On Poop

I don't even know how to start but I feel it is vital to write a post about this. It is an indispensible component of the Africa experience. You can not talk about your time in Africa without talking about this important bodily function. Those of you that know me, understand that I hate the word "poop" and talking about it. However, when you live in rural Kenya, it becomes a part of your daily vocabulary, especially when you and your mzungu friends are sick.

For example, diarrhea is a common part of the Kenya experience. No matter how hard you try to eat cleanly washed food and drink bottled water, you will inevitably eat or drink something that causes you to run to the bathroom. This was me last week. It got so bad that I couldn't even keep water in me for more than 5 minutes. I became concerned and called Alyssa to my hut so we could evaluate my stomach issues. She freaked out and thought I should go to the hospital. I just wanted to sleep and take more antibiotics. She finally told me that if I had one more liquid stool that night, she would drag me to the hospital. In her defense, I was probably getting super dehydrated. After finally being able to sit up in bed, I ate Uji, which is delicious Kenyan pooridge, rich in nutrients. It was the first substance that didn't go straight through me all day. I ran to Alyssa's hut and exclaimed, "My diarrhea is gone!" We celebrated by high fiving, screaming "Yayyy!" and then drinking more water.

The next day, our friend Pete had a similar experience and had to run to the bathroom during lunch. We made him go to Elgon View and get Cipro as we figured he had a bacterial infection as well. Alyssa also started feeling terrible on Friday so she, too, started the antibiotic regimen. Thus, the past week has been filled with phone calls, texts and face-to-face conversations of the consistency of our stools. When someone has diarrhea, we ask how frequent, what color, consistency, etc. When someone comes out of the bathroom and exclaims they had a solid passing, we jump for joy and give pats on the back. It's like we are potty training all over again, rewarding each other for making it to the bathroom in time or having a "normal" stool.

Thus, poop has become an essence of our experience here and have no qualms talking about it with one another. At the moment, we all woke up without diarrhea and are currently sitting at a coffee shop, not taking antibiotics. Hopefully this is the upward climb and we can look forward to more normal, solid stools and less poop talk. Although I am sure we will still be celebrating being "healthy" for the next two weeks here.