Last day in Arusha

So here we are... Our time volunteering is over. Bittersweet for sure. Quite the eye opening experience. Glad to have done it. Looking forward to our vacation and then home. Miss family friends pets and American food for sure! Here are some parting words:

Things I won't miss

- smells: occasionally a whiff from a wood burning fire but mostly constant body odor, rotting veggies and general bad smells. There is one pharmacy that always smells so foul. I was wondering what the hospital smelled like and then I realized anatomy lab! They wash the floors w formeldehyde. I'm so sensitive to smells!

- power going out: and water for that matter. The inconvenient times it went out : at the supermarket, during dinner, at work, during a shower, during a movie, during a workout, the list goes on


- no gym: working out is integrated into my life and now Matt's . No gyms here really. I did a few home work outs but mostly a lot of walking. I miss crossfit

- the noise and busy-ness: people here are crowded and always talking, even at home w construction and what not. I like reading and peacefulness there wasn't much here.

- pollution: and dust. Asthma and allergies out of control

- being the center of attention: no blending in here. We were constantly being stared at, talked to, someone trying to get us to buy stuff

- the lack of treatment for animals: I didn't like seeing all the hungry strays

- the sickness : stuff that is preventable in the US

- the traffic: almost died every day! Would it kill someone to put a traffic light up or a stop sign here and there

- hand washing laundry: so much effort and in dirty water then it rains and then the line falls down.. We really have it easy at home

- the risks: between traffic and work risks ( infectious diseases, drawing blood on HIV + people) and random mosquito borne diseases , rabies it made me worry

-poverty: I see a lot in the US but without government aid sometimes it felt hopeless here

The cultural manner differences: from shoving off the daladala to sitting super close to me and not having sense of personal space to treating animals without respect

Things I may or may not miss

-the daladalas: so exciting and convenient but so cramped and broken down

- the food: some was tasty and I liked the fresh tropical fruit, the giant avocados, the fresh cut French fries , the chai tea, the chili sauce ( pili pili ) even the instant coffee was good but a lot was repetitive and bland and not something I will look for in the US .

- the wildlife: I obviously loved all the safari animals, but the bats, snakes, mice, bugs I could live without


The things I will miss

Safety: terrorism and violence is non existent here. No one has guns except military and they are old and rusty. The worst people would do is pick pocket you but no one even tried w me. I felt very safe sleeping at night even tho everyone knew where we lived. People just don't do horrible crimes here. Felt safer than Chicago or Indy

Cheapness: everything was less money here except safaris . Food and drink was cheap. I even got a massage for 25$ . Nails done for less than 2$! I like cheap for sure

The people! : yes there were some annoying ones buy my stuff! But mostly everyone was super friendly , welcoming, and wanted to say hello. They are very proud of their country. They smiled a lot. The staff at the hospital grew on me, the people in our house were great, and I made some foreign friends. The people here are not killing each other they are helping each other.

The sense of community: as I said even in poverty they aren't hurting each other they seem to help in any way. From giving an old lady some money for the bus, to pushing cars out of mud, they were there for each other. They especially helped other's kids. Kids usually take the daladala to school by themselves and people on the bus would sit them on their laps- even the daladala money collector would help them cross the street or carry them off the bus when they got off. I saw a lady hand a random kid a lollipop through the open bus window. Today I saw a man carry a scared kid over a puddle then go about his day. I loved it!

THE KIDS: cutest kids I've ever seen. Either staring w soulful brown eyes or smiling a huge smile they were so adorable. They always said Hi, how are you, and good morning ( even at night haha) and would yell it til they got a response then they were so happy. I loved hearing them belt out songs at the top of their lungs in the morning at school. I loved our neighbor kids who glared longingly at
the pool. I loved Matt's kids I met.

The environment: from the cool animals to the tropical plants to the weather ( when it wasn't raining it was sunny w a cool breeze

The medicine : such a change of pace from the hypertension and COPD that I see everyday back home. Now getting to learn about a lot of tropical diseases and treatments and the way culture figures into the medical treatment here

Helping others; I guess I kind of do this in my job but here I was purely around to do this!

The variety of things to do: restaurants, safaris, hiking , and so much more if we had time

The expat community: even though I wasn't really part of it I enjoyed watching it at the restaurants including some of the same people I saw every day while they were conducting business at restaurants etc

The free time: after work didn't have to worry about doing much- no crossfit no Cooking no chores really. I did a lot of reading since everything else was usually not available

The "newness": so much to explore , so much stimulation of the mind!

Hanging out w the love of my life: we never get to spend every day w each other as Matt travels for work and I sometimes work weekends. Matt put 110% in here and I was very proud of how hard he worked! Not going to lie sometimes this wasn't a walk in the park as we both have tempers, want to be right etc and with our environment here some crabbiness and bickering occurred but overall we bonded sharing this experience of a lifetime and will treasure it forever!

This was life changing and eye opening and Tanzania will have a soft spot in my heart. Til we meet again!

I will try to keep writing about the rest of our travels as i want to start journaling my traveling. Thanks for reading and for all those who donated - I know the kids were appreciative! Xoxo

Random thoughts

some random thoughts before I write the last day post tomorrow :(

- again today I helped out a lot in the hospital.. Drawing blood, checking blood sugars and blood pressures, writing notes, powwowing w my attending about plans, teaching Med students, doing discharges. If only I had another month and also more grasp of the language

- there was a major storm yesterday night and I worried about the cats. Turns out one of the kittens was hiding behind our tv! It was so little and cute and scared. I'm sure going to worry about them when I leave

- Matt is trying to teach his kids some manners/ good behavior. They get away w it bc everyone is busy trying to make the actual place function. They trash their toys and in general run amok. Matt tried to show one the right way to pick up a cat after a kid picked it up by the ear! One also tried to give Matt their nasty used tissue, one threw a spider on a volunteer after she said she was scared, and Matt won't answer them if they call to him as Mzungu as they know his name.

- saw some kids throwing rocks at a dog . Boo!

- Allen about Americans " they love all the little animals but they hate the bugs!"

- everyone's teeth here are completely brown and destroyed . I looked it up- apparently from too much fluoride in the water. Didn't know this was a thing but sad, they should fix this

- saw a kid late to school- teacher whacked him w a ruler. Didn't know this was still a thing. Sad. Guess it is learned from the German schooling system

- so much construction at our House. Annoying bc they tear down the clothesline . We got home early one day and Matt said one guy was outside naked spraying himself w a hose haha

- I love the daladala names. Wanted to pay someone to decorate one for me. Besides Tony and Disneyland, there is The Sniper, Rick Ross, Crime Scene , Faithbook ( decorated like facebook), work hard pray hard and my favorite Thanks Jesus ( is this for real or to be said in a sarcastic tone?)

- noticed whenever we buy something the person is then blowing the money quickly haha. Bought a tingatinga painting ( special painting w childlike animals) and five minutes later the man was at he next door bar we went to

- also love the shirt sayings, esp when worn by an old woman who doesn't speak English , "this just got real awkward", "hit it pimp it, "Spartan cheerleading, "y'all come back now y'all hear". Have seen Chicago park district shirt, IU, Marquette dentistry, and a ton of different 5k shirts. There is a large market that sells literal tons of used clothes - wondering how US donated clothes end up getting sold

- people buy their "cell plans" by purchasing frequent  cards that have a code. I got a one week unlimited but apparently after going to 10 stores they aren't selling them this week.

- since some people live without power, there is a big kiosk at the market with like a thousand outlets where u can pay to charge your phone for the day...Matt says this must be very slow. I find it fascinating that in these countries everyone seems to have a phone or most, two, including a smart phone ( apparently one company better for Internet one better for SMS). I have two phones one I bought here and my iPhone.

- there are little tables on the sidewalk w "tech people " with screwdrivers and such that can apparently fix your phone

- you can get your nails done on the street for 2$ including designs!

- a 16 oz bottle of Coke here costs like 35 cents!

- diet things are hard to find ( Diet Coke like 20 cents more) I guess bc most people need the calories!

- I have seen more people w albinism than I have noticed before in the US ( maybe just bias?) Allen said they used to disappear and everyone wondered why. Well as I have read, they are killed or limbs  chopped off and used as a remedy by witch doctors. Allen says this no longer happens but I just read an article where it is still bad here ( Despite outlawing witch doctors last year) and a lot were just
moved over to Kenya.

- no one has even tried to pick pocket my stuff. That being said I'm still careful But going about every day life I can't be ubermilitant

- Allen says when you are invited to a wedding here you first get an invite asking you to pay a fee ( 25$ per couple going rate) then you pay and get an invite and are still expected to bring a gift. And you basically have to go as it is part of the culture

- marina went to a Muslim wedding here and after the short ceremony that she Wasn't allowed to attend the girls were all separated from the guys. Everyone ate then the bride came out and everyone Carried gifts to her- I'm talking about a fridge, bed, washer etc! Then it was over!

Last week

sadly, the last week here. Which I guess is bittersweet. Had a great experience but definitely were out of our comfort zone and got comfortable with being uncomfortable.

A lot of the same this week, saw Matt and his kid again at St Elizabeth's. He is doing great with the kids considering he has never really taken care of kids before. He bought her a snack on the way home. He told me a funny story of how they left him in a room with the naked twin babies in a tub and they both immediately started wailing but he figured out what to do to bathe them and calm them down.

Actually today, I had much more responsibility at the hospital. My attending was not feeling well and basically shoved the charts at me and said "here you do it". At first I thought she was kidding but when she didn't go into the wards with me I realized I was in charge. Thankfully the first patient's son spoke English, as did the nurse, but not enough for me to explain different things like why the kidney function was off. As I suspected, I was much better prepared to do this a few weeks in when I learned their shorthand, systems, what meds they used, saw more of the endemic diseases etc. so I bumbled through with the help of some Med students ( all people at that level are fairly fluent in English and it seems like English is the medical language here - charts written in it etc, so good for me). The attending eventually came but basically was like my translator. I even did two discharges myself. Great with two more days left haha I wish I had more time. I drew a little boys blood and he screamed and I got some on the sheets ( that they have to wash by hand has anyone seen American horror story hotel? That laundry lady? Haha). We were perplexed by his abdominal pain etc the last few days and his mom today was like oh by the way he has sickle cell disease. Well that's the culprit! It's interesting how these things come up. I'd say the unique things about the patients here is everyone is grateful, no ones whining, no one is even carrying on about pain - which in the US is sometimes legit sometimes not ( and all they get is ibuprofen. Funny story Matt's coworker Allen was complaining about a headache and Matt gave him some ibuprofen and he thought it was a miracle drug...if only this was the case in the US), everyone is respectful to doctors and don't refer to the female ones as "nurse" , and family is ALWAYS present ( nothing worse in the US when you have a confused patient and no one answers the phone). Obesity is rare-ish so it is easy to get a good physical exam and draw blood. It's crazy how different the diseases  are here- Africans are succumbing to these infections that with better sanitation,water, education would not happen while in the US they are succumbing to ones of excess and vices- food, drugs, alcohol. Drug use besides marijuana is unheard of here and alcoholism is fairly rare. So both counties have some work to do.

Speaking of medicine, Nelsons girlfriend from Rwanda cornered me as she found out I'm a doctor. As English is her 4th language it was hard to get all of it out leading to her showing me prescriptions written in French from the hospital. The whole issue ended up being she is scared she'll never have a baby. the rest of the story was interesting from a cultural perspective about marriage and the importance of babies as opposed to career. I think I explained some helpful things to her in the end. Matt was outside as the guys had barbecued meat to eat by a bonfire which "goes good with konyagi (gin) " according to Nelson. Needless to say the boy convo outside got spicy and I don't think Nelson is really thinking about creating babies haha. That brings me to the relationship dynamic here - even though she came to visit he does his own thing and she is mostly left to the couch ( listening to the same song over and over and taking selfies). The guys tend to socialize and go out with the guys and the women are left behind. One time she was on the couch and he was outside on a chair texting and playing on his phone for hours. Apparently it is common to have "little houses" or other side relationships which I think is the case as he is always out when she is back home.

Another roach in our bedroom. I got it quickly w a shoe. Maybe came through the window? Tanzanians, interestingly enough, don't really believe in screens as the dust collected is harmful. I wish this wasn't the logic. Now we need to close the window and it is so stuffy! Ugh all night I wake up thinking of bugs crawling on me. At least we found a hedgehog meandering in the backyard - I can't get enough of those!

Starting to pack up.. We overestimated some things like too much sunscreen etc so worried about making the low weight limit for the flight to Dar. Matt is putting the kibosh on more souvenirs so barely bought anything! Maybe in South Africa. I know I'll be wearing like 3 sweatshirts and loading my pockets with heavy things for this flight...sigh!

Last weekend here

sad to see our last weekend come and go. Saturday we drove to Mount Kilimanjaro. Very beautiful over there but farther than I thought (like 2.5 hours). We could see the mountain from the distance but  later it disappeared into the clouds. We first toured a cave- very cool history. In the 1700s the chagga ( mountain people) and Maasai were constantly battling over land bc of a drought. So there was a lot of war and killing. The Chagga built elaborate cave systems to hide... With interesting methods to trick the Maasai . They also would hide and use a long stick "skull crusher" to kill them when they came in ( side note I saw this European girl carrying one as she walked in the street the other day...guess no one will mug her). The Maasai would try to smoke them out w chili oil but the chagga would block it w cow hides. The Maasai would drop rocks in their vent holes to locate the caves; the Chaggas would hold water buckets under so they falsely thought it was just a well.

After that we walked down lots of stairs to a beautiful waterfall. Matt and Bryson crossed the river and were gone a long time. Turns out Matt was like bouldering up to get near the waterfall. He said it was really hard and slippery. I tried but didn't get far. It was pretty strenuous and dangerous. I fell and   Almost broke something haha. The climb back up the the stairs was brutal. After that we went to Kilimanjaro and saw people coming back from climbs and saw the start point etc. I had total FOMO ( fear of missing out). Climbing mount kili has always been on my bucket list. Soon I hope! Some  old man lead us through a field telling us we'd have a good view of the mountain. Turns out he was wrong. We did see a liver  in a glass box outside a  house (??). When people say " this is Africa " I now know they mean you'll never know what you'll see. Like a lady wrapping a live chicken in a shawl and carrying it in her purse, the goat emerging from a car trunk, or the flamingo just chilling waiting for the bus w the locals.

Yesterday was probably the only free lazy day we will have on this journey. We left for town around 1030 am then walked for lunch at Fifis. I had couscous salad and some beet juice it felt so good. Over here you can pay a pool fee at fancy hotels so we walked to mount meru hotel I heard they had a good pool. Which they did although some big Dutch group was taking all the chairs. So we laid on towels in the grass, had a cocktail and as soon as they left I grabbed the chairs ( so competitive). At one point I felt like the " pool bouncer " let a ton of locals in probably for a kickback which was annoying as they were very rowdy haha. I like my pools to be tranquil ( this seems to never happen between kids and drunks) . Of course then it looked like rain so we taxied back to the main restaurant area and had some chips and dip while we waited to get the dala home. Then later Matt watched the Chelsea game ( big fans thank gosh in our house including the "mama"/cook)

Later that night we had some excitement. Part of the fun of this trip is experiencing new things w my partner aka Matt and this trip I learned his insane fear/disgust of cockroaches or as we call them, "papa roaches". There is a nasty bathroom in the room where we keep our clothes and Matt is fixated on it because he saw some there. He literally checks on them every day with his flashlight and tries to block the door so they can't come in. I personally would rather not think about it. But he loves talking about what they are doing. Sometimes I tell him fake facts like if you step on them their eggs will pop out and make tons of babies. His eyes get real wide haha. He even used my suitcase to try to barricade our bedroom! Well last night as we  were getting ready for bed he started screaming " there's one on the wall"!! Sure enough there was and it flew towards his bed ("they can fly?!" he screamed.). I don't think I've ever seen him this unraveled. So I guess
I was then in charge of killing it ( I felt bad but not bad enough) even though they give me the heebies too. Amid Matt's pleas of he'll give me anything I want if I kill it haha ( should have taken time to think about what to ask for I really think he would have given me anything at this point- free pass on clothes shopping?) I kept trying to get it but it was hiding and flying and I was screaming and almost fell off the bunk bed ... But it finally sucombed. And we still didn't sleep well. I keep hearing noises like little scurrying ( not to mention all the weird noises outside of animals I can't place). And the other night as I sat outside feeding the cat bats were like dive bombing my head so I had to go in. This AM I brought my plate to the kitchen and a black mouse rat popped his head over from behind the counter ( I have to admit he was cute). And on our walk a dead hedgehog roadkill. I think I might have had enough of nature at this point and am ready for a hotel!

Happenings this week

there always seems like a decent amount of things to blog about, considering this country is totally different for us. Everything is going fairly well, hope it stays that way. In my spare time besides exploring and eating or doing laundry haha I have been planning our South Africa trip- such a popular time and thus a lot of things have to be booked far in advance leading to a few disappointments. There is so much to see and drink and eat there. It is going to be a totally different experience than this one starting with a big bed ( I've noticed mattresses here are just pieces of foam) and a stand up shower. Oh and wine. Obviously one wants to be more comfortable but I am glad to experience "real living" here and actually somewhat jive into the community. That is always the best way to experience a country. These people flying in for the pre planned safari circuit are having a totally different time than us. Which is fine as we are here for a reason and their money helps this country ( an all inclusive night in the ngorongoro lodge is like 1500$!) . We do hope to come back as more of tourists and already have an itinery set ( climb mt kili as that is on my bucket list, Serengeti safari, then Zanzibar island) and would love our families to experience this amazing country.

Meanwhile in the hospital: I've gotten into my groove of working w two other physicians. The way of medicine here is just different ( like learning Italian after already speaking French) but I'm picking up on it. They use so many different antibiotics that we "retired" in the US. Some of the things I don't agree with ( using an old antipsychotic that requires close blood monitoring but then not doing the blood monitoring) so it is hard sometimes but overall they work w what they have (still marveling on how limited it is) and for the most part the patients get better at least from what I can see so something is working. It would be interesting to see the bigger university hospital as we have to refer some complicated patients there ( I'm used to being the best hospital as IU is the last stop for people from around a decent chunk of the Midwest). I've seen some more "cool" cases such as toxoplasmosis of the brain , "tropical spleen", Brucella (had to look this one up as I haven't heard of it since Med school basically bacteria found in raw beef and unpasteurized milk and only found in US in certain areas in the NW), typhoid,and a lot more malaria. Tb, and  HIV. Sad case of a 29 yr old who came in short of breath , whole left lung whited out w fluid, tried to tap but grossly bloody. Has ascites (belly fluid) tapped some off bloody too. This suggests malignancy - lung? Pt so young! But family is wanting her discharged bc they need to find money for a CT scan (150$ here which is a lot even for Americans). I don't know how they would afford treatment even though my gut tells me it is pointless, but I hope they are able to at least take her to the big hospital to evaluate further. Another pt died, it seems to happen so suddenly here and I never see it coming. Another sad case of a 13 yr old boy w HIV ( I guess they consider anyone at that age "adult") who came in basically unresponsive - diagnosis cryptococcal meningitis and malaria. I thought he was done for. He was so underweight and just looked so angelic. I brushed the flies off his face bc he couldn't and I wanted him to at least die w some dignity as it was unsettling. Mom ( well aunt as his parents died of the disease) was trying to find money to pay for the Iv meds ( I was thinking of some way to slip her money if she couldn't bc it was just all so sad but she got some from relatives). Anyways, the meds took hold and worked! Kids are fighters. Every day he looked better and better ( even went nuts when we had to draw his blood) and was discharged! Happy ending for at least now ( the sad reality is he probably won't live long w HIV and apparently not really taking his meds- in the US the adult would be reported and taken to court I'm sure). Another pt today keeps spitting out her meds and is not getting much better ( we suspect she has some mental illness as she keeps mumbling to herself but for me I would want to investigate further to make sure that is not just an effect of the bacterial infection but docs just give her meds to be quiet ) and now her family wants to take her home so she can get prayed over. In the US we would then question the sanity of the relative but here this is definitely cultural. Witch doctors are also common here and definitely for the Maasai most have seen the witch doctor before coming to the hospital ( some of the remedies make sense like how they found the quinine tree which can cure malaria but most is not going to cure these illnesses)

I told Matt he should blog at least once a week haha so he can tell you more but basically still dividing his time between the orphanage and the villages. They acted quickly w some of the money our family donated and bought all that food and meds and delivered them to the village. A village elder made a speech about how grateful they were and 30 families ( a family is a pretty large unit here bc it doesn't just mean immediate relation) that had kids deemed to be high risk for starvation  were given the food ( if they don't have food they not only starve but don't take their HIV meds). And the antibiotics were given to 100 kids as well. Each family rep thanked Matt individually. I bet that meant a lot. The goal is to one day be Able to give families means to be more independent like a chicken coop so they can sell eggs ( tried giving each a rooster and chicken before but some families just ate them right away!) but this planning takes time and hopefully something we can help w in the future.


Kind of like intertwining reality shows, Matt and a little girl showed up at my hospital yesterday! He takes the kids for their HIV check ups. They said she would know what to do but she didn't really and I couldn't help too much bc I'm not working in that clinic. But luckily a "mama" saw our situation and pointed her the right way. It was a lot of waiting and of course our machine was broken so she will have to come back and get her counts checked. A lot of inefficiency for sure . Matt had come at one time before and the doctor was "busy" . He also took a little girl to the dentist to consult for pulling her teeth, so then she had to come back, but had a fever so they couldn't pull it. She missed two days of school and so much time due to this. Such is life here I guess.

In other experiences this week I went to the Tamzanite museum. Tamzanite is only found here by Kilimanjaro so it is 1000x more rare than diamonds. And apparently limited supply so it will disappear soon. I heard about the mining process and they say it's ethical but would have to look into it more if ever bought one. They are beautiful blue, violet, and burgundy stones but obviously $$. Maybe one day.

And the other cool thing: I had a dress made for me. ( to matts chagrin- " why do you need to buy more clothes??" Maybe after another few years of marriage he will stop asking this haha) I partly wanted the dress and partly wanted the experience. It was definitely that. I went into a section of town w fabrics near the central market. Of course they were on me likes sharks to chum in two seconds. I was a bit nervous the whole time, w my bag and being taken around in a crowded place. But went to a shop and spent time picking out the perfect fabric and bargaining a lot. Then talking to the seamstress and picking out a dress from a catalogue ( hard to tell as all the ladies in it were definitely not models nor were the photos taken professionally) and picked one for her to make w a matching bag. And I have enough material left over for a headscarf if I wanted. The dress is beautiful but a little hard to get in and out of as it has a side zipper. The whole process was fun but somewhat tarnished  as everyone wanted a piece of the pie- as soon as I showed up back to the shop instantly the 3 men that had been leading me around showed up out of the woodwork ( one who brought me to the shop, one who brought me to the fabric store and tried to get me to another market one that showed me his souvenir shop- shoddy goods he was trying to sell for an insane amount of money) . I firmly told the one I didn't want to go back to his shop and pay 20$ for a smal wood giraffe, I told the other I didn't want to go to the market (he's like well give me a tip like you promised. I did? And for what?) and the other wanted a tip too and was like demanding it ( I was like I just gave your shop business! And they probably charged me more ). So I basically brushed them off and the other randoms in the street. Seriously the hustling is the most annoying part. I get it, they see a Mzungu and  think they are an atm but it gets tiring as someone who likes to walk and not be bothered . My first day wandering one guy followed me into the museum and literally would not leave for an hour. Blech. So now I'm kind of rude ( I'm sure some people say hi and ask how I am to be nice and it is sad I have to ignore them ) but it cuts down on the following and hustling.

Tonight we are getting dinner, tomorrow Kilimanjaro I think just to go to the park, and Sunday our first day of "nothing". Change wait

Third week

It's our third week here and I feel like we are really settling in. Like culture shock is gone and things seem fairly normal. I see a lot of ex pats here and feel like one of them, though I know our time is coming to an end quite soon. I've also learned a good handful of Kiswahili words and could see myself getting conversational if I was here about a year. There are some things I am going to really miss and others I will not for sure haha. Like washing laundry by hand- so much work to get water, scrub, change water, ring out, hang then some dirt still isn't out. And then sometimes it rains. I'm going to look at the washer and dryer differently when I get home ( and I already felt shafted as we don't have an in unit set haha).

The traffic here is just nuts. I've seen one traffic light my whole time here and not even sure it works. Every day is survival of the traffic. I'm really not joking. No place is safe. I feel like frogger every day. People drive wherever they want ... Especially the motorcycles who make their own lanes and weave in and out. No one yields to pedestrians. Which would be fine if like in England there  was crosswalks. But no everyone walks everywhere. People drive on sidewalks. If you think it's safe to cross it's like the eye of the tornado..: all of a sudden a daladala will come out of nowhere and barrel towards you ( true story). Cars whip around corners without looking so it's literally never safe to cross. Look as much as you can and pray. Already had lots of close calls. I worry about Matt when he's gone at work. We've already technically gotten into a car accident here lol ( don't worry it was so minor at least for us a daladala whipped into the front side of our jeep bc no one looks and our fender metal protector thing crushed their headlight area lol no damage for us...and no one did anything bc no one has insurance or wants to pay out of pocket)

The weather here has been hit or miss. Sometimes a decent amount of rain ( always a downpour while driving on the highway back from safari once w a broken wiper and no defrost :() but other days like today are sunny and nice. In the sun it is fairly hot but shade is pretty cool as we are at a higher altitude and we also usually have a frequent cool breeze . So a lot of times it feels like San Diego weather! ( although Matt in a different part of town doing backbreaking labor in the sun might beg to differ). All I'll say is, glad I'm missing out on winter!

Today we sat in the front of the daladala for the second time. It's always the best spot bc no one can squeeze into you or crawl over you as there are exactly two spots next to the driver. But then there is the fear factor, as you gaze out of the giant cracked ( yes always cracked) windshield. You see all the ditches and dips in the dirt road that we try to avoid and the bouncing ( Matt says that means suspension is shot) is so intense. Also you see all the near misses( literally driving 2 inches from side of a sewer pit, slamming on the breaks near a car or person that I would have bet money we hit). The daladalas still fascinate me. From the guy in the back ( always skinny w a tattered blue uniform) who simultaneously holds coins in one hand dollars in the next while opening the side van door and collecting money from people, half the time running after the thing as it takes off and hanging off the open side door if it is too crowded ( I'm waiting for one to hit something in the street or fall off) . I found out from Iddi ( one of the guys in our house) that the reason they are so aggressive to get everyone on and squeeze in is that they only account for seats and they pocket all the cash for the people that stand and lean into other people ( no wonder they are annoyed when we wait for seats lol) . Yesterday I swear our blue uniform guy was drunk he was acting weird and then at one point jumped off and left. A girl I just met here told me that her driver was drunk ( reeked of it) and everyone was scared as he swerved and at one point he pulled over and let someone else drive. This was at noon. Yikes. They will stop at random times like my driver got off to go to the pharmacy and Matt says his stopped to deliver veggies  to the market ( police pulled them over as this is illegal and pulled Matt off to question why he is on there bc he stuck out as a mzungu)

Anyways I once saw a hedgehog roadkill here and after feeling sad was excited they live here. Iddi says we have some in our yard but haven't seen them yet. So today saw one wander into a sewer.. I wanted to grab a pic but he disappeared. People on street probably wondering why I was so fascinated. That guy sells for like 250$ in the US glad there isn't a black market here that I know about!
Still feeding "our cat" i named Rafiki ( friend). She's so tiny and Iddi says lives on our roof w her kittens. She sometimes wanders into our house and has a loud cry. Don't worry I'm refraining from petting. I hear them, but haven't seen the babies so I wandered around and saw her, then a tiny black and white kitten poked it's head off the roof and I was in love. Will keep looking for glimpses. Funny as I was buying the food the cashier asked if i had cats and i felt silly telling her i was feeding the stray cats :)
The stray dogs are a different story. I think it would be harder to feed them as they might get aggressive. Most in our neighborhood seem to get enough to eat ( Matt says not true for the village dogs so sad). I try not to think about it or think about them as the dogs we know and love bc I'll get too sad. One was covered in mud and lying in a ditch and looked sick. I don't think he made it. Also heard another get killed by other dogs as I slept. One of the American girls that lives here and rescued a bunch ( from the street as there are not really shelters here) says the police control the population by picking a day and shooting all they see ( not caring if they are pets but Iddi says pet dogs are rare here) whoops now I got into a sad spot.

Ok that's it for today! Until next time.

Second safari

this weekend we went to Arusha national park on Saturday. It is only about a 30 min drive from our house. The landscape was gorgeous, esp w mount meru in the background. We were spoiled by all the   Animals last weekend and this park is not as diverse, at least w large mammals. However we still were able to appreciate it for its immense beauty. There were a lot of baboons and zebra. And the long white tail colobus monkeys. We saw hippo which our guide has said he's never seen before there. The real star were the giraffes- they were everywhere and close. They are so graceful to watch and when you really think about them they are such a strange creature. We had a nice lunch spot with a lookout of the lake. Had the same strange box lunch again. Wish we had time for the walking tour but we had to drive to ngorongoro.

We stayed at the same campsite as before. Since we were repeat customers, they offered us an upgrade to a little igloo. Was better since it was more protected but had almost no ventilation so became hotter than hell at night. It poured or more accurately monsooned at night ...even some hail. Of course the power was out. We made our run from dinner to the igloo at a break in the rain but still was drenched. When we had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...well that was fun. There was a spider in my clothes and one hanging above our bed I thought it was going to fall on us while we slept. I woke up terrified at some point bc it was like 2 in the morning and right outside our igloo I heard people yelling in Kiswahili and slamming car doors over and over. It was an angry yelling and I thought it was some kind of attack but Matt was completely unconcerned and said they probably drunk. But their tone, duration, and some screaming I heard really made me doubtful. We would have had no way out. But luckily Matt was at least somewhat right bc we woke up safe

Yesterday was ngorongoro crater... Most popular of these parks and yes there were more people than I was used to. Our guide said only like an hour drive but all said and done ( bc you actually have to drive down to the floor) it took us about 3 hours. It was worth it though. Lush greenery like a tropical rainforest with even some cacti and winding mountain roads w fog and clouds. It is cool bc the Maasai were not kicked out and are able to live in the park. We saw them herding cows alongside zebra. The sight of the crater was spectacular. The guidebook said you could pick any superlative to describe it and you'd be right. The floor was even better. Apparently has the most animals per square foot in Africa and that's apparent. Short green grass and just tons of animals. It's like it was a snow globe and someone just liberally sprinkled glitter in there ( the animals). Mostly gazelle, water buffalo, wildebeest, zebra ( so so many ) living together in harmony. We saw random clumps of elephants as we drove. And we saw 2 black rhino! One was closer than the guide said they usually are ( and sightings are rare). Almost extinct due to poaching and only like 6-7 left in there sadly. One was eating grass and I could see his mouthful he was so adorable. The other neat thing was a pride of lions ( like 6-8) were wandering the road and went to sleep under the tree there. They looked tired , hot, and scraggly and there were flies all over them. I know they can get plenty to eat here so maybe that's what they look like up close? Was females and young males. I shut my window bc they were so dang close. We stopped at a beautiful lake to eat our lunch ( again nothing to write home about except the shredded carrot sand which how random ) and hippos were playing in the middle of the lake. We couldn't eat outside the jeep bc eagles swarm down to get the food. We saw so many baby animals on this trip- glad we went right after birthing season. The ride home was long w lots of flooding and rocks in the road from that rainstorm. Almost couldn't cross glad we had a Jeep w a snorkel. We even saw zebra randomly far from the park trying to cross the road

The weekend was great, although combined the power has essentially been out since sat AM. Which meant no charging the fans and very hot sleep, reading no movies ( which is fine but after 3 books I was ready for something else) and no showers. Sponge bath central. It sucks trying to pack and unpack in the dark. Last night since I didn't have the roar of the fan I heard everything outside- something jumping from the roof, cat fights, some animal incessantly making noise , people talking, man singing at the top of his lungs for an hour, those damn rooster (why you start crowing at 4 am??) we are here for a reason but I'd be lying if I said we never get frustrated or annoyed. hope the power awaits me at home!

Matt's thoughts

This is my first post after about 2 weeks here. I've been keeping a hard copy journal, and I'm also often without Internet. My days have been busy, to say the least. I am working with St. Lucia Orphange, which houses 18 HIV positive orphans. While I'm at the Orphange, I do tasks around the house while they're at school, such as cleaning and setting up their garden. When the kids come back, I help feed them, wash them, and play with them. Often I'm not at the Orphange; I've taken the kids to get checkups at the hospital, I've gone to the market to buy food and hardware, and twice I've been to local villages that have HIV positive children and other poor families. In these villages we distribute donations of vitamins, Tylenol, shoes, clothes, etc, find out what they need, and help plan sustainable development projects. The village elders and health workers are savvy and realize handouts aren't sustainable. There is a lot of business opportunity in these villages for an entrepreneur willing to work here, and enterprises that have been successful in other African countries could be replicated and improved upon. There are two other volunteers, both who have been here in the past. One is from the US and one is German, who lives in Alsace. Day to day I work with a 26 year old named Allen, who lives and works at the Orphange. His English is as good as it gets here, though he still has some problems speaking it. There's 4 women who work there too, and they don't speak any English. For a country where English is the official language, only the highly educated speak it.

After work we typically hang out in town for a bit, and then take a jam packed daladala minibus back to th house. The house is nice by Tanzanian standards but is missing many comforts of home. I've learned to live with 2 minute showers, no internet, power outages, no craft beer, the occasional cockroach, body odor of others, and a lack of personal space. Overall the people have been quite nice and it is a fantastic county to visit; easily accessible and lots to do. St. Lucia is a good organization hat needs continuing funding, and I can see myself continuing to help out in an effort to get them on a sustainable path.

That's all for now. This weekend is another safari and next week will be lots of work. We will be distributing food and medicine to in need families in the villages and I have to fence off the newly planted garden.

Bringing donations to the orphanage

the other day, I was able to  go with Matt to the orphanage he works at, St Lucia. First we had to help buy food for the kids weekly meals. It was not very easy. First we went to a store to buy bread and peanut butter. That's as simple as it got. The cheaper food is in the huge open air markets. They are chaotic. The smells can get very rancid with old meat and rotting vegetables. The further you make your way inside the market the more chaotic it gets. There are so many people you can barely turn around. Everyone is begging for you to buy their stuff. Thank goodness we had locals with us to help barter and carry the stuff. There is no shopping cart- you can buy a big feedsack and just lug it. Our first purchase was 6 pineapples for 2$ Each... Not horrible price. We had to go to a different location for each item. Carrots, potatoes, onions, beans, tomatoes, meat , and even these little dried stinky fish everyone is selling ( apparently a good source of minerals). It made me realize a whole orphanage was eating for a week on probably mine and Matt's weekly food budget and also almost nothing was processed - it would all be made from scratch- which is a pro and con. Wish they could have more varied veggies and stuff but then you also have to be wary of cholera and things ( reports have come from this Market about this occurring ) . Matt was standing next to a butcher chopping away at a goat ( while I silently gagged in the background) and he got splattered w some blood and even a chunk of meat 😳. Also some man called him Chuck Norris 😝

It is a long drive to the orphanage, lucky we had a car at the moment. Poor Matt has to take two cramped daladalas plus walking so his commute is over an hour each way... Can't imagine how tiring that is as interacting in daily life here is just an energy drain. The orphanage location is a little remote, but actually the scenery is quite beautiful with tropical plants etc. the house itself is nice for standards here , plain but open air. A lady was cooking in their outdoor kitchen when I got there. I got my first glimpse of the kids as they bombarded us fighting to help carry the groceries ( so cute and helpful) I was first struck by how bare it was - a huge open living room but hardly any toys out or things on the wall. The kids ( smaller ones) were home now from school and running around wildly. I guess someone got them a puzzle but they were just throwing the pieces around. It made me sad as one carried around a battered stuffed English guard doll. My heart broke the first time when Matt told me one would pass him this tiny gutted out fisher price barn to pass back to him as a way of playing since they have so few toys. ( my heart broke again as on our way home yesterday a kid was running around w a stick on a toy car-one wheel broke off and I went to pick it up and it was like a bent old bottle cap- and then one kid later that walk was playing w a stick tied to an old rusty wheel😰- probably the best they had to play with). Side note: the toys they sell on the street and market  are so battered- like an old beloved stained gray stuffed elephant w it's eyes missing and stuffing coming out.

Matt says the kids calm down after lunch. They were immediately friendly and wanted to climb on me . I bonded w one of the twin babies ( Jackie) and toted her around she was so cute. We brought out some of the stuff slowly as I didn't realize how hyper kids get and how you can't direct them if you don't speak the language. I brought out Play Doh and they were intrigued! They all started opening a can and I freaked out bc then I couldn't monitor all them. They kept saying chakula ( food) and I said hapana! ( no!) I think only one tasted it and spit it out. They enjoyed making snakes and rolling balls. But then they moved on to the next - slinkies ! ( Matt says they are all twisted now lol). We also have them stuffed animals and it was sweet seeing them carry them around ( even put the monkeys around their chair at lunch and on their bed at nap time). They loved all the books ( one of the workers Allen was even impressed w the Swahili English one we got) which I'm glad bc their bookshelf was abysmal ( tattered old books-few- even one about redecorating your living room/ kitchen so appropriate for 5 yr olds) the girls were holding one of the books Eileen gave us and said "CinderellaCinderella". One of the babies was stroking the "Pat the Bunny" book. We put up the map of the world which they were excited about bc kids are always asking where stuff is ( marked Arusha with "home"). And are looking for tacks to place the other posters. We filled the cabinets w more toys, games, and art supplies ( I'm instructing Matt how to do some projects w them when they are more calm- every kid should get to finger paint!) we filled the shelves w vitamins, oral care stuff, some candy, and menstrual supplies as that's hard to come by. We ( mostly Matt as he travels weekly)  have been saving our hotel toiletries for over 6 months now so brought all those that I'm sure everyone even the older kids and workers there will be excited about  the kids then ate lunch, which was quite messy and noisy as they eat w their hands and everything falls to the floor ( Matt eats it every day- ugali (maize ball), beans, spinach, and fruit). Then they nap. After they napped a volunteer took them to get their heads shaved ( here girls all shave their heads until they are probably teens ) and they instructed me to cut jackies hair to the skin w a pair of children's scissors! I think I did a good job but was scared of cutting her head.

While the kids napped we figured out what to do w the rest of the money that our families had donated. We sat down w Allen ( who I trust immensely as he lives and breathes helping them so much so that he sometimes eats once every two days and sometimes doesn't have enough phone credits to text). st Lucia also goes to remote villages which Matt is part of ( taking a moment here to say what a hard dedicated selfless worker he is since he won't say that- he walked 8.5 miles in the heat and sometimes skips lunch to get to these villages) . There people are actually starving and have little resources ( the main part of Arusha is not bad compared to this- most people look fed) . We decided some of the money was best spent buying cooking staples for 30 large families and buy antibiotic prophylaxis for 100 HIV positive kids for 2 months. Matt bought the supplies today ( took all day and chartered a daladala ) and will deliver it next week.

One last thought: you may or may not know that the sad common denominator of the kids of st Lucia is not just that they have no parents but that they are HIV positive ( they market it this way so I feel like it is ok to reveal their status. Sad bc of the stigma and unfortunately HIV positive kids are usually given up or their parents did from the disease. Luckily the y have all their meds paid for and I feel like they are in a good environment w people who love them ( and honestly may have more than if they had been w their parents). Matt helps take them to doctors appointments so they stay healthy. And people monitor their meds so they don't miss doses like they might have if they were w their original family. The kids are so precious and we hope to keep helping them after we return home

Hospital

Work at the hospital has been better. However since the hospital is so small there is not a ton of work to be done. I typically round on 7-25 patients a day w dr Mbonike - she is from here but trained in Russian and speaks awesome English. At first she was cold to me but really warmed up and we have a good time. From what I've observed it seems to be the African way to be blunt and almost yell at your patients to get them to do things. It was very eye opening when she turned to me and said " all their hiv meds are free I have absolutely no idea why they won't take them"  (side note it is awesome the US is helping provide this free service altought their immune system has to drop some before they are provided drugs) I pondered on this for a while as it is the same in the US ...this is a world wide problem! I've helped take blood pressures and draw blood and some other things but my role is limited bc a. We have super limited resources and there's not a lot of things we can possibly do. Pain meds are ibuprofen, can only do X-rays or ultrasound, not even enough oxygen to put people on it and b. Their way of doing things are sometimes much different than what I know...teen girl with sharp chest /back pain and they calling it angina and saying she needs to go to another hospital to get cathed...I know this is Africa but having a "heart attack" seems way low on the differential. They use many different drugs than I do- the malarial meds, penicillin, etc. I am surprised there is not a lot of examining the patients ( I figured their PE skills would be killer since they don't really use imaging etc) and it's more about classifying them into more " known diseases" as their are limited tests . available. Also frustrating that things get used up fast and we don't get a new supply for awhile such as a certain test tube which prevents me from doing procedures : wanted to do a para ( tap fluid off the belly) to send out to see if it was abdominal TB (!) but we are still out of these tubes!

I see a lot of TB, HIV w related crytococcal meningitis, malaria , dysentery ( mostly amoeba) severe severe anemia, CHF and the occasional diabetes , hypertension ( and patients are horrible about following the diet but can't really blame them as most people survive off carbs like rice and they for various reasons won't take their pills-either too much money or just don't want to anymore) . It is a totally different system in that I saw a man with a hemoglobin of 2.7!! (Normal is like 14-15) and they gave him like two units blood that  his family donated and didn't even recheck til the morning ( sometimes the machine will even be broken at this point and it has to wait until the next day!) in the US we would be checking like every 4 hours and freaking out haha. That patient actually did fairly well but he ended up dying all of a sudden. He didn't look amazing but not near death. I was out in the hall and dr m came to me and said you know that pt? He's gone. I said " where'd he go?" Then she said "he passed" and I obviously got it. It was weird bc i usually have a sense of when people will die in the hospital and that took me by surprise. I had gotten used to his family, his very caring son, who always wore traditions Maasai cloths. He was pretty stoic but had a few years. For some reason I thought there would be some different customs with an African or even Maasai death. Turns out I was right..when the women got there (hadn't even seen them the whole time during his hospitalization)  , it got very intense. They ran through the courtyards wailing and throwing themselves into the dirt which created a big spectacle from the other patients/families. From what others told me, one most physically show how upset they are. And as far as funerals - people are buried not cremated and the funeral is a big community event.

In kids I see TB, dysentery, pneumonia, and some rare things ( mumps, cholera -and today a boy that had lock jaw probably from tetanus) *plug for vaccination~although due to foreign aid it's getting more ubiquitous* The worst is malnutrition in kids 😟 Especially when they are neglected. The Maasai are polygamous so the next wife and her kids sometimes fall towards the wayside. Mothers esp seem to dote on boys more ( very evident when their are twins which there seems to be a lot of for some reason). They are pale with sunken eyes and cry a lot. A lot of babies end up going to cows milk and porridge almost right away bc mom can't breastfeed (can't produce or too busy) and can't afford formula- I even saw one infant who was drinking milk from the backyard cow and caught bovine TB which I didn't even know was a thing. It's hard to fathom that there are no legal consequences...in the US obviously there would be major legal ramifications. Today I saw one who already had rickets and she had craniotabes ( have never seen this) and her skull felt like the consistency of a ping pong ball. Her genitals were also mutilated which was horrifying but a real problem here and efforts are being made to stop this. On that note today I saw a boy who was like 3 and was just circumcised at his local pharmacy (!!) and now was infected.   I never really know what I'll see next.

Random note: found out it only costs 2$ per day to be admitted in the hospital but they charge for everything : even the gloves the doctors use. Chest X-rays are like 10 bucks. The family brings the food and gets most meds for the patients (md will give them the rx) but it's not too bad - a course of Iv abx for meningitis is only like 15$ . Even still probably many African families could not afford this.

Took the donations to the kids yesterday. Will write about that later as well as trying to get Matt to write something on here

Our first safari

I have more musings on the hospital and daily life and also Matt needs to help post ( he writes in a daily journal on paper) but wanted to take a few minutes to write about our experiences out in the wild!

First on Friday we decided to get out of the house to a proper dinner at the Machweo restaurant at the Onsea house hotel. And of course I found the fanciest restaurant in a hotel haha not quite intentional. It was quite the experience. So looking on google maps it seemed to be 2 km away. We were going to walk but decided to splurge for a cab. The driver first tried to tell us it was far and then we went back and forth. His English was not great at all. Then as we were driving he tried to take us to another hotel. Then he tried to turn the opposite way from what google maps said. Then it turns out Google maps lied. So now we were all lost. I was getting so frustrated bc the whole point was to see " the best view in Arusha" and sunset was getting close. We were all trying to keep cool but at the most heated part of the convo he just abruptly stops for gas! Ugh. We tried to call the hotel but the man didn't speak Kiswahili. Then we found someone there that could. Finally the cab driver knew where to go but it was way far. Then we got stuck in a standstill by construction for 15 mins. We wished he would do all the illegal maneuvers that the other cars were doing to get around it but for the first time in history a cab driver played by the rules. We finially arrived up the mountain to about 15 mins of the tail end of the sunset and it was amazing and worth everything. The hotel was luxurious and serene. We had cocktails before dinner. It was a very different part of Tanzania than we had experienced. We were like , we really can't sleep here tonight? The dinner was good, the chef was Belgian and it was all Europeans dining blowing smoke around. It was  cheap for a multicourse dinner and wine pairings but very expensive for Tanzania. The food was good but not amazing. But we had an enjoyable night out and maybe in the future we will do a more comfortable trip and stay here

The next day was safari to Tarangire national park , home to the most elephants in the world per square meter. It was about a 2 hour journey and we had nelsons brother Bryson as our tour guide and our own private safari vehicle. I didn't realize the tops go up to be able to stand up and look around... Was very fun. On the way lots of things to see on the side of the road notably markets and where the Maasai live. Their bomas or village huts were easy to spot. The beauty of the Maasai men in red checked cloaks and herding sticks in contrast to the Savannah as they herded the animals was stunning ..sometimes just a red dot in a sea of green. Kids probably as young as 4 seemed to be in charge of their own herd with nary an adult in sight. Crazy to process.

The park itself was huge, exactly as I've pictured with green safari grass , big termite mounds and huge baobob trees like the tree of life from Disney. We saw Pumbas, baboons, Impala. So excited when we spotted two lionesses and I freaked out when I realized they got a  pumba. It was shrieking and not dying fast! Then they each. Took an end and pulled and it kept screaming. People were covering their ears. As an animal lover I was upset but also realized the lions had to eat. Just wished the death was quicker. Then I was disappointed we didn't see elephants here at the biggest elephant park...like really? But after driving for an hour we found like 40 of them in the trees and grass just hanging out! Day made. I loved the picnic lunch spot wherr monkeys roamed. They tried to get Matt's lunch when he stepped away! They even went into someone's truck bc they didn't close the top. They were after the food for sure. The box lunches we got were very interesting and pretty inedible a piece of old fried chicken ( Matt said tasted like cat food), a doughnut, a crepe, cookies, an apple, and a samosa. Didn't eat much of that!


We then left to stay at an overnight camp called panorama. It was five (!) dollars a night. We stayed in a decent tent but it didn't get great airflow. We left the flaps open ( exposed mesh) but all night I was worried I'd turn and an animal would be right next to me. It wasn't til the next day that I actually saw baboons roaming around and read a review about scorpions. Our tent was equipped w small beds but it reminded me of the field museum Egyptian beds made out of wood w no padding. Ouch. We had brought our sleeping bags thank goodness. The view of the lake and mountainside was stunning and we watched both sunrise and sunset while there. At night there was food and drumming.

On Sunday we went to lake manyara national park. Totally different topography...very lush and green like a rainforest. We saw different animals such as gnus, water buffalo ( so cool wading through mud) and like a billion baboons ( they were roaming in colonies, in the grass and in trees always getting in our way) we saw hippo in the creek and one even very close to our truck. We saw giraffe and finally zebra. And the best part was the elephants blocking our road eating the trees. Very unexpected. They walked towards us and I got scared bc they were so big but then they just looked at us and made their way into the trees. We saw blue monkeys and a baboon even climbed on the hood of the truck. We didn't see the famous tree climbing lion ( they adapted after bad conditions on the ground in the past) but they are rare. The actual lake is In the distance and you could see all the millions of dot that are the famous flamingo.


It is crazy to experience something and see animals in the wild that weve just read about and seen in zoos. Overall a fantastic weekend and excited for next one.

Adjusting

so we've been here a few days now. Still in a bit of culture shock but adjusting every day. People here are used to foreigners (mzungu) but they still are very interested in us and constantly want to talk..esp the kids who are the most adorable kids ever, but walking to the bus stop even can be draining. They love to sing "how are you how are you?". We take the daladala to work which is a gutted out vw bus painted on the outside and no joke stuffs 25 people in it. When you think you are packed to capacity they jam more in. Matt thinks the suspension is going to fall off as it goes full speed on dirt roads in these big potholes...I get whiplash. It's only like 20 cents a ride. To take it back from town there is a huge daladala park that has 100 of them trying to vy to get out very chaotic. After work yesterday we walked through a local market and there was so much cool stuff but then meat just sitting out and vegetables rotting. I am looking forward to exploring more markets. The last few days we've been spending some time in town in the area where all the expats and foreigners eat and shop bc it is close to work and it is very peaceful like an oasis when making this transition. after the chaos of walking around then the chaos at the hospital  I need to breathe. Soon if we have more time after work we will venture out to more local restaurants and areas of the city- I really want to go to some museums, etc. There are also very nice restaurants w good views farther out (at hotels where the trekkers stay) that i want to go to- we plan to go to one tomorrow night. Apparently club life is rampant so we will have to try it at least once even though we are old and I don't know if we can stay up that late haha. Already made some friends from other countries- the Columbian couple just left to climb mt kili yesterday- can't wait to hear how it went. It is fun talking to my Austrian and Danish friends at the hospital- their experience of healthcare is so different- they find it very odd that even when provided w meds, Americans still dont take them sometimes. It is cool I have met a few foreign women that have married Tanzanian men and they now either live here or are planning on it- then I get the inside scoop on the culture. The weather here has been abnormal due to el nino- not sure whether to hate or love it bc instead of being dry and hot it is cooler but very wet. I am worried it will affect our animal viewing as they migrate in weather like this. It is annoying to walk in the rain and I am constantly covered in mud, but imagine if it was as hot as it could get... so I am appreciative. There is no relief from the heat here...no one has fans really or air conditioning. At the clinic, one doctor dragged me into the only room w a fan and was almost worshipping the "american ventilator machine". Our living conditions are nice for Tanzanian standards but our room is very cramped, with no closets, somewhat dirty bathroom and I feel like I never have room to spread out and it is hard to find our stuff - and I also  feel constantly dirty (so much dust and mud here) despite many showers- I don't know how some people do it in the peace corps- living in a small village for years..I know I am lucky compared to many standards. Our cook makes us traditional food for dinner- it is very tasty and takes skill. only con is it is lacking in vegetables so it makes me miss salads. 

Now on to our work...man that was a frustrating first day. The hospital I am at St. Elizabeths, is privately run and catholic so it has no money. thus the doctors (which seem to be mostly female which was unexpected yet  cool) are not as enthusiastic. It is also small compared to some other hospitals in the area. To say that they are lacking in technology/facilities is an understatement. Their "ICU" are the two beds that have antiquated oxygen tanks (in our hospitals in the US it seems like everyone gets thrown on oxygen). The beds are falling apart, crammed all in "ward" rooms. Patients families have to go buy the meds, bathe them, bring them food. They can only do xray and ultasound- but downstairs so if the patient is crictically ill when they would need these services the most, they cannot be moved to get them. I have to look at the xrays by holding the physical copy into the window (not even a lit up board to view them). The sheets are washed by hand and hung out to dry, not sterilized. Nothing seems sterile, I observed a nurse washing a burned baby in dirty water and then wrapping the burn with gauze that came from the floor. No one washes their hands. The nurses here are very passive and don't seem to want to help with patients- the first day I did a bunch of blood pressures for them haha.  Blood has to be donated from the family, the "blood bank" is a fridge with a couple units that the family of the patient has donated- one time no one would donate for a kid with a more rare blood type bc they didnt want to be checked for HIV- so a volunteer had to do it. that was lucky. The first day I was taken around and introduced to everyone but there were so many people I forgot most of them- then it seemed like no one wanted to really work with us. I read some charts. then I went home and was really disappointed. The next day, after rounds, the MD disappeared, and i was stuck again. Luckily I wandered over to a Romanian doc (well now tanzanian as she has worked here for 40 yrs) who took me under her wing. She mostly does peds, but it was very interesting to here all about the culture and also see these kids and how certain things relate to adults.  There are a lot of Masaai patients ( a nomadic tribe) here - wearing traditional dress and lots of earrings, huge holes in earlobes etc. They live very differently so it is hard for doctors to reason with them- they often stop taking their meds and do things like cutting kids gums and stuffing them with elephant dung if they sprout teeth too young or chopping off the uvula with a porcupine quill to |cure cough. Very interesting culture, some things though like above are harmful to kids so the docs spend a lot of time trying to educate- it will be a learning experience to participate in this . So now it is a lot better (did some adult medicine in the AM and kids in the PM) and I am still learning the system so hopefully soon I can be of more help. Word on the street is that 30 american med students are coming - it will be cool to have them but hopefully there is room for them (this hospital is very small). I will tell more stories later.

As far as Matt, he seems to like what he is doing.  His commute is very long, at least 2 daladalas. he usually then ends up meeting me over an hour after I finish. He helps around the orphanage w the kids in the AM and then the younger kids come back from school at noon- he said they all strip down and they have to be scrubbed down- one lady seemed annoyed bc matt wasn't scrubbing hard enough haha. then they eat and Matt helps prepare the food- traditional ugali (maize ball) and beans that you eat with your hands. Then they play and crawl all over him and try to break his good sunglasses :). He met some of the older kids that come home at 4. He wont be doing this every day, however, today and other days he went to a remote village w some people and did some community outreach and found out what they need in terms of healthcare- like vitamins, etc. He also will help bring the kids to medical appointments. We plan to bring them the donations next week and I hope to come along

Anyways, long post so now will start making the journey home!

we're here!

We made it safely yay! our flights were not bad, but they were really long obviously. And being in economy means we were really cramped in there and hard to sleep. I didn't sleep on the first leg, but passed out on a bench in the Amsterdam airport and then passed out for about half the Tanzania flight. So many people flying to climb the Mt-everyone in full REI gear haha- made me jealous! next time. we had to wait to pick up 2 other volunteesr (not staying with us) so we didn't get to  our house until 2 am.  Pretty brave of these women to travel on their own seperately (they are also traveling around after this). Everyone has been very nice but we have to be trusting bc I mean we were driving through backroads in the middle of the night with men who we just met and who are staying in our house as well. (from everything I hear, although you have to be careful, Tanzania is probably the safest place in Africa) We ate rice and cucumbers with the host Nelson.  The roads are horrible- huge deposits of water and if you think Chicago potholes are bad- look at these roads! The house is very modest - but likely way better than others. typical kind of clay style, some bedrooms- we are in one w 2 bunk beds and literally room for nothing else. I am glad I do not weigh any more or else we wouldn't be able to get in. There are no dressers or closets so the room is already strewn with my clothes. we picked the room with the best bathroom- although not saying much. There is no fan or AC- glad we packed mini fans although the battery died halfway through the night. We are covered by mosquito nets. We woke up to the roosters outside our window at 6 am and then if that wasn't bad just about every farm animal started singing their song. Breakfast was an omelette- we have a cook, great luxury. a cat wandered in (?the neighbors pet?) and I felt bad bc it was so hungry. Of course it got a bite of my omelette lol. We are in town right now (no internet at home, have to use a cafe) to get our volunteer visas, look around, get oriented , go to the hospital etc. The drive was awesome (besides the potholes) bc everyone was out and it was very interesting to see day to day life- carrying water on heads, toting babies around, scooters,etc. little kids running around. Nelson was right- muslims (wearing hijabs) and christians existing together in harmony- nice to  see.  Real work tomorrow. hope to post soon

Here we GO!

Matt and I are about to spend a month in Arusha, Tanzania. I will be working as a doctor in a hospital there and he will be assisting in a local orphanage- that is roughly all we know so far. We are going through the program A Broader View- which is a non profit. We found this through just Googling because we had our hearts set on the IU Kenya program which ended up being shut down until, ironically, last week. But we are very excited about this opportunity. And of course, nervous. The long flight, the potential for infectious diseases of all kinds, safety, and also all the things we might see- myself in a hospital with very limited resources and Matt in an orphanage with hardly any supplies. I feel good and am so proud of our friends and family who donated to us to bring supplies over to the orphanage (people went above and beyond and they are great!) We are bringing 2 fifty pound duffles full of everything I thought they might need to have fun and learn things too- books, coloring books, art supplies, jump ropes, stuffed animals, bouncy balls, stickers, toothbrushes and paste....the list goes on. Plus we have leftover money to buy things over there- maybe they all need backpacks, more food, a bed? who knows.

Although people we know have been incredibly supportive, I have seen criticism online of people who a. volunteer abroad when there are opportunities locally and b. go on volunteer "trips". To that I say, as I have witnessed healthcare for the lowest socioeconomic classes here and abroad, there are vast reasons why it is important to try to bring volunteers abroad. For one, here people have many opportunities for healthcare although it may be lacking or their access isn't ideal (cue my sentiments of wanting an amazing national healthcare system)- there is at least a chance that they may be treated and get into government programs and things that pay for their meds. From what I have seen and know in these struggling countries- there is none of that- people die all the time because they literally have zero access to healthcare and even if they were to get to a hospital the chances are the hospital is lacking in current technology and diagnostics. I am already saddened to think of the difficult decisions I will be faced with and the knowledge that back home, things would turn out differently. But that is reality, and I will do the best that I can. Obviously volunteering at home is important too and I hope to do more of that in my future once fellowship is over. And to the sentiment that these trips are useless, well, I saw what a big difference my med school was to Haiti- going at regular intervals, setting up clinics with local people employed there, people now able to see doctors that have never seen one before...I agree there may be problems with untrained people going for a limited time and thinking they are going to save the world (sometimes they can disrupt the system), but the fact is many of us have skills we can share and do unfortunately have limited time. I recognize that part of the reason we are going is to do something different and challenge ourselves, but the goal always is to help others. I know bringing a bunch of toys and things is not going to change the fact that most of these kids will never be adopted, but at least it can be a bright spot in their lives. The money we are paying for room and board helps the local people employed there.  I think the biggest lessons to learn from this are - we aren't going to change Arusha in a major way but we can make a small impact and to focus on what we are there for and give our best for the short time we are there.

Ok now I am getting very philosophical for a minute, now changing pace to something more light hearted- after the month in Arusha, we will continue on to our honeymoon in South Africa. It is somewhere we always wanted to visit. I have been fascinated with great white sharks since I was young and am pumped at the chance to cage dive with them. Reading more about South Africa, I was excited to do things like climb Table Mountain, see penguins on the beach, and stay in a B&B in wine country. We made some nice reservations for dinners (the rand the currency is not doing well compared to the dollar so things are fairly inexpensive there). Then we are going to Kruger National Park for a proper safari- as an animal lover I am very excited to see these wild animals.

Anyways, we will have spotty internet so may not be able to post too much but I will try to update as best I can.