Zimbabwe

I spent another busy day at work organizing whatnot, correcting forms, and making a database for our study. It was a lot of time sitting, but the day went by pretty quickly. I really wanted to do something that evening since I was feeling trapped at the house so I sent Jake a text to … Continue reading »

Sorry, the link to the pictures didn’t work the first time (thanks for letting me know Jacob!). Hopefully, this will work now… https://picasaweb.google.com/115644650404072729236/ZimbabweBeginnings?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Here are just a few pictures I’ve taken so far. I haven’t really been outside the city yet so there’s not many exciting things to photograph. You also don’t want to be flashing your camera around town or it will get stolen. I took the last pictures from inside a taxi on the way home … Continue reading »

The MDR-TB clinic was this morning and since Wilkin’s hospital is just down the road from me, I was able to walk there this morning. It was a lovely morning to be out: the sun was shining and the air was cool from the storm the night before. The doctors were late to the clinic … Continue reading »

This morning I tried walking to work to see how long it would take. Based on my walk on Sunday I thought it would be 40 minutes. I quite misjudged the distance and it took an hour! Luckily it was 7 am and was still quite cool. I was only mildly sweaty by the time … Continue reading »

Today was Halloween although I didn’t see anyone dressed up and no children came trick or treating. It would be very hard to trick or treat in most neighborhoods due all of the gates and walls with electrified fences or shards of broken glass glued to the top of the wall. I don’t think it’s … Continue reading »

Since I went to bed so early I woke up at 5:30 and realized that it’s already quite light at that hour. After a bit of exercise and breakfast, Mr. Morales drove me around the neighborhood to show me where the nearest grocery stores are located. I needed to go back to the Bronte Hotel … Continue reading »

Few businesses are open on the weekends in Zimbabwe so there’s not much to do workwise. I tried to sleep in but woke up in the middle of the night after a strange dream and couldn’t really get back to sleep. I checked out of the hotel after breakfast and John and I made plans … Continue reading »

Friday was just as busy as the previous days. Since he had scheduled some meetings, John skipped the conference that was still going on so it was the three of us in the two person truck again. After meeting at the office we went to one of the Harare city’s offices where John had to … Continue reading »

John had a conference to go to all day so Salome and I decided to run some errands. We needed to drop off some things at MRCZ, who handles ethical approval for all studies in the country, and then get some office supplies since we don’t even have a stapler or paper clips. First I … Continue reading »

I woke up at 4 am and tossed and turned for an hour before giving up on sleep altogether. Since I went to sleep at midnight, that didn’t amount to much rest, but what can you do? I read a book for an hour and a half before getting up and going down to breakfast. … Continue reading »

I left home this morning to start my latest adventures in Zimbabwe. I was bringing a lot of lab supplies because they are hard to get in Zim and more expensive. I essentially packed all of my clothes for two months in a carry-on bag that did not need to come back to the US … Continue reading »

In less than 24 hours I’ll be on a plane, heading to Harare, Zimbabwe. Okay, actually I’ll be headed to Atlanta about now and from there to Johannesburg, South Africa and then Harare. Only 30 hours of airtime, no big deal. The amount of stuff I’m bringing is quite amazing. I have one checked bag … Continue reading »