Time flies in Tanzania

I can't believe that is has almost been 2 weeks since I last posted on the blog. I'm so bad at this! But it is a good sign that I am out seeing the sites rather than sitting in an internet cafe.

At the hostel we have had our first big turn over of residents. A whole bunch of people arrived the same day that we did so we bonded instantly as we explored this strange new place together. Unfortunately, most were only staying for 2 weeks so we had to say our goodbyes last week. It was much tougher than I thought but we, of course, have facebook so contact is never far from reach.

As some may have heard, Jen and I had a bit of an incident while walking through a small (very poor) village on the way into town from our clinic. A very large man made off with Jen's camera after a bit of a tug-of-war in the middle of the street. In the end, it is better we have our health and safety than a camera but it was a rather disturbing experience. As we know though, 99% of the Tanzanian people are absolutely amazing, we just ran into a bad apple. What doesn't kill you just makes you stronger and we are all just a little bit more careful with our belongings.

HAPPY BELATED CANADA DAY to everyone back home. We were definitely celebrating over here. It just so happened that the majority of the items we brought to share with the children at Laura's orphanage had a Canada theme. July 1st happened to be the day that our hostel coordinator planned a Tanzania cultural/info night for all of us. After the Tanzanian part of the evening was finished the lone 3 Canadians had to perform something that spoke of where they came from. Not to mention that this was in front of 35 people. We were put on the spot with 5 minutes to come up with something sooooo we lined danced (grade 7 style) to Shania Twain "who's bed have your boots been under." I know some of you would have been very proud!

Last weekend, Jen, Laura and I along with a group from Alabama went about one hour out of the city to the most beautiful hot springs that I have ever seen. You may be thinking why would you want to go to a hot spring in Africa? It was SO cool. For about 40 minutes we drove through desert- baobab trees, tumbleweeds and all. Joey- it was straight out of the Lion King. In the distance you could see a small green patch which our drive pointed out and said, "there is paradise." That is was. A small rain forest no more than 500 square meters that surrounded this hot spring. It was cool in the rain forest so the warm water was welcomed and you dried off in about 2 minutes when you walked out into the sun. For those of you (Dad and Sara) worried about my fluorescent white skin burning to a crisp in the African sun, I have been doing very well! Daily routine includes a plentiful lather of SPF45, a soaking in period of 10-15 minutes followed by a spray down of 30% DEET. I'm burn (for the most part) and malaria free so far. My skin feels disgusting during the day but I'm coping.

As for the reason I am actually here, the volunteering, we have had some alterations made to our arrangement. The clinic that we were originally placed in is very quiet. Mostly children, mostly with malaria or UTIs. Not to say that is insignificant but we were able to help as we were only able to shadow the physician during his appointments. Fortunately, the head doctor is also the senior medical officer at a large hospital (TPC) that I mentioned before. We absolutely love it there and really contribute the the health care of the local people. For the most part we have been working in reproductive and child health and wouldn't mind if we stayed there. However, we will also be doing some clinical work and mobile clinics in the next few weeks. We have also been connected with an American retired ER doctor from Colorado that looks after the kids at our friend Christine's orphanage. He is putting a team together to screen 80 children at a school in Moshi next we and asked if we would be interest in helping out (heck yes!) They will be screening the kids for anything and anything- infection, disease, hygiene, you name it. That is only for 2 days but hopefully there will be more. He is so passionate about making sure these kids get the care they need. He told us that he just got his resident visa and doesn't plan on ever going back to the US.

I had a small bout of illness this week. Some stomach upset and nausea followed by cough and congestion (not a combination that I have had before.) It's okay, I'm just getting it all out of my system in one go. Should be in the clear for the rest of the trip (knock on wood.)

This weekend we are off to Pangani (google it- drop dead gorgeous.) It is an island north of Zanzibar and much less tourist-y and budget friendly! There will be more details next week. I WISH that I had the cable for my camera because the things that I have and will see here and breathtaking!

Hope you are all doing well! Feel free to post a comment or send me an email. It is always nice to have little greetings from home. I feel like I'm on a different planet- that is how far away from the norm this has been. I'm loving every minute though!

Love you all.
Leila