After four years in this city, I can tell you the real rules for surviving Nairobi aren't in the travel guides. They’re learned in traffic, through the unspoken codes of relationships, and in the art of nodding earnestly through a Swahili conversation you only half-understand. This is the post I wish I could send back to my 2021 self- the unofficial survival guide to the 20 hilarious truths I learned the hard way.

I’ve heard plenty of stereotypes as a woman in surgery… but this one was a first.

There’s a version of me that’s all steel and focus —scrubbed in, sharp, and driven. But there’s another side that longs for softness: quiet mornings, laughter with loved ones, moments to just be. I used to think that to be taken seriously in surgery, I had to silence the parts of me that craved ease, beauty, or balance. But I’m learning that wholeness doesn’t come from choosing either/or — it comes from honoring both.