Communication!!

You think you're a great communicator -- well, not really, because I had rather just stay in the background.  But I did learn the local language, and most people here speak mine.  And I went to school...forever...so I should be able.  But...

I have reached the point where my doctor said, "Charles, your pancreas has retired.  It is finished. So...it's time for insulin."  I looked at him doubtfully, and his P.A. said, "You'll have so much more energy" (very energetically).  I looked at her doubtfully, so she said it again.  He claimed it's not as bad as it used to be, and said he would give me some samples to get started. He sweetened the pot by offering me a little gizmo that attaches to an iPhone and it reads your blood sugar and records all the tests on the iPhone, and the iPhone dances when the blood sugar is below 100.  Well...who can resist technology?  So I took it all home.

So now I shoot myself once a day, in the stomach.  And he's right.  It isn't as bad as I expected it to be.  I just put an alcohol swab on my skin, stick a needle on the pen, crank it up and stick it in and push.  Hardly hurts.

But I came to Kenya without my alcohol swabs.  So I decided to look for some in Nairobi.  I went to Quickmart because it is close to home.   I went up to a counter where they sell a variety of products, near the cosmetics and medicines.  I asked the young lady, "Do you have alcohol swabs?"  She didn't know, obviously, because she looked at me without comprehension. So I tried to describe it.  Wouldn't you know they are called "alcohol pads" here, but I only found that out later.  When I repeated myself, she heard the word "alcohol," so she pointed to the other side of the store.  I walked over to the other side, and as I drew nearer I felt sure there was some mistake.  But I went up to the counter, and I could see bottles of beer, whiskey and other clear liquids.  I told this young lady, "I have probably been sent to the wrong place, but do you have any medicinal alcohol."  She also looked at me without comprehension, so I once again tried to explain and describe.  She finally heard the word "medicine," and she said, "No, we have nothing like that here."

So...I decided to go and look at an area of the store where they have things called "spirits," which is different from the one with all the bottles you drink.  I found white spirits, and methylated spirits, and then I spied a little bottle with clear liquid and written on it was "surgical spirits."  Hah...victory!

Communication isn't always easy when you are in another culture, but it is always fun!!