TOO FAT FOR INSURANCE

So I was getting a little edgy waiting for my insurance policy and card to be officially issued.  I was told by AAR that the card would take 2 weeks for it to be issued and they would be in touch for the delivery of the card.  I waited a nervous 2 weeks as I had a little niggle that what about if I had been scammed.  I was 99.9% sure I hadn’t, but until I had that card in my hot little hand, there was still a .01% chance I had lost 500AUD.  I waited the full 2 weeks and then rang my contact to see how it was all going.  He told me he would check on the card and let me know in the coming days.  I got a phone call 3 days later and my AAR contact opened with he had some bad news.  I was thinking the card was delayed or something along those lines but what came next was a little shock as I was told that they wouldn’t be able to issue the insurance because I was too FAT.  Well they were not exactly his choice of words; it was along the lines that my BMI was too big and that a letter would be sent out to me detailing the decline.  I am not one to be too hung up on my weight.  I know I have a few kg’s to lose, but I am healthy and I am certainly not bed ridden ‘obese’.  I can joke about my weight and I know my limits, but boy I felt bad for Michael, the AAR guy, to have to ring somebody, a female at that, and tell them they had been declined insurance because they were too fat.  I received the email the following day stating they were unable to accept my membership as per the terms and conditions-HOWEVER, their objective is a wholesome promotion of health status of their members thereby enhancing quality of life.  They therefore recommend an enrolment in the health promotion clinic (own expense) for nutritional advice and BMI weights.  I was given a number to contact and the letter finished asking me to kindly re-apply for membership with a significant weight loss and a BMI of 33 to start with.  Out of curiosity I worked out what my current BMI was and it is sitting at 44-according to the BMI chart I need to lose 65kg for me to be in my ‘BMI’ range.  So I think even 3 months would not be long enough for me to ‘significantly’ lose kilos to reapply.  I do know people who are fit, healthy, slim and not in their BMI category and I know there are a lot of grumbles on how the BMI index is worked out, but as it stands I have been declined insurance because I am too fat and I am now back to the draw card.  I met with Michael, AAR representative today to get the refund of my 42,000KSH in the form of a cheque.  They are lucky I have to open a bank account for my visa; otherwise a Kenyan schilling cheque would be useless to me.    

Besides finding out I was too fat for insurance I also had to deal with the departure of 2 important people in my daily life for a short period of time.  My boyfriend Dan left for Korea midweek.  The hotel he works for is Korean owned and every few years they take a dance troop to Korea to drum up business for their Kenyan property.  It is a well-deserved trip for the 20+ dancers that get to go as they have busted their butts and worked crazy hours the last 2 months to make sure the show was the best it could be and they also had to train a further 20+ dancers to keep the show running at the hotel in their absence.  So my boy is in Asia (not for the first time) for 4 full weeks and I am going to miss him like mad.  The other person that was away for 2 weeks my driver/taxi man Steven.  He has been my go guy, my wheels on the ground since I got here 6 months ago and also become a good friend.  He has accepted a 2 week contract from an NGO that he used to work for a few years ago.  It is good money and he let me know about the possibility a few weeks ago and told me not to worry as he has lined up a good driver to replace him for the next 2 weeks, Ken, and he has told him how our system works and both he and Ken have my schedule for the next 2 weeks and that Steven would be checking up on how things are while he is away.  It was a bit of a downer week with all 3 things happening in a 5 day span, but these things happen and Steve and Dan will both be back, but it was a double whammy that got me down for a few days.     

I did get a Facebook message this week from a Kiwi couple that I met on my Sri Lankan tour.  Gary and Sue are doing a bike ride with a small group of friends, including 2 more Kiwis’, 3 Poms and 3 Aussies.  They are riding from their local village (Woolhampton) to Bath, a distance of 87 miles along the tow path in September.  They thought it might be a good idea to raise a bit of cash for a charity with some of the group having chosen the Air Ambos UK, another for World Farming and they thought about what he called it ‘Bernie’s kids’.  How sweet of them to think of us and he asked where the money would be spent.  A very good question, so I asked management at The Nest and they said that they have some medical bills that need to be paid, the last 3 babies were hospitalised in the emergency unit amounting to around 300,000KSH (3614AUD) and after that baby formula never goes astray.  They grow their own vegetables for the solid food required for the older babies, and also bananas, and they have chickens for the eggs, but you need the formula for the smaller babies and is always in demand.  It was an amazing message to receive to pick me up out of my blues and any money, whether it be 1 dollar or 100 dollars, I know that the money will be very appreciated at The Nest.  Thanks Gary and Sue for thinking of me and ‘my’ kids here in Kenya and I wish you all the best and a safe ride come September. 

I hasn’t received any news about my visa for nearly 2 weeks and I was just about to start wondering what was happening when I got an email from my Immigration Advisor to tell me that the processing of all applications at immigration was still on shut down and the staff members still have no idea when the processing for work permits will commence.  The delay is due to the restructuring of staff by the newly appointed Immigration Director.  As people may or may not be aware, Kenya’s elections took place earlier this year and with every new election comes new staff for all government offices. The new director for immigration was finally recruited 3 weeks ago and it was then they received information that the new director is now restructuring all the staff, not only in Nairobi but throughout the country. Therefore, processing of most immigration matters, including work permits, has been put on hold until further notice.  This may be a problem for me in the coming weeks as I only have 7 weeks left in Nairobi, so we can wait for another 3 weeks or so, as the visa process takes 3 weeks and then after that the whole thing will have to wait until I come back from Australia in January.  It just means we will have to withdraw my application; I am assuming re-apply when I get back, and start the whole thing all over again in 5 months.  Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that and it still goes through before I leave.  If it doesn’t then it will also mean I will have to renew my tourist visa in the middle of August for my last 3 weeks in Kenya, which will be a little annoying-but something that will have to be done.  Damn visas.  I am just glad I have an IA on my side that is doing all the running around for me.  The visa saga continues.   

Speaking of visas it is hard to believe that I only have 7 weeks until I leave for West Africa, take out a week for my Migration Safari-it is only leaving me 6 weeks to get my last 3 visas.  I can’t even get started on them as I am waiting on some paperwork from Dragoman, the overland company, which I need before I can apply for them.  It is quite frustrating and I wonder what Australians would have to do, if they were in Australia and don’t have access to these consulates in Oz, having to send their passports overseas for the visas.  How stressful would that be?  It is bad enough when I have the 3 consulates here in Nairobi.  I have rung them and discussed their processing times, stressing I am an Australian passport holder, and it all seems quite simple.  But keeping that in mind, nothing is ever that straight forward here and until I have the visas in my passport I will continue to have an uneasy feeling.  So as it stands at the moment I need to get my Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Benin visas, I have my work permit for Kenya in the system and if that doesn’t come through I will have to renew my tourist visa in a 6 week period.  Yeah, it is going to be a busy run into my trip as well as the rest of the year.

Which brings me to my African BF.  Katie has a busy travel schedule starting in the middle of the August and we sat down the other night and worked out what dates we actually had the same in the same city and you can count on one hand how many times we can do things before the end of the year.  You may scoff and say it is only the end of July, but we are looking down the barrel of 2013 and before we know it 2014 will be knocking on our door.