Happy Thanksgiving!!
It’s crazy how fast time goes by. Today Thanksgiving...tomorrow New Years. Before I know it I’ll be heading back to school and Africa will be a large collection of memories and pictures (most of those being Neil’s:). Well my time spent here has given many things to be thankful for. Like the fact I haven’t gotten malaria or any other strange illnesses. I’m also quite thankful for something that hasn’t happened yet...our upcoming trip to Mozambique. We leave here two weeks from today and after five days finally arrive at my parents’ house in Maputo. The train ride has me particularly excited. Maybe I won’t like the idea so much after having done it but who knows?
Last Sabbath was my turn to teach Sabbath school. The whole teaching, leading out in discussion thing isn’t exactly my piece of pumpkin pie. I mean I definitely enjoy talking and discussing ideas with people but the ‘in charge’ part is what gets me. Despite all that it went pretty well. Thanks in a large part to the fact that some members of the class enjoy enlightening others with stories of their past;)
I don’t know if I’ve talked about our pet, Frank (RIP). We had wanted a pet here so when we found a praying mantis in our kitchen a month ago we named him Frank and he became our pet. We figured this would be beneficial to both parties because he would get to eat mosquitoes and have the honor of being our pet and we would have a pet that could keep us company while cooking and just look cool. He hung out for a couple of weeks and we would find him all over the kitchen. Pretty much a “where’s Waldo” kind of thing. His favorite spot ended up being our compost bucket so we had to watch when we through stuff in there or outside so as to not injure dear old Frank. Then came the fateful day. The lady that takes care of the guest house where we live was doing some cleaning and decided to be nice and take out our compost. Poor Frank went out with the bucket and didn’t come back. It’s taken us a while to get over that tragic loss. For a while at just the mention of the name Frank, Neil and I would burst into tears. Imagine our joy when Neil saw a praying mantis on the outside of his bathroom window. I escorted the new Frank into our kitchen and set him up in a comfortable spot near the window. He doesn’t look like the old Frank but he still has the charming praying mantis manners. I’m going to have to look into the airline policies on bringing pet praying mantises into the U.S. for when we go home.
Note: For those who don’t quite know when I’m being serious, some parts of the above paragraph are exaggerated, slightly, to protect the integrity of the story.
Tomorrow there are a bunch of head honchos from the States showing up for some meetings here this weekend. They leave on Sunday and then Monday there are 18 others from Tanzania that are arriving to have some year-end meetings. Due to the large number of people coming on Monday, Neil and I are going to have to move out of our rooms and spend a couple of nights at a pastor’s house. Should be an interesting weekend.
Well I’ll probably write once more before we leave for Mozambique. I’m going to go prepare a little Thanksgiving feast of foods not native to Tanzania. Have a wonderful holiday season! And listen to lots of Christmas music because it’s been shown to increase brain function in 75% of the mice that were subjected to it continuously for one month.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Home 'Sweet' Home
What is the one thing that makes a place home? I’ve always heard the saying ‘home is where the heart is’ which is not well worded because your heart is always wherever you happen to be. I had taken the saying to mean that home is wherever the people are that you care the most for. In today’s modern age of satellite internet connections, cell phones, and internet phones even though you may not be near people you can still keep in pretty close contact with them from anywhere around the globe. Because of that and the fact that I have multiple homes due to my family living all over the world I’ve decided that there must be something else that makes home, home. This past week I came to the realization of what that certain something is....food. No matter where you are the food of home can make the place you’re staying seem like you’ve always been there. This outstanding epiphany came about because of a couple of packages that Neil received last week. They both contained seasonings, something that we have been doing mostly without for a while now. Saturday night Neil decided to use one kind of seasoning to make a dish like his mom makes. I forgot what it’s called but he did a remarkable job and the kitchen reminded me of smells from his house back in Roseburg (thank you Mrs. Patel for sending that stuff..it’s amazing:). So that meal and Neil’s and my recent talks about how soon we’re going to get to eat at Taco Bell have settled in my mind the issue that food makes a place home. Oh and on a side note we aren’t going to get to eat at Taco Bell until June 10, 2009 at approximately 3 pm in San Francisco during our layover.
Let’s see, what other interesting stuff have I been doing? On Sunday evening we had our first group movie night. Neil and I have had movie nights each Saturday night be we finally got together with Lydia (German nurse) and Lucas (pharmacist) to watch a movie we borrowed from the doctor. Oh, last Thursday a new nurse, Ina, arrived here from Germany. She’s going to be here for a whole year. She stopped in Arusha on her way here and brought us a package from our friend Katie who’s working at Cradle of Love there (thanks tons Katie! :).
The weeks are in a nice routine and have been flying by. It’s hard to believe that we left Portland two months ago. Also rapidly approaching is our trip down to Maputo, Mozambique to spend Christmas with my family. I’m looking forward to that very much! Between seeing my family, eating lots of amazing food, and getting access to unlimited internet usage I’m sure that the time there will be quite enjoyable! It is also going to involve a train ride. I’ve never traveled anywhere by train before but we’re going to be spending two nights and one day on a train going from Kigoma all the way across Tanzania to Dar es Salaam. Should be pretty fun...at least for me:), Neil loves going places just not all of the traveling it takes to get there:).
Even though Thanksgiving hasn’t come yet I’ve already started listening to my Christmas music in preparation for the holiday season. Some people have said that Christmas music should only be listened to from Thanksgiving to the 25th of December but I am of the opinion that Christmas music can be listened to all year long. When discussing this with others I then cite the study that has shown listening to Christmas music lowers the chances of a person becoming depressed (I just need to find out if a study like that has been done yet).
Well I’m writing this late Monday evening and I don’t think my brain is fully functioning anymore so I apologize for any muddled ideas and jumbled sentences. Have a fabulous week!
Justin
Let’s see, what other interesting stuff have I been doing? On Sunday evening we had our first group movie night. Neil and I have had movie nights each Saturday night be we finally got together with Lydia (German nurse) and Lucas (pharmacist) to watch a movie we borrowed from the doctor. Oh, last Thursday a new nurse, Ina, arrived here from Germany. She’s going to be here for a whole year. She stopped in Arusha on her way here and brought us a package from our friend Katie who’s working at Cradle of Love there (thanks tons Katie! :).
The weeks are in a nice routine and have been flying by. It’s hard to believe that we left Portland two months ago. Also rapidly approaching is our trip down to Maputo, Mozambique to spend Christmas with my family. I’m looking forward to that very much! Between seeing my family, eating lots of amazing food, and getting access to unlimited internet usage I’m sure that the time there will be quite enjoyable! It is also going to involve a train ride. I’ve never traveled anywhere by train before but we’re going to be spending two nights and one day on a train going from Kigoma all the way across Tanzania to Dar es Salaam. Should be pretty fun...at least for me:), Neil loves going places just not all of the traveling it takes to get there:).
Even though Thanksgiving hasn’t come yet I’ve already started listening to my Christmas music in preparation for the holiday season. Some people have said that Christmas music should only be listened to from Thanksgiving to the 25th of December but I am of the opinion that Christmas music can be listened to all year long. When discussing this with others I then cite the study that has shown listening to Christmas music lowers the chances of a person becoming depressed (I just need to find out if a study like that has been done yet).
Well I’m writing this late Monday evening and I don’t think my brain is fully functioning anymore so I apologize for any muddled ideas and jumbled sentences. Have a fabulous week!
Justin
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thank Goodness God Sent a Rainbow or We'd be Gonners
A merry November to you all!
We’re going on two months spent here at Heri and by now I’ve gotten quite used to our routine. It’s nice to have a routine, although the occasional surprise is also enjoyed to break up the monotony. The past week has indicated in a very visible way that the rainy season is here or just around the corner. Each day we’ve had showers. They may only last for 20 minutes before it clears up and appears nice and then later in the day the sky will be dark and I’ll be thinking that I’m about to get swept away in a flood comparable only to Noah’s. The silver lining on this one is that it means we get power all the time, and our water hasn’t run out recently either although it is muddy all the time now. Nothing like drinking a boiled mud puddle.
The construction projects are coming along pretty well. The rain has caused the project that Neil and I oversee to be postponed because there aren’t roofs on those houses yet so they can’t really work on them while there’s a river flowing through the house. We’ve instead been helping supervise the guys working on a duplex near the guesthouse where we live.
Yesterday we were about to watch a video at Milton and Shirley’s (Canadian couple) house when we heard a helicopter. We had been told that occasionally patients requiring immediate care will get brought in on a helicopter owned by an organization in Kigoma. Since we saw that the helicopter was going to land here we decided to go down and see if there was going to be a surgery on the suspected patient. When we got down to where they had landed we found out that there was only the pilot and a lady with him (obviously not from around here). We went over to meet them and were introduced to the pilot who is a doctor from the States but has been working in Africa for a while and the lady who is a nurse just visiting for ten days from Chicago. Although they hadn’t brought a patient it was cool to get to see the helicopter (unfortunately didn’t get a ride...yet) and talk with a couple Americans. Most of the hospital staff speak English but talking with someone that fully understands everything you say is so refreshing.
After talking to them for a bit we went over to the OT (operating theater) to see if there were going to be any surgeries that day. While we were in there a lady showed up at the hospital needing a c-section. I was pretty excited because I had missed out on the other couple of c-sections that Neil had gotten to see. The lady was 40 years old and ended up having a healthy baby boy. It was really cool to see how fast the doctor gets the baby out and then hear it crying within a minute after he pulled it out. I think that c-sections are going to be really cool surgeries to watch more of but watching that one made me really thankful that I’m not going to have to have any babies in my life time. Selfish, I know but it’s still something I’m glad of. My pain threshold is quite low...scratch that, it’s extremely low.
Well away from surgeries...of which I’m going to put some pictures up soon...this week had one other notable highlight. We were invited over for a spaghetti lunch at Milton and Shirley’s. Getting to eat food that we don’t prepare for ourselves and also having it taste really good is always a special treat. This was no exception. I’m glad people view Neil and I as being two poor young men who have to rough it on our own cooking, and this sympathy leads to meal invitations. I must mention that we’ve actually made some pretty good food ourselves and we in no way are starving but it doesn’t hurt to eat elsewhere:)
I think that’s about it. Oh yeah, I learned this week that my blessed country has a new president. My political standing is pretty apathetic although I do have strong views on subjects. The one nice thing about being in Africa is that I didn’t have to watch all the news intent on smearing one candidate or the other. Although it’s really surprised me how many people here follow our elections and have a favorite pick for president, usually based on the candidate’s foreign policy. Imagine that. Well yay for the democratic process and I wish that we had been nearer one of the six or seven places in Tanzania where the US embassy threw election-day parties.
I hope everyone is having a magnificent fall and I thank you all for the comments you’re going to leave and the emails/letters you’re going to send.
We’re going on two months spent here at Heri and by now I’ve gotten quite used to our routine. It’s nice to have a routine, although the occasional surprise is also enjoyed to break up the monotony. The past week has indicated in a very visible way that the rainy season is here or just around the corner. Each day we’ve had showers. They may only last for 20 minutes before it clears up and appears nice and then later in the day the sky will be dark and I’ll be thinking that I’m about to get swept away in a flood comparable only to Noah’s. The silver lining on this one is that it means we get power all the time, and our water hasn’t run out recently either although it is muddy all the time now. Nothing like drinking a boiled mud puddle.
The construction projects are coming along pretty well. The rain has caused the project that Neil and I oversee to be postponed because there aren’t roofs on those houses yet so they can’t really work on them while there’s a river flowing through the house. We’ve instead been helping supervise the guys working on a duplex near the guesthouse where we live.
Yesterday we were about to watch a video at Milton and Shirley’s (Canadian couple) house when we heard a helicopter. We had been told that occasionally patients requiring immediate care will get brought in on a helicopter owned by an organization in Kigoma. Since we saw that the helicopter was going to land here we decided to go down and see if there was going to be a surgery on the suspected patient. When we got down to where they had landed we found out that there was only the pilot and a lady with him (obviously not from around here). We went over to meet them and were introduced to the pilot who is a doctor from the States but has been working in Africa for a while and the lady who is a nurse just visiting for ten days from Chicago. Although they hadn’t brought a patient it was cool to get to see the helicopter (unfortunately didn’t get a ride...yet) and talk with a couple Americans. Most of the hospital staff speak English but talking with someone that fully understands everything you say is so refreshing.
After talking to them for a bit we went over to the OT (operating theater) to see if there were going to be any surgeries that day. While we were in there a lady showed up at the hospital needing a c-section. I was pretty excited because I had missed out on the other couple of c-sections that Neil had gotten to see. The lady was 40 years old and ended up having a healthy baby boy. It was really cool to see how fast the doctor gets the baby out and then hear it crying within a minute after he pulled it out. I think that c-sections are going to be really cool surgeries to watch more of but watching that one made me really thankful that I’m not going to have to have any babies in my life time. Selfish, I know but it’s still something I’m glad of. My pain threshold is quite low...scratch that, it’s extremely low.
Well away from surgeries...of which I’m going to put some pictures up soon...this week had one other notable highlight. We were invited over for a spaghetti lunch at Milton and Shirley’s. Getting to eat food that we don’t prepare for ourselves and also having it taste really good is always a special treat. This was no exception. I’m glad people view Neil and I as being two poor young men who have to rough it on our own cooking, and this sympathy leads to meal invitations. I must mention that we’ve actually made some pretty good food ourselves and we in no way are starving but it doesn’t hurt to eat elsewhere:)
I think that’s about it. Oh yeah, I learned this week that my blessed country has a new president. My political standing is pretty apathetic although I do have strong views on subjects. The one nice thing about being in Africa is that I didn’t have to watch all the news intent on smearing one candidate or the other. Although it’s really surprised me how many people here follow our elections and have a favorite pick for president, usually based on the candidate’s foreign policy. Imagine that. Well yay for the democratic process and I wish that we had been nearer one of the six or seven places in Tanzania where the US embassy threw election-day parties.
I hope everyone is having a magnificent fall and I thank you all for the comments you’re going to leave and the emails/letters you’re going to send.
Monday, November 3, 2008
To Post or Not to Post...
Well here goes nothin. I mean that in a very literal sense. I'm sitting here in the office and decided that I'd put a little something up just to make it look like I'm posting regularly.
The past week or so has been really nice. Not a lot going on but that means that the word stress never even enters my vocabulary. A far cry from my usual life at school:), but oh so pleasant.
Well that's about it. Just so all you people who worry too much don't get confliberated over the brevity of this post, don't worry. I'll probably write something substantially larger and more boring and then bring it down to post in the near future (before Christmas).
Cheerio
Justin
The past week or so has been really nice. Not a lot going on but that means that the word stress never even enters my vocabulary. A far cry from my usual life at school:), but oh so pleasant.
Well that's about it. Just so all you people who worry too much don't get confliberated over the brevity of this post, don't worry. I'll probably write something substantially larger and more boring and then bring it down to post in the near future (before Christmas).
Cheerio
Justin
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Nice Crook
Here it goes once again. Some of my family members and relatives say that I should post more often but I'm just going to give the warning now that if I did post more often they would be shorter than normal but even more boring if possible.
The last week and a half has been pretty interesting. We've gotten to do some stuff out of the ordinary which always adds some spice to life and experiences to remember:) Last Tuesday Neil and I went with the hospital's truck into Kigoma to do some shopping to furnish our kitchen with the necessary tools and also pick up some food items that we can't get in the local village market. We ended up leaving late which is the norm that I've gotten used to, and didn't get back until around seven in the evening. While in town we tried to check out the train station for schedules and rates. At Christmas time we're going down to Mozambique to spend a few weeks with my family. The initial and final legs of that journey are going to involve us taking a two nights and one day train ride to Dar es Salaam. We weren't able to get our tickets but we did find out that we'll probably be able to get our own sleeper room for the trip and not have to worry about someone swiping our stuff while we're asleep.
The rest of the week continued normally without any surprises. Sabbath kept up the new trend of weekend rain. Both Saturday and Sunday contained some pretty cool storms. On Sunday we had our laundry out on the line and then Neil noticed that it was looking kind of dark outside. We went out to get the laundry and could see a wall of black coming towards us. It was moving pretty fast and while we were watching the distant hills disappeared from view. As I was hurrying to get my clothes down I felt the first drops and right after I had gone inside it started to rain in a serious way. Not the happy-go-lucky rain of a spring morning, no, more like the rain where God has a bunch of fire hoses aimed down at us. Rain is good though because it means our electricity will stay on more consistently.
Monday found us riding into town again but this time to the smaller town of Kasulu, about an hour away. We had sent our passports and papers in the previous week to get our residence permits but they wanted proof that we were students like our papers said. We don't have any proof but went along to try and show him that we're just poor students. Interestingly enough the student issue never surfaced when we reached the office of the immigration guy. There is a Canadian couple here to supervise all the building projects going on currently and they were here last year to build the Heri hospital church. They were in with us to get their permits as well. While we signed the last couple of papers the immigration guy, who I'm going to call Hubert, told us that he needed to get some money from us to pay for a person to take all our stuff to Dar and get the permits processed. This was so we wouldn't have to go ourselves. The Petermans (Canadian couple) had given him quite a bit of money towards getting someone to take our stuff to Dar, but Hubert stated that it wasn't enough. I am not the most patient of people and I enjoy arguing quite a bit. Character flaws, I know. I started to get a little upset because we hadn't heard that we were going to have to pay even extra above the cost of the residence permit. After he stated that the amount given him wasn't enough I asked him what would be a sufficient amount to pay for someone to take our documents. Hubert wouldn't answer me. He just kept smiling and telling us that we needed to give him more money. Now I know that Africa thrives on corruption and lining one's own bank account as often as possible but I wasn't happy about Hubert trying to get extra money after what he had been given was already sufficient to get someone to Dar and have the stay there for a week or so. What ended up happening was the hospital guys there with us talked to Hubert and arranged something so that they would pay some for Neil and I and we wouldn't have to pay any more. After leaving and talking about the exchange while we drove I commented on how seeing as how our options always seem to involve dealing with a crooked person at least we got to deal with a nice crook and not a surly one:)
The only other notable news that I can think of is that I've baked bread a couple of times now (the third try is in the oven now). The first couple of loaves were alright but nothing special. The second batch turned out pretty nice except we haven't been able to get whole wheat flour yet so all the bread is big, fluffy, and white just like I'll be when I get older:) We'll see how this third batch turns out.
Well I hope everyone out there in internet land is having a splendid October. I've put my address here at the top of the page just in case you have time to sit down and write one of those old fashioned things....I think it's called a letter...yeah that's it. Peace be upon you and happy early Hanukkah to anyone who is of the Jewish persuasion!
Justin
The last week and a half has been pretty interesting. We've gotten to do some stuff out of the ordinary which always adds some spice to life and experiences to remember:) Last Tuesday Neil and I went with the hospital's truck into Kigoma to do some shopping to furnish our kitchen with the necessary tools and also pick up some food items that we can't get in the local village market. We ended up leaving late which is the norm that I've gotten used to, and didn't get back until around seven in the evening. While in town we tried to check out the train station for schedules and rates. At Christmas time we're going down to Mozambique to spend a few weeks with my family. The initial and final legs of that journey are going to involve us taking a two nights and one day train ride to Dar es Salaam. We weren't able to get our tickets but we did find out that we'll probably be able to get our own sleeper room for the trip and not have to worry about someone swiping our stuff while we're asleep.
The rest of the week continued normally without any surprises. Sabbath kept up the new trend of weekend rain. Both Saturday and Sunday contained some pretty cool storms. On Sunday we had our laundry out on the line and then Neil noticed that it was looking kind of dark outside. We went out to get the laundry and could see a wall of black coming towards us. It was moving pretty fast and while we were watching the distant hills disappeared from view. As I was hurrying to get my clothes down I felt the first drops and right after I had gone inside it started to rain in a serious way. Not the happy-go-lucky rain of a spring morning, no, more like the rain where God has a bunch of fire hoses aimed down at us. Rain is good though because it means our electricity will stay on more consistently.
Monday found us riding into town again but this time to the smaller town of Kasulu, about an hour away. We had sent our passports and papers in the previous week to get our residence permits but they wanted proof that we were students like our papers said. We don't have any proof but went along to try and show him that we're just poor students. Interestingly enough the student issue never surfaced when we reached the office of the immigration guy. There is a Canadian couple here to supervise all the building projects going on currently and they were here last year to build the Heri hospital church. They were in with us to get their permits as well. While we signed the last couple of papers the immigration guy, who I'm going to call Hubert, told us that he needed to get some money from us to pay for a person to take all our stuff to Dar and get the permits processed. This was so we wouldn't have to go ourselves. The Petermans (Canadian couple) had given him quite a bit of money towards getting someone to take our stuff to Dar, but Hubert stated that it wasn't enough. I am not the most patient of people and I enjoy arguing quite a bit. Character flaws, I know. I started to get a little upset because we hadn't heard that we were going to have to pay even extra above the cost of the residence permit. After he stated that the amount given him wasn't enough I asked him what would be a sufficient amount to pay for someone to take our documents. Hubert wouldn't answer me. He just kept smiling and telling us that we needed to give him more money. Now I know that Africa thrives on corruption and lining one's own bank account as often as possible but I wasn't happy about Hubert trying to get extra money after what he had been given was already sufficient to get someone to Dar and have the stay there for a week or so. What ended up happening was the hospital guys there with us talked to Hubert and arranged something so that they would pay some for Neil and I and we wouldn't have to pay any more. After leaving and talking about the exchange while we drove I commented on how seeing as how our options always seem to involve dealing with a crooked person at least we got to deal with a nice crook and not a surly one:)
The only other notable news that I can think of is that I've baked bread a couple of times now (the third try is in the oven now). The first couple of loaves were alright but nothing special. The second batch turned out pretty nice except we haven't been able to get whole wheat flour yet so all the bread is big, fluffy, and white just like I'll be when I get older:) We'll see how this third batch turns out.
Well I hope everyone out there in internet land is having a splendid October. I've put my address here at the top of the page just in case you have time to sit down and write one of those old fashioned things....I think it's called a letter...yeah that's it. Peace be upon you and happy early Hanukkah to anyone who is of the Jewish persuasion!
Justin
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Surfacing Once Again
Wow….
I’ve sat here for a couple of minutes with only that on my screen, trying to decide where to begin in the narration of my recent experiences. It feels like we’ve been here quite a while already even though it’s only been two weeks. Those two weeks though, have been anything but ordinary in comparison to my normal existence.
I’m writing this in my room and then will go down to the offices tomorrow to get on the internet and post it. Because of that I can’t read what I last wrote on my blog. I believe we had just started to settle in and may have seen a few procedures in the hospital at that point? Well as of now (10/7/08) we’ve gotten to do/observe quite a bit in the hospital. Last week the medical director was gone to Dar es Salaam to meet with a Canadian couple who was coming to take charge of some construction projects here at Heri. Because he and the Canadian contractor weren’t here yet Neil and I kept somewhat busy organizing some storerooms and then helping the nurses with their duties in the operating theatre (which is an area that has a main operating room, another room for minor procedures and then an area to wash and sterilize instruments). We’ve become experts at manufacturing small gauze pads from a large roll and then rapping them and sterilizing them to be used for surgeries. The time there went pretty slowly because not much went on each day but it is a fun place to spend our time because the people who work there are really nice and funny in their own multi-cultural way. For example we were in watching a circumcision procedure on an 82 yr. old gentleman when the doctor and the nurses started a humorous conversation in English which the man didn’t understand. So everyone’s talking and laughing for a good 15 minutes and then the guy asks if they’ve even started yet (great indication that the local anesthetic worked:). Ok, so maybe a situation is more humorous at the time then described later by someone whose sense of humor is slightly off balance. sorry….
We got to watch a really cool arm surgery and the placing of a pin in the kid’s arm. I have to admit that I don’t have a stomach of iron or titanium or any strong metal. The first few procedures that we saw made me pretty nauseous but that’s been getting a lot better as I’ve watched more. This coming Sunday we’re going to get to watch the doctor remove a bunch of goiters off a lady that have been growing since 1984. Some of these goiters that she’s going to “give birth to” are older than I am…not that that’s saying much. Oh and yesterday we were in the hospital and got to help pop a kid’s elbow back into place. They knocked him out and then we all grabbed him and were pulling in different directions until the doctor felt the bones move back into place, which also came with an audible pop.
The contractor has been here a few days now and we’ve been told that we’ll be helping him supervise the construction projects and still get to help out in the hospital and watch surgeries. I also found out that they believe I’m capable of writing a grant proposal for ADRA Canada and the Canadian government. We’ll see how Neil and I fair on that project:) Back to the construction side. There are two sites and we’ll be in charge of supervising the work done on a couple of small houses at one site while the contractor takes care of the other site. We weren’t sure what exactly we were going to be doing with the construction but it appears that we’re just supposed to hang around like guardian angels and make sure that everyone keeps working and something is actually accomplished by the end of the day. I’ve never managed a construction crew before but it can’t be that bad, right? I mean the guys and I don’t even speak the same language so communicating what needs to be done should be a piece of cake…or something.
Today they were cleaning up the brush around the houses and found a bee hive that needed to be removed. It was underground so one of the guys went right at it. Digging up the hive with bees flying all around him. He’d yelp every now and then but kept going until you could see all the combs inside. Then he just reached in and started pulling them out with bees still on some. After getting all the combs out they got some brush burning in front of the hole to smoke the bees, and we all got to enjoy some honey straight from the hive. It was the best honey I’ve ever had. Really rich and not as thick as the stuff in the store.
Well I congratulate all of you who have made it this far down the page! I would apologize for the length but…I’m not going to because it just takes the place of me posting more often. I really appreciate all of the comments and emails that I’ve gotten from some of you..hint hint:) I hope everyone is having a marvelous week. I’ve just thought of more I could write but I’ll spare you the pain. You’re welcome.
Farewell to all and to all a good night… Justin
I’ve sat here for a couple of minutes with only that on my screen, trying to decide where to begin in the narration of my recent experiences. It feels like we’ve been here quite a while already even though it’s only been two weeks. Those two weeks though, have been anything but ordinary in comparison to my normal existence.
I’m writing this in my room and then will go down to the offices tomorrow to get on the internet and post it. Because of that I can’t read what I last wrote on my blog. I believe we had just started to settle in and may have seen a few procedures in the hospital at that point? Well as of now (10/7/08) we’ve gotten to do/observe quite a bit in the hospital. Last week the medical director was gone to Dar es Salaam to meet with a Canadian couple who was coming to take charge of some construction projects here at Heri. Because he and the Canadian contractor weren’t here yet Neil and I kept somewhat busy organizing some storerooms and then helping the nurses with their duties in the operating theatre (which is an area that has a main operating room, another room for minor procedures and then an area to wash and sterilize instruments). We’ve become experts at manufacturing small gauze pads from a large roll and then rapping them and sterilizing them to be used for surgeries. The time there went pretty slowly because not much went on each day but it is a fun place to spend our time because the people who work there are really nice and funny in their own multi-cultural way. For example we were in watching a circumcision procedure on an 82 yr. old gentleman when the doctor and the nurses started a humorous conversation in English which the man didn’t understand. So everyone’s talking and laughing for a good 15 minutes and then the guy asks if they’ve even started yet (great indication that the local anesthetic worked:). Ok, so maybe a situation is more humorous at the time then described later by someone whose sense of humor is slightly off balance. sorry….
We got to watch a really cool arm surgery and the placing of a pin in the kid’s arm. I have to admit that I don’t have a stomach of iron or titanium or any strong metal. The first few procedures that we saw made me pretty nauseous but that’s been getting a lot better as I’ve watched more. This coming Sunday we’re going to get to watch the doctor remove a bunch of goiters off a lady that have been growing since 1984. Some of these goiters that she’s going to “give birth to” are older than I am…not that that’s saying much. Oh and yesterday we were in the hospital and got to help pop a kid’s elbow back into place. They knocked him out and then we all grabbed him and were pulling in different directions until the doctor felt the bones move back into place, which also came with an audible pop.
The contractor has been here a few days now and we’ve been told that we’ll be helping him supervise the construction projects and still get to help out in the hospital and watch surgeries. I also found out that they believe I’m capable of writing a grant proposal for ADRA Canada and the Canadian government. We’ll see how Neil and I fair on that project:) Back to the construction side. There are two sites and we’ll be in charge of supervising the work done on a couple of small houses at one site while the contractor takes care of the other site. We weren’t sure what exactly we were going to be doing with the construction but it appears that we’re just supposed to hang around like guardian angels and make sure that everyone keeps working and something is actually accomplished by the end of the day. I’ve never managed a construction crew before but it can’t be that bad, right? I mean the guys and I don’t even speak the same language so communicating what needs to be done should be a piece of cake…or something.
Today they were cleaning up the brush around the houses and found a bee hive that needed to be removed. It was underground so one of the guys went right at it. Digging up the hive with bees flying all around him. He’d yelp every now and then but kept going until you could see all the combs inside. Then he just reached in and started pulling them out with bees still on some. After getting all the combs out they got some brush burning in front of the hole to smoke the bees, and we all got to enjoy some honey straight from the hive. It was the best honey I’ve ever had. Really rich and not as thick as the stuff in the store.
Well I congratulate all of you who have made it this far down the page! I would apologize for the length but…I’m not going to because it just takes the place of me posting more often. I really appreciate all of the comments and emails that I’ve gotten from some of you..hint hint:) I hope everyone is having a marvelous week. I’ve just thought of more I could write but I’ll spare you the pain. You’re welcome.
Farewell to all and to all a good night… Justin
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Hello Tanzania
It's happened. The unthinkable. I'm finally at Heri hospital:) We've been here a couple of days now and have started to settle in. The area is really pretty. It's up in the hills only a few kilometers from the Burundi border and also fairly close to the Rwandan border. The weather's nice and it's started to rain some each day as they say we're going into the rainy season.
The job description that we've acquired is that we're going to be helping a contractor who's coming from Canada soon, working with the hospital's computer system, and getting a chance to watch and then hopefully help with surgeries taking place. The other notable thing that has been happening is Neil and I buying, cooking, and eating our own food. Quite the experience. We've been trying to remember just how our mothers used to cook stuff. All the times I should have paid more attention while living at home:)
So far we've just been organizing different areas in the maintenance department and helping sort out and organize the medical supplies in their storage room.
Well I've been sitting here a while (oh that's another thing, the fact that we have internet is amazing) and should let Neil on. You can probably read more about what we've done on his blog.
kwaheri rafikini
The job description that we've acquired is that we're going to be helping a contractor who's coming from Canada soon, working with the hospital's computer system, and getting a chance to watch and then hopefully help with surgeries taking place. The other notable thing that has been happening is Neil and I buying, cooking, and eating our own food. Quite the experience. We've been trying to remember just how our mothers used to cook stuff. All the times I should have paid more attention while living at home:)
So far we've just been organizing different areas in the maintenance department and helping sort out and organize the medical supplies in their storage room.
Well I've been sitting here a while (oh that's another thing, the fact that we have internet is amazing) and should let Neil on. You can probably read more about what we've done on his blog.
kwaheri rafikini
Monday, September 22, 2008
Almost There
Well we left Portland on Thursday afternoon and here it is Monday afternoon(Tanzanian time) and we still aren't there:) Neil and I have spent the past couple of days hanging out in Dar es Salaam because our flight to Kigoma isn't till tomorrow morning. Then we'll get picked up and finally reach our destination.
The traveling has been quite interesting..from sitting in the midst of a group traveling from Amsterdam to Nairobi who's idea of entertainment was consuming as much vodka as they could then passing out..or wandering around the plane asking how people were doing:) We spent 10 hours in Amsterdam but were too tired to leave the airport and just slept most of the time. It's good to be back in Africa.
Well not much else has happened so far besides the fact that we wake up at three in the morning and start messing around because we can't go back to sleep. I hope all of you had a restful weekend. Till I write again..
The traveling has been quite interesting..from sitting in the midst of a group traveling from Amsterdam to Nairobi who's idea of entertainment was consuming as much vodka as they could then passing out..or wandering around the plane asking how people were doing:) We spent 10 hours in Amsterdam but were too tired to leave the airport and just slept most of the time. It's good to be back in Africa.
Well not much else has happened so far besides the fact that we wake up at three in the morning and start messing around because we can't go back to sleep. I hope all of you had a restful weekend. Till I write again..
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Leaving on a jet plane....don't know when I'll be back again..
Just a disclaimer at the beginning of this post. I'm in the airport and have to leave soon so this may be quite short. Moving on...the past couple of weeks have been pretty fun but today Neil and I are sitting in the Portland airport prepared to depart this world for eight months. We might as well be NASA astronauts.
We have a 10 hour flight to Amsterdam then a 10 hour layover there..so we're going to travel around and see some sights. Then we have a 9 hour flight to Nairobi, couple hour layover then finally we fly into Dar es Salaam Sat. morning at 9:15. All that entails 32 hours of traveling plus jetlag.
This is going to be a journey beyond my wildest dreams, and I'm glad you're there following along and praying for me! We will probably get to Heri Sunday or Monday depending on what flight we can get. Then the fun begins:)
I had decided that I was going to use this blog to tell of my experiences in Tanzania and as a reference to look back upon in the coming years but now I'm not so sure what my blog will be. I'll post stories of what I'm doing and little notes just to let my mom know I'm still alive:) but I also think that maybe this blog will be a growing experience. A way to express myself and what I'm feeling so others can read but mostly for myself.
Ok, away from the deep stuff. They're about to board the plane so I'm going to wrap this up and put a bow on it. For other stories of what we're doing you can read Neil's blog. There's a link to the right for it. It provides the pictures for my stories and Neil's succinct depictions of what happens:)
Well adios, goodbye, farewell, and kwaheri
pray for us, thanks
We have a 10 hour flight to Amsterdam then a 10 hour layover there..so we're going to travel around and see some sights. Then we have a 9 hour flight to Nairobi, couple hour layover then finally we fly into Dar es Salaam Sat. morning at 9:15. All that entails 32 hours of traveling plus jetlag.
This is going to be a journey beyond my wildest dreams, and I'm glad you're there following along and praying for me! We will probably get to Heri Sunday or Monday depending on what flight we can get. Then the fun begins:)
I had decided that I was going to use this blog to tell of my experiences in Tanzania and as a reference to look back upon in the coming years but now I'm not so sure what my blog will be. I'll post stories of what I'm doing and little notes just to let my mom know I'm still alive:) but I also think that maybe this blog will be a growing experience. A way to express myself and what I'm feeling so others can read but mostly for myself.
Ok, away from the deep stuff. They're about to board the plane so I'm going to wrap this up and put a bow on it. For other stories of what we're doing you can read Neil's blog. There's a link to the right for it. It provides the pictures for my stories and Neil's succinct depictions of what happens:)
Well adios, goodbye, farewell, and kwaheri
pray for us, thanks
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Life...Not Much Else to Say
I'll have to start this off with a little bit of the background leading up the the climax of the story, Sunday evening. I have this car; her name is Angelica. She's a green Volkswagen Passat wagon with an abundance of problems...maybe I should say quirks. She's caught on fire before, has many electrical issues, but through it all has carried me across the country multiple times on my way to Union and back.
Being done with camp and just hanging out at Neil's house in Roseburg we had been planning on spending a few days on the coast at my aunt's house. The Big Lake staff retreat was going to be the Monday and Tuesday of this past week so we planned on going to that then driving the fifteen minutes south to my aunt's beach house. We left Sunday afternoon planning on visiting the Lawsons on the way up to Lincoln City where the retreat was taking place. It was raining and foggy the whole way up the coast. We were about six miles from the Lawson's house when it happened...I totaled my car. Yep, poor Angelica's face got transformed into something less than beautiful:( RIP Angelica. Thankfully we were blessed with no injuries to us or the other gentleman. Also Aunt Cindy was able to come and pick us up, let us stay the night at their house and then so generously lend us the use of a car for a few days. Thanks so much!
We had a lot of fun seeing some Big Lake people for the last time for a long time. A few of the people from staff retreat came over to my aunt's house and hung out along with some Roseburgers who drove up. We got back to Roseburg late Thursday evening. Friday, as in yesterday, we went rock climbing out in the Callahans which was pretty sweet. I got to lead my first 5.9. Yep, clean lead, oh yeah.
Well that's just a short update and obituary of this past week. I'm thinking that the more I start posting the likelier the chances of it becoming a habit:) Well I wish everyone a great week! I'm going up to Portland the end of this week for the Maranatha convention because my dad is flying back in for it and some board meetings.
Kwaheri
Being done with camp and just hanging out at Neil's house in Roseburg we had been planning on spending a few days on the coast at my aunt's house. The Big Lake staff retreat was going to be the Monday and Tuesday of this past week so we planned on going to that then driving the fifteen minutes south to my aunt's beach house. We left Sunday afternoon planning on visiting the Lawsons on the way up to Lincoln City where the retreat was taking place. It was raining and foggy the whole way up the coast. We were about six miles from the Lawson's house when it happened...I totaled my car. Yep, poor Angelica's face got transformed into something less than beautiful:( RIP Angelica. Thankfully we were blessed with no injuries to us or the other gentleman. Also Aunt Cindy was able to come and pick us up, let us stay the night at their house and then so generously lend us the use of a car for a few days. Thanks so much!
We had a lot of fun seeing some Big Lake people for the last time for a long time. A few of the people from staff retreat came over to my aunt's house and hung out along with some Roseburgers who drove up. We got back to Roseburg late Thursday evening. Friday, as in yesterday, we went rock climbing out in the Callahans which was pretty sweet. I got to lead my first 5.9. Yep, clean lead, oh yeah.
Well that's just a short update and obituary of this past week. I'm thinking that the more I start posting the likelier the chances of it becoming a habit:) Well I wish everyone a great week! I'm going up to Portland the end of this week for the Maranatha convention because my dad is flying back in for it and some board meetings.
Kwaheri
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Counting Down the Weeks
Well well well.... in the long period of time since my last post I've enjoyed many weeks of whitewater rafting, rock climbing and just having fun working at Big Lake! The RAD team is the best ever! Moving on. Over my limited hours off each week I checked the progress of Neil's and my calls. As of now we are getting our tickets today and will be leaving on the 18th of September for Tanzania.
This first week off from camp I've been hanging out in Roseburg with my friends. Monday and Tuesday of next week will find Neil and I at the Big Lake staff retreat on the coast. Then we're staying over there for the rest of the week, hanging out with some friends. Then back to Roseburg, up to Portland for the Maranatha convention to see my dad, then back down here for the final couple of weeks before we fly out.
Seeing as how I have nothing profound to say and no special words to impart(besides supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) I'm going to conclude another short blog post on the life of the infamous Justin Woods. Most likely my next post will come right before we leave and I'll be talking about how I waited till the last moment to get ready, but more of that later.
Kwaheri
This first week off from camp I've been hanging out in Roseburg with my friends. Monday and Tuesday of next week will find Neil and I at the Big Lake staff retreat on the coast. Then we're staying over there for the rest of the week, hanging out with some friends. Then back to Roseburg, up to Portland for the Maranatha convention to see my dad, then back down here for the final couple of weeks before we fly out.
Seeing as how I have nothing profound to say and no special words to impart(besides supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) I'm going to conclude another short blog post on the life of the infamous Justin Woods. Most likely my next post will come right before we leave and I'll be talking about how I waited till the last moment to get ready, but more of that later.
Kwaheri
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Africa
So it's all over now and I'm free from the oppressive bonds of higher education. I finished up at Union on the sunny day of May 7th and after a week of traveling here and there and everywhere I ended up here...in Mozambique. I'm spending a month with my family before leaving to work at BIG LAKE YOUTH CAMP. Pretty much the one of the coolest places ever. Oh, I just found out the other day that my friend and I got our spots at Heri hospital in Tanzania for this upcoming school year. Who knows what we'll be doing there but it should be pretty sweet.
As to what I've been doing recently. We spent a couple of days in a game park driving around looking for lions and and other cool African animals that live in game parks. I've watched lots of episodes of House:) Went to a church dedication on the beach today which was pretty cool. Tomorrow we're going with a volunteer group from Auburn, WA to South Africa to show them the "sites" or something like that.
I've been listening to people talking all kinds of languages recently: Portuguese, Spanish, English(surprising, I know), Shona, Zulu, and I've been looking/listening to Swahili online in preparation for next year. I've decided that some languages are really cool and others seem like they could have been done without. I think learning Swahili is going to be a lot of fun. The words sound cool and it's easy to read them even if I have no idea what I'm saying.
Well this is the end of another short epistle from the keys of Justin D. Woods. Tune in next time to read all about how the zebra got its stripes. If you actually have any ideas about that let me know cause I'm open to suggestions:)
As to what I've been doing recently. We spent a couple of days in a game park driving around looking for lions and and other cool African animals that live in game parks. I've watched lots of episodes of House:) Went to a church dedication on the beach today which was pretty cool. Tomorrow we're going with a volunteer group from Auburn, WA to South Africa to show them the "sites" or something like that.
I've been listening to people talking all kinds of languages recently: Portuguese, Spanish, English(surprising, I know), Shona, Zulu, and I've been looking/listening to Swahili online in preparation for next year. I've decided that some languages are really cool and others seem like they could have been done without. I think learning Swahili is going to be a lot of fun. The words sound cool and it's easy to read them even if I have no idea what I'm saying.
Well this is the end of another short epistle from the keys of Justin D. Woods. Tune in next time to read all about how the zebra got its stripes. If you actually have any ideas about that let me know cause I'm open to suggestions:)
Monday, April 14, 2008
Finally
Well this is the first of hopefully (but not likely:) many entries into this blog about my upcoming year in Africa. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm spending next year at Heri Adventist Hospital in Kigoma, Tanzania with my amazing friend Neil Patel.
I've been waiting for a call for a while...trying to get in contact with different places but nothing seemed to work out. Then we heard about Heri and everything seemed to line up.
So to drag on this attempt at a decent blog posting I'm going to ramble on about what my next few months are going to look like. As soon as I get out of taking finals in a few weeks, a friend and I are driving back to Walla Walla and then down to Oregon where I'll get to spend two days before I fly out to Mozambique to spend a month with my family. In mid-June I'm flying back to work at Big Lake Youth Camp for the summer. My job is RAD counselor so I'm going to be hanging out with kids while we go rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and do other adventurous activities.
I'll probably be leaving for Tanzania in mid-September assuming everything works out well. Yay for summer vacation! It's only six tests, one presentation, four papers, and four quizzes away.
I've been waiting for a call for a while...trying to get in contact with different places but nothing seemed to work out. Then we heard about Heri and everything seemed to line up.
So to drag on this attempt at a decent blog posting I'm going to ramble on about what my next few months are going to look like. As soon as I get out of taking finals in a few weeks, a friend and I are driving back to Walla Walla and then down to Oregon where I'll get to spend two days before I fly out to Mozambique to spend a month with my family. In mid-June I'm flying back to work at Big Lake Youth Camp for the summer. My job is RAD counselor so I'm going to be hanging out with kids while we go rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and do other adventurous activities.
I'll probably be leaving for Tanzania in mid-September assuming everything works out well. Yay for summer vacation! It's only six tests, one presentation, four papers, and four quizzes away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
