Friday, March 21, 2008

Shifting Gears

It is very late at night and I am in the airport in Johannesburg ready to head off to Kenya. At the last minute I decided not to go home first and then come back to Kenya in five days--it was a wise move and I came within budget. My destination is Kisumu where some of the uprising and violence occurred during the unrest around the Kenyan elections. This segment of my trip has been very up in the air--"to go or not to go, that is the question". From those in the trenches, life is getting back to before and the agreement between the two opposing parties seems to be working. Stay posted for blogs from Kenya and pictures of course.

To wrap up my trip to South Africa, it was definitely overall positive and the collaborators I visit were wonderfully hospitable. Some additional highlights or commentary:

  • Beach excursion to Hermanus and Hawston where the sky was clear blue, the mountains ever impressive, and the ocean ice cold! They say you must go further east for warmer waters.

  • The town of Worcester felt very much like small town U.S.A. but not so friendly as Cape Town. I would go a little batty if I had to stay there too long, I would be in Cape Town at every chance. The people at the site were very nice, but the town inhabitants were not so inviting. It has the feel of being stuck back in time.


  • It was my first time staying at a guest house/bed & breakfast and it was cozy and nice, but I think I might prefer hotels for having services and staff available at all hours.

  • Olives farms and vineyards were everywhere creating beautiful countrysides--I absolutely love olives. I purchased some white truffle olive oil which has the taste of garlic. It was a good experience and I learned a lot about tasting olives like the experts.



  • What would happen that I should meet a handsome Spaniard from Barcelona of all places!! He was in Worcester to visit the site (we quite bonded over a gastric lavage and induced sputum demonstration). He was a physician living in Mozambique and had been their 6 months. He is into infectious diseases and will be working with TB and many many children. In all of Mozambique, he said there are only 700 doctors! He deals daily with the complexity of treating children especially children with malnutrition, HIV, and TB. He might be one of our collaborators in the near future--road trip (plane trip may be more accurate)! But it will be only for work and scientific exchange for at last he has a girlfriend; although, it was such a treat to have a breakfast and dinner partner for a few days.


  • The last day had much time to spare before my plane and went to the largest mall in all of Africa, Century City and got a massage and hair do--travelling can have its toll.

  • Only bad incident and I am quite ashamed to share is that I scratched up my rental car--Wait! It is not as you suppose. I was superb driving on the wrong side of the road; it is always the parking that haunts me and those darn walls and pillars and narrow spaces. So sad! Thank goodness for insurance.
It looks like I am spending Easter away from home but it will be ok. I may be able to find a service at a local church. It appears around Africa they have a four day weekend which is quite nice. Well I hope you are gaining something from my updates and will continue with me as go here and there and everywhere.

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