A Circus, A Safari, A Birthday, and Some Goodbyes

So sorry to keep you all in suspense again (ha), but this whole writing about my everyday life thing is pretty new to me. I’ll also apologize again for the scatterbrained posts…I’m saving my cheesy ways of connecting everything for any more academic papers I may have to write in the future.

A lizard and a bike pose for a picture in town.

OK where did I leave off?
So I’m up 8-5 in this heated game of ladder golf, but my opponents are locked in on that top rung and the mosquitos are starting to get to me…
Wait, that’s too far.

Speaking of precision tossing skill, why don’t I talk about our trip to see the Mama Afrika Circus? If I’ve learned one thing so far here, it’s that expectations are more useful when disregarded. Some of us were less than gruntled to be at a somewhat tacky looking traveling big top circus on a Monday night. Others were worried that there would be animals to feel bad about. Instead, what we witnessed was a well-orchestrated set of performances including:
- Breakdancing rap jugglers (look out for their hit single, “24/7”)
- A man passing his entire body through a string-less tennis racket
- An African drumline that made me miss college football Saturdays for a few minutes
- The creepiest 12 foot tall clown I have ever seen, followed by the funniest whistling normal-sized clown I have ever seen
- A man on a balance board 20 feet in the air, with about 10 possible directions to fall if he leaned an inch too far
- The most hilarious out of context uses of the NBA on NBC theme song and the catch phrase "Ready to rumble"
All in all, it was the best $2.75 I have ever spent on a night of entertainment. Rumor has it the attendance over the course of their two weeks in Moshi was disappointing, especially considering the fact that this was essentially a once in a lifetime opportunity for people in this area to see some unbelievable things.

Backtracking one day, I can’t forget to mention my second hash. Once again on expectations: I wasn’t too excited about this hike, since I figured the arid lowlands to the south would have nothing on the mountain hike we had completed two weeks earlier. It got off to a nice start when we arrived to see that the starting line was at the hosts’ amazing villa. Think Constant Gardener, with a cooler garden. The hike took us over the river, through the woods, and through some maize fields before we arrived at a cavernous abyss of a chasm. The sight would probably warrant national park status in the US, but here it just snuck up on us. I had no idea a river had carved this canyon/gorge (I’m out of geology terms) only a few miles southwest of Moshi. A few of us were more fascinated than others and stayed behind for an extra look. Standing as close to the edge as I deemed sane, I still couldn’t see the bottom. Using some quick trigonometry, I figured the bottom had to be at least 75 feet straight down (if it existed, that is). The canyon, provided the first real photo op to prove to folks back home that I’m actually in Africa.

Definitely not photoshopped

After completing the hash and its accompanying snack gathering, we headed off to one of the local restaurants in town to join Dr. Wilkinson and his family for a late dinner. This particular one is called Deli Chez (Get it? Delicious? I didn’t…), and as you can tell by the name they specialize in Indian and American cuisine. It was here that I turned down my first opportunity to eat a hamburger in Tanzania, just before I discovered the first hand dryer in the bathroom. Deli Chez is just one of the restaurants that effectively keep ex-pats sane during their stays here. Others include El Rancho (Indian, of course) and Italian Passion (Who knows? I won’t go in expecting Italian food…) On the more traditional level, there are four restaurants close to where I’m living and working that have been great for lunches: the KCMC Canteen, the Tumaini (med school) Restaurant, Jacob’s Well, and Best Bite. Since meat dishes at these places are high maintenance, especially in business casual attire, I almost always go with rice and beans. This full meal runs anywhere from $0.63 to $1.18, and includes complimentary greens and hot sauce. Even at a food truck in Philly, I’m not sure you could haggle for a 63-cent ketchup packet.

Speaking of work (oh yeah, I do that too), I should probably speak of work. I spend my weekdays between two offices at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (can’t escape colonialist spelling…) working for a Duke University partnership focusing on women’s health issues. So far, this has included mostly computer work. I am setting up a database for cervical cancer screening data, making adjustments to a comprehensive community health village survey for medical students, and constructing a website for a new women’s health network of collaborators from across East Africa. This job description will probably be different a month from now, since there are so many projects going on and new people to meet. I haven’t saved any mothers or babies yet, but I bet my much more qualified co-workers could keep a tally if they wanted. Even though the hospital is a leading referral and teaching hospital in the country, it is still underfunded, understaffed, and lacking resources, often to the point of frustration. Air conditioners, anasthesia, and pathologists are among a long list of helpful hospital commodities missing here. It’s tough to live with, but helps you appreciate what the doctors adjust to and cope with on a regular basis.

One work-related field trip Malavika (Stanford med student and partner in crime for the next year) and I took recently was to KIWAKKUKI, which is a long Swahili acronym for Women Fighting HIV/AIDS in Kilimanjaro. Even though we were only there for a morning tour of the new offices, we ended up receiving a…unique…welcome. The morning routine at this office is slightly different from anything I have experienced. After all 30 or so people circled around in the lobby while singing a hymn, we greeted each person in a very sportsmanlike handshake line. Announcements from each department followed, including an improvised song and dance for one woman who had gone above and beyond in the past week. Let’s just say I saw it coming. The two young guests of honor, along with our tour guide and KIWAKKUKI favorite Trish Bartlett, received not one, but two dances (after someone mistakenly mentioned that no pictures were taken of the first one). Let’s just say there are now pictures, but good luck finding them.

That’s not to say it is as tough as it initially was for me to share pictures and email over the information superhighway. The week of my birthday I headed to the Vodacom store downtown after work to pick up my own USB modem. Since buying hers shortly after I arrived, Malavika has become the official mzungu referral representative for the company (probably on payroll, but she won’t admit it). She had texted one of her buddies to save a modem for me, and sure enough it was waiting. Instead of paying for the modem plus a restrictive pre-paid 1GB/2GB/5GB usage plan, I was given a free trial of the new unlimited service with my modem purchase. Now in possession of the ex-pat’s holy grail, I proceeded to download podcasts, upload pictures, and share the wealth with [definitely not] desperate friends.

Aaron's Life Aquatic impression (possibly photoshopped)

Oh yeah, I also went on my first safari through Arusha National Park on one of those Sundays. For a full mediocre representation of the awesome stuff we saw that day, check out the photo album on Facebook or Picasa. Our self-guided tour of the park ($35 entry fee, $8 for the car) led us to zebras, antelope, baboons, hippos, warthogs, water buffalo, a lot of giraffes, and about a million flamingos (no exaggeration), among others. Thanks to Aaron’s expert driving on the dusty trails and Scott’s Zissou-like wildlife spotting abilities, the day was a huge success. We were also treated to some great views of Mount Meru and the landscape looking back towards Kilimanjaro. I'm really not good with words, so I'll let the pictures talk.

It's the circle of life, and it moves us all.

My birthday fell on a Friday and turned out to be really nice. After work I said goodbye to Brandi and Scott as they left Moshi for the US. Then Jeff, Sumera, their two kids, Malavika, Aaron, and Sarah hosted a dinner complete with presents, a birthday booklet, chocolate treats, and some amazing banana bread. Just as I was about to go to bed at 11:50 pm, I finally heard by email that I had received the InterExchange grant I applied for. My boss and I had been waiting with our fingers crossed for weeks to hear this news, which helps both the KCMC-Duke program and me greatly since I have no salary here. Believe it or not, the total cost of living for my time here (including flights) is about as much as I would be spending on rent alone if I had stayed in Philadelphia.

Sadly, four of the people who have helped the most in my transition to life here departed for the states last weekend. As I mentioned, Brandi and Scott left first on my birthday. Even though our time here only overlapped five weeks, these two hosted enough dinners/movie nights/internet café sessions/dessert miracles to make me forever grateful. On top of this, most of the belongings in their house were left to plunder due to luggage restrictions…as a result I now have pudding mix, speakers, a Tom Cruise vs. Keanu Reeves movie anthology, and NIGHT VISION GOGGLES. Brandi and Scott are moving to Oregon (at a baby expo as I type this) to revolutionize the state’s obstetric care and establish a college architecture program…no biggie. Aaron and Sarah then jumped on the bandwagon (which is actually a bus to the Nairobi airport) and left the following Monday. The Tar Heel/Blue Devil couple was awesome to have around while sharing Durham memories, Talladega Nights quotes, and a deep appreciation for the game of Blokus. Did I mention how crucial their Swahili speaking and monkey bread creation skills have been? If you see them around, give them a high five for being so cool.

Surprisingly not pictured: Brandi

Additional team attire spotted:
St. Louis Blues
Cleveland Indians
Montreal Canadiens
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Bulls
Detroit Tigers
Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Marlins
Orlando Magic
Green Bay Packers
(29/122)

Dala slogans:
Hard Target
Don’t Spy My Life
Righteous Man
Happy People
B. Happy
King of the Street Beat
Big Safari Style

Most valuable items:
Flyswatter (heavy duty, minimal recoil)
Book light (doubles as a hands-free shirt clip flashlight)
LED keychain light (always handy for dark roads and blackouts)
Cell phone flashlight (built in—much more useful than a camera phone)


YouTube video of the week:
The Day After Peace
Over an hour long, but definitely worth the time…a documentary about Peace Day and one man’s efforts to make it meaningful.

Bonus video:

If you turn up the volume, you can hear them. Be thankful you can't smell them too.

This week’s soundtrack:
The Cure - Underneath the Stars
The Rolling Stones – Don’t Stop
I Want to Take You Higher – Ike and Tina Turner
ayo – Bibi Tanga et le professeur inlassable
The Doors – Five to One
Pearl Jam – Wishlist
David Bowie – Space Oddity
Modest Mouse – Beta Carotene (Version 1)
Incubus - Aqueous Transmission

In other news:
It’s hockey season and I’m still obsessed. Right now I’m listening to Chuck Kaiton narrate a preseason game online while taking notes for a fantasy draft this weekend. The Ron Francis and Rod Brind’Amour collectible hologram cups are displayed prominently in the kitchen.

Late addition:
This morning I woke up to a call inviting me to help out with a health screening fair in a nearby rural village. With no real clinical experience under my belt and only a very basic handle on Swahili, I was hoping I could move some chairs around or fill out a few forms for people. Instead, I learned how to measure blood pressure and read a pulse before spending seven hours putting these new skills to use on about 200 patients. While I learned quickly how to get the message across that I’m not a doctor, it was great to be able to help out with a project as gung ho as this one. A group of about a dozen volunteers helped to screen, diagnose, test, and distribute cheap medications to a steady stream of local men, women, and children eager for assistance. Apparently the people in this area only see this fair/clinic about once a year, so it’s not such a surprise how quickly the word spread and supplied a steady stream of people all day. All of this took place in a small school building, and of course my position next to the window invited an audience of kids for the last few hours…so much for patient privacy. It felt good to finally do something productive on the weekend after spending most of them taking shopping trips downtown and hiking around with other foreigners.

Unfortunate pole placement, but this is a great group that got a lot done in a day.

That's all for now. This week I’ll be flying to Kenya to meet up with Charles from Duke and help him run a meeting at Moi University in Eldoret. After that, we’ll travel to back Moshi via Nairobi and Meru. Stories to come soon…

Karibu! (Welcome!)

Sorry for the delay in posting my first real update, and my first real blog post ever. I’m going to try to do my best to keep it interesting, even though it shouldn’t be too much of a problem judging from my experiences so far. I’ll try to organize it into little sub-posts, both to keep my thoughts organized and to keep the reading process from becoming too much of a chore. Please comment away and feel free to share the link with anyone who’d be interested in keeping up with me. I also have to apologize for the cheesy 80s song reference in the blog title...except not really, because it was meant to be.


Speaking of karibu, mine here was nice and uneventful. After a full twenty-six hours and fifteen minutes of travel, I landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport to be greeted by a customs official and a masked ministry of health official handing out immigration and swine flu forms, respectively. My newly acquired resident’s permit gave me a VIP pass to skip the enormous line for the visa office, and all three of my giant checked bags arrived as planned. My next task was to meet up with my driver, a man named Carol, for a ride to Moshi. The scene outside of baggage claim reminded me of the stereotypical mob of depression-era photojournalists outside the city courthouse. A semicircle of at least fifty drivers with signs called out names in surround sound. It literally took a few awkward minutes for me to investigate all the signs until I found Carol leaning over the crowd from the back with my sign. Carol turned out to be a great guy—he was hired a few months ago by Duke after working for a while as a taxi driver in town. He really enjoys his new job because he gets to practice his English…and I get the sense that he enjoys driving as well, since he navigated the tricky highway from the airport at night impressively well.

The Doctors' Compound, where I live in Moshi, reminds me of the Others’ town on the show LOST. A grid of dirt roads connects a group of about thirty houses meant for the crowd of international health care workers stationed at KCMC (Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre—where I work). The houses are definitely a throwback, but they are definitely luxurious compared to how most people live in this country. Running (almost clean) water, a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and garage are the highlights of my half of this house. The power is routinely switched off for a few hours several times a week, but overall it’s not too different from my previous living situations…just no TV, internet, or air conditioning/heat. Oh yeah, and did I mention I have a huge backyard with an amazing view of the mountain on a good day?



Speaking of the internet, I think it has been the most discussed topic so far among the ex-pats I know. If more of the Tanzanians spoke English, they would probably think we are nuts for being so obsessed. There are hookups in each of the houses, but apparently today has been the only day in the past three plus weeks it has worked. Wazungu (politely, white people) who are fed up with this have started ordering portable pay-as-you-go Vodacom modems like hotcakes. There’s also a trans-oceanic fiber optic cable on its way that is supposed to revolutionize the internet here eventually, but that’s neither here nor there (picture it somewhere between Moshi and the Indian Ocean).

Mama Beatrice, from now on officially the patron saint of housekeeping, has been working twice a week to clean up my place. I try to stay pretty low maintenance, but it’s customary here to hire a house mama to do things I would easily mess up (i.e. laundry and tying up a mosquito net). Beatrice doesn’t speak a whole lot of English, but she has been extremely nice and has a knack for finding things to straighten up that I would have never thought of.

Within my first few days here, my co-worker Malavika proposed that a group of us hike up to the first hut on Kilimanjaro. We packed up our gumption and lunches before grabbing a ride with David (a pediatrician from Seattle), his wife Diane and son Anders, and two neighbors/friends named Sarah and Aaron who work at a nearby NGO. The 45-minute drive took us down the highway through a barren outback-type area, then up through a few tiny mountain villages surrounded by banana trees. As soon as we started to see crowds and signs for the national park at a big intersection, the Land Rover suddenly refused to shift gears. After an embarrassing push with some bystanders and a rolling start (think Little Miss Sunshine), we took off again. About 300 feet short of the gate to the park, the clutch stuck once again and we pulled off to the side. An hour of head scratching, crowd gathering, mechanic friend calling, and mysterious fluid testing later, we headed back down the mountain so as to not chance more car problems in the dark after a hike. With my limited car knowledge, I ducked out of the crowd of 15-20 checking under the hood for most of this time. Two little kids, one boy and one girl, had been running around looking curious, so I decided to take out my digital camera and share some pictures with them. Unfortunately most of what I had was from Germany, and they didn’t seem to understand where this was. Still, they were pretty impressed by the pictures of animals from the Berlin zoo, and I managed to get a picture of my two new friends before the rest of the party almost left without me.

The replacement adventure for the afternoon was a hike along the Moshi River [edit: not the real name...scholars maintain that the this was lost hundreds of years ago...] with Aaron and Malavika. This was obviously slightly less exciting than Kili, but we got to see the rocky river, cross over the infamous and treacherous “Bridge of Doom,” wander around the golf course, and tour through a few of the poorer neighborhoods in Moshi (complete with satellite dishes). We also stumbled upon the Precious Blood Sisters (?) home and what we thought was a police training facility.


The next day provided yet another hiking adventure: the hash. A big tradition among the ex-pats here, this is basically a hike where two “hares” go out ahead of the group and mark a path with flour. This path ends every once in a while at an X, and everyone must find where the trail picks up again somewhere in any direction. My first time doing this turned out very nice, as about 40 of us hiked along the forest line near a village on the lower slopes of Kili. The challenge of finding a broken flour path turned out to be easily fixed, as you usually just follow the group ahead of you or ask someone where the parade of white people went. Naturally this was followed by a sunset cookout with a view of Mt. Meru (Kili’s K2) in the distance. As if I wasn’t already on overload, we met a bunch of people from the states, Holland, Norway, France, and Australia, some of whom will actually be here for a while.

Suddenly getting used to 6:30 sundown (thanks, Equator) here has been tough, but the nights have made up for it. The full moon has been rising right over the mountain since I got here, which was especially cool the one cloudless night we spotted the snowcap on top of the mountain in the dark. One night earlier this week when the power was out, the moon was so bright I looked out the window into my backyard and honestly thought for a second it was covered in snow.

Finally, Thursday night we went to a going away party for my friend/co-worker/official awesome host Brandi and one of the other doctors from KCMC. This included my first trip to the boss’s nice house, along with a gigantic African feast of chapati, samosas, rice, beans, goat meat, and many things whose name will take me much longer to remember. It was slightly better than the first meal I managed to cook at home...which actually wasn't bad. I have also learned that Sprite is actually better here, but I’ll refrain from commenting on how the Coca-Cola Company basically owns this place.


In the meantime, here’s some bonus material…

Plus / Minus:
There are definitely some downfalls and challenges to living here, but it’s never too hard to look at the bright side…

+Great people (Tanzanian and ex-pat)
-N/A

+Relaxed pace of life
-Things take longer to get done, stores/restaurants closed at odd hours

+More paved roads than I imagined
-The dirt roads make up for it

+Cheap electricity bill, Blokus parties
-4 power outages so far

+Lots of recreational reading
-No internet at home

+Amazing views, landscapes I’ve never seen
-Trash problem, since all of it is eventually just burned

+Corn flakes and milk, Stoney soda, El Rancho (Indian food), Chapati
-No Jersey Mike’s franchises (yet)

+Easy to feel productive when boiling water
-Need to boil drinking water

+Lots of space and furniture
-Little use for extra space and furniture

+Open air windows with screens
-Paranoia about velociraptors and chupacabras in my garage because there is no screen

+Convenient living in doctors’ compound
-Isolated and hard to get anywhere else without a car or taxi, especially after dark

+Fewer worries about the creatures I’ve found in the house (1 small lizard, 3 small spiders, 1 cricket, weird ant/gnat/fly hybrids); Impossible to fall out of bed at night
-Sleeping under a mosquito net

+Minimally leaky bathroom
-Shower designed for a 4 foot tall child


Teams:
After my first trip downtown, I decided to keep a running list of the American professional sports attire I spot while here. My goal is to find all 122 of the teams in the four major professional sports (I already have two throwbacks!)
LA Rams
Boston Bruins
Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders
Washington Nationals
New York Jets
Charlotte Hornets
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Yankees
San Francisco 49ers
Dallas Mavericks
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
New England Patriots
Tampa Rays
Los Angeles Dodgers
Chicago Cubs

Vehicle slogans:
Dala dalas (think crazy overcrowded taxi-vans) and taxis here have some uplifting and randomly entertaining English slogans plastered on them. Here’s the Greatest Hits list so far…
Swagger
It’s My Style
Don’t panic
Peace be with you
Respect
No way!

This week's soundtrack:
Coldplay - Strawberry Swing
Green Day - Homecoming
Spoon - I Summon You
The Rolling Stones - Get off My cloud
Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
The Clash - Straight to Hell
Bob Marley - Small Axe
The Black Keys - I Got Mine


So there are two or three posts in one for you. They’ll definitely be more manageable in the future. Keep an eye out for updates on hash #2, a trip to the circus, and what’s going on at work.