Fa-la-la

this is a long, long overdue posting. maybe I should start with why this is a long, long overdue posting. things here have been incredibly busy. it’s the end of the year push, where everyone has seemed to pull out a 2006 check list and panicked about what is left to be done.

but maybe to be more specific. someone (well, not just anyone, but my wonderful boston roomie, Ami) just sent me an email asking “what is your day like?”. well, what’s so great, and occasionally mind spinning, about it is that there is no typical day. i am working on a wide range of projects, and at various stages in the projects themselves. some examples. more specific? well, the Ministry of Health wants to pilot the use of electronic data systems in their HIV treatment centers to help sites manage the increasing numbers that are accessing treatment, and so i am assisting in writing an evaluation protocol for this pilot. they are also exploring using a different method of testing for HIV at their voluntary testing centers, and i am investigating the implications of this type of testing, presenting this research in various contexts and working on a recommendation document. malawi is also conducting its first survey of HIV drug resistance in treatment naïve populations, so for the past few months, i have gone out on Thursdays with a team to collect samples and data from several sites around Lilongwe (we have just finished and ship the samples to the US in January)…. mapping resources and needs with respect to HIV…. helping create a research database to document HIV research in country…. working on data accessibility and interpretability issues…. whew, a mouthful. and i would say about 95% lies completely outside my skill set, which makes it stimulating, challenging, and completely exhausting!

i am already enjoying the fact that many people have gone for the holidays, so the number of meetings have died down, the general chaos around the CDC has subsided, and i am managing to check things off of the list instead always adding.

‘tis the season, huh? with the warm weather, and the rains, it hardly feels like the holidays, though Ann and i did decorate our christmas giraffe. unfortunately, my plans to go to namibia for the holidays have fallen through ($$, time, etc), but am actually nearly as thrilled to stay local, stay still, stay quiet(-ish). i will go with my roommate on saturday to a place called kayak africa (google it!) for a two days of water, exercise, and sun! then we are going to a friend's (Nellie, at left in photo at a cookout) village for christmas day. back here for work in between x-mas and new years, and still entertaining a plethora of new years options. i will miss my family and friends so very, very much, but have always appreciated how quick people are to adopt me during the holiday season.

and malawi is absolutely fascinating right now. it has rained a little bit everyday for the past month, and some days, the whole day through! so everything has come to life, and i do mean everything. we have a minimum of 20 different flowers blooming in our yard. the recently planted fields already have crops coming up. and all things big and small are abound, but for some reason here the proper ordering is mixed up. i have seen bugs and snails as big as my head and humming birds smaller than my fist. i ate one flying termite on purpose, and one by accident. it really is beautiful (though occasionally a little gross, too).

so happy, happy holidays! enjoy every bit and keep me posted!