007 in Africa

Shit People in DC Say

2012-01-20T11:34:00.002Z

This is another one of those videos about Sh*t [Fill in the Blank] People Say".

And it's about DC. And it's incredibly accurate. Sad thing is, I'm probably the worst offender and use anyone of those lines about 4 or 5 times a week on average...

(Begrudgingly) A Christmas Miracle?

2011-12-16T19:19:00.001Z

So we didn't make our flight. Despite our extreme tiredness, we woke up early, absolutely scrambling to complete 5 different errands to change our flights.

Weirdly enough, we all actually benefit ted from spending an extra unplanned day in Kinshasa. for my part, I had forgotten my US cell phone in my hotel room the night before and the cleaning staff was able to return it to me! Additionally, I was able to talk to a Congolese college who had partnered with me in the field (I had rudely left without saying goodbye).

A Christmas Miracle?

We Missed our Flight

2011-12-15T23:51:00.000Z

We escaped a horrible 5 and a half hour traffic jam and just got to the airport. Unsuprisingly, all 5 of us missed our respective flights...

We passed wide stretches of water that look like 3 back-to-back olympic pools in a row, with city buses stuck in the mud. Since it's the rainy season, apparently a small river had overflowed, and in combination with the wet sand and the mud, and completely un-road worthy vehicles, it kept traffic at a standstill.

It's tragic and incredibly frustrating, fortunately we're all a bit loney at this point and that makes it entertaining...

This is like a Road Trip

2011-12-15T21:48:00.000Z

But with no water and no place to pee.

4 hours and 45 minutes and still in traffic.

Uh oh

2011-12-15T21:07:00.000Z

Our driver just pulled out his radio to announce to his colleague "c'est bloqué mon cher, c'est vraiment bloqué" (it's all blocked my friend, it's really blocked).

We've now been in traffic for 4 hours... And we can see the airport from here.

Worser and Worser Traffic

2011-12-15T20:04:00.001Z

Oh my holy god. We've been in traffic for 3 hours now.

We've considered playing the license plate game but since we are not moving and many cars don't have license plates, it's proven to be utterly unchallenging. Also thinking about playing "truth or dare" but again, since we're not keen on getting out of the car under any circumstances, it's devolved into "truth or truth" and the game was quickly abandoned.

Traffic is so bad that Kinois (local residents from Kinshasa) have left cars, taxis and buses in droves and walking home.

I think it started raining in the car.

Traffic in Kinshasa

2011-12-15T18:53:00.001Z

An email to a friend:

I'm stuck in this mad traffic going to the airport back to DC, bumper-to-bumper behind a truck holding about 20 yellow jerry cans full of sloshing fuel, pedestrians running around the cars, trucks threatening to titter to the ground and spill the mob of people contained inside, beeps and horns and sideway cars trying to make a left turn. And it just started raining.

Been in the car for 1 hour 44 minutes. We are spending our time analyzing the (lack of) traffic pattern and uselessly commenting on different strategies we would use to move the cars out of our way .

You know how Jean Paul Sartre said "l'enfer c'est les autres (hell is other people)" ? Ya well.

Just kidding, I'm glad to be stuck in this car these colleagues. They're pretty entertaining (and we're all thanking our lucky stars we didn't drink alcohol beforehand 'cause trust me, you don't want to be looking for a bathroom right now).

How many days until I see you?

My Main Concern in Congo: Porch Pirating

2011-12-08T15:21:00.001Z

And of course, I do take the time to do a little online shopping. Here's the latest email to my roommate:

Hey there,

So I'm in the Command Center and people are talking about this phenomenon of Porch Pirating - essentially people stealing other people's Amazon packages from their porch. Sooo, I've ordered tons of presents for XXX and his family, plus clothes and shoes for myself (I'm really bored here since we're essential on lockdown).

Could you kindly keep an eye out for them and bring them in the house when they arrive on our porch? Thanks!

xoxo

Watching Laurent Gbagbo on Television

2011-11-30T06:32:00.001Z

I'm watching the French news before the generator is turned off this morning.

Laurent Gbagbo (ex president of Ivory Coast) is being tried in the Hague today, for crimes his supporters committed when he refused to accept election results in 2010. I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come here in DRC.

Loud Fabric - because I couldn't resist

2011-11-27T18:48:00.000Z

Also, I took a minute to buy this fabric today. Even though before I left, I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more items to bring back from Africa (I could practically start a museum at this point).

Because honestly, how can you resist a blue/white flower pattern, overlayed with baby blue and baby pink glittery design? How?

I'm going to make a suit jacket and wear it at work. Yep, I'm that girl.

A Day Before Election Day in Congo

2011-11-27T18:41:00.001Z

From an email to my sister:

Yes, I will be in the Province for the announcement of the results. I'm a little nervous about it, and don't know where I should be when they are announced (at the Independent Electoral Commission? At UN Headquarters? In my "Hotel"?).

Time drags on when you have no internet or TV. Thankfully it forces me to finish books I have on my kindle - but since there's no internet, I can't download more books. I just finished a pretty good books on vampires (nothing like the Bella series - a lot more post apocalyptic), and am going through the incredibly voluminous Emperor of All Maladies (an almost complete history of the diagnosis of cancer and the search for its cure), and also Journal of a Plague Year, a fictional account by Daniel Dafoe written around 1722 based on his interviews of people who survived the devastating effects of plague in London.

From an email to my friend:

[...]

I'm also a little worried about dying of boredom during the time between election day and results. I'm planning mostly work meetings, but also a trip to a tailor, buying local DVDs and finding a library in town. I pretty much begged a EU guy to take me along with him during his jogging. Today, I worked out to a borrowed Baywatch Beach Workout DVD. A couple of additional sessions and I'll be looking like Pamela Anderson in no time. Haha!

Impressive Crowds Following Tshisekedi's Procession From the Airport into Kananga City Center

2011-11-24T11:15:00.001Z

Impressive Crowds - part 2

2011-11-24T11:14:00.001Z

A Small World?

2011-11-24T06:02:00.000Z

My sister Vicky...

Our current Hotel Manager in Kananga, Mr. Vicky

Return to Kananga and the politics of elections there

2011-11-23T07:04:00.001Z

Dear family,

I am alive and well in Kananga, which is located somewhere in the middle of the Democratic Republic of Congo as an elections observer. I've been to Kananga before but I've never seen so many foreigners here before. There are observers from the Carter Center (a reputable NGO), from the EU, SADC and us.

The hotel room has no running water or electricity (as it never does in Congo) but the generator gets turned on in the evenings.

It started to rain here and oh miracle! the AC just came on which means that someone decided to turn on the generator! OK and now 10 minutes later, it's off again.

The elections should be interesting. The country is split between the incumbent Joseph Kabila who has been president for the last 11 years, and Etienne Tshisekedi who has been trying to be president for a looooong time. Kananga city seems overwhelmingly pro-UDPS (Tshisekedi's party).

[...]

Anyways, I'm stuck here for 17 days. The food is very repetitive and there's really nothing to do so I tend to go to sleep by 8 p.m.

I hope all is well with you. Wish me luck!
007 in Africa

Observing Elections in Kananga

2011-11-12T10:57:00.001Z

I’m back in the Democratic Republic of Congo after being away for close to 6 years. I am in the country for 2 months for an election monitoring mission. Some things have changed. But most haven’t.

President Kabila built a shiny new 6-lane highway in the center of the Kinshasa, with traffic lights (that stay on), marked lanes and zebra crossings. In the process, magestic old trees have been chopped up, but it has managed to regulate traffic downtown. On the other hand, side streets in the upper neighborhoods still remain sandbanks, and traffic stays completely choked inside the dilapidated neighborhoods.

I spent a week in Kananga, which is the capital of Kasai Occidental Province (there are 10 provinces in Congo). I knew it well 6 years ago, and sadly it looks the same today. It is said that 10 miles of roads have been built in Kabila’s 10 year tenure, and electricity is now available to selected neighborhoods for 3 or 4 hours in the evening. The town is a dust bowl, interspersed with grandiose Belgian buildings and large avenues - there once was meticulous concern of city planning. The Belgians hoped to make it the capital of Congo, due to its location in the middle of the country.

Fortunately this time around, I travel using UN flights instead of the crazy Congolese airline ones and as a result, don’t have to deal with the hassle of the airport there. I also represent a larger organization so meetings with Head Officials are easy to come by.

Kananga is a quiet Province, so it seems I have been blessed with an area that will experience few population clashes at the time of elections. Elections are November 28, 2011. I heartily wish good luck to DRC in its nascent democratic process!

I’m back in Kinshasa now, and enjoying hot showers of running water, and vegetables, yogurts and cheese. I’ll be back in Kananga again from November 22 – December 8, 2011.

I do miss the crisp, cool air of autumn, and the smell of decaying leaves of Washington D.C. And I wish I could be with family on Thanksgiving. Please have an extra spoonful of stuffing for me.

Photos of Kinshasa

2011-10-27T21:02:00.000Z

View from the 11th floor of Grand Hotel Kinshasa. According to one of my colleagues who lives in the DRC for 8 years, the large building (all encased in colored glass) in the back used to be the Central Bank. He would exchange stacks of bills there. According to lore, the windows did not open, and when there was an electricity shortage (as it happens often here), the interior would heat up like a greenhouse, and it would be get to an unbareable 120 degrees. You'll notice that huge windows have been "punched" out in the building now, probably as a way to regulate the heat. It gives it an eerie ghost-like glow... I'm curious to know how they deal with the heavy rains during the rain season though.

Another view from the hotel, watching the rain clouds roll in.

Turbo King, a beer made in Congo. I particular enjoy the dramatic lion, with arms tensely resting on the logo, ready to pounce at the person drinking it.

Being part French, you may be surprised that this is one of the rare times I tried snails and frogs legs. I don't know what I liked best about the snails: the butter and garlic sauce, or the cool 6-holed dish they came in. The frogs legs were super yummy - too bad it's such much work for so little meat!

October 25, 2011: Going Back to Congo

2011-10-25T23:17:00.001Z

Source

It’s been about six years since I, wearily, left the Congo. Tired, and burnt out, it nonetheless remains a strong memory - fraught with vivid stories and half-remembered fears, stuck in frozen time.

As part of my work, I have been asked to return to the Democratic Republic of Congo for two months, to observe the climate and the processes surrounding the second-ever elections since its independence in 1960.

It doesn’t hit me that I’m really going back to Congo until, after an 8-hour flight from Washington D.C. to Brussels, and a 7-hour flight from Brussels to Yaounde (Cameroon), we slowly descent over Cameroon.

I’ve never set foot in Cameroon, but flying over its sparse forests, punctuated here and there by thin clay roads, and with clearings giving way to metal-roofed hangars, houses and huts, I am reminded of Central Africa. At the risk of restating trite and perhaps naïve/colonial platitudes, I love seeing the surface of the earth as it was meant to be - at its most natural, lightly touched by human habitation. Perhaps nature here is particularly indomitable and impossible to control into ordered patches of vegetations. Or perhaps instead, city planners in Yaounde don't have the right tools to push the forest to the far corners of the city, loosing the battle between nature and urban sprawl.

I fall in love again with the tall, slender trees that reach their trunks and branches to the sun, topped like a scalp with a thick layer of dark leaves.

Another couple of hours until we arrive in Kinshasa. I am curious to see if it has changed. I hear it has.

Celebrity Dentist

2011-10-16T16:20:00.003Z

I have a celebrity dentist.

I know what you're thinking. That guy that looks like Timothy Dalton, who bleaches and applies veneers on all the starlets teeth.

Nope. I just came back from my dentist. Every time I go there, I sit in the reception area with a number of low income folks, mostly hispanic. The wait is not long and the staff is polite. As happened the last time, Dr. Rahim Sharmin engages me in really interesting conversation.

I always assumed he was hispanic but I learned today that he's actually Iranian and has been in the States for 20 years. He was a oral/facial surgeon in Iraq and Iran. Offhandedly, I told him that he must miss the field, given that he does mostly preventative dentistry and fillings now. He disagreed and proceeded to tell me about some of the horrors of war he saw while there. He vividly remembered seeing a young boy of 12 come in to see him, with a large bandage on his face. The youth scribbled a note to him asking "when do I get back to go to the battle field?". Dr Sharmin then removed the bandage, revealing a mass of exploded flesh, from the bottom of the throat to the top of the jaw, the lower jaw being completely missing. Dr. Sharmin, misty eyed as he recalled the event, had to tell his patient that, even if he had access to the plastic surgeon, it would take the boy years and years of surgeries and rehabilitation to even begin to be OK again.

After a long 20 minute conversation, he sends me on my way (I have good oral health, yay!) and shows me a certificate on his wall. Vincent Gray, the current Mayor of Washington DC, honored him for taking in underserved people from Washington D.C. on Medicare and Medicaid. Mayor Gray decreed that April 6, 2010 was "Dr Rahim Sharmin" day. I congratulated him, and said that we would have to celebrate it next year.

Before I left, he shook my hand and said "at my age, I don't care about money, but being recognized for my efforts in the community means everything to me."

Good job Dr. Sharmin!

Source

If the Rains Don't Cleanse

2011-09-19T21:53:00.000Z

A week ago, I received this email:

Hi there,

My name is Ben Patrick Johnson. I'm a novelist.

In 2009, my book IF THE RAINS DON'T CLEANSE was published. It's a fictionalized retelling of my parents experiences as schoolteacher missionaries in Congo in the 1950s. I had the advantage of considerable source material to draw from -- interviews, news reports from the time, telegrams and cables, personal letters. I wrote first-person from the perspective of a young woman based on my mother.

The book has done reasonably well commercially and I'm working on a screenplay adaptation. As I was seeking additional source material dealing with rainy seasons, etc., a Google search landed me at your blog. I am struck by similarities between your real-life entries and some of the fictional letters and and journal entries I was writing for my protagonist Eva and almost the same time you were there in Africa.

I'd like to share the book with you! I wonder if you'll find the same amusement/surprise. If you'll provide me a mailing address, I'll put a copy in the mail to you.

Sincerely,
Ben Patrick Johnson

Executive Director, The Ben Patrick Johnson Foundation
Board Member, Equality California Institute

Board Member, The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles

Board Member, NOH8 Campaign

My response to him was equally as enthusiastic:

Hi Ben,

I'd love to receive a copy of your book - glad you gave a voice to your mother's experiences. Living in Congo is indeed an incredible adventure.

Incidentally, I will be going back to the DRC in mid October 2011 to do some election monitoring so my experiences will come full circle as I get ready to witness the second "real elections" since 2005.

My address is XXX.

Thank you for thinking of me.

Here's the website for the book , and some very positive feedback on Amazon. I'm excited to read it soon!

Source

Never compare yourself to other peopl...

2011-09-08T18:36:00.001Z

I call BS. Teachers always told me not to compare myself to other people. But let's be honest, sometimes it feel damn good to compare yourself to others less fortunate.

And so while I lament the water drips in three places in the ceiling and the slow but steady leeching of water from the brick wall to the basement, I amuse myself with these comments and stories of rain and flooding from Prince of Petworth:

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2011/09/best-rain-or-uncontrollable-amount-of-water-story/#comments

Source

Gaddafi Cabernet

2011-09-03T11:11:00.003Z

Seen yesterday in the window of the Bacchus Wine Cellar in Georgetown D.C. yesterday:

Gaddafi Cabernet

with nutty flavors & a curiously disappearing finish

Update on The Wall

2011-08-31T17:41:00.000Z

The roommate emails:

I just sanded the drywall and cleaned up the best I could but that stuff stays airborn for days and weeks. We'll definitely need to dust...

And goddamnit, I'm covered. I look like I'm wearing a powdered wig.

Source

Sigh, I won't even start going into the trouble Hurricane Irene got us into. Many more walls to fix at this time... No energy to talk about it today...

Fixing The Wall

2011-08-31T17:36:00.000Z

As I mentionned previously, the earthquake left hairline fractures in my dining room wall. Thank goodness, my super awesome roommate took it upon himself to fix it. Here are a couple of emails from him about the situation:

No, not the album/movie by Pink Floyd, the one that got cracked in our kitchen...

I use the drywall compound to fill in the cracks. That said, there's a process that has to be followed for it to be done right. which is as follows:

1. apply compound

2. let it dry

3. reapply compound

4. let it dry

5. sand

6. wipe down with wet rag to remove drywall dust

7. using the roller apply primer

8. let it dry

9. using angled brush, cut-in along corner, ceiling, floor molding and window

10. repaint wall with the roller from corner to window (otherwise it'll be obvious that only certain spots were painted)

11. possibly apply a second coat depending on appearance

12. MOST IMPORTANT--drink a glass of wine to celebrate a job well done

Currently we are on step number 2. I'll take the lead on this and have it done by the end of the week... Then you must join me for step 12.

Mwah!

Source

Other Item

2011-08-26T17:28:00.002Z

I should also remember to have a wrench or pliers close at hand...

Things to Do Before the Storm

2011-08-26T15:51:00.000Z

Things to Do
- Move all patio furniture indoors
- Move pepper and basil plants and succulent inside
- Tarp area underneath the porch to prevent water leaking into the basement
- Unclog drains originating from the roof

- Close all blinds (to prevent glass shards from getting into the house)

- Recharge all essential electronics tonight

Things to Buy
- Battery operated flashlight
- Battery operated lamp
- Battery operated radio
- Candles
- A few cans
- A gallon of water

Place These Items in Easy to Reach Location
- First Aid Kit
- Solar charger
- Leatherman
- Flashlight, lamp, candles, radio
- Can opener

The Earthquake Shook Toronto Too

2011-08-25T20:33:00.000Z

A friend who lives in Toronto wrote me the following email:

No damage was done to my building from [the] quake. Plus we have really good collective owners governance for a condominium, and I am now going to look at my insurance policy to double check. My big windows creak alot during earthquakes, but they seem just fine (seeing as glass is a liquid). Sorry to hear about your wall. I hope it's just cosmetic damage? Do you want me to consult two elderly architects about it for you?

My dad just took a while to clue in that my screaming 'earthquake' wasn't part of a bad skype connection (and indeed a real earthquake). I guess when people are on the phone with somebody who is in another area (it’s hard to understand that something as weird as an earthquake is occurring on the other end until you yell earthquake about ten times!). I mean this is Toronto, it’s like yelling volcano...

We have friends in New Zealand and they are still in shock. Pretty jarring stuff. Things are definitely not alright with them yet on so many levels.

[…]

Sorry about the cracked wall. I hope it doesn't leak water. My mum explained to me at a young age that the main goal of architecture is stopping water leaks...

Sherm-

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-25T15:22:00.000Z

Aaaaand, less than 24 hours after the earthquake, apparently, DC is going to get plowed by wind and rain from Hurricane Irene.

So it's off to Home Depot for me and my roomate on Friday, so we can put tarp and sandbags underneath my porch in a sad attempt to prevent water leakage into the basement.

See DC Goverment's recommendations on how to stack up sandbags...

Sigh.

Devastation in the Dominican Republic After Hurricane Irene

source

Earthquake in DC

2011-08-25T15:13:00.000Z

Yep, we had a 5.9 earthquake in the District of Columbia and nope, I don't have earthquake insurance... Here's an email I sent to family:

Hi All,

We're all so glad that it wasn't a bad earthquake, but I must admit that not having access to calling the family for 2 hours after the earthquake (all phone lines were jammed) was quite panicking. I have several hairline fractures in my dining room wall in the drywall, which I suspect are not a structural issue, but I'll be calling my insurance and getting some professionals in the house to check if the fractures impact the actual brick wall underneath :(

Ack, who ever convinced me that owning a house was a good idea?

Anyhoo, hope all is well with everyone,

xoxo [007 in Africa]

PS: By sheer stroke of unluck, there is one building at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that is closed for further inspection, but it doesn't happen to be the one in which I work! I could really use a day off today :)

The church spire of the Church close to my house fell unceremoniously and dropped unto the stairs in front.

Life-threatening damage from a plastic gutter that detached from the front of the house in Petworth.

OK so the gutter fall was not that life-threatening but it's now resting on a loose electrical wire. I'd like to see you handle electrified metal!

Blue Moutains

2011-08-05T18:43:00.007Z

Sister on her mean motorcycle

Sister at her Radio Desk

White Rocks of Bondi Beach

Looking Back at Bondi Beach

So I finally made it to my sister's last week.... She lives in the Blue Mountains around Sydney, about an hour's train ride away. I arrived on Friday while she was still in class. She has ordered me a taxi from the station, but no taxi to be found. So I followed her directions, with suitcase and backpack in tow, and climbed odd hills blindly (the directions were far from perfect), and frustratingly asked for directions to her house. It's a small town here but no one really seems to know the street names, and the streets are poorly marked.

Finally, she caught up with me, in her leather jacket and helmet on her little postman motorcycle. A sight to see. Regardless, she was able to show me the way, but I still needed to climb the hills with my heavy suitcase. Sigh.

It's unbelievably cold here. I can't believe I'm saying that, having living in Canada in -25 degree weather. But it's a humid cold that seeps into your bones. There is no heat inside buildings, so you never quite recover from your chills. I slept with long johns and socks, in a sleeping bag, with a cover and a heater. And still felt cold. When I took a (hot?) shower, I couldn't tell whether the water was cold or hot due to my skin being so chilled.

We went into Sydney yesterday - it took us three hours to complete a trip that usually takes one hour, because of track maintenance. You think DC's metro is bad? Think again. After walking for 20 minutes, taking the train for another 20, a bus for 1.5 hours and a a short taxi ride, we met up for brunch in Bondi Beach with my colleagues.

Bondi is gorgeous - for a winter day, it finally warmed up and we went for a walk on the beach sidewalks, seeing surfers in the waves, cautious swimmers in swallow pools created into hollowed-out rocks, white and beige jutting rock formations and people just generally sunning themselves on the grassy patches close to the beach. It's so beautiful here, I would move in an instant if there was a good job for me.

Then we walked around in an outdoor market full of local designers' wares, had drinks with her friends at the Opera House overlooking a sunset over the bridge, and had a wonderful Chinese meal in a tiny authentic restaurant. We also went to check out my sister's radio show, Diffusion Science Radio, and she interviewed me for about 5 minutes!

We finished off with walk in Glenbrook National Park (Bush Walk) and a picnic.

I'm now back in D.C. where it's been more than 90 degrees for 19 days. My lawn is a poor sight to see...

Pictures of Down Unda'

2011-07-31T01:39:00.012Z

Mist over a field, as part of the the view during my morning run

Three Crocodiles, Sunning Themselves in a Nature Sanctuary close to Canungra

OMG, OMG, OMG, Koalas are so cute! It doesn't matter what they do - even when they defecate, people just say "oooh! aaah!". They're like stuffed animals when they munch, slowly and carefully climb trees and open and close their little palms. Ridiculously cute.

I'm petting a thoroughly unimpressed Kangaroo!

Emu

A Cassowary in the Sanctuary - a mean looking and dangerous bird

Some type of White Bird on a branch

Bundaberg (Australian Rum) and Coke, in a can! A cheap and delicious treat after a long 10 days at xxx

A little bit of down time in the airport after returning from Brisbane and on our way to Sydney. Time for a visit to my sister who lives in the Blue Mountains around Sydney!

007's Brother's Email

2011-07-20T07:35:00.002Z

All,

Man my life is so boring. My life isn't that exciting, but let me see if I can spin a narrative which makes it sound as cool as your lives.

Early on Monday morning, I boarded a small JetBlue aircraft. The air in Manhattan was thick, as if it was anticipating the rough terrain ahead. As my little plane pulled up on the tarmac at my destination, I realized I was stepping into a place few had gone to before: Pittsburgh. The name itself is synonymous with adventure and the unknown.

I rushed into my little taxi, swerved onto the crazy streets full of traffic and arrived at my client's office. I was working in the business that runs this town. Some say it's reach touches every person in this place, forgotten by the rest of civilization. It affects the lowly street sellers and the fat-cat politicians. It's what makes the world go round. It's... health insurance.

Monday morning was crazy, the minute I arrived, I rushed into a steering committee meeting. Sweating bullets, I reported our progress to the senior clients. These men in dark suits run the firm, and some say this whole town. Two members of my team were down and sick I said, so progress was slow. But we now knew how to attack the problem. We would focus, I said, on two key customer segments. Retirees and small business. The client went ballistic. What about medium businesses they asked? Isn't there demand in that segment? Aren't we leaving money on the table? No, we told them, it would just be too expensive. The IRRs wouldn't make sense.

After a full day of meetings, I retired to my small shabby hotel. It was called the Renaissance, and tended by a nice guy called Tommy. I could hear the bustle of streets below... Would I ever make it out of Pittsburgh alive?

007 - that explains why you haven't been returning my phone calls.

Hope all is well!

Cheers,
[007 in Africa's Brother]

007's Sister's Email

2011-07-20T07:33:00.001Z

Hi all,

I'm currently staying at a YHA in Pitwater about 90 minutes out of Sydney (I have a week off between terms). It's heart-meltinglybeautiful-- a crystalline bay, gamboling wallabies, bickering magpies,soft warm breezes, a crackling fireplace, lazy hammocks, all set in anold sprawling house which dates back to the 1930s. There are stainglass windows that never get a ray of light. And piles of halffinished knitting abandoned on the worn leather couches of the livingroom. Only two others are here: an old man from the South Coast onrespite from caring for his wife (who has MS), and a sustainablefarmer who comes here every year to get away from things for a while.We've all come alone. At nighttime we play our favourite jazz albumsand discuss science, philosophy. Amiable company.

I have already been on two runs and had two naps. I've reacquainted myself with the physiology of the kidney (hello!). I leave tomorrow.

007's Email

2011-07-20T07:30:00.002Z

Hey Dad and All,

Thanks for the news! It sounds like a nice vacation and I’ve very jealous...

Well after about 25 hours of travelling ([007's sister], my hat’s off to you for doing that twice a year or more), I arrived in Brisbane and met up with my group. We travelled to xxx a few days after that.

I basically work in a small, overheated portioned room with about 30 other civilians (or “hippies” as we are called here) from the US and Australia. It’s sometimes hard to hear ourselves in here as there are a number of other groups behind other partitions that are significantly louder than us. The building is rigged with a jungle of multicolored live wires, and holds buckets collecting water from the leaky roof - it's quite a run-down site to see. It makes me feel like I am in a humid bunker during the second World War.
The food is actually quite good and incredibly fattening (fried potatoes, pasta with bacon, rice, chocolate pudding, chicken, pork, lamb, steak, a few pieces of whitish lettuce). You wouldn’t believe it but I actually walk or run in the morning to get rid of the calories (OK I did that twice, but still). The mist hanging on the long stretches of land is beautiful and I’ve seen lots of Kookabaras and hear their eerie laughing and cackling sounds. We sometimes hold our meetings in large tents made from a thin material that looks like plastic ponchos, or outside in the cool, sunny air of the Australian winter. It can be quite distracting as I see new flora and fauna around me... such as large black and white birds, and gnarled dry trees.

[...]

My days generally run from 6:00 am (time I wake up) to about 9:30 pm (time I go to bed), and that’s a perfect schedule for me!

Looking forward to seeing [007's Sister] in about a week,
007 in Africa

Email From Mum and Dad

2011-07-20T07:28:00.002Z

Hola las muchachas et el muchacho,

Bonjour from rue Vendome!

We have just spent a week out of contact at Argentiere in the Colin's chalet. I was able to read a quarter of Middlemarch due to the absolute absence of any Internet or phone connection. (It turns out that for ATT to allow international roaming one needs three months or more of active contract, so I have been as though on the dark side of the moon. It's actually quite nice.)

The hiking was arduous and quite difficult but I'm sure did us both a lot of good. We spent the week with Jim and Elizabeth and Penny. Neither Elizabeth nor Penny did any real hiking but fortunately Jim is a serious hiker, and Maman pretty much kept up with us (or in fact, went down the mountains a lot faster than me! The weather was mostly OK but there was one day of heavy rain and a second when the mountains were shrouded in cloud so we hiked in the mist. We also went up the Aiguille du Midi, around 3,800 metres (12,000 ft) and admired the Mer de Glace with hundreds of Japanese tourists, then hiked across the mountain to the glacier. (007's Brother) will remember our traversée of the Mer de Glace about 10 years ago. Then yesterday we returned to Lyon via Megève, which I had never visited; a bit too expensive and ostentatious even for me!

This morning I put Penny back on the train for London, and Maman and I have spent the day doing the washing. Tomorrow we go and spend the day with Maman's godmother in the country, about 1 1/2 hours from here, then Tuesday we leave to spend time with the Martins in Dordogne.

Thinking of you, wish you were here,

Lots of love,
Maman and Dad.

Sights from my Misty, Early Morning Run

2011-07-19T01:05:00.001Z

A Kookaburra Saying Hello At Breakfast

2011-07-19T00:57:00.001Z

From Wikipedia

Kookaburras (genus Dacelo) are large to very large (total length 28–42 cm/11–17 in) terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea, the name a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, which is onomatopoeic of its call. The single member of the genus Clytoceyx, though commonly referred to as the Shovel-billed Kookaburra, is not treated in this article.

Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call, which sounds uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter — good-natured, but rather hysterical, merriment in the case of the renowned Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae); and maniacal cackling in the case of the slightly smaller Blue-winged Kookaburra (D. leachii).

Sunset Over Brisbane

2011-07-17T01:18:00.000Z

Looks Just LiKe Burger Kings

2011-07-17T01:15:00.001Z

Australia

2011-07-17T01:12:00.001Z

In the last two months, I've been to Los Angeles for vacation for 5 days, Kenya for work for 10 days, and NY over a weekend. I haven’t had time or the energy to update my blog, but here’s a little information on my trip to Australia.

6 hours from DC to LA.
14 hours from LA to Sydney and 1.5 hours from Sydney to Brisbane.

Brutal - makes me appreciate what my sister goes through to come visit us from Sydney twice a year.

Having finally collected our luggage in Brisbane, we arrive, exhausted, at the hotel at 10 am, only to be told that hotel check-in is at 2 pm. Sigh... The bunch of us (9 that arrived that day + 2 that had arrived a day before) pile our identical black suitcases and beige backpacks in a room and go to lunch at JoJo's, an Italian- inspired restaurant (but with curries and Thai food to boot). The inside is gaudy with modern, blue, neon, wire lighting and colored, life-sized status of Louis Armstrong and what looks to be Josephine Baker.

Then we split up and go on our merry way, some of us going to the water and other just strolling around the city. Brisbane is a bustling city with tall skyscrapers. Not terribly charming in terms of city landscape but the people seem diverse (in terms of nationalities, there's a good mix of Asians and Australians). It's really weird because I recognize at least 50 percent of the stores there - there seem to be a lot of chains, and most of them American: Target. (note the dot at the end, indicating that it's a little different from our Target), Starbucks, Body Shop (that one is British), 7/11, Ann Taylor Loft, Guess, etc... It's a little sad actually how chains seemed to be obliterating local businesses.

The next day, I go to the countryside for two days of preparation and briefing. It looks remarkably like LA with its one-level cottage houses, palm trees, eccentric beach bums. But it's very hilly. There’s beautiful morning light.

That day, I learn Australian Military Slang:

Choco: part-time soldiers, reservists
Rockshow: a poorly managed group
Gumy and Goffers: junk food and soda
Have a durie: have a cigarette
Furphy: a tall story, a lie
Pouge (or POG): someone not involved in combat
Rat Pack: a ration pack, for 24 hours
Numpty: an individual who just doesn't get it

My First Mammogram

2011-05-11T14:55:00.005Z

Because my job requires a very thorough physical evaluation, I got a mammogram. I must add that I'm about 7 years younger than the recommended age of when screening should start, be no matter.

A mammogram happens like this:

Step 1 - Stand in front of an X-ray machine. Nurse adjusts left breast on a lower plate, and then lowers upper plate as much as she can, effectively sandwiching the breast

Step 2 - Nurse takes X-ray

Step 3 - Nurse arranges left breast in same manner, but with machine now positionned diagonally

Step 4 - Nurse takes X-ray

Steps 5 - 8 - Repeat process again with right breast

While the nurse was tugging at my breast to arrange it just-so on the plate, I jokingly said "are you sure this isn't going to stretch my breast fibers and make them saggy?"

She responded "oh honey, you can't fight gravity, that'll happen anyways."

Oh vanity. What's wrong with me that I'm more concerned about my breast sagging than finding evidence of breast tumors?

Source

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2011-05-09T21:51:00.009Z

"Rehabilitating" my house has been a whirlwind adventure of signing papers, calling my banks and lenders frequently, checking on my contractors and scheduling follow-up fixes to the renovation.

Thankfully, the largest projects are completed, and my timeline is now the following:

Year 1 (2010) - Complete Rehab of the House - status: complete

This has included removing carpets, restoring wooden floors, removing dropped ceiling and adding drywall, removing wood paneling from walls and smoothing plaster underneath, redoing roof and replacing joists, adding a second bathroom downstairs, redoing the upstairs bathroom, redoing the kitchen, knocking a wall between the kitchen and dining room, installing a large pantry, doing a heavy up on the electricity

Year 2 (2011) - Tending to the Garden - status: in progress

The front and back yards were composed exclusively of dandelions, onion grass and crab grass. So I had a landscaper removed everything and install sodding (see pictures below). It's a relatively cost effective option that temporarily "cosmetically" enhances the look of my yards.

Year 3 (2012) - Expanding Deck, Adding Attractive Fences and Sprucing Up the Garden - status: not started

Optimistically, I will be a lot richer in about a year and will be able to indulge in building a proper deck (the current one barely can hold a chair), putting up some privacy fencing (I now have a chainlink which makes me think of Dobermans for some reason) and making the garden look nicer. I've already signed up for the DC RiverSmart program which offers things such as free installation of rain barrels, design and planting of native species gardens, and installing permeable pavements to allow water to drain back to the garden. Given the general efficiency of DC services, I should be hearing from them next May 2012 (again, optimistically).

Year 4 (2013) - Possible Sale of House - status: not started

By 2013, I plan to sell my house for a million bucks. Hum, that may be a bit optimistic but there's always a chance inflation while skyrocket by then.

Backyard - Before

Rolled Up Sodding

Backyard - During, Phase 1

Backyard - During, Phase 2

Frontyard - Complete

You can also check out some pictures of what the yard looked like in April 2010 during the renovation of the house here. Warning: strong graphic contents of dead plants contained in the link.

Finally! My House Pictures Now!

2011-04-02T16:38:00.015Z

A good friend of mine took these pictures of my house as it looks now (btw, he takes great pictures, go check out his website). I thought I would show you the "before" and "after" of my living room and kitchen:

KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM

Before

The kitchen was split up into two rooms. I consolidated the kitchen in one room, and knocked down the wall between the small galley kitchen and the dining room to have more space.

During

After

LIVING ROOM

Before

After

GI Jane

2011-03-24T15:55:00.003Z

I've started a new job, still in health, where I will be sent to fragile States to look at the health aspects of reconstruction and stabilization efforts. And since these countries are not the safest ones out there, I have to take a Security class.

Here's what's on the docket for the class:

- Personnel recovery (eg: getting injured personnel from the field into helicopters)
- Knowledge of weapons of mass destruction
- Tactical communication and use of satellite phones
- Surveillance detection (eg: determining when someone's following you)
- Basic land navigation (eg: walking from an unknown forest to a base camp using a map and a compas)
- Counterthreat driving (eg: when to go through a check point and when to retreat, driving at high speeds, driving over and around obstacles)
- Convoy Immediate Action Drills
- Medical/first aid skills
- Survival skills (eg: how to start a fire using a knife or a flint)

This is a three week course and I've already gotten my personal gear (cargo pants, boots, woolen socks, quick-dry shirts) and should be getting a backpack with more survival gear in the second week of the class.

Should be fun, I can't wait!

Bimbo Coco

2011-03-11T22:19:00.001Z

Everytime I complain of hunger pain at work, my colleague hands me these... Hum, should I take a hint?

Another Group Picture...

2011-03-09T21:44:00.003Z

...'cause we all look good.

Here's another fabulous picture of the group inside the wedding chapel during my friends' wedding.

Three Wise Men?

2011-02-25T02:14:00.004Z

I'm being very generous with personal pictures this month, discretion be damned! Here are my siblings and me during my Housewarming Party. You can spot me by, ermm, my short stature (although in my defense, I am 5'4'' which is completely average - not my fault my bro and sis are deformed giants).

Here are the captions I sent to my mom and dad:

Les Enfants Prodiges (The Gifted Children)

These Are Your Kids on Crack

Crazy Wedding in Las Vegas

2011-02-23T14:32:00.006Z

I attended a crazy wedding in Las Vegas last weekend for one of my best friends. It was soooo much fun!

The Groom and Bride. The Groom wanted to rent a tux in Vegas, but found instead a completely purple outfit that cost him the same to buy then to rent. So he went with it. The Bride found a dress in D.C. a mere few days before Vegas and borrowed a friend's hat for the picture.

For some reason, and completely unplanned, the rest of the girls all dressed up by different sequential decades:

Rest of the Gang. Antine as a Cowgirl in the 1930s, 007 in cocktail wear in the 1940s, Yanna as a 1950s Housewife, Mala sporting a fro' in the 60s, Sema with a grooving dress reminiscent of the 1970s, and Nancy with block print from the 80s.

(Note: they got married at the very classy Graceland Chapel so yes, that is astroturf on the ground.)

Chopping Your Arm Off and More Frequent Phone Calls

2011-02-22T04:41:00.001Z

My brother called me this morning on my way home from Las Vegas to Washington D.C.

He had just seen the movie 127 Hours, with actor James Franco, about a climber who hikes by himself, falls in a crevasse and gets his arm stuck between a canyon wall and a boulder.

One of the take-home message he came away with: call your mom and sister so they know what you're up to, and can find you if you're lost.

I'm so glad that movie about the guy who chopped off his own arm off with a swiss army knife has motivated him to call me more often. Not exactly a full endorsement of his love for me, but I'll take what I can get.

Bored

2011-02-09T00:23:00.003Z

So admittedly, I've been feeling a wee bit bored lately. For me, boredom is a VERY bad thing, as I tend not to cope very well with it and make stupid decisions. My sister recommends working out, but I'm just too cold to go for a run, and I cancelled my membership since moving because the gym is now too far (*cough* one metro stop away *cough*).

Case in point 1: even though I bought my house less than a year ago (February 26 will be my one-year anniversary), I'm already looking at new houses to buy, flip and rent for investment. I'm set up a coffee date with my realtor to discuss investment value, neighborhoods, alternative sources of funding, and other practicalities. I must admit that I have no cash, so I will need to be very creative with my sources of financing. Indecent Proposal anyone?

Case in point 2: I have a small obsession with furniture, much like some of friends have with shoes and handbags. I've miraculously managed not to amass too many things in my house, but I could easily spend 4 hours each day on the web looking for furniture. I dream of owning sophisticated antique pieces; redoing an artist's study with modern sofas, tables and chairs; I scope out the cheapest yet tasteful items in case I'd ever need to stage an apartment for sale. It's completely ridiculous...

Unable to resist this is what I bought tonight ($15 for both from Craigslist + $10 taxi ride):

Don't they just look positively in love?

Blakeburry

2011-02-03T16:46:00.004Z

I was just reading an email from my mom this morning. She was describing her vacation and assured us that we could reach her on dad's "blakeburry."

Hum, I wonder if I should refer her to My Mom Is a FOB...

Love you mom!

Well as Long as I Have My Health...

2011-02-03T16:31:00.003Z

I never quite understood why people were always so cheeringly optimistic about life, "as long as they had their health."

I mean, you can be prefectly healthy yet have 3 parking tickets, kids you have to raise by yourself, an evil boss, and collection agencies knocking on your door every 2 days. That would be a sh***y life really. Even if your health is perfect.

But lately, I've been feeling completely off-balance. It feels like I'm walking in a fun home, with the ground giving way in unexpected ways and offering me an uneven surface on which to walk. I'm never worried when I get sick, mostly because it happens so seldomly, and frankly most ailments in my life just go away after several days. But I do have to admit that it's really distracting to feel like you're about to fall over even if you're sitting quietly at your desk.

I went to the nurse who looked into my ears, and saw some mucus in one of them, which may explain the dizziness. She told me to drink a lot of fluids, try taking Claritin to see if that resolves the issue. A colleague of mine who's a doctor tells me to take multivitamins because dizziness may also come from a lack of zinc, folate, and other micronutrients found in vitamins.

Well it's not a big deal, but I just don't want to end up like the this guy from the great book of intriguing neurological case studies from Oliver Sacks (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat):

On the Level," another case involving damaged proprioception. Dr. Sacks interviews a patient who has trouble walking upright and discovers that he has lost his innate sense of balance due to Parkinson's-like symptoms that have damaged his inner ears; the patient, comparing his sense of balance to a carpenter's spirit level, suggests the construction of a similar level inside a pair of glasses, which enables him to judge his balance by sight.

Source: Wikipedia

Source

Live Action

2011-01-27T12:57:00.004Z

I finally decided the front porch was a wiser exit into work. Sure I'd have to duck under a wire, but I did live in Congo didn't I? I can do it!

My crazy - but very sweet - Dominican neighbor took it upon himself to GRAB the wire with his gloves, and tie it with a piece of tinsel to his porch and away from my yard. I animately and with great concern said "yikes, be careful, that's dangerous!" I don't think he understood me but he appreciated the sentiment (written all over my face).

OK so snow shoveled (in a very lazy way I just shoveled enough of a skinny pathway to get to the street). Time to get to work.

On Snow and the Perils of Getting into Work

2011-01-27T12:19:00.001Z

Shoes on the Metro

2011-01-12T14:43:00.007Z

Yesterday, I was coming home from visiting a house with a friend who is looking to buy. I was not looking forward to the ride in the metro and the walk home in the snow that would eventually follow… until I saw this.

Thinking of the story behind the shoes kept me entertained all the way home!

Some much for Trying to Be Discrete

2011-01-06T22:02:00.004Z

Source

It’s probably time for me to look for a new job. I’m a bit bored with my current one, given that it’s been 2 years and 1 month since I’ve started. An eternity in my book.

So the other day, I apply online and have to fax some additional documents over to the recruitment office. I use the fax machine from work, which is located along the main conference room’s wall and is surrounded by cubicle offices (which house a mix of lowly employees and senior-level people).

Shortly after scanning the paperwork, the machine loudly dials the number and the scene goes like this:

Rrrring, rrring, rriing, riing… You’ve reached Janessa Brown at the ROCKVILLE RECRUITMENT CENTER. We are currently closed. Please try us again during working hours.

[Fax redials]

Rrrring, rrring, rriing, riing… You’ve reached Janessa Brown at the ROCKVILLE RECRUITMENT CENTER. We are currently closed. Please try us again during working hours.

[Fax redials]

Rrrring, rrring, rriing, riing… You’ve reached Janessa Brown at the ROCKVILLE RECRUITMENT CENTER. We are currently closed. Please try us again during working hours. [Fax redials]

Mortified, I try to cough over the sound of the fax machine at strategically-timed instances. I frantically repeatedly pound on the “cancel” and “delete” buttons, but the fax stubbornly continues to redial, redial and redial again.

I reach to the back of the machine and turn it off. Then I turn it on again so the next person can use it… And it starts redialing and the voicemail starts AGAIN!

Humiliated, I turn it off once again, put my coat on and leave the office for the day (fortunately it was almost time to go home). The next day, I come back to the office, and someone has discreetly placed the two confirmation sheets from the fax under my door.

I am 1) completely embarrassed about the situation, 2) praying that whoever slipped the pages under my door doesn’t go have a “chat” with my boss.

It’s been three days now, and I still don’t know who intercepted my fax.

My Sister's Month in Tanzania - Part 3

2010-12-21T20:00:00.002Z

Date: Sunday, December 19, 2010
Subject: Finally, internet
From: 007’s Sister

Habari za asubuhi!

Here I am in the funny little town of Lushoto, in the foothills of Kilimanjaro.

I have-- miraculously-- found a spot with FAST internet. Trouble is, only one computer is equipped with a USB port, and that computer is currently occupied by what looks like a quarter of a gospel group which is listening to youtube clips of gospel songs in anticipation to Christmas. TIA (This is Africa).

Things are really great on my end. I have just finished wandering 'round the markets here, navigating somewhat confidently with the Kiswahili knowledge of an 18 month old. Bei gani? Mizawah. Robbo kilo. Asante sana. Sitake! I

'm really enjoying Tanzania. I find the people nice, non threatening (well, so far), and once you attempt to speak to them Swahili, much more helpful.

I am staying in the scrappy little town of Muheza, which is not a tourist destination at all, but very conveniently located in what seems to be a transport hub: so, few muzungus [white people or foreigners] (actually none apart from those working at the hospital, which is to say, 3 doctors and us 5 medical students, plus 3 Dutch midwives), but very good access to destinations all over the country via dala dala (super cramped busses).

The 5 other medical students are all, strangely enough, Aussie, which is great because it means they're low key, non competitive, and adventurous. Consequently I've been able to get lots of clinical experience, and see lots of things on the weekend too. The hostel, predictably, has no running water, but I use the bucket showers get the job done. Recently, fans were installed in the rooms, which is a total godsend.

All of the muzungus gather once a week for a "muzungu dinner", where everyone can touch base on how they're doing. [Doctor 1] and [Doctor 2], which have been working at Teule hospital as part of their mission in the UK, have been around for 8 years now and run a pretty tight ship. They have 3 children, which have all grown up in Tanzania. [Doctor 3], another UK doctor in her 50s, has been at Teule 6 months. She's hit the slump-- that horrible troph [?] of home sickness and culture shock, and she's basically running two wards at the hospital. In the UK, she's a GP, so I think she's finding the transition and level of health care hard. She is also very threatening, I think, to the local doctors, and too nice to the nurses, both of whom make life really quite difficult for her at times. There is so much to say about how the hospital is run, but I've only got 19 minutes of net time left so I will be brief.

There are 3 types of doctors in Tanzania.

- MD, medical doctors, who, like us, have had full medical training (including phsysiology and basic principles). The best education, until about a decade or two ago, was to go to Russia or Cuba and train there (communist countries promoted a lot of training to Tanzania at the time). When on the ward with the MD, it's possible to ask questions, and we speak pretty much the same language, medicine-wise.

- CO, clinical officers, have had 2 years of training, and learn everything didactically. This means they rote memorize algorythms: if this person has fever, and signs of jaundice, plus signs of anemia, then it's malaria. There is no underlying understanding of how the human body works. This leads to really baffling situations sometimes, and also means that they are very rigid in their diagnosing / prescribing, and that if you question any of their decisions, well... Better leave that sentence unfinished.

- AMO, Advanced medical officers, are basically CO with two extra years' worth of training and specialization, such as surgery and pediatrics. This means they can be really good at certain things, but the problem remains that they don't have a full, holistic understanding of human physiology. It's also pretty interesting-- they will never, ever get paid as much as an MD. In fact, there seems to be a pretty strong hierarchy throughout medical training; the CO get put down so often that they are often quite dejected, but also all too happy to put down people when they can. Also, it's interesting that medical training is very expensive whereas CO training is less so. So obviously: there is a bit of a class difference when it comes down to who trains as an MD and who trains as a CO.

Finances is a whole other can of worms-- because so much of TZ healthcare is dependent on donations and charity, it's been really impacted by the GFC [?].

Skipping right along...

Last weekend we all went down to the beach. The water is so warm it feels like a bath (especially after cold bucket showers), and so salty! We rented bicycles and cycled 16 KM to the hostel we'd rented through some really amazing country side.

This weekend we went on an 8 hours hike up to the Irente viewpoint in the mountains, where it is blessedly cooler.

Next week is Christmas! All of us muzungus will be celebrating together. The kids let it drop that [Doctor 1] and [Doctor 2] have gotten us presents, so we student are fetching them lots of fresh cheese and other 'designer' food which is hard to find/very expensive. We're all cooking something-- I'm roasting the chickens and, for once, no one is competing with me to cook (I've got a bit of a reputation as the best cook, although the two Sri Lankan boys make a mean curry). Us girls have also gone into town and purchased some great fabrics and ordered some dresses. Agatha, a nursing student we've befriended (and whose volley ball team I've joined), comes over in the evenings for some food and she teaches us swahili gospel songs, which we sing to and play on the ukelele. She's also teaching us how to make chapati, and shows us the good stores around town. She's really great; she showed us where the nursing students stay, and frankly it's pretty bleak.

For New Year's I'm going to be accompanying the UWS (Uni of Western Sydney) students to Moshi, then we'll climb Mount Meroo. While it isn't as high as Mount Kili, it's meant to be a tougher climb—[007’s Brother], this has me a bit nervous. The idea is to hike 3 days and reach the summit for sunrise. In the evenings we'll camp out in huts along the way and cook our own food. Cross your fingers!

After that, I'll head back to Muheza to finish my project (which, bizarrely, is actually clipping along nicely). Then finish off my time in Tanzania in Zanzibar... not bad.

I can't believe how fast it's all going-- this is really what I needed, I think, after my tough year last year.

[007’s Brother]: I'm going to spend 2 nights and a day in Dubai, any suggestions of what I should do? I'd like to see the desert...

Ok out of time!!

Gros gros bisous, [007’s Sister]

My Sister's Month in Tanzania - Part 2

2010-12-17T15:40:00.001Z

Here’s my sister’s side of her correspondence with an Australian colleague (whom she’s never met) about Tanzania. She’s taken over a research project on children with pneumonia, while the colleague has left Tanzania for the Christmas holidays to visit England and see the snow for the first time.

Name, locations and references to people have been remove to protect the somewhat innocent.

Date: December 8, 2010
Location: Tanzanian Hospital

Habari [Friend 1]!

So I arrived in Muheza yesterday! I feel like I've been hit by a ton of bricks :) So much kiswahili to learn, oh my. The med students are awesome, and I've enjoyed the times I was able to spend at the clinic so far.

So [Hospital Administrator 1] is away but [Hospital Administrator 2] gave me the USB stick. Thanks SO MUCH for the instructions, I have to admit I feel a bit overwhelmed. I met [Dr. 1], who was very nice and expecting me. But he said before I could start anything I need to approval of the superintendent (?), a certain Dr whose name I have, of course, forgotten. He is usually at the ward, but I went on rounds with him (he was super instructive)! So I'll be meeting up with him in an hour, keep your fingers crossed.

A few questions:
I'm at the research centre right now, trying to match up initials and names. I've noticed that the XLS sheet starts at 4003, but my patient initial folder only starts with number 4201. I've asked people if I folder of initials is missing, but they don't know. Do you remember there being more than one?

Also, once I've match names with ID numbers, where do I go from there? To the centre records? Sorry I'm sure it is obvious but I'm still very jet- and country-lagged […]

Sorry to pull you back here while you're enjoying your vacation (which I hope you are)!Cheers,[007’s Sister]

Date: December 14, 2010
Location: Tanzania Hospital

Hiya [Friend 1] (everyone else calls you that so I may as well get started too)!

I'm just logging on since the last time I had internet access (which was when I last emailed you). There's a backlog of emails but I've decided to answer them chronologically instead of all at once (it's a bit overwhelming).

A few extra days (and a few days away to Oshunga beach) have done a world of good. I've been quite enjoying linking up the initials to names, actually, and the missing folder resurfaced with [Administrator 2] ([Administrator 1] did have it, I think, but it took [Administrator 2] returning to actually give it to me!). I've pretty much finished that bit. All is good. I've been to the Centre quite a lot and hopefully am on good enough terms with [Dr. 1] and [Dr. 2] to get some help if I need it. The project's been OKed now, as long as we don't publish it.

There is so much to see, and I do hope to nip out once in a while to get some ward experience. I'm also loving learning Kiswahili, and I've really hit the jackpot with the other students here (the two boys especially are thrifty and adventurous, like me). We've been getting milk and cream from Tanga Fresh, and making butter and yogurt every day. I also make fresh bread and coffee every day-- it's been bliss, finally my odd DIY habits are paying off!

I've been attending the morning meetings, which at times make me feel as though I'm stuck in a Kafka novel. What's the point of a mortality meeting if no cause of death is identified, no lessons are learned? It's baffling. And sad.I

'll let you know what happens when I actually try to access the records-- keep your fingers crossed.

Safari njema,
[007’s Sister]

PS: how'd you like the Tate? I loved it. Your photos of jacket-less frolicking in the snow make my knitting- cold-blooded- self extremely uncomfortable! Cover up!

Date: Sometime after December 14, 2010
Location: Tanzania

Fresh, rafiki! Asante sana.

Nope-- I'm the only Sydney U. student.

Actually, I'm the only student not paired up! I think the others think I'm a bit crazy to be traveling solo, but I've conveniently ingratiated myself with the Uni of Western Sydney students and now they can't get rid of me (bwa ha ha). This weekend we're going camping in Leshoto; after New Year's we'll be climbing Mt. Meroo (?sp). And, of course, Chrsitmas next weekend. [Friend 2] and I have gotten the kids some presents (thus filling the majority of my bag, and fortuitously freeing up lots of space for kangas) [African clothes].

I feel as though I miss this scrappy town already, and I haven't left it yet. I wish I had more time here. Honestly, it feels a little bit like coming home to Antanarivo (where my family lived from 2004-2007), which I knew I missed, but didn't realize quite how much. Except nobody speaks Malagasy here. Details. Is there anything you're hankering for in particular? My bag is not too heavy (yet)...

[007’s Sister]

First Snow

2010-12-17T00:14:00.002Z

It's the first time it snows for me as a homeowner. Fortunately, I have a new roof. Not so fortunately, I had to shovel by myself, at 7:00 p.m. after work, in the dark.

My roommate, who works from home, didn't have the brilliant idea to do this during the day. As I was shoveling though, he said "excuse me", motioning to the shovel... I, thinking he was offering to help, enthusiastically handed him the shovel. He proceeded to scrap a thin path through the snow, from my porch to his car (which he had started from a distance) to ensure that his nice work shoes would not get damaged for the holiday party to which he was going. Then he handed me back the shovel with a sweet smile on his face.

Ah, the joys of being a homeowner.

The Secret of Snagging a Man?

2010-12-15T00:01:00.002Z

Yesterday, I was sitting next to a girl who was reading a book with intensity. When I looked over, I could see she was reading the "Nagging NO More" chapter, from a book called "Why Men Love Bitches".

I checked out the review for the book, and they are positively glowing!

Hum, maybe I've been using the wrong tactic all these years...

My Sister's Month in Tanzania

2010-12-08T15:14:00.005Z

My sister is a medical student in Sydney, and doing a one-month internship in Tanzania. Here's what she has to say of her travel and first day there.

Date: Monday, December 6, 2010
Location : Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the Way to Tanzania

Hello hello,

Me voila larguée à Dubai quelques heures... heureusement qu'il y a de l'internet gratuit! Après mon vol de Sydney à Bangkok, et de Bangkok à Dubai, je vais bientôt entamer mon vol Dubai-Dar Es Salaam, et ensuite le chauffeur de taxi m'emmène au couvent (!) pour que je puisse dormir, et va me récupérer pour me déposer à mon bus le lendemain. Ouf!!

Ok, miss you! Just letting you know I'm still alive. Dad, I used your credit card to buy a coffee, I hope it's ok (felt a bit silly to change currencies just for that).

Bises,
[007’s Sister]

Translation

Hello Hello,

Here I am, left to my own device in Dubai for a couple of hours… thankfully there’s free internet! After my flight from Sydney to Bangkok, et from Bangkok to Dubain, I will seem start my flight from Dubai-Dar Es Salaam, and after that, the taxi driver will bring me to the convent (!) so I can sleep, then he’ll come to pick me up to drop me off at the bus the next day. Oy!

Ok, miss you! Just letting you know I'm still alive. Dad, I used your credit card to buy a coffee, I hope it's ok (felt a bit silly to change currencies just for that).

Kisses,
[007’s Sister]

Source

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Location: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Coucou famille!

Me voila donc enfin à Dar Es Salaam.

When I got to the airport it was a zoo to obtain a visa-- vous connaissez tous comment cela se passe donc je skip les détails! Mais je m'en suis sortie. J'ai récupéré mon sac (toute suite j'ai vérifié que rien ne manquais... tout était là, sauf le mobile merdique que Scott m'avait prêté pour l'Afrique. Merde! C'est bizarre d'ailleurs, ils ont laissé tout le reste. Enfin bon), et je me suis dirigée vers la sortie, ou le chauffeur de taxi m'attendait bien avec une pancarte "[007’s Sister]", malgré mon heure-et-demi de retard.

Évidemment-- j'ai changé mon argent australien en schillings, et j'ai tenté de m'acheter une carte pour téléphoner-- bien sûr, je me suis fait rouler (parait-il, il faut "register" les SIM cards avant to pourvoir les utiliser... détail qui m'a couté milles schillings, voir un dollar!).

Ensuite on se dirige vers mon couvent (et oui maman, mais pas Catho--Pentecostal). Là, j'apprends qu'en fait mon chauffeur n'est pas Juma mais son ami... je suis ni surprise, ni ravie. Bon, il est sympathique et je lui apprends du français en échange du swahili. Je ne doute pas qu'il m'a roulé pour le prix du taxi, que j'ai quand même tenté de négocier... mais il est 3 heures du mat' a Sydney et j'avoue que je suis bien crevée!

J'ai pu prendre une douche (ma dernière pour longtemps, je pense), et j'ai mangé au couvent... miam! Maintenant, au lit, j'ai un bus à attraper à six heures du mat demain.

C'est marrant, être ici me rappelle beaucoup Mada... mais il y a de la construction partout et j'ai même vu des feux qui fonctionnent sur la route!! Un pays qui à l'air de bouger, il n'y en a aucun doute.

Gros gros bisous, j'écris à toute vitesse dans mon journal et je prend plein de photos,
Deso pour les erreurs de grammaire...

[007’s Sister]

Translation

Hi Family!

When I got to the airport it was a zoo to obtain a visa—you all know how that goes so I’ll skip the details! But I figured it out. I went to pick up my bag (I immediately check whether anything was missing… everything was there, except the shitty cell phone Scott had lent me for Africa. Shit! It’s weird in retrospect, they left everything else. Oh well), and I went to the exit where the taxi driver was waiting for me with a sign “[007’s Sister]", despite my hour and a half of lateness.

Naturally—I changed my Australian money into Schillings, and I tried to buy a card for the phone—of course, I got conned (apparently, one has to “register” the SIM card before being able to use them…a detail that cost me a thousand Schillings, or a dollar!).

After that we go in the direction of the convent (and yes Mom, but not Catholic—Pentecostal). There I learned in fact that my driver was not Juma but his friend…I’m neither surprised, nor happy. Despite that fact, he’s pleasant and I teach him French in exchange for Swahili. I have no doubt that he had me for the price of the taxi, despite my tries to negotiate… But it’s 3:00 a.m. in Sydney and I have to admit that I’m really tired!

I was able to take a shower (probably my last one for a long time), and I ate in the convent…Yum! Now in bed, I have a bus to catch at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow.

It’s funny, being here reminds me a lot of Mada [Madagscar]… but there’s contruction everywhere and I even saw traffic lights that work along the road ! A country that seems to move, there’s no doubt.

Big big kisses, I’m writing very fast in my journal and taking tons of photos. Sorry for the spelling mistakes…

[007’s Sister]

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Location: Muheza, Tanzania

Hello hello,

I'm in Muheza! The bus ride was looooong, but I didn't read a single sentence-- my eyes were glued to the landscape... I'm really in the foothills of Mt Kili... [Mount Kilimanjaro]

Anyway, tonight all of the muzungus are having dinner together (it's a Tuesday night ritual; we students are also going to draw up a cooking roster), so I don't have time to connect my laptop to the wifi hotspot at the hospital (pretty fancy huh!). I just went to town (were I was less mobbed than at the train station), I can hear a cow mooing outside of my windows and kids playing soccer. We have no running water and the elec cuts out more often than not, but the students (all Aussie) seem very cool. I am the only one who came out here alone!

The hospital is... Very different. Let me wait until I spend some formal time there to describe it further.

Also, send me texts!
Sent from my iPhone

Source

All I need for Christmas...

2010-12-07T19:08:00.007Z

... is money!

I've been a bit poor lately, often drawing into my savings account to make ends meet. BUT I shouldn't even complain because I have a job, and I probably make much more money than the average American (or French person for that matter).

Nonetheless, I've decided to be reasonable with my expenses this year, especially on the decoration front. So this is what I came up with (please excuse the blurriness of the pictures, they were taken by cell phone).

Made from a bright Banana Republic shopping bag, cheap craft paper and dull crayons. I bought the Stars in a store that promoted fair trade, and are made from raffia fibres from Cambodia.

Close up of the wreath in question.

I adorned my stairway with multicolored spice packets from Madagascar, red bows and wooden toys that my mom had as decorations for our tree from 1978-1996. (I don't know why the bottom of the picture looks hot pink, but I like it... Hum, food for thought for when I decide to repaint my house).

Cambodia, Part 4

2010-12-07T18:47:00.005Z

In preparation for the races that happen during the Water Festival in November, the villagers bless and christen their pirogues.

According to Wikipedia:

It is called the 'Water Festival' by Westerners because people pour water at one another as part of the cleansing ritual to welcome the new year. Traditionally people gently sprinkled water on one another as a sign of respect, but as the new year falls during the hottest month in South East Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passersby in vehicles in boisterous celebration. The act of pouring water is also a show of blessings and good wishes. It is believed that on this Water Festival, everything old must be thrown away, or it will bring the owner bad luck.

The ceremony start with religious blessings.

The buddhist priests then sprinkle the boat and crew with water.

The crew rolls her down the steep banks and takes her on her first voyage on the Mekong River.

One of the French/Cambodian lady accompanying me at this ceremony was strongly asserting that she'd be out of the city during the Festival as "it gets so incredibly crowded it's a zoo here in Phnom Penh, and I want to be as far from the Festival as possible".

This was a eerily prescient comment as on November 22, 2010, according to the Guardian:

More then 300 people died in a stampede at a water festival in Phnom Penh tonight, according to Cambodia's prime minister.

Hundreds more were hurt at the event, on a small island in a river in the capital, as the crowd panicked and pushed over a bridge to the mainland. Some who tried to flee were crushed underfoot or fell into the water.

That's the end of my little exposé on Cambodia folks, but this really doesn't do it justice. It has a rich history, mainly influenced by buddhists art and philosophy and is a really nice country to visit, especially if it's your first time abroad as the people are kind and not at all pushy. But its recent history is also worth looking into, especially during the period of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979) a period of communism where the intellectual elite (especially the French speaking Cambodians) where systematically murdered during a genocide.

Cambodia, part 3

2010-12-07T18:39:00.007Z

I'm not sure how to describe the food exactly, but there are a lot of recent Chinese additions to the meals (such as spices, sauce and other ingredients).

We ate a lot of rice.

Tried a common dish called Congée, which I suspect is deviled or rotted eggs (here in a plate with shredded carrots, salmons and cheese).

And I tried to eat Tarantulas, just for the sake of it. They are suprisingly sweet and soft on the inside, though quite crunchy on the outside. I tried my best to much two of the three, but just couldn't bring myself to finish the dish. It made me queasy (which is a sure and sad sign that I'm softening in my old age).

(Me, pretending to be excited about eating tarantulas)

Cambodia, part 2

2010-12-07T18:26:00.009Z

In Phnom Pen, the motorcycle is King... and often modified to resemble amorphous food stands, or rather sophisticated vehicles to transport people:

Pirogues are also a pretty popular way to get around. Sometimes, you can find entire families living in these slim wooden floats, outrigged with motors.

The National Museum of Cambodia in the Capital holds inestimable collections of Buddahs, old scrolls and decorated stone carvings... Unfortunately, the inside is not ideally maintained (most likely due to lack of funds) but the structure and gardens are beautiful.

Various Odds and Ends of Travel - Cambodia, part 1

2010-12-07T18:05:00.010Z

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've been really bad at blogging - I recently went paragliding in France and facilitated a "mock" exercise on a pandemic outbreak of Influenza in Benin (in French no less!), and I didn't even write about those... Blame it on the constant moving around, the house renovations and general laziness.

So let me catch you up on my most recent trip to Cambodia for work. I'll talk about the fun stuff only because if I talked about work, I'd have to kill you (sigh, just kidding... if only my work could be so exciting).

As you can imagine, Cambodia is very lusciously green. Awww, it felt good to be back in the near oppressive humidity of a tropical country...

Rural houses are funny little things, much like Dr. Seuss' dwellings, with a pointed roof, a second floor on stilts, and family life taking place underneath the raised floor of the house.

Humped cattle also benefit from the shade underneath the house

12-year old girl looming silk/cotton scarves - the amazing things is that my hometown (Lyon in France) was an old silk town, and we still see these looms in museums. I didn't know people actually still used these!

Close up of the complicated machinery of the looms

12-year old boys, of course, get to hang out and play, while their sister/cousin works up to 6 hours of day making the weave.

Upstairs

2010-11-22T03:49:00.003Z

Sadly, I don't have a lot of pictures of the upstairs :/

Here's a friend in my room, helping to hang the curtain rods up. We didn't have a ladder so we used my (antique) dresser to hoist ourselves up. Also, my friend is, errrm, detail orientated (shall we say) and measured many times to make sure they were COMPLETELY straight. It took a long time.

My bro caulking the outside of the office windows. Sigh, I wish someone had mentioned that all the windows needed to be caulked before the torrential rains started falling. Also, I tried to do some windows myself, but I could tell from his "ya that's pretty good sis" that it was a poor attempt at best. Hey, I can't be good at everything!

Skylight in Upstairs Bathroom

2010-11-22T03:46:00.002Z

While in mid-progress...

Friends admiring the finished product. It's a truly a thing of beauty. Must post actual pictures of it soon...

Living Room

2010-11-22T03:41:00.005Z

Two views of the living room before I got that awesome blue sofa from Room and Board. Updated pictures coming soon I promise! See that lamp on the ceiling? Sadly it was the only original feature that was salvageable :(

The roomie cleaning the ceiling lamp parts. I've known him 5 years and I've never seen him so concentrated. By the way, this took hours. The grim was pretty thick.

Kitchen and Dining Room

2010-11-22T03:31:00.006Z

Ugh, the kitchen and the dining room were pretty darn dingy before the renovation. Here they are now, without the old wall separating the two. I found a coin dating from 1928 in the dust of construction there.

Same picture, less crap on the surfaces. Nice kitchen island! Don't you love the bright yellow color? Well I do, and mom helped to pick it out, so be nice. The dangling pendant lamps came from my parents house and were part of a connected three-lamp pendant. Looks sleek and nice in this kitchen (not so much in theirs). There's deceptively little storage space in this kitchen, thus the need for the closet in the den...

Fridge, containing the essentials.

Friend, trying on a funky urchin-like lamp (made from recycled plastic bottles and bought off of Etsy) for size. It's still not yet hung. Ugh, I'm so lazy...

Roommate hanging some of his modern artwork on the wall. He's a whizz at hanging. He really is. Though I made him hang about 80% of the pieces on all our walls, so I'm sure he was cursing his special gift at some point.

Den

2010-11-22T03:19:00.005Z

The den off of the kitchen was the only room where the wooden floor was not salvageable. A minor miracle given that all the floors were covered with: a layer of rotting carpet, a foamy cover, glue, and in some cases, dark brown paint. They had to add new wood, but the rest of the house is original. Since there's only two small closets in the house, I asked my dad to add a closet where you see the Dyson (not mine, though I wish it were) and other cleaning products.

Dad and I in the closet. Before you get the misconception I had anything to do with it, let me admit that I didn't help a bit. Also, please excuse the appearance of the workout clothes...

I also got a second bathroom built opposite the closet with the First-Time Homeowner credit President Obama gave me. Thanks Obama! The den in now considerably smaller than it was before, but the closet and the bathroom as so useful I don't regret building them.

Backyard

2010-11-22T03:11:00.005Z

This is what my backyard looked like while the contractors did their 2 months of renovation (bordering on a gut job). Except the pile was usually three times as high, and full of errand cats. Thank God the neighbors never complained of it. A ridiculously small open-back van hauled the trash during many trips to clear the backyard. It was almost comical to see the towering Pile O' Stuff it could drive away with.

My friend courageously came to visit when he was in DC (he lives in NY) to see the progress of the house. Though the picture is very dark since it was taken from the basement, you can see the bright sun shining on the trash in the backyard, and my friend valiantly showing enthusiasm in taking pictures of the progress.

Aaaaah! Much better! The grass was almost completely dead from not seeing the sun in 2 months. Fortunately it all grew back very quickly... And it's now 100% crab grass and dandelions.

My Bad

2010-11-22T03:10:00.001Z

I've been embarrassingly remiss in posting new pictures of my place... Here are some for y'all to enjoy. **Eventually** if I get my act together, I will post before and after pictures. Sorry, my bad.

Enjoy this renovation of a Petworth, DC home...

Just for the sake of posting...

2010-10-12T17:45:00.006Z

Alright, thanks Steve in Wisc. for your email - I have been completely remiss in posting on this blog.

Mostly because I don't get excited about news things + I'm tired after a long day at work + my small camera got stolen in Croatia so I can't post pictures as easily as before + I'm still working on my house.

But, just for the sake of posting, here's what I got in preparation for the fall:

Ben Simon Tennis Lacet Gris Foncé

They're French shoes we used to wear in my International School about 14 years ago. And they're just now starting to be cool in the States. Pretty neat huh?

Beauty and the Geek

2010-07-22T19:56:00.003Z

As you may know, my sister is a super star. She's a medical student at the University of Sydney, she does research on the side, and researches and helps to produce a weekly science radio show called Diffusion Science Radio.

Last week, the cast did a very interesting piece on the TV show called Beauty and the Geek dispelling the myth that geeky guys are socially inept and whimpy, and pretty girls are dumb and superficial. This is what they had to say about it.

Source

This Explains So Much!

2010-07-20T19:41:00.002Z

I'm moving to Iowa City!

Timeline of a Dryer

2010-07-15T15:08:00.004Z

Source

You'd be surprised how useful a dryer is. Sure, you may fancy yourself a new-age hippy of sorts, but let's be honest: a dryer is much more useful than a cloth line when you have few clothes, need them unwrinkled for the next work day, and have a damp basement.

Well, when I bought the house, the inspector told me the dryer was working fine (and that the roof was sound, ya right). It took my roommate about 2 weeks to convince me that it actually wasn't drying at all, another 2 weeks for me to test it out, and 1 week to order it at Home Depot.

When it came to the house, 1 full month after we'd moved in, the Home Depot guys took a quick look at my basement, and announced that I needed a GAS dryer, not the ELECTRIC dryer I ordered. Oh boy. I didn't even know gas dryer existed.

Took me another 1 week to go to Home Depot to ask for a reimbursement, and figure out how to order a new one. 1 more week for me to get my money back, and finally order a new gas dryer. I was extremely meticulous in the online purchase, making sure that it was gas, I got the extra cord and duct, asked for removal of the old machine and installation of the new one.

So, almost 2 months after moving in, we should have a dryer on Tuesday! Wish me luck!

I'm staying cool and calm, because things could be worse, way worse. Case in point: the story of a woman who went 2 weeks without a toilet (read on to see what she did in her apartment to compensate), and 1 month without a shower.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/garden/15remodel.html?pagewanted=2&hpw

Miracle!

2010-07-14T01:35:00.003Z

Source

I am very happy to report that, after much plunging, squeamish high-pitched screaming, laughing from roommate downstairs, poking with an opened hanger, and gritting of teeth, the toilet finally got unclogged.

The house is no longer on the market.

Oh the Joys of Home Ownership

2010-07-13T13:26:00.006Z

Yesterday, my upstairs toilet backed up.

So I did what any self-respecting owner would do: I called my roommate and asked him if he had been having trouble with the toilet. Perhaps he threw a condom in there? Or his girlfriend tried to flush down a tampon? Alas, I had only myself to blame for it.

Steps for Unsuccessfully Clearing a Toilet Bowl:

1 - So imagine if you will, me trying to flush the toilet, but the water coming perilously close to the edge of the bowl.

2 - Run downstairs to get a bucket and a plastic container to scoop out the water progressively and dump it in the downstairs bathroom. Repeat 5 times trying not to leave droplets on the floor. While you are visualising the scene, please keep this in mind: the bowl is not, err hum, clear (if you know what I mean).

3- Thoroughly disinfect bowl, bucket, container, hands and nails, floor and anything you may have come in contact with, or breathed on.

4 - Take a long shower to ensure extra cleanliness.

5 - Go on the internet and search for astute and innovative ways to clear clogs.

6- Try the dishwashing liquid and hot water trick.

7 - Wake up the next day to note with satisfaction that the liquid has spontaneously dropped back down.

8 - Flush toilet and note with disappointement that the toilet is indeed still clogged.

9 - Call roommate again. Finally capitulate to plunging the toilet.

So I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow, when said roommie brings home a new plunger. He has heroically stated that he will stay in the doorway (within hearing distance of the toilet, but not within seeing distance) to encourage me while I plunge away.

I am thinking about reselling already. Anybody interested?

Doormat

2010-06-30T00:49:00.004Z

Source

I love being in my new house, but man, it really takes a long time to put everything together. Did you realize for example that the following items are essential:

- a thick marker for marking your garbage can and recycling bin (which finally arrived after ordering them a month ago) so your neighbor's don't steal your shit
- 6 placemats and assorted napkins, in case you are planning on inviting people over for dinner
- a tray for your dishrack to prevent water from constantly trickling down your cupboards
- bamboo skewers for your tomato plants (ok so I grew tomato plants from seed, yay, and they have gotten so big they're flopping over. I tried to find a trellis for them, but no luck. Instead, I placed three bamboo skewers at the base of most plants, in a teepee-like contraption, and tied the stem to the "teepee" with thick string)

And that's only the stuff I bought today! That's not even including the big things like a bookshelf for my bedroom, a proper bedframe, a dining room sideboard, etc.

My housemate also mentioned that we need a doormat, and went in excruciating detail about the importance of a doormat (mainly to prevent dirt from tracking into the house). So when I was in Target today, I saw a bunch of doormats, and quite liked the look of a green one. I thought about it for a bit, felt its consistency, judged the price, thought about it some more, and decided not to buy it, because walking home with it would be cumbersome.

I get home after walking in the heat for 40 minutes... And what do I see? The green placemat on my doorstep! My housemate had picked it up just 1 hour before!

I (heart with an arrow through it) Pepco

2010-06-19T16:25:00.002Z

OK, so rereading my posts again, I really don't want to give the impression that all went according to plan. It didn't and I tried to keep my cool throughout but sometimes it took superhuman strength not to loose it.

A really distressing incident was when the electricians did a heavy up (increased the power going to the house) on the electricity.

Usually, what happens is this:

1 – Contractor hires electricians
2 - Electricians apply for a permit with D.C.R.A. (D.C. Regulatory agency) to do the work on this specific house
3 – Electricians complete the work
3 - Pepco does an inspection of the site to confirm that the project was well done
4 - Pepco either a) turns on the power if it was off or 2) increases the power to the house if the power was on during the entire upgrade

What actually happened was this:

1- Contractor hired electricians
2 – Electricians applied for a permit with DCRA
3 - Electricians took their sweet-ass time upgrading the electricity, especially in the light of my contractor being away for training for a week.
4 – Just before the inspection is due, boom! Pepco decides to turn off the electricity. I call a few times on the first day (Thursday), and am promised that it will be turned on the next day
5 – It doesn’t turn on the next day. I call 8 different people, at least 15 different times. DRCA and Pepco blame each other and Pepco gives the following excuses for the electricity being turned off:
- your name’s not on the bill (not true)
- you did an illegal heavy up (nope, all the permits are there, and DCRA verified they were all legit)
- DCRA didn’t send us the inspection documents (well that’s because the work just got finished and we haven’t called them
for the inspection)
- Well we need the inspection paperwork (ok, but this doesn’t explain why you cut off the electricity – but DCRA peeps were
amazing and came to do an inspection on Sunday! Thank you DCRA, this is above and beyond the call of duty!)
- We don’t have the right equipment to reconnect you
- We don’t have the right people to come reconnect you
- The owner had an illegal hookup since October 2008 (try calmly explaining 4 times in a row that you bought the house in
end of February 2010 and had no clue, and you shouldn’t have to suffer for someone else doing something illegal on your
property way before you bought it)

And this goes on and on, and on, in the summer heat (no lights, no air conditioner, everything in the fridge rots and reeks) for SIX DAYS.

SIX DAYS of calling 15 times a day, of talking to different people who don't talk to each other, of hearing a million different excuses, of complying with their requirements and getting nothing is return. SIX DAYS of not being able to concentrating on your day job because you're worried your food will attract rats, and your roommate will move out, and your contractor should be doing this, and etc, etc, etc...

At the end of the six days, I got everybody to call both Pepco and DCRA (contractor, roommate, ANC commissioner), I begged, pleaded, got mad, stayed calm, tried reasoning with them, tried acting stupid, all to no avail.

A lady from Pepco finally came to the house (when only my roommate was around) called a large number of people in the upper chain of command in Pepco demanding answers. She relayed to him a story of a couple with small children, who went without electricity and was given the same run around, for 90 DAYS!!

The next day, she convinced the higher powers-that-be-in-Pepco to send an emergency crew to my house to reconnect it. I could have kissed the guy who reconnected me on the mouth, with tongue and all, since I was so relieved.

But seriously, I hate you Pepco.

[Disclaimer: I really hope Pepco doesn’t know where I live. Please don’t disconnect me again for no reason and without warning again. It was a hellish experience, and I don’t ever ever ever want to deal with you again – I will be paying my bills when they are due, and hope to keep our interactions to this strict minimum.]

I can’t wait to get solar panels.

It Takes a Village: Siblings

2010-06-04T18:42:00.002Z

My brother offered to help me work on the remaining items around my house, after his trip to China and France. Little did he know that he unleashed a floodgate of requests. Here's what I emailed:

I was thinking about the items that I still need help on in my house, since you so kindly offered :) None of them are particularly glamorous, but here goes:

- I have this lightbulb that got stuck in my fan and broke off. I need someone with muscles to use plier to remove the bottom part

- The front and back gardens are a mess. I'd love some help leveling the back garden, adding a couple of layers of dirt, building a tiny patio made from flagstone paving, and creating some rows for herbs and plants on the side. The problem is that it will be in mid-August, so not sure what we can do in the heat, but perhaps we can prepare the garden for the fall? I'll make sure to get a garden hose and pick up the millions of shards of glass before then

- The machine room is disgusting, and so I haven't yet done my laundry there. Mom was super sweet and sweated over it for a long time removing layers and layers of dust, old hangers, bricks etc. But it still looks like a bomb exploded in there. If you are willing, I'd love some help adding linoleum or tile sto the floor. The good thing is that it doesn't matter if it's messed up, so perhaps it'll be a good learning experience for the both of us in term of adding tile :) We could also install a couple of pegboards with metal holders to create a nice space for all the cleaning supplies

- I need a mega huge shelving unit for my basement so all the boxes are off the floor and don't get damp. I could get a unit for IKEA, or you could help me build one

- Apparently, my dryer isn't working. I'll be scouring Craigslist to find a new one. Could you help me connect it to hoses etc, if I haven't done it by August?

That didn't seem to discourage him, so I sent a subsequent email:

- Also, deck needs to be stained :)

It Takes a Village: Nosey Neighbor

2010-06-04T18:39:00.002Z

My neighbor told me that he disapproved of a woman mowing the lawn in the afternoon after work, and proceeded to engage me on the topic for about 10 minutes... in a very animated manner... while I was cutting my front lawn.

Actually, I could probably do without that one.

It Takes a Village: Friends and Roomates

2010-06-04T12:03:00.002Z

Source

Friends have also being encouraging along the way, lifting my spirits when I felt like I was making the biggest mistake in the world.

As my brother says, “sure it’s a negative on the balance sheet. But as we Economists would say, it’s not an expense, it’s an investment”, which oddly, makes me feel a lot better.

I've received a number of nice offers for help repainting walls, removing wooden panels, and working on the garden.

A German friend came to the house, bearing bread and salt, two traditional items to welcome someone home. He also brought white wine, which we promptly drank for good measure.

Another friend dug up some flower buds from her garden and planted them in my flower bed in front.

A friend, knowing my fondness for his yellow Blenko pitcher, brought me an identical one for my kitchen.

My old roommate bought me a small lavender plants after hearing me talk for months about how excited I was to be able to plant rosemary and lavender in my front yard.

My ex-boyfriend helped me, in his very logical and mathematical way, to install an air conditioning unit in my bedroom window, and helped me navigate my mattress through the narrow hallways from my basement to my bedroom so I could have a place to sleep for the night.

My current roommate has done more than his fair share of the cleaning, and installed internet and cable in the house.

Thank you all for your invaluable help (and moral support)!

It Takes a Village: Parents

2010-06-03T14:09:00.002Z

My parents have really helped, each in their own way. Dad was very supportive of me buying a rundown house, confident in my ability to turn things around. In hindsight, maybe his trust was a tad optimistic, but it seems that it turned out alright in the end. He has promised to build me a supersized closet for all my cleaning product and food storage, something that I plan to remind him of on a regular basis until it's completed! The house has practically no storage space, so it really requires coming up with some innovative storage solutions.

Mom was very cautionary from the start and at times downright disapproving, but once she saw the finished product, she came to help me do:
- Deep and energetic cleaning of windows,
- Removal of inches of dust from various surfaces including an old fan in my room (that I was reluctant to turn on in the heat, less it spread the dust evenly on my furniture and bedroom floor),
- Sweeping and resweeping the muddy/dusty/moldy basement area
- She also got me some pretty sweet pieces of furniture, and donated some kitchen items that are proving to be really useful (apparently a pot is pretty instrumental to heating water for my morning tea)

It Takes a Village: Contractor

2010-06-02T20:32:00.004Z

My contractor hired some people who did a very good, though not perfect, job on the house. They essentially took a rundown, heavily water-damaged house, and:

- Created/modified all walls in the house
- Knocked down the wall between the tiny kitchen and the dining room, moved electrical wiring and piping back against the wall
- Put in a completely new kitchen
- Put in a completely new bathroom upstairs
- Transformed a weird den into a hallway and second bathroom
- Changed all windows in the den
- Removed all the dropped ceilings and leveled the plaster
- Sanded down the dubious wood underneath the carpets, and restored them to gleaming, shiny floors
- Completely redid the rotting roof (which the contractor couldn’t check due to the many layers of ceiling layers preventing access to the roof)
- Replaced rotting wood on the back porch
- Installed a kitchen island
- Added wood beams where the floor rotted out
- Replaced all light fixtures
- Did a heavy-up on the electricity (essential giving me more power than the previous owners had, since nowadays, people want to put in window air conditioners, have computers/ipods/blackberries which requires a lot more electricity)
- Roughed-in the old bathroom in the basement (which means removing the dirty toilet but replacing the pipes and preparing them so that if I want to recreate a bathroom, I can just add the toilet and shower without having to redivert piping and dig new holes in the floor)
- Restored a beautiful Petworth skylight in the bathroom
- Repaired two closets
- Painted all walls, front porch, and wooden balustrade
- Added carpet in the basement
- Replaced all appliances except the dryer

The work they performed was very good quality, and they rarely cut corners or used materials of inferior quality. I consider myself lucky, though I did significantly go over budget (mainly due to the addition of a second bathroom and the new roof).

It Takes a Village: Realtor

2010-06-02T20:28:00.002Z

I started off with a realtor who didn’t know D.C. very well, was frequently one hour late to our appointment, and needed a GPS to get from one block to the next. She was hard to pin down, and I felt like I was asking to much by requesting to see houses once a week. She would reluctantly show me houses in neighborhoods that she didn’t approve of. She never knew if the house she proposed were anywhere near a metro, or what amenities were available in the neigborhood.

On every trip, she would spend 20 min on the phone with her 4-year old daughter while driving, gushing “yes moooommy luuuurrrves you. Oh yes you are such a sweetie pie. What did you do today? Oh wow and after the painting? Oh great and what was in your lunch? And how about after playtime? Did you have a great little nap? Mommy loves her little sweetings”.

It was cute and terribly distracting at the same time, and made me feel like she didn’t really have the time to dedicate to helping me. Every trip was exhausting.

I then worked with a great realtor who lived in DC, so straight from the beginning; I knew she was knowledgeable about city and she wasn’t scared or biased towards certain neighborhood. She had a great sense of direction, and very quickly sensed what places I liked. She was understanding when I hesitated, and would recommend we continue searching.

She was encouraging when my three first contracts feel through, sensing my deep sense of disappointment and letting me know there were other places out there for me to see. She always took my phone call and was hyperflexible about dates and timing to see houses.

It takes a village…

2010-06-02T20:24:00.002Z

… to build a house (sorry Hillary Clinton)

I haven’t given many updates on the house, mainly because it’s been a whirlwind of activities in the last 2 months. Here’s a brief list of people who have helped me through this house buying and renovation process:

- Realtor

- Contractors

- Parents

- Friends and Roomate

- Nosey Neighbor

- Siblings

Source

Farmer's Market in My Work Place

2010-05-20T15:06:00.003Z

Source

I just got an email this morning from work, telling me about a weekly Farmer's Market in the great hall of my building. I can't believe how cool and innovative this is, and I had to email the organizer to thank her and congratulate her on this great new initiative. Here's what the email said:

Join Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
on Wednesday, June 2nd, at 2:30 p.m.
for the Opening Ceremony of the
FRESHFARM Market at HHS

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and FedStrive are sponsoring a farmers’ market each Wednesday afternoon from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. outside on the XXX Building.

In support of President Obama’s Federal Employee Worksite Wellness Initiative, and following in our First Lady’s lead to emphasize the importance of good nutrition, HHS has brought FRESHFARM Market to our front door!

FRESHFARM Market will offer locally grown:
Fruits
Vegetables
Fish
Flowers
Plants

Over 20 farmers from FRESHFARM Markets will sell produce each Wednesday afternoon beginning June 2nd through October 27th on the XXX Plaza of the XXX Building.

FRESHFARM Markets is a nonprofit organization that supports our region’s farmers, protects threatened farmlands and connects city dwellers with local farmers. This farmers’ market guarantees that producers grow, raise, catch, produce and hand-craft what they bring to market.

Invite community members! All are welcome each Wednesday! Food stamps and WIC/Senior coupons will be accepted. For more information, please visit FRESHFARM Markets at www.freshfarmmarkets.org.

For questions, contact Agency Point of Contact XXX.

Go Green Get Healthy HHS

I can't wait to get some good food on Wednesdays on my way back to the house!

Murals in DC

2010-04-23T14:16:00.001Z

I've been noticing a lot of amazing graffiti and paint murals in DC lately. Here's a BBCNews piece about how and why these are springing up everywhere: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8635639.stm

Sigh, I love DC.

Major Whoopsie!

2010-04-16T10:48:00.008Z

When looking for a house all of last year, I had only three items that were definite no-nos on my list:

- Termites (I had to leave some wicker furniture behind in Congo as it had termites - I am still now terrified of them)

- Bad pipes (I remember my parents spending thousands of dollars on a bathroom leak into the living room that never got fixed quite right)

- Bad roof (forget it, I can't afford it)

When I bought this house, I made sure the inspector looked carefully at the roof. The problem was that the old owner would patch up a leak by putting more layers up on the ceiling. An inspector, by law, is not allow to damage a house when doing his/her inspection. So the inspector went on the roof, jump around on the (very sloped) roof to see if it felt weak, but was unable to see the original ceiling in the rooms, or find the roof access from the den (which had been completely covered up).

When I asked the contractors to remove the drop ceiling from the second, small bedroom, here's what they found underneath (there was a drop ceiling covering chicken wire and plaster, covering insulation on old wooden slates):

Dropped Ceiling (March 7, 2010)

Chicken wire, plaster, insulation, wooden slats... (March 17, 2010)

And rotted joists/beams (March 17, 2010). Crap, crap, crap.

All patched up (April 15, 2010) (there is an intermediary picture with the new joists, that I will post as soon as I get it)

But Some Parts Improve...

2010-04-16T10:20:00.006Z

Remember the old skylight? The owner thought he was being particularly thrifty and inventive by sealing up the skylight, added a fluorescent light across it, and covering it with a plastic cover:

Skylight upon purchase (March 7, 2010)

Beauty is only skin deep... (March 16, 2010)

And then there was LIGHT! (April 11, 2010)

Alright, contain your enthusiasm, the bathroom is still ugly (April 11, 2010)

Could it Possible Get Worse?

2010-04-16T10:14:00.005Z

On April 11, 2010, I discover that it is possible for the kitchen to look worse than when it started off:

Should I keep the quaint pink paper with drawings of olive oil and other cooking ingredients? I think that's what they call a house with "character"

The lovely sink area.

At least the electricity is upgraded (note that yellow coil between two wooden beams).

The Three-Layer Dip

2010-04-16T10:02:00.005Z

By March 16, 2010, they attempted to find the wood underneath the vinyl kitchen floor, and find several confounding factors:

First layer: vinyl with old design containing orange circles

Second layer: cardboard flooring

Third layer (on the very bottom): vinyl with old brown pattern

Fourth layer: who knows? It's a mystery within an enigma!

Is this going to be super fun like the 7-layer party dip?

Seven Layer Dip

Second Round of Pictures from my Palace

2010-04-13T00:53:00.012Z

Those first pictures were taken on March 7, 2010. By March 16, 2010, this is what the house looked like, once the contractors started working on it. This is the point when I mentally started ventilating and started to think that I made the biggest mistake in my life. But it has potential right?

Kitchen

They knocked down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room to consolidate the cooking appliances in one room and give it an open, airy feeling. The cords and black box are the electric wiring and old light switch.

Hallway into the Kitchen

They selectively removed some of the old plaster from the walls that were really damaged and patched the holes up with drywall. The thin slates of wood and plaster in the interweaving grooves date from 1923 (or 1928), when the house was first built.

Hallway Leading to the Upstairs

Argh! No comment. So much work to do here.

Guest Bedroom

Without the granny curtains and the vinyl patch up on the floor, this room is almost palatable.

Upstairs Den

Can you please put the wood paneling back? I think I'd rather live with wood walls than this.

Bathroom

Aaaahh! What the eff is this room? Turns out it's my bathroom. Weirdly, it looks tiny without the tub, sink and toilet. Yes, there is a hole that goes straight threw the living room. I can't even bare to look at the wall and the plumbing.

Ultimate House Buying Irony

2010-04-01T00:57:00.003Z

Growing up, my brother and I had to mow our rather large front and backyards. We had a drawing (not drawn to scale) depicting his assigned plot, and mine, and we use to bicker, fight and scream over who didn't mow the inch separating our plotted chores. I can swear, even to this day, that my plot was unfairly larger than his.

I use to hate, hate, hate mowing the lawn: having to pull the cord 10 times to get it started until the cord frayed, filling it up with gas that make my hands stink, pushing its heavy carcass along the steep sides, developing calluses and then blisters from the intense shaking of the misaligned wheels, and walking in the heat and sun for hours - enough for some good ol' fashioned dehydration and violent headaches to set in. And of course, the exaggerated drama of complaining each and every week.

Well the ultimate irony is that I went to pick up a reel mower from a guy in Virginia who posted it on craigslist. By myself. My parents didn't even make me do it! And this machine doesn't even have a friggin' motor!

What's gotten into me? Have I (perish the thought) become mature?

I can't wait to have kids to inflict this nightmare on them...

First Photos of my Newly Purchased Palace

2010-03-30T14:04:00.018Z

This is what the seller of the house had to say about the house I just bought:

"Bring your ideas to this as-is home and make it the perfect home for you. It has a lot of great features to offer. View online photos and call."

Let me know if you would have made the plunge to bring your ideas to this as-is home. Not sure what great features he was referring to...

Living Room

I love uber-dark living rooms. My mom nearly fainted when I told her I was considering keeping the blood red, velvet curtains.

Kitchen + Den

This is the first part of the kitchen with stove, countertops, and cupboards...

And now, welcome to the second part of the kitchen (conveniently located in a den adjoining the first part of the kitchen). Say hello to your stove and fridge!

Staircase to Upstairs

This is a view of the staircase from the living room. Now that's what I call a giant vanity mirror!

More paneling. Classy.

View into the Dining Room

Oops, tiny leak from the upstairs bathroom. Let's just paint it over mom!

Master Bedroom

Sarcasm aside, the master bedroom is pretty cool. Not sure who came up with the brilliant idea of painting the wood floor two different shades of brown though.

Guest Bedroom + Crib Room + Den

Grandma's staying in the guest room! She'll be right at ease with the curtains from the 1970s.

The upstairs has a charming den with wood panelling. This is where I can envisioning smoking my future cigars. So sophisticated!

Bathroom

One word: Groovy.

Here's a close up of the skylight that the owner decided to close up. He then added a fluorescent light and cheap plastic sheeting. Please note the dark specks which are carcasses of dead flies and other interesting insects.

Basement

My friend calls this the "future billiard room".

So yes, this is the house I bought.

Thank you to Ammo for braving the creepy house to take these first photos!

House

2010-03-30T13:03:00.003Z

Oh, and also, I bought a house.

It was a pretty arduous process, and maybe one day, I'll bring myself to write it all down. Took me 1 year to find it, 3 contracts that feel through, 2 months to close, 1 month to get the money to fix it up, and so far, 1 week at my parents house while I wait for it to be liveable.

A few recommendations when looking for a house (they seem basic, but trust me, many people don't follow these simple rules):

1- Don't Buy Above Your Budget

D'uh right? Well turns out millions of people boought houses that were way too expensive for their salaries, and ended up defaulting on their mortgage. Take me for instance. My monthly mortage is probably about $400 more than it should be. I have to get a roommate. No big deal... Except that my house is in really bad shape, so until it's liveable, I have to pay to 100% of mortgage by myself. Therefore, I am living with my parents (sorry mom and dad). This is not an ideal situation, and I obviously didn't take my own advice.

2- Get An Inspection

Not getting an inspection is like buying a used car, and not checking under the hood to see if there's a motor in there. Seriously, never, ever, ever buy a house without an inspection. It's not worth spending $200,000 - $600,000 and not checking on your investment. You're paying for it for 30 years, don't be an idiot, check it out beforehand.

I got 2 inspectors, and a termite inspector. And I'm still not confident with my investment :)

3- Don't Get An Adjustable Rate Mortgage

These are loans that cost you, say 4% per month in interest rate, but can be adjusted by your bank after a certain amount of time. So you pay 4% for the first year, and then... Surprise! the second year, your bank decides to charge you 10% in interest. That kind of sucks, and your monthly payment difference can be more than you can reasonably afford (especially if you're barely making your payments with the 4% interest).

4- Get a Realtor You Like

This is important because, when you're looking for a house, it feels like everyone's out to get you. Seriously, the termite man wants you to buy a warranty (even if there's not one termite to be found), your loan officer and realtor makes a huge cut from your closing costs, your contractor overcharges you to fix a leak, and your friendly neigborhood services provider reminds you that your tiny uncut plot of lawn can cured and cut for a monthly fee of...

Well you get the point. Many people's salaries hinge on your home purchase. So do yourself a favor and pick a realtor who can tell you the truth about houses (not just praise them), explains the process of home buying patiently, has time to show you around neighborhoods you like, and can recommend contractors/appraisers/inspector without pushing their services on you.

I started with an nice realtor who just didn't have enough time to show my places. She was often 30 min to 1 hour late, and obviously didn't know the more "up and coming" (sometimes downright ghetto) neighborhoods I wanted to visit. She would spend the first 10 minutes of each car ride speaking to her daughter on the phone in an annoyingly gushy baby voice (ok so that last one is not a deal breaker, but man was it annoying).

My current realtor was honest with me in letting me know what was a good deal, could sense when I was just forcing myself to settle on the wrong house, was encouraging when I lost bids on contracts, and was available to me by phone and by email for the most inane questions on home buying.

Voilà!

All things German

2010-03-30T12:56:00.004Z

So, we have a family friend staying at the house for a few weeks, who's German. I never really thought much about Germany, save for those torturous hours in high school trying to learn the language of France's neighbors.

All of a sudden, every since his arrival, every article and conversation seems to talk about Germany. The Economist published a huge issue devoted to Germany, the Express yesterday had several funny vignettes about Germany, and my father was comparing the pros and cons of Germany cars this morning.

On a seemingly unrelated note, I receive a word a day from an online feature called "A.Word.A.Day." from Wordsmith.org. This week's theme? All words borrowed from German. I swear, this is true.

Wednesday’s Word

Gotterdammerung

PRONUNCIATION:
(got-uhr-DAM-uh-roong, -rung)

MEANING:
noun: Complete destruction of an institution, regime, order, etc.

Thursday’s Word

Realpolitik

PRONUNCIATION:
(ray-AHL-paw-li-teek, ree-)

MEANING:
noun: Politics guided by practical considerations, instead of principles or ethics.

ETYMOLOGY:
From German Realpolitik, from real (real, practical) + politik (politics).

Coincidence? I don't think so.

My sister's adventures in Wadeye, Australia - part 2

2010-03-04T03:49:00.005Z

From my sister's latest email:

Hi guys,

So the university decided to pull me out (kicking and screaming!) of Wadeye. I'm pretty gutted, but I respect their decision. For the duration of my placement, I'll be working at an aboriginal clinic in Darwin. It'll be interesting to compare and contrast what I've seen there and what I'll see here.

While I was up there, I did an interview with my friend Marc about my first impressions. I thought you might find it interesting:

http://www.mrscienceshow.com/2010/03/ep-123-remote-medicine.html

She has very interesting observations, check it out above!

Source