Today is our day off, although I'm not exactly sure that it feels like a day off and usually I stay pretty busy anyway. I slept as long as I could before going to lovely Aga Khan Hospital. I found Peter in a wheel chair trying to explore as much of the very small surgical ward as possible. He seems to be in less pain today although I'm not for sure b/c i was by myself and I don't know how well he understands me. I went to pay the hospital bill, which seems to be mounting everyday, although my mom reminded me it would be costing 10x this in the U.S. I still got no answer as to whether we would not have to pay for the extra time he's been in the hospital due to a delay of surgery. So I guess I just wait and hope for the best and keep talking to the manager as I did again today. They are supposed to look at his graft tomorrow to check on the progress. One cool thing is that the surgical beds in the hospital are made by HillRom! yes, that's right. For you Brookville people, you understand that it's a big deal since HillRom is right next door in little Batesville, Indiana.
It occured to me today that I don't talk a lot about some of the basic cultural things I encounter everyday. I guess I figure many of you have already read my book and know some of this. But let me brief you slightly...for instance, I take a bus to town every morning. The bus conductors stand outside of the bus and yell for passengers to come and wait for it to fill up before continuing. Then they come around to collect your money. Most days it's 30 shillings but it varies on the same route and i glance around at everyone else hoping to know the cost. To get to the hospital I take a matatu, and these have become much less blingy these days. The music seems softer than my last time here and they aren't decked out with as many stickers and all sorts of writing anymore either. New laws have caused these changes. I used to see Obama's face all over them and Britney Spears, and various other pop stars but not as much now. Sometimes I think the matatu drivers must just be bored and that is why they choose to take these ridiculous "short cut" routes that go off the sidewalk and through the dirt and are always very bumpy. Often people are selling bananas right next to the matatu and Rach and I are usually eager for them to come to our window so we can by a snack. There is a small shop with food and household products right next to our house. I love it and will really miss the convenience of it. We go there every morning to by milk and bread for making tea. They sell airtime for the phone, snacks, rice, oil, toilet paper. you name it, it's there.
i went to exchange american money today, and i can't say i enjoy this. you have to go into a small "room" where the cashier is behind glass. And no one outside can see completely into these rooms although you can make out shadows. it's all meant for security, but i don't know if it helps. once in the room i could completely see how much money the person in the room next to me was exchanging. how exactly is that secure? and by the way, they hate small bills here. $20 gets a worse exchange rate than a $50 or $100. does that happen at home? at one point during the exchange someone handed the cashier a huge wad of thousands of shillings. just seeing that much money makes me fear theft. i left quickly once i was done, hoping that everyone on the street didn't notice that i just came out of this place. it's not exactly great for people to know you're carrying around lots of cash.
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