Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Note to most awesomest relatives:
I'm coming down to Auntie Sharon's May 15/16 so if you're not too busy, pop by!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
God Bless The USA!
I'm home! After my month of African awesomeness, I am back in America. Stories and pictures of Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, and Zanzibar to follow.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Erin Go Bragh!
Happy Saint Patrick's day from Alto Molocue! I'm up here staying with Amy for the week, in preparation for our most excellent adventure in Tanzania. We're leaving the moz in a week to have a go at climbing Kilimanjaro.
So Amy and I are celebrating this holiest of holy days by having two peace corp volunteers over for dinner. I'm substituting my usual feast of soda bread, corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for mucapata, rice, and beans. Guinness has been replaced with Manica, our local Mozambican beer. I considered dyeing the Rio Molocue green, but it already has a brownish-green hue, and there's cholera-o-plenty around here so I think it would be wise to steer clear of the river.
In other exciting news, I finished my research project! So I'm living the good life for the next couple weeks. Hanging out with my bud in Molocue, partaking in African adventure travel. Not bad, says I.
So Amy and I are celebrating this holiest of holy days by having two peace corp volunteers over for dinner. I'm substituting my usual feast of soda bread, corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for mucapata, rice, and beans. Guinness has been replaced with Manica, our local Mozambican beer. I considered dyeing the Rio Molocue green, but it already has a brownish-green hue, and there's cholera-o-plenty around here so I think it would be wise to steer clear of the river.
In other exciting news, I finished my research project! So I'm living the good life for the next couple weeks. Hanging out with my bud in Molocue, partaking in African adventure travel. Not bad, says I.
Friday, March 6, 2009
30 more nets!
30 more nets found a home this week! They went to members of an organization of people living with HIV/AIDS in Alto Molocue.
Clarification
So apparently my prior story was misunderstood by some people, which prompted a frantic phone call from my mom. To clarify:
Yes, some of the expat doctors in the districts have been ordered back to Quelimane. The government here is flexing their muscles and manipulating the NGO's, which is nothing new. The government here treats NGO's like their monkey puppets, and they use these organizations to funnel American taxpayer dollars into their own pockets. I could write a 20 page report on why US foreign aid should be pulled from this country.
I digress...so the "unapproved" expats were brought back to the Provincial capital. But Amy and I have approval for our projects (which took 6 months to get), so we're still continuing with our work. The others might be deported.
And the phone call that Amy got was just a joke. Troy and Adi were getting her back for sending a snotty text message to Adi. That being said, Amy and I have proclaimed ourselves the rulers of The Northern Alliance. With Adi and Pola in the south, and potentially out of the country, Amy and I will usher in a era of awesomeness in our northern kingdom of Alta Zambézia. It's a dawning of a new age!
Yes, some of the expat doctors in the districts have been ordered back to Quelimane. The government here is flexing their muscles and manipulating the NGO's, which is nothing new. The government here treats NGO's like their monkey puppets, and they use these organizations to funnel American taxpayer dollars into their own pockets. I could write a 20 page report on why US foreign aid should be pulled from this country.
I digress...so the "unapproved" expats were brought back to the Provincial capital. But Amy and I have approval for our projects (which took 6 months to get), so we're still continuing with our work. The others might be deported.
And the phone call that Amy got was just a joke. Troy and Adi were getting her back for sending a snotty text message to Adi. That being said, Amy and I have proclaimed ourselves the rulers of The Northern Alliance. With Adi and Pola in the south, and potentially out of the country, Amy and I will usher in a era of awesomeness in our northern kingdom of Alta Zambézia. It's a dawning of a new age!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Northern Alliance
The doctors in the districts of Ile, Gilé, and Alto Molocue made this club called the Northern Alliance. The reason is that if any of them gets attacked, literally or during an FGH meeting in Quelimane, the other 2 districts have their back. Well, Amy and I have been trying to get into the Northern Alliance for the past month, but Adi and Pola are acting like the older siblings who made a fort in the backyard and won't let you play.
Well, things have been brewing with the hammer and sickle government here, and yesterday things kind of hit the fan when the government ordered all expat doctors who don't have their approval to leave their districts and come back to Quelimane immediately. Naturally, this prompted Amy to send a text message to Adi saying, "well well, looks like you'll have to ask my permission to be in the northern alliance now. my how the tables have turned."
And so the fun began. Amy received a phone call that evening from Troy, our boss at FGH.
Troy: hey, is there a car there in molocue?
Amy: yeah, i mean, the normal molocue car.
T: so, i really hate to tell you this, but you need to come to quelimane tomorrow.
A: what? what are you talking about?
T: things here continue to fall apart, and now it looks like everyone needs to be pulled out of the districts for now. can you take a car to quelimane tomorrow? when is pola coming?
A: are you serious? pola's coming on friday. she's not coming tomorrow. wait, what the hell? are you serious?! i don't even know what to say
T: hold on, talk to Adi
Adi: Amy?
A: yeah
Adi: you need to get a ride to quelimane as soon as you can. everyone needs to get out of the districts tomorrow. you'll have to take a chapa if need be. (chapa being a mozambican bus meant for 12 people, that usually has 20 people, a few chickens, and maybe a goat)
...at this point Amy is about to cry because this means that her project is toast, FGH is falling apart at the hands of the mozambican commies, and she potentially has to pack up her belongings and sit on a stinky chapa for 6 hours.
Retaliation for a snotty text message. Boys team: 1, Girls: 0.
Don't worry. They'll get theirs. And for now, Amy and I have taken over as commanders of the Northern Alliance.
Well, things have been brewing with the hammer and sickle government here, and yesterday things kind of hit the fan when the government ordered all expat doctors who don't have their approval to leave their districts and come back to Quelimane immediately. Naturally, this prompted Amy to send a text message to Adi saying, "well well, looks like you'll have to ask my permission to be in the northern alliance now. my how the tables have turned."
And so the fun began. Amy received a phone call that evening from Troy, our boss at FGH.
Troy: hey, is there a car there in molocue?
Amy: yeah, i mean, the normal molocue car.
T: so, i really hate to tell you this, but you need to come to quelimane tomorrow.
A: what? what are you talking about?
T: things here continue to fall apart, and now it looks like everyone needs to be pulled out of the districts for now. can you take a car to quelimane tomorrow? when is pola coming?
A: are you serious? pola's coming on friday. she's not coming tomorrow. wait, what the hell? are you serious?! i don't even know what to say
T: hold on, talk to Adi
Adi: Amy?
A: yeah
Adi: you need to get a ride to quelimane as soon as you can. everyone needs to get out of the districts tomorrow. you'll have to take a chapa if need be. (chapa being a mozambican bus meant for 12 people, that usually has 20 people, a few chickens, and maybe a goat)
...at this point Amy is about to cry because this means that her project is toast, FGH is falling apart at the hands of the mozambican commies, and she potentially has to pack up her belongings and sit on a stinky chapa for 6 hours.
Retaliation for a snotty text message. Boys team: 1, Girls: 0.
Don't worry. They'll get theirs. And for now, Amy and I have taken over as commanders of the Northern Alliance.
give me one moment in time
Highlight of my trip to Namacurra yesterday: Victoriano, the FGH driver, who doesn't know a lick of English, in his baritone voice shamelessly singing "one moment in time" by Whitney Houston.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Brian Adams Mystery Solved
This was probably the biggest breakthrough I've had since arriving here. Today I uncovered the mystery of why Mozambicans have an unnatural love of Brian Adams. Turns out, Brian's dad was a diplomat and he grew up in Portugal. The Portuguese consider him one of their own, and apparently their love of Brian filtered down to their colonies. And that is why millions of Mozambicans who can't speak a word of English manage to stumble through every lyric (hilariously incorrectly) in the Brian Adams collection.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
a wise man once said...
"In Africa, there is so much time to sit around and do nothing. When you are back in the States, this isn't even an option for you. But here, you must spend your time doing nothing. This is Africa."
-the monitoring and evaluation coordinator to me, after walking into the office on a Saturday to find me working.
...on that note, I'm going to get a totabola, which is the Mozambican version of a root beer float, but made with strawberry ice cream and coke. and then i might go watch Animal Planet with Stacey's little kids because as her 7 year old enthusiastically told me yesterday, "every Saturday is monkey day!"
-the monitoring and evaluation coordinator to me, after walking into the office on a Saturday to find me working.
...on that note, I'm going to get a totabola, which is the Mozambican version of a root beer float, but made with strawberry ice cream and coke. and then i might go watch Animal Planet with Stacey's little kids because as her 7 year old enthusiastically told me yesterday, "every Saturday is monkey day!"
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
smell ya later, lugela!
2/24/08
And the fun continues. Yesterday Celso, Geny, and I settled in to our little pensão in Lugela, the land of mountains and maloocos. Malooco means crazy person. Lugela has never failed to provide its fair share of people, who if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect were possessed by demons. I’m just waiting for a holy man to arrive and cast the malooco demons into one of the many herds of goats that roam about here, who would inevitably hurl themselves off the side of a cliff. Back to what I was saying…it’s become the norm to get hexed by maloocos every time any non-native Lugellan is in town. I take their babbling in Manhawa and carrying on to be their way of saying, “welcome to Lugela! I’m nuts!” Point of my story: I got hexed by a Lugellan malooco…again.
Last night there was a light drizzle so I thought I’d enjoy the lovely outdoor shower, which amounts to a bucket of water behind a wall in the corner of the garden. The lantern ran out of lighter fluid so the guard gave me his flashlight. So I gingerly set up shop in the shower: placed my towel and clothes on the ledge above me, finagled the flashlight on the ledge so I could have a little light, grabbed the soap and a cup of water and enjoyed the peace and serenity of rural Africa. And then I heard the thunder rolling in. Trovuado. There was a storm rolling in over the mountain, and within 5 minutes it was beginning to come down. So I grabbed my towel and my clothes that were getting wet, and tried to quickly pack things up. And then it happened…I reached for the flashlight only to clumsily knock it over the back wall of the shower. Panic! Have you ever spent the night in a place with no electricity? It’s dark. Really dark. And the red clay becomes very slippery when wet. And I had no idea what was behind the wall. I thought the flashlight fell into the neighbor’s yard. I got the sort of panic you get when you’re a kid and accidentally send a ball or frisbee flying over the fence into the curmudgeonly neighbor’s backyard. Only this time it was pitch black, there was a massive thunderstorm brewing, I was wet, half-dressed, and pathetic looking, and with my luck, the neighbor was a Lugela malooco.
So what did I do? I tried to tiptoe around the edge of the shower wall until I made my way to the back, where I would hopefully find the flashlight. In doing so, I lost my footing on a rock, slipped on the red clay, and landed in a pile of dirt. Smooth. On a positive note, I made it to the back of the shower. On a negative note, the flashlight had landed light-down in the mud. So I sat there covered in mud waiting for a flash of lightning so I could see where the flashlight was. What started out as me trying to wash my sunblock off ended up with me soaking wet and covered in mud. Not my best shower. I quickly rinsed the mud off because I was certain that if I stayed out there any longer, God would make another attempt at my life via lightning bolt.
Today we were supposed to have both the men and women’s focus groups. Well, the chefe de bairro (neighborhood boss) didn’t pull through and only managed to organize the men’s group. This means that the women are tomorrow, so we can’t leave here until 3pm, and I won’t get home until 7pm.
Not cool Lugela. Not cool.
2-25-09
After two days of the best that Lugela has to offer, I was determined to make today better. I woke up with the sun and enjoyed the fresh morning air in the garden. Out of nowhere I was surrounded by what appeared to be bumble bees, zipping between the flowers. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were hummingbirds! Probably the smallest birds in the world. No joke, they were the size of my thumbnail. I tried to get pictures with my camera but I couldn’t get them in focus. The little buggers really move!
After an afternoon of battling my new Manhawa-speaking research assistants, I managed to get the women’s focus group done, and then headed back to Quelimane.
And the fun continues. Yesterday Celso, Geny, and I settled in to our little pensão in Lugela, the land of mountains and maloocos. Malooco means crazy person. Lugela has never failed to provide its fair share of people, who if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect were possessed by demons. I’m just waiting for a holy man to arrive and cast the malooco demons into one of the many herds of goats that roam about here, who would inevitably hurl themselves off the side of a cliff. Back to what I was saying…it’s become the norm to get hexed by maloocos every time any non-native Lugellan is in town. I take their babbling in Manhawa and carrying on to be their way of saying, “welcome to Lugela! I’m nuts!” Point of my story: I got hexed by a Lugellan malooco…again.
Last night there was a light drizzle so I thought I’d enjoy the lovely outdoor shower, which amounts to a bucket of water behind a wall in the corner of the garden. The lantern ran out of lighter fluid so the guard gave me his flashlight. So I gingerly set up shop in the shower: placed my towel and clothes on the ledge above me, finagled the flashlight on the ledge so I could have a little light, grabbed the soap and a cup of water and enjoyed the peace and serenity of rural Africa. And then I heard the thunder rolling in. Trovuado. There was a storm rolling in over the mountain, and within 5 minutes it was beginning to come down. So I grabbed my towel and my clothes that were getting wet, and tried to quickly pack things up. And then it happened…I reached for the flashlight only to clumsily knock it over the back wall of the shower. Panic! Have you ever spent the night in a place with no electricity? It’s dark. Really dark. And the red clay becomes very slippery when wet. And I had no idea what was behind the wall. I thought the flashlight fell into the neighbor’s yard. I got the sort of panic you get when you’re a kid and accidentally send a ball or frisbee flying over the fence into the curmudgeonly neighbor’s backyard. Only this time it was pitch black, there was a massive thunderstorm brewing, I was wet, half-dressed, and pathetic looking, and with my luck, the neighbor was a Lugela malooco.
So what did I do? I tried to tiptoe around the edge of the shower wall until I made my way to the back, where I would hopefully find the flashlight. In doing so, I lost my footing on a rock, slipped on the red clay, and landed in a pile of dirt. Smooth. On a positive note, I made it to the back of the shower. On a negative note, the flashlight had landed light-down in the mud. So I sat there covered in mud waiting for a flash of lightning so I could see where the flashlight was. What started out as me trying to wash my sunblock off ended up with me soaking wet and covered in mud. Not my best shower. I quickly rinsed the mud off because I was certain that if I stayed out there any longer, God would make another attempt at my life via lightning bolt.
Today we were supposed to have both the men and women’s focus groups. Well, the chefe de bairro (neighborhood boss) didn’t pull through and only managed to organize the men’s group. This means that the women are tomorrow, so we can’t leave here until 3pm, and I won’t get home until 7pm.
Not cool Lugela. Not cool.
2-25-09
After two days of the best that Lugela has to offer, I was determined to make today better. I woke up with the sun and enjoyed the fresh morning air in the garden. Out of nowhere I was surrounded by what appeared to be bumble bees, zipping between the flowers. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were hummingbirds! Probably the smallest birds in the world. No joke, they were the size of my thumbnail. I tried to get pictures with my camera but I couldn’t get them in focus. The little buggers really move!
After an afternoon of battling my new Manhawa-speaking research assistants, I managed to get the women’s focus group done, and then headed back to Quelimane.
Friday, February 20, 2009
75% done
2/15/09
After a week of watching smut shows like E! True Hollywood story, Laguna Beach (season 2, when LC moves back from San Francisco), and The Hills (yes, Amy and I were in heaven; and no, I don’t care that you’re judging me) on Amy and Pola’s satellite tv, and making banana-pineapple-guava smoothies, I packed up my things yesterday and moved on to Ile. I was living better in Molocue than I do in the US…but all good things come to an end.
I had a romantic Valentines Day dinner with Sergio, eating chicken and xima, and drinking a frosty Mozambican beer whilst listening to Brian Adams (further confirmation that Mozambicans have an unnatural love of Brian Adams). Fun fact about Sergio: he’s the first person from his entire province of Niassa to get a degree in anthropology. Can you imagine?! He’s one of the only anthropologists in Northern Mozambique. He taught me a thing or two last night about colonialism and tribalism. Did you know that Mozambique has 38 different local languages? And the country is kind of divided into three stereotypical parts: north, south, and central. The north is considered the area where the warriors live. This is where I’m living now. The south is where the educated people are, and the middle is where the uneducated people live. And as opposed to other African nations, where tribalism leads to wars and genocide, tribal loyalty here manifests as discrimination in areas like education, and in the work place. So certain tribes are kept at a lower socioeconomic level, and others hold all the power.
This morning I ran down the windy road that leads to Mount Ile. It’s this hilly red dirt road with trees on either side that make a beautiful canopy. On my right was majestic Mount Ile and on my left were more foothills with a half moon glowing bright despite the morning sun. Plus the sounds of water running down from the mountain, women working in the fields, birds chirping, and the occasional bicycle zipping by made for a pleasant outing. I’d take this over satellite tv any day.
2/17/09
Sergio and I sat down to a peaceful dindin last night at our pensão, only to be interrupted moments later by a motorcade pulling into the parking lot followed by about 15 Mozambican police equipped with riot gear, flack jackets, and semi-automatic assault riffles ‘sweeping the place.’ Don’t know about you, but I find it hard to eat when a gang of angry-looking weapon wielding men are staring at me. Turns out the Mozambican Minister of Security from Maputo was paying a visit to sleepy little Ile, and since there’s only one place to stay in town, I spent the night surrounded by an important government official and his entourage.
Today I took a long walk through the countryside and did a little birding. Living in Quelimane, I was beginning to think that the only things that fly in Mozambique are bats. My faith was restored after I spotted a few of the most beautifully exotic feathered creatures ever made.
After a week of watching smut shows like E! True Hollywood story, Laguna Beach (season 2, when LC moves back from San Francisco), and The Hills (yes, Amy and I were in heaven; and no, I don’t care that you’re judging me) on Amy and Pola’s satellite tv, and making banana-pineapple-guava smoothies, I packed up my things yesterday and moved on to Ile. I was living better in Molocue than I do in the US…but all good things come to an end.
I had a romantic Valentines Day dinner with Sergio, eating chicken and xima, and drinking a frosty Mozambican beer whilst listening to Brian Adams (further confirmation that Mozambicans have an unnatural love of Brian Adams). Fun fact about Sergio: he’s the first person from his entire province of Niassa to get a degree in anthropology. Can you imagine?! He’s one of the only anthropologists in Northern Mozambique. He taught me a thing or two last night about colonialism and tribalism. Did you know that Mozambique has 38 different local languages? And the country is kind of divided into three stereotypical parts: north, south, and central. The north is considered the area where the warriors live. This is where I’m living now. The south is where the educated people are, and the middle is where the uneducated people live. And as opposed to other African nations, where tribalism leads to wars and genocide, tribal loyalty here manifests as discrimination in areas like education, and in the work place. So certain tribes are kept at a lower socioeconomic level, and others hold all the power.
This morning I ran down the windy road that leads to Mount Ile. It’s this hilly red dirt road with trees on either side that make a beautiful canopy. On my right was majestic Mount Ile and on my left were more foothills with a half moon glowing bright despite the morning sun. Plus the sounds of water running down from the mountain, women working in the fields, birds chirping, and the occasional bicycle zipping by made for a pleasant outing. I’d take this over satellite tv any day.
2/17/09
Sergio and I sat down to a peaceful dindin last night at our pensão, only to be interrupted moments later by a motorcade pulling into the parking lot followed by about 15 Mozambican police equipped with riot gear, flack jackets, and semi-automatic assault riffles ‘sweeping the place.’ Don’t know about you, but I find it hard to eat when a gang of angry-looking weapon wielding men are staring at me. Turns out the Mozambican Minister of Security from Maputo was paying a visit to sleepy little Ile, and since there’s only one place to stay in town, I spent the night surrounded by an important government official and his entourage.
Today I took a long walk through the countryside and did a little birding. Living in Quelimane, I was beginning to think that the only things that fly in Mozambique are bats. My faith was restored after I spotted a few of the most beautifully exotic feathered creatures ever made.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunrise Earth: Gilé
2-4-2009
Ok, so after arriving back in Muskegon last summer, prior to leaving for Africa, my mom and dad introduced me to the wonder that is “Sunrise Earth.” It’s this show on some obscure channel that basically amounts to watching the sunrise in a remote area of the planet. And there are a bunch of cameras at different angles that capture what is going on, and there’s no music or talking. So we’d sit there for hours and watch the sunrise in the Everglades, or in Denali, or Siberia. I realize that this sounds kind of nerdy and lame…but I am nerdy and lame. Today, I experienced the wonder of sunrise Gilé. Adi and I got up at 5am to go for a run down the hill, over the rickety wooden planks that constitute the bridge over the Molocue River, and arrived on the other side just in time to see the sun creep up over Mount Gilé. Mom and dad, I wish I could have recorded it for you.
A certain aforementioned “crapweasel” was not at the clinic today (see previous district journal entry), so Adi decided to liberate me from the government regulations that prohibit me from seeing patients in Mozambique. What ensued was the result of Adi missing having med students to teach, and me missing patient care. The two of us rounded on all the in-patients and it pretty much rocked.
Sergio and I were able to do both community focus groups for Gilé today, and it was awesome. We got some interesting responses although I didn’t understand most of what was said because everyone was speaking Llomwe, the local language. I had one of those surreal moments where I realized I was sitting in a circle of people in rural Mozambique listening to them talk in a bizarre language about how they are convinced that the Mozambican government is making money by infecting and killing Mozambicans with HIV and that they're collaborating with foreign aid organizations to facilitate this. Just one of the many interesting things that was said.
I also learned today that my surge-protector doesn’t work. I made the mistake of transferring photos from my camera to my computer during a thunderstorm. Not one of my most brilliant moves. The computer was on the table, connected to the camera that was on my lap. Apparently I completed the circuit. On a positive note, my computer and camera are peachy-keen! And I probably glow in the dark.
2/5/09
Woke up at 5am to head to the bomba to get water. Adi and I loaded the car up with his big yellow plastic jugs and drove to the well on the outside of town. I pumped water for the first time in my life, which of course drew a crowd of spectators. It’s not every day that the good people of Gilé see a white girl pumping water at sunrise. After we got home, Adi’s empregado showed me how he makes piri-piri. I’m talking piri-piri that’ll put hair on your chest! After a nice long run and a bucket bath, I capped off my morning by climbing Adi’s guava tree to pick the last remaining guavas of the season. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
Later in the afternoon…I’m fairly certain God is trying to kill me, Old Testament style. First, I was electrocuted last night during a thunderstorm. Now we have another storm rolling in and being the amateur storm chaser that I am, I decided to take my computer out on the back porch and enjoy the show (computer NOT plugged in. I learned my lesson yesterday). I popped into the bathroom to wash my hands and was blinded by what looked like a fireball inches away from me, and a split second later there was the loudest pop I’ve ever heard. I think the tin roof of Adi’s house was struck by lightning. Fortunately, my ears have stopped ringing. Now I’m sitting here reflecting on my life and trying to figure out what I’ve done to bring this karma upon myself. I think it would behoove me to purge my soul in an attempt to avoid death by the wrath of God. Um, mom and dad, I’m sorry for throwing a party at our house while you were at the Fort Wayne dinner dance, and then lying about it. I’m sorry for bribing the Mozambican border patrol to post-date stamp my VISA, and therefore adding to the corruption of this country. Hannah and Elliott, I’m sorry for being really mean to you when we were little. (love you guys!) And I’m sorry for that time I beat the crap out of Steven, our neighbor…well, not really that sorry. He had it coming.
2/6/09
There’s something about watching and listening to bed sheets and curtains drying in the breeze that is indescribably calming. It’s like having someone massage your brain until you’re lulled to sleep. It’s great for my soul, but not so great for my productivity, as I’m attempting to translate the dialogue from the focus groups, and keep getting pleasantly distracted. And Adi’s empredago is listening to really good mellow Zimbabwean music, which is refreshing and restores my faith in African music. After being on the road with FGH drivers, I was beginning to think that the only music that exists here is Angolan techno.
Dr. Crapweasel still hasn’t returned to Gilé, so once again I got to round on the in-patients with Adi. The usual Big Three as I’m now calling them (HIV, TB, and malaria), plus marasmus, kwashiorkor, mysterious combo of exophthalmos and intermittent nystagmus in a 6 month old, and a 12 year old in heart failure who we think has a congenital VSD.
Friday night in Gilé and what is there to do? The Gilé bar crawl of course! Adi and I went to the two bars in town, the first being a motel/restaurant/convenience store/disco. After enjoying a beer there, we made our way to the second and last bar which amounts to a couple plastic chairs set up under a mango tree in front of someone’s hut.
2/7/09
Woke up early to pump water again. But first, Adi and I went trekking through the fields in an attempt to blaze a trail up Mount Gilé. Not a bad way to spend a morning; romping through the hills in Africa, looking for precious stones and monkeys. No joke. Every so often people find emeralds and aqua marine in Gilé, which is why there are currently 5 cars in town owned by people who have struck it rich. And there’s a group of monkeys that live on top of the mountain that we were trying to find. Needless to say, we didn’t find either of the two.
Headed to Molocue, where I’m staying with Pola and Amy. We decided to have Alto-palooza. This consisted of us drinking beer at their house and shamelessly singing Milli Vanilli, New Kids on the Block, and Ace of Base. Don’t act like you don’t love that music.
2/8/09
Lazy Sunday in Alto Molocue. Woke up early and went for a long run, then worked with Sergio on finalizing the translation from Gilé. Amy and I enjoyed the cool weather and late afternoon sun by reading in her backyard. Nothing beats a good book, a pleasant breeze blowing through the rows of corn, and the sound of the neighbor’s turkeys.
Ok, so after arriving back in Muskegon last summer, prior to leaving for Africa, my mom and dad introduced me to the wonder that is “Sunrise Earth.” It’s this show on some obscure channel that basically amounts to watching the sunrise in a remote area of the planet. And there are a bunch of cameras at different angles that capture what is going on, and there’s no music or talking. So we’d sit there for hours and watch the sunrise in the Everglades, or in Denali, or Siberia. I realize that this sounds kind of nerdy and lame…but I am nerdy and lame. Today, I experienced the wonder of sunrise Gilé. Adi and I got up at 5am to go for a run down the hill, over the rickety wooden planks that constitute the bridge over the Molocue River, and arrived on the other side just in time to see the sun creep up over Mount Gilé. Mom and dad, I wish I could have recorded it for you.
A certain aforementioned “crapweasel” was not at the clinic today (see previous district journal entry), so Adi decided to liberate me from the government regulations that prohibit me from seeing patients in Mozambique. What ensued was the result of Adi missing having med students to teach, and me missing patient care. The two of us rounded on all the in-patients and it pretty much rocked.
Sergio and I were able to do both community focus groups for Gilé today, and it was awesome. We got some interesting responses although I didn’t understand most of what was said because everyone was speaking Llomwe, the local language. I had one of those surreal moments where I realized I was sitting in a circle of people in rural Mozambique listening to them talk in a bizarre language about how they are convinced that the Mozambican government is making money by infecting and killing Mozambicans with HIV and that they're collaborating with foreign aid organizations to facilitate this. Just one of the many interesting things that was said.
I also learned today that my surge-protector doesn’t work. I made the mistake of transferring photos from my camera to my computer during a thunderstorm. Not one of my most brilliant moves. The computer was on the table, connected to the camera that was on my lap. Apparently I completed the circuit. On a positive note, my computer and camera are peachy-keen! And I probably glow in the dark.
2/5/09
Woke up at 5am to head to the bomba to get water. Adi and I loaded the car up with his big yellow plastic jugs and drove to the well on the outside of town. I pumped water for the first time in my life, which of course drew a crowd of spectators. It’s not every day that the good people of Gilé see a white girl pumping water at sunrise. After we got home, Adi’s empregado showed me how he makes piri-piri. I’m talking piri-piri that’ll put hair on your chest! After a nice long run and a bucket bath, I capped off my morning by climbing Adi’s guava tree to pick the last remaining guavas of the season. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
Later in the afternoon…I’m fairly certain God is trying to kill me, Old Testament style. First, I was electrocuted last night during a thunderstorm. Now we have another storm rolling in and being the amateur storm chaser that I am, I decided to take my computer out on the back porch and enjoy the show (computer NOT plugged in. I learned my lesson yesterday). I popped into the bathroom to wash my hands and was blinded by what looked like a fireball inches away from me, and a split second later there was the loudest pop I’ve ever heard. I think the tin roof of Adi’s house was struck by lightning. Fortunately, my ears have stopped ringing. Now I’m sitting here reflecting on my life and trying to figure out what I’ve done to bring this karma upon myself. I think it would behoove me to purge my soul in an attempt to avoid death by the wrath of God. Um, mom and dad, I’m sorry for throwing a party at our house while you were at the Fort Wayne dinner dance, and then lying about it. I’m sorry for bribing the Mozambican border patrol to post-date stamp my VISA, and therefore adding to the corruption of this country. Hannah and Elliott, I’m sorry for being really mean to you when we were little. (love you guys!) And I’m sorry for that time I beat the crap out of Steven, our neighbor…well, not really that sorry. He had it coming.
2/6/09
There’s something about watching and listening to bed sheets and curtains drying in the breeze that is indescribably calming. It’s like having someone massage your brain until you’re lulled to sleep. It’s great for my soul, but not so great for my productivity, as I’m attempting to translate the dialogue from the focus groups, and keep getting pleasantly distracted. And Adi’s empredago is listening to really good mellow Zimbabwean music, which is refreshing and restores my faith in African music. After being on the road with FGH drivers, I was beginning to think that the only music that exists here is Angolan techno.
Dr. Crapweasel still hasn’t returned to Gilé, so once again I got to round on the in-patients with Adi. The usual Big Three as I’m now calling them (HIV, TB, and malaria), plus marasmus, kwashiorkor, mysterious combo of exophthalmos and intermittent nystagmus in a 6 month old, and a 12 year old in heart failure who we think has a congenital VSD.
Friday night in Gilé and what is there to do? The Gilé bar crawl of course! Adi and I went to the two bars in town, the first being a motel/restaurant/convenience store/disco. After enjoying a beer there, we made our way to the second and last bar which amounts to a couple plastic chairs set up under a mango tree in front of someone’s hut.
2/7/09
Woke up early to pump water again. But first, Adi and I went trekking through the fields in an attempt to blaze a trail up Mount Gilé. Not a bad way to spend a morning; romping through the hills in Africa, looking for precious stones and monkeys. No joke. Every so often people find emeralds and aqua marine in Gilé, which is why there are currently 5 cars in town owned by people who have struck it rich. And there’s a group of monkeys that live on top of the mountain that we were trying to find. Needless to say, we didn’t find either of the two.
Headed to Molocue, where I’m staying with Pola and Amy. We decided to have Alto-palooza. This consisted of us drinking beer at their house and shamelessly singing Milli Vanilli, New Kids on the Block, and Ace of Base. Don’t act like you don’t love that music.
2/8/09
Lazy Sunday in Alto Molocue. Woke up early and went for a long run, then worked with Sergio on finalizing the translation from Gilé. Amy and I enjoyed the cool weather and late afternoon sun by reading in her backyard. Nothing beats a good book, a pleasant breeze blowing through the rows of corn, and the sound of the neighbor’s turkeys.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Recreational Drug Use
message I got from Amy today: I popped an albendazol yesterday with Pola
Somehow she manages to make taking anti-parasitic medication sound like a really enjoyable illicit drug experience.
Somehow she manages to make taking anti-parasitic medication sound like a really enjoyable illicit drug experience.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Quoth John:
"For the rest of you life, whenever a doctor starts talking about the clinical presentation of Malaria, you can be like 'yea i know, i had falcip.' Kate Groh doesn't have time to mess around with Vivax or Ovale. She goes right after the hard-core stuff....and everyone can't wait to see you when you come back (except me because i think you are a tool)."
Well said, John...you tool
Well said, John...you tool
Pop Rocks and 7-up
Due to a number of concerned emails and a frantic phone call from Hannah, I thought it would be good to let the family know that yes, I have malaria, but I am just fine. In fact, I'm on my last day of treatment and feeling delightful! So what happened is I had a bit of a fever Sunday night, and then on Monday I tested positive for plasmodium falciparum. But fear not! I started treatment immediately (for the medically curious, I'm taking coartem) and am 100% a-ok. I think I probably had a mild case because I'm taking malaria prophylaxis, and I'm a generally healthy 25 year old. Now, if I was really young or really old, or my body couldn't fight off infections well, then I probably would have been sicker.
Getting malaria in Africa is kind of like getting the flu in America. It's pretty common and most people handle it just fine.
And in fact, I think I really came out a winner in this situation because since I was the first person to get malaria, Amy has to buy me ice cream. Amers, I'd like rainbow sprinkles too. Also I get to play the "I have malaria" card. Unfortunately this doesn't really matter when you're living by yourself in Africa. But if I was in the USA, you bet I'd be milking it for all it's worth.
So basically I'd be more concerned if I had eaten pop rocks and drank a can of 7-up...because everyone knows that makes your stomach explode.
Getting malaria in Africa is kind of like getting the flu in America. It's pretty common and most people handle it just fine.
And in fact, I think I really came out a winner in this situation because since I was the first person to get malaria, Amy has to buy me ice cream. Amers, I'd like rainbow sprinkles too. Also I get to play the "I have malaria" card. Unfortunately this doesn't really matter when you're living by yourself in Africa. But if I was in the USA, you bet I'd be milking it for all it's worth.
So basically I'd be more concerned if I had eaten pop rocks and drank a can of 7-up...because everyone knows that makes your stomach explode.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Moving right along
I was out in the districts this week. Here's the play by play:
1/12/2009
Today was the first day of traveling to the northern districts to collect clinic data. It was about a 6 ½ hour drive to Gile through beautiful rolling hills that are bright green from the rain we’ve been having. We arrived at Adi’s house to find that he had electricity (I was pleasantly surprised), but no running water. Come to find out that the reason why we have electricity is because there is a meeting today of the Gile government officials, so they turn on the electricity for the town so they can run their a/c. Also found out there hasn’t been water for 3 days and nobody knows when it’ll start working again. Can we say hammer and sickle much?
Sara, Sergio, and I went to the health center to “be presented” to the DDS (the head doctor for Gile). A rather unpleasant and aggressive man who not so kindly informed us that although we have 572 pieces of documentation for our research project that have been signed by every government official from Cabo Delgado to Maputo, we don’t have the documentation that he wants. Apparently we have government “approval” but we don’t have “authorization.” Oops. Obviously one needs to get authorization after being approved. I mean, how else will the authorities know that I’ve been through the bureaucratic ringer? After that lovely meeting, I taught Sara and Sergio the word, ‘crapweasel.’
On a positive note, Adi has a guava tree! So all is not lost. And I might venture down to the river this evening to try to get a glimpse of a crocodile. So between the delicious guavas and potential crocodile spotting, life is good.
1/13/2009
Ok, so we’ve received the DDS’s blessing, although he made it quite clear that he’s not pleased with our lack of documentation. After popping by the clinic, Sara and I took a stroll through the market. Between the room filled with drying fish (and flies), and the adjacent room filled with severed goat heads (and flies), I think I might take a pass on lunch.
Focus group went well and afterwards, Sara, Emilio, and I walked down to the Molocue River to enjoy the view. It was beautiful! Kind of turbulent reddish-brown water with tall grass on either side. Mt. Gile was in the distance, and a wonderful thunderstorm was rumbling in. Didn’t see a crocodile, but hey, you win some you lose some.
1/14/2009
So the empregado who works for Adi almost burned down the house last night. Turns out candles and wicker tables covered in flammable cloth don’t mix. I walked into the empty living room to see a candle tipped over and the table going up in flames. Luckily my Smokey the Bear training came in handy and I screamed, “fire,” which nobody understood because they don’t speak English, and then I reached for my trusty water bottle and put out the flames. This could have been potentially bad for a couple reasons: 1.Gile doesn’t have a fire department…but they do have a jenky looking tribunal where I no doubt would have been convicted of arson and incarcerated. 2.Gile doesn’t have running water. And yes, I am a master of bucket baths if you were wondering. 3.There was a giant gas tank in the house that powered the stove. But thanks to my trusty nalgene bottle and my girlish shriek (which nobody responded to), crisis was averted.
We arrived in Alto Molocue this morning and went to the district administration office to present ourselves to the guy who basically functions like the mayor. It was like entering Oz, and the deputy administrator was the wizard. Seriously, we (Sara, Sergio, and I—tin man, scarecrow, and Dorothy) had to sit in the waiting room for him to invite us into his office which was sealed off by 20-foot high wooden doors. I fully anticipated hearing a booming voice declare, “you may enter!”
Administrator: And what do you want, little foreign girl?
Me: I just want to do my research, your Excellency.
Admin: You only have 742 pages documenting your approval. Do you fancy me a fool?!
Me: No sir, your most awesomest administrator. What do I have to do to collect my data in your wonderful district?
Admin: Bring me back the broomsti….I mean a letter signed by the deputy physician of this province. Only then will I speak to you and potentially allow you to carry out your project.
And so our adventure continued. Turns out we were able to play the “my father is the head of FGH” card. Sara doesn’t like to, but when backed in a corner, we’ll come out with the big guns. And just like that, we were given the green light to commence with our research in Molocue. The focus group went well, and the three of us had a lovely dinner at a Mozambican truck stop. No joke. Like an American truck stop, only they didn’t have delicious pie. (sidenote: why do truck stops always have the best pies?) Alto Molocue is on the major highway that runs to the province of Nampula. So the three of us ate dinner surrounded by a bunch of burly truck drivers. And now we’re working on transcribing and translating the data from today, as well as killing the millions of cockroaches that call our motel home.
1/16/2009
Ok, so I’m back in Quelimane. We left Alto Molocue yesterday and arrived in Ile to hopefully bust through with our focus group in the same day and then head back home early the following day. Things didn’t quite go as planned, but we’re trying to work in rural Mozambique, so that’s kind of to be expected. None the less, things panned out well and we were able to get our data collected today, and then head home early afternoon.
My new favorite word: trovoada. Meaning: thunderstorms. Every night this week, we had amazing thunder and lightning, but fortunately not much rain. After a long day of work in the Mozambican heat, there’s nothing better than kicking up your feet and watching a storm roll in over the hills.
Funny thing I realized: I’m working in tiny little rural towns that often don’t have running water or electricity, but they do have functioning cell phone towers. No joke. Driving in, I noticed a woman working in machamba (the subsistence farming fields), talking on her cell phone. About 25% of the population suffers from moderate malnutrition, people have to pump water from the neighborhood well, but they can send text messages.
I had a long, important, and probably life-changing discussion with Sergio (one of my research assistants) about Brian Adams. Yes, Brian Adams the singer. One of the most perplexing things about this country is that Mozambicans LOVE Brian Adams. Why? I have no idea. But Sergio insists that it is all very simple. They just like his sound.
I love buying mystery produce. On the way home we made a pit-stop in Nicoadala to buy pineapples and there were these cute little kids selling bags of berry-like fruit, so of course I bought 2 giant bags…you know, there were two kids so I had to buy from both of them. Kind of like you have to buy lemonade from all the little lemonade stands in your neighborhood, just to be fair. Anyway, I bought about 4 kilos of what looks like a cross between a grape and an olive. Jorge, our driver, totally got a kick out of me buying stuff that I’ve never heard of or tried. So these grape things are called jamboão, and they kind of have the texture of a grape but they taste like a cross between a tart grape and a pine tree. Sort of like eating grapes and taking a swig of gin. And they have a pit. I definitely like them more than the cashew fruit. But I think ata is still my favorite of the “what is that, and is it edible” class of fruit.
We’re supposed to go to Lugela on Monday and Tuesday, but we can’t go without that other oh so important piece of governmental approval that seems to elude us. Troy asked the official to sign it today, but they said no and that we’re to come back next week and they’ll consider it again. Why did they say no? Because they’re in a position of authority, so they can. Flexing their muscles. Hammer and sickle. Bem vindo a Moçambique!
1/12/2009
Today was the first day of traveling to the northern districts to collect clinic data. It was about a 6 ½ hour drive to Gile through beautiful rolling hills that are bright green from the rain we’ve been having. We arrived at Adi’s house to find that he had electricity (I was pleasantly surprised), but no running water. Come to find out that the reason why we have electricity is because there is a meeting today of the Gile government officials, so they turn on the electricity for the town so they can run their a/c. Also found out there hasn’t been water for 3 days and nobody knows when it’ll start working again. Can we say hammer and sickle much?
Sara, Sergio, and I went to the health center to “be presented” to the DDS (the head doctor for Gile). A rather unpleasant and aggressive man who not so kindly informed us that although we have 572 pieces of documentation for our research project that have been signed by every government official from Cabo Delgado to Maputo, we don’t have the documentation that he wants. Apparently we have government “approval” but we don’t have “authorization.” Oops. Obviously one needs to get authorization after being approved. I mean, how else will the authorities know that I’ve been through the bureaucratic ringer? After that lovely meeting, I taught Sara and Sergio the word, ‘crapweasel.’
On a positive note, Adi has a guava tree! So all is not lost. And I might venture down to the river this evening to try to get a glimpse of a crocodile. So between the delicious guavas and potential crocodile spotting, life is good.
1/13/2009
Ok, so we’ve received the DDS’s blessing, although he made it quite clear that he’s not pleased with our lack of documentation. After popping by the clinic, Sara and I took a stroll through the market. Between the room filled with drying fish (and flies), and the adjacent room filled with severed goat heads (and flies), I think I might take a pass on lunch.
Focus group went well and afterwards, Sara, Emilio, and I walked down to the Molocue River to enjoy the view. It was beautiful! Kind of turbulent reddish-brown water with tall grass on either side. Mt. Gile was in the distance, and a wonderful thunderstorm was rumbling in. Didn’t see a crocodile, but hey, you win some you lose some.
1/14/2009
So the empregado who works for Adi almost burned down the house last night. Turns out candles and wicker tables covered in flammable cloth don’t mix. I walked into the empty living room to see a candle tipped over and the table going up in flames. Luckily my Smokey the Bear training came in handy and I screamed, “fire,” which nobody understood because they don’t speak English, and then I reached for my trusty water bottle and put out the flames. This could have been potentially bad for a couple reasons: 1.Gile doesn’t have a fire department…but they do have a jenky looking tribunal where I no doubt would have been convicted of arson and incarcerated. 2.Gile doesn’t have running water. And yes, I am a master of bucket baths if you were wondering. 3.There was a giant gas tank in the house that powered the stove. But thanks to my trusty nalgene bottle and my girlish shriek (which nobody responded to), crisis was averted.
We arrived in Alto Molocue this morning and went to the district administration office to present ourselves to the guy who basically functions like the mayor. It was like entering Oz, and the deputy administrator was the wizard. Seriously, we (Sara, Sergio, and I—tin man, scarecrow, and Dorothy) had to sit in the waiting room for him to invite us into his office which was sealed off by 20-foot high wooden doors. I fully anticipated hearing a booming voice declare, “you may enter!”
Administrator: And what do you want, little foreign girl?
Me: I just want to do my research, your Excellency.
Admin: You only have 742 pages documenting your approval. Do you fancy me a fool?!
Me: No sir, your most awesomest administrator. What do I have to do to collect my data in your wonderful district?
Admin: Bring me back the broomsti….I mean a letter signed by the deputy physician of this province. Only then will I speak to you and potentially allow you to carry out your project.
And so our adventure continued. Turns out we were able to play the “my father is the head of FGH” card. Sara doesn’t like to, but when backed in a corner, we’ll come out with the big guns. And just like that, we were given the green light to commence with our research in Molocue. The focus group went well, and the three of us had a lovely dinner at a Mozambican truck stop. No joke. Like an American truck stop, only they didn’t have delicious pie. (sidenote: why do truck stops always have the best pies?) Alto Molocue is on the major highway that runs to the province of Nampula. So the three of us ate dinner surrounded by a bunch of burly truck drivers. And now we’re working on transcribing and translating the data from today, as well as killing the millions of cockroaches that call our motel home.
1/16/2009
Ok, so I’m back in Quelimane. We left Alto Molocue yesterday and arrived in Ile to hopefully bust through with our focus group in the same day and then head back home early the following day. Things didn’t quite go as planned, but we’re trying to work in rural Mozambique, so that’s kind of to be expected. None the less, things panned out well and we were able to get our data collected today, and then head home early afternoon.
My new favorite word: trovoada. Meaning: thunderstorms. Every night this week, we had amazing thunder and lightning, but fortunately not much rain. After a long day of work in the Mozambican heat, there’s nothing better than kicking up your feet and watching a storm roll in over the hills.
Funny thing I realized: I’m working in tiny little rural towns that often don’t have running water or electricity, but they do have functioning cell phone towers. No joke. Driving in, I noticed a woman working in machamba (the subsistence farming fields), talking on her cell phone. About 25% of the population suffers from moderate malnutrition, people have to pump water from the neighborhood well, but they can send text messages.
I had a long, important, and probably life-changing discussion with Sergio (one of my research assistants) about Brian Adams. Yes, Brian Adams the singer. One of the most perplexing things about this country is that Mozambicans LOVE Brian Adams. Why? I have no idea. But Sergio insists that it is all very simple. They just like his sound.
I love buying mystery produce. On the way home we made a pit-stop in Nicoadala to buy pineapples and there were these cute little kids selling bags of berry-like fruit, so of course I bought 2 giant bags…you know, there were two kids so I had to buy from both of them. Kind of like you have to buy lemonade from all the little lemonade stands in your neighborhood, just to be fair. Anyway, I bought about 4 kilos of what looks like a cross between a grape and an olive. Jorge, our driver, totally got a kick out of me buying stuff that I’ve never heard of or tried. So these grape things are called jamboão, and they kind of have the texture of a grape but they taste like a cross between a tart grape and a pine tree. Sort of like eating grapes and taking a swig of gin. And they have a pit. I definitely like them more than the cashew fruit. But I think ata is still my favorite of the “what is that, and is it edible” class of fruit.
We’re supposed to go to Lugela on Monday and Tuesday, but we can’t go without that other oh so important piece of governmental approval that seems to elude us. Troy asked the official to sign it today, but they said no and that we’re to come back next week and they’ll consider it again. Why did they say no? Because they’re in a position of authority, so they can. Flexing their muscles. Hammer and sickle. Bem vindo a Moçambique!
more nets find homes!
80 more mosquito nets have found a home! After our most excellent day of handing out mosquito nets to HIV+ moms and their children, we’re giving more out to the peer educators who work for FGH. These are HIV+ men and women who receive a small stipend to help educate people in their communities about HIV. They also conduct “buscactiva,” which means “active looking.” When an HIV+ patient stops showing up to the clinic to get their medication, the peer educators hop on their bikes (or in a truck if one’s available) and go searching for these patients. The goal is to figure out why they stopped their treatment (which is also the point of mine and Amy’s research), and hopefully to bring them back to the clinic.
So once again, thank you to everyone who so generously donated mosquito nets! Agradecemos a todos! Muito obrigada!
So once again, thank you to everyone who so generously donated mosquito nets! Agradecemos a todos! Muito obrigada!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Customs Officer: Do you have anything to declare?
response: CAPE TOWN RULES!
Amy and I are back in the moz, wishing we had another week in South Africa. Cape Town was amazing. It felt like Muskegon in the summertime: warm days and chilly nights. We explored, shopped, and ate like gluttonous kings. I made it my personal mission to consume 4,000 calories of dairy products a day in an attempt to make up for the lack of milk in my diet over the past 5 months. Here's the breakdown of our adventure:
The Two Oceans Aquarium--did you know that malfunctioning toasters kill more people a year than sharks?
Natural history museum and planetarium--nerd heaven! They had an exhibit of the best nature photos of the year. And we learned all about southern hemisphere constellations.
Community Gardens--my happy place. You could find me there most mornings, sipping a latte, reading a book, people watching, and enjoying the flora.
Shark cage diving--Amy threatened to use me as shark bait if I didn't stop singing pirate songs. We only had one Great White come up to our boat all day. We got to see it from the deck. We suited up in our wet suits and waited for another one to show up so we could hop in the cage. Sadly, we waited for 3 hours with no luck. But it was a lovely day at sea! We even saw whales.
Wine tour--I got a phone call from my mom while I was sipping on a lovely cab. She called to tell me that I'm an auntie! Andrew Chapman Bishop was born!!!
Table Mountain--it was like being on the stair climber for 2 1/2 hours. Great view from the top!
The beach--kind of funny to think we were just on the other side of the pond
Amy and I are heading out on Monday morning to resume our projects. Amy's actually moving up to Alto Molocue for the next 2 months in order to enroll patients in her study. I'll spend the next week on the road, going up to Gile, Alto Molocue, Ile, then Lugela. And then I'll be on the road for all of February. Not going to lie. We're pretty excited to be collecting data.
Amy and I are back in the moz, wishing we had another week in South Africa. Cape Town was amazing. It felt like Muskegon in the summertime: warm days and chilly nights. We explored, shopped, and ate like gluttonous kings. I made it my personal mission to consume 4,000 calories of dairy products a day in an attempt to make up for the lack of milk in my diet over the past 5 months. Here's the breakdown of our adventure:
The Two Oceans Aquarium--did you know that malfunctioning toasters kill more people a year than sharks?
Natural history museum and planetarium--nerd heaven! They had an exhibit of the best nature photos of the year. And we learned all about southern hemisphere constellations.
Community Gardens--my happy place. You could find me there most mornings, sipping a latte, reading a book, people watching, and enjoying the flora.
Shark cage diving--Amy threatened to use me as shark bait if I didn't stop singing pirate songs. We only had one Great White come up to our boat all day. We got to see it from the deck. We suited up in our wet suits and waited for another one to show up so we could hop in the cage. Sadly, we waited for 3 hours with no luck. But it was a lovely day at sea! We even saw whales.
Wine tour--I got a phone call from my mom while I was sipping on a lovely cab. She called to tell me that I'm an auntie! Andrew Chapman Bishop was born!!!
Table Mountain--it was like being on the stair climber for 2 1/2 hours. Great view from the top!
The beach--kind of funny to think we were just on the other side of the pond
Amy and I are heading out on Monday morning to resume our projects. Amy's actually moving up to Alto Molocue for the next 2 months in order to enroll patients in her study. I'll spend the next week on the road, going up to Gile, Alto Molocue, Ile, then Lugela. And then I'll be on the road for all of February. Not going to lie. We're pretty excited to be collecting data.
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