Africa Nights

the view from Rwanda is something else! i've never seen a night sky like there is here. wish you all could be here to see it too. we went to a bar called 'le republikan' last night and i was really happy that it had no US political party affiliations. we made our first big dinner last night: sweet pototatoes, home made naan bread, eggplant and fish curry, and avacado salad! yummy.

i wrote and email to a lot of people before and was not clear about phone contacts so i've included a more clear explanation:

for anyone who is feeling adventurous and wants to try and call me this is my house number.
just dial 011 from the US to get out of the country then +250 503 679. We are six hours ahead of east coast time! best time to call me is at night here which is afternoon in the US.

today is umuganda which is a rwandan tradition where everyone closes up shops on saturday morning and does community service all day. the US should have something like that. the police arrest locals who are not doing work and take them to plant trees and clean up the streets. its really neat.

i'm slowly learning bits and pieces of kenyarwanda which sounds a lot like swahili. its pretty tough. big long words with lots of syllables.

Live from Africa...

here we go:

First and foremost, i packed way too much. i checked two huge bags from atlanta to nairobi and was still exhausted from carrying the enormous pack and million pound laptop bag around the airport. got to nyc fine until British Airways told me and Lakshmy that when travelling through London, you can only have one carry on, so i had to check my pack, which had all of my important (cannot be separated for fear of increasing my abandonment issues) things, but we had no choice, and we checked it anyways for an additional 220$. I'm never flying BA again. London was amazing thanks to my incredible friends Beck, Szilvia, Guy, and Sara who i have not seen in 3+ yrs. L had never been to London so we did a whirlwind tour in 8 hrs, ate 3 times, rode a double decker, and crammed the city down her throat on 4 hrs of sleep then returned to Heathrow and left for Nairobi. Good movies on the plane and good food and then we got to Nairobi, at 7am. We were just flying through but we did have to retrieve our bags, but they would not give me a Visa. We did have to LEAVE OUR PASSPORTS at immigration before we got our bags, which did miraculous arrive unscathed. I was then directed out of the double doors of the baggage claim into Kenya while L thought maybe she should go grab our passports. L had the good idea. I had the bad idea. At this point Emily is wandering around the Kenya airport with 4 huge bags, no passport, and no visa and they will not let me back into the airport. I'm now have the most american blonde moment ever. and i haven't slept in two days, and am about to make it a blonde american girlie moment cause i swear i'm going to cry. when i return to the double doors there is a herd of immigration officers and L standing there explaining the situation. needless to say, my first hour in Africa is NOT GOING WELL. they let me back in with this 'typical american' scowl on their faces and i proceed to recheck my bags on the Rwandair plane, get another boarding pass and go sit at the gate and wait for my flight. from there, it was easy peasy! it was like i blinked on the plane and we were in Kigali.

Rwanda is sooo beautiful. its hilly and temperate. it gets dark at 6pm since we are on the equator, and it gets dark really fast. the house is really nice. i have my own room and we keep the windows open because there is a lovely breeze all the time. 75 during the day and 60's at night. the jetlag is brutal but its getting better.

I have an idea for the new motto of africa: AFRICA: Welcome to Carb World! Oatmeal for breakfast, rice beans and plantains for lunch, and pasta for dinner with a side of potatoes. my liver is in heaven. whole milk, goats meat, and no salads galore.

I'm heading off to the lab now. will blog more later.

On a side note, the support from the states has been amazing. I could not have done it without the sweet emails that mean more than you guys can ever know. I defintely feel half way around the world away and I just about started bawling yesterday when I got emails from all of my friends back home. You guys are the best.

less than a week now. i've been preparing for this for so long, i just need to go already. everyone says goodbye and they look at me like its final or the end or something. its just a summer. thats what i keep telling myself. just a summer. can everything change in a summer? i guess we will see. i've packed, un packed, repacked, and then reunpacked again. pretty soon it will just be me and the planes and the layovers and customs and visas. it will be nice to put my feet on the ground in Africa. i'm sure the ground will feel the same. actually, i'm sure of nothing, i hope the ground will feel the same. i'm unsure of what my reaction to the culture will be. what if they hate me? guess we'll just have to find out when we get there.

A lot going on

Can't i just go already. all i want to do is get on the plane so I can stop thinking about how it will be when i'm there and i can just be there. I google earthed it the other day and I'm happy to report that the landing strip at the Kigali airport does have pavement. I'm not landing in a field or on a dirt road.

I'm also starting to feel the compulsive urge to pack. Except i'm not leaving for three weeks so everytime i pack something that I'll need when i get there, i have to unpack it to use it the next day.

Passports

Getting a Visa is more complicated than one would imagine, especially a multiple entry visa, especially a multiple entry visa for 2 countries, especially when those countries happen to be Kenya and Tanzania.

Ugh.

Important Africa-related suggestions I've received so far:

1. Don't open your mouth in the shower.
2. Bring baby powder.
3. Don't jog in a sports bra.
4. Get a menstrual cup. (this is VERY gross).
5. Don't eat anything you cannot peal.
6. Always wear socks.
7. Don't swim in any non-salt water. (Schistomiasis)
8. If it looks hungry, throw your friends to the animals first.
9. Triple bag it.
10. Parasites are excellent rapid weight loss solutions.
11. Always pretend that you know what you are talking about and where you are going.

Anything to add?

I was told to blog!

Its really interesting that after I tell people about my summer plans, they ask me: "How many shots did you have to get?" and "Are you going to have a blog?" I can take a hint. And now I have a blog.

Yesterday I found out that I did get accepted into the Hubert Fellowship to help fund my summer (my checking account is so excited). In case anyone doesn't know where I'm going or what I'm doing, here is the brief synopsis:

Part of my public health masters program is a practicum. The best training in HIV/AIDS for a french speaking biochemistry undergrad is in clinic in Rwanda. So, thats where I'm going. My task is to train clinic lab staff, in french, to do real time PCR, HMA, HLA, and Elispot (these are all viral sequencing procedures). From my training, I will produce a training manual for their future use, and I will submit this in place of a thesis. These techniques will expand their lab capabilities to include linkage analysis (viruses have a family history just like we do) to map infection sources.

Enough with the technicalities, I'll be in Kigali, Rwanda. I leave on May 21 and will be gone 3 months. I don't know a whole lot more than that except that I'm going on safari in July and to Mombasa beaches (Indian Ocean) in August.

I wonder what I should pack!