with more than just one tear being shed – Dr Raul kindly asked if I would like an IV line to rehydrate during the doctor's meeting on my last day - above) I headed into Kampala where I met Mark who accompanied me as far as the Airport Guest House in Entebbe, ready for my flight to Nairobi the next morning. I was so glad of his company, not just for the journey but during my whole time at Kiwoko – it was a lovely way to end my happy 2 months by waving goodbye to him in Entebbe.
I spent the weekend in Nairobi with Kieren (ex-youth leader from P’s and G’s, now working in Nairobi at Cheryl’s Children’s Home). I was so pleased to be able to visit Cheryl’s, which has strong links with P’s and G’s church and which there has been so much fundraising for over the years. The children were lovely and there was a real sense of home about Cheryl’s. There is a primary school on weekdays, which serves the residents of the home and local children. Secondary school aged children from Cheryl’s go to boarding schools in Nairobi during the week, although there are plans to build a secondary school to be run by Cheryl’s itself. On Saturday morning I was put in charge of a jewellery making session, with boxes of beads, wire, elastic and thread to use to make bracelets, necklaces and earrings of a sellable quality. The classroom we were in soon descended into chaos, with beads everywhere! The kids seemed to enjoy themselves, and made some nice things, ranging from definitely sellable to possibly sellable, to ‘interesting’.
Other highlights of the weekend included a visit to the infamous Carnivore restaurant where I ate so much that meat I struggled to sleep because of tummy ache! Dinner feast included pork, lamb, beef, sausages, chicken, turkey (see pic for ‘serving suggestion’), ostrich meatballs (v. tasty), roast crocodile (tastes fishy but not in a very good way) and camel (delicious, like roast lamb).
We also paid a visit to the giraffe sanctuary where the giraffes eat from your hand (and mouth if you let them…I opted out of this one after a giraffe sneezed all over me).
I left Kieren’s at 5am on Monday morning (after he stopped me from being ripped off by the taxi driver) and headed for the airport. After a relatively smooth journey from Nairobi (only delayed by an hour because a couple of the flight crew were ‘stuck in traffic’ – easily imaginable given the ‘interesting’ Kenyan driving, in which red lights are more of a guideline than strict rule) my connection to Edinburgh from Amsterdam was cancelled due to some ash spewing from a now rather famous Icelandic volcano. I met a lovely Yorkshire lady on the flight, a grandma of 5, we made friends, exchanged Africa stories and ended up both going to stay with my Dutch friend near Amsterdam for the night. (See pic below of us excited to be on the top floor of a double decker train). She was well cool for a grandma, at one point we were both running along a platform at the train station, her clutching a bottle of wine (as a present for my friend, she’s not an alcoholic grandma!) - I told her she was way too young to be a grandma! She managed to get on an early flight home, leaving me in charge of her luxury lounge pass where I happily installed myself in a very comfy armchair with a never ending supply of tea, juice, beer on tap (which I didn’t sample), cake, biscuits, internet…aaah bliss.
I arrived safely home on Tuesday afternoon, after being upgraded to business class and enjoying complimentary food and drink, giggling like schoolgirls with the two (very) Scottish ladies next to me. By some miracle my rucksack was actually waiting for me in Edinburgh airport, and (by less of a miracle since they’d been waiting for 24 hours already!) so were my parents.
So now it’s time for me to knuckle down to serious revision, first exam is a week on Wednesday. I hope I’ll see lots of you over the summer, thanks for your messages of encouragement over the past couple of months; I look forward to catching up with you in person.
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