party pics

here are a few more photos from a fun party (unforunately a going away party) last weekend. most of the people shown here work at the CDC office in Lilongwe... a great group to work with!

home sweet home

things are finally starting to come together here; i suppose after nearly two months i would expect that they would, but it feels really nice to finally have my own house and am enjoying making it into a home. Ann and i moved in a week ago - 22 october instead of the original move in date 1 oct (long story, one that i have already chosen to forget). after a full day of house cleaning, and over exposure to bleach, good friends Mindy and Helen brought us dinner, and we had our first "home cooked" meal. it was home cooked, only in Mindy's house. we had no real furniture, just one bed and a carpet. so we had a little picnic. it was so comfortable, and felt good to finally be in there! so exhausted, Ann and i piled into our one bed (we have since had another delivered) and though it was rather hot, we immediately fell to sleep... for about two hours, until a nightjar, the LOUDEST bird i have ever heard in my life, found his way to a bush just outside our window. really, it was so loud that it sounded like the bird was perched on my pillow. so loud that we recorded it, and i hope to find some way to upload the audio file. come to find out that nightjars are not exactly good omens, but who really believes a thousand years of african folklore???

work is going really well; i finally feel very engaged in many projects, and comfortable enough, and accepted enough, to put myself out there for initiating new projects with new partners. the biggest time commitment that i have now is working on an HIV drug resistance threshold survey, where the government of Malawi, in partnership with the CDC and WHO are trying to track the level of drug resistance transmitted in the population. i go out weekly with two fabulous women from the ministry of health to collect samples and data and run quality assurance checks. we are also trying to push a monitoring survey protocol through a review board, and while its not using my biostats training (yet) i have learned so many (painful) lessons in the process. i am also working on a protocol to evaluate an electronic data system that the ministry will pilot at antiretroviral clinics in order to help facilitate the quite remarkable treatment scale up occurring here. then there is a little of this, a little of that. its not entirely different than what i had anticipated, and am thankful that everyone is giving me room to learn and grow.

and i am feeling more settled in my friendships - i am very lucky that all of my colleagues are so supportive, very caring people and have really gone out of their way to make me feel at home. i have also gotten involved in a wide range of activities - volleyball, dance aerobics, running group - that helps me meet people. most fortuantely, now that i have my own home, i look forward to being able to invite people into my home!! lessons learned over the past few weeks.... well, there is nothing wrong with Malawian time i suppose, i just think that i am way too american. in my need for things to happen on a schedule, or to not spend entire days waiting for people (ie repairmen to fix things on the house), i just ended up frustrated, now i am just trying to go with the flow, a very, very slow flow. almost a trickle. and its working. so the fact that a week after the promised delivery date for our furniture that i am still eating dinner on the floor. well, hey, picnics can be fun. chairs, over rated. to be fair though, i should mention that the guy who is building these things did just deliver a couch and two chairs, and they were absolutely gorgeous. worth every bit of frustration.

so on that note, i am going to spend another hour or two working on this beautiful sunday and then join a friend for dinner. Cha bwino, cha bwino.

the good, the bad, and the down right funny

so the last week as been a hodge podge of experiences, mostly good, some bad, and as always chalked full of a giggle or two....

we had a long weekend this past weekend, both in honor of columbus day and also for the malawian mother's day, a national holiday that obviously deserves its own day off (as it should everywhere... hi mom!) . so, after a morning of dilly-dallying, i piled into my new car with friends Mindy and Anila (Mindy will be a familiar face to some (Tony...) and Anila to more (HSPH...)) and drove 1.5 hours to the lake. yes, the lake again. i suppose that if i am in an entirely new country, i should see as much as possible as fast as possible. but not this past weekend, the whole point of that weekend was to see and do as little as possible for as long as possible. i felt going into it that i had spent so much of my time working on logistics, and the past weekend, i wanted to just relax. and it worked! i couldn't have had better, more chill company. on friday night, we watched the sun set, and the full moon rise, and saw two satellites in the 30 minutes of darkness in between. ah, lovely.

the past few days, however, have been intense... the disparities in living, basically between my rich self and the many, many poor beyond words malawians really takes its toll on me. i know that i am very fortunate to have what i have, but it feels awkward at times. so, for those of you who fell out about the car, prepare yourself... i spent the last day and a half interviewing staff for my new house..... i am going to pause to let you take that in... yes, i will have a gardener, housekeeper, three guards, and cute older man that we didn't need, but couldn't let go (he worked for the old tenants). and it’s hard because i really didn't want to have a gardener, housekeeper, and three guards, i would of course keep the last one!, but it’s expected. yeah, there is the safety aspect- many people around helps keep me safe in the "big" city - but it is also an economy thing, too, helping by giving jobs to as many as possible. but it’s just weird. its so different than what i had planned for, and part of me thinks i will adjust to the idea, and the other part of me wonder what it means if i ever fully adjust to the idea. (BTW, the photo here is of Frederick, the gardener at the house i am in now. excellent gardener, and all around nice, fun guy!)

and i've been homesick.

and there is the just plain funny.... i will let the pictures speak for themselves.

one month down, already???

ok, i really cannot believe how fast the past month has gone. here i thought that i would move to malawi and the pace would slow down a bit. and in some sense, it has i suppose, especially in the fact that my late nights are very, very few and days not so scattered about.

i feel like my adjustment is coming along really well. things at work are still somewhat vague, mostly because in the last 4 weeks, i have been out at meetings, etc (in fact, i have only been in 5 full days) and so i haven't had time to fully clarify my roll. the upside of that is it has been a great way to become oriented to Lilongwe and Malawi and to meet the people that i will be working most closely with. i have started helping with sample collection for an HIV threshold survey, and its already posed some interesting challenges in terms of always making sure that samples are properly identified and processed. i am working with two fabulous women on that (in addition to my normal CDC crew), Nellie and Kundai, and so it keeps it fun. this is definately a side of a fence that i have not been on before, so i am learning lots.

i finally got a car, which is already making life so much easier. i can come in early or stay late if need be, which will help with communication. i can cart myself and others around instead of having to always coordinate. i JUST got it, and so i am looking forward to exploring what this extra freedom can mean.

my favorite experiences so far have been the one on one time getting to know folks here. my favorite conversation, there is only one word in Chichewa to express both need and want. So it would be entirely correct for me to say that i NEED m&m's from the US. actually, thats a misuse of the concept - in my mind, it seems to emphasize that really no one here lives an excessive life. no one asks for too much. yet everyone is so giving... it really is a beautiful thing. on the same lines, there is only one word for like and love. i'm getting closer to figuring that one out :).

so things are good. i've had a few rounds of home sickness, to be expected i suppose. i wish i could share a few more photos, but my flashdrive is at home. soon, keep checking...

out to dinner with some friends, and possibly out of town this weekend (its a 3 day weekend for us). take care and be in touch,
b