Off to Segou

The campaign starts today, if the CScoms don't strike, and I'm off to Segou to translate for the Red Cross (Bambara/French, yeah right!) until tomorrow night.

Our team is doing a very good job but it's event logistics and not necessarily the fun/technical stuff. It's an important role but I'm a little grumpy and not knowing how exactly to be strategic about this whole trip.

I'm changing my flight to leave here late Monday night or Tuesday morning so that I can take care of some stuff at the office before Xmas....feeling a little découragé.

Mecaniciens

The airplane mechanics I met last time are back! We will see if they are more interesting than last time.

Had a nice meeting at lunch today where I pretty much defected to PSI for next week to take care of the Malaria No More visitors.


Ok must get money from the ATM. Which is in the hotel! I am still ecstatic over this.

Blast from the Past

--- wrote:
> Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 01:22:30 -0700 (PDT)
> From:
> Subject: oh my god i think i am going to throw up
> To: pcv1pcv@ga.peacecorps.gov,
>
> Michelle - for JTD - more commentary may follow
> later
> from me and allison
>
> Received: October 11 2002 at the Mouila Case
> 13 packages for Jennifer including:
>
> 2 twelve packs of double stuf oreo cookie packs
> 14 packets of beef jerky products
> 2 boxes wildberry poptarts
> splenda lo-cal sweetener
> 6 boxes velveeta shells and cheese
> 2 boxes nature valley granola bars
> 3 multipacks cheese and peanutbutter crackers
> 5 sweet roasted vanilla mixed nuts
> 4 red rice and beans
> 8 soup mixes
> starbrite peppermints
> 3 funpacks tic tacs
> 3 boxes nutrigrain cereal bars (slightly crushed)
> 5 bags creme savers
> starburst
> gumballs
> 2 packs pudding
> honey bear
> 4 general mills coffee (swiss mocha, french
> vanilla....'jean-luc!')
> 2 mulling spice mix
> oompas
> 2 trail mix
> 3 taco seasoning
> one bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
> dinty moore beef stew
> tasters choice coffee
> 3 italian cappucino mix
> 10 chicken breast in water (canned)
> 3 sardines in Louisiana hot sauce
> 1 turkey SPAM
> macadamia nuts
> bag of red beans
> bag of chick peas
> bag of bean soup
> 14 starkist flavor fresh pouch (tuna)
> 3 chicken of the sea pink salmon pouch
> brown sugar and smores pop tarts
> box of 30 lb ziploc bags
> bugs and phrases stickers
> listerene breath strips (2 packs)
> danish wedding cookies
> wylers drink mix
> stovetop stuffing
> 4 cans pringles
> malt o meal
> dirty cup measure
> gravy mix
> peanuts> Tough Son of a Gun sponge
> crab boil in a bag
> werthers
> dumdums
> bob's sweet stripes
> stridex pads
> CD (mix)
> 5 packs bubbleyum
> sweet tarts
> bandaids
> fundips (razapple magic flavor)
> 2 40 oz Jif extra crunchy
> seeds
> 2 packs playtex living gloves
> taffy suckers
> 6 shock tarts
> 6 runts
> 11 taffy
> bag of assorted tacobell chinese popeyes condiments
> 4 gobstoppers
> 4 nerds (grape and strawberry)
> 2 antiitch gel and powder
> toothpaste
> Bounce dryer sheets
> 4pack starkist tuna in a pouch
> creole seasoning
> 5 starkist lunch to go
> 2 footpowder
> carnation instant nonfat dry milk, 3 qts
> biore self heating mask
> 6 tuna helper fettucini alfredo
> 4 crystal light
> pizza goldfish
> red zinger tea
> fruit by the foot
> cortizone 10
> 4 teas
> Dobie scrubber
> swiss miss cocoa
> 2 cans goat milk with vitamin D
> bag of bath products
> 7 pack towels
> 5 lbs Planters salted in shell peanuts
> 2 Mixups candy (200 pieces)
> 2 total balance natural meal replacement drink mix
> 5 pairs heavy latex gloves
> 2 welch's concord grape jelly, 2lbs
> 12 pack big league chew
> 6 assorted loofahs> 24 pushpops
> Amino Fuel
> first aid bit and sting kit
> 25 pack Mead folders with pockets
> strawberry splash bubble gum
> 2 tea tree soap
> magic BBQ seasoning
> magic BBQ seasoning salt
> cajun seasoning
> sheet
> dry erase board
> 2 mini tape recorders
> gumdrops
> tea
> assorted drink mix
> 2 plastic tablecloths
> color club water colors
> scarf
> bandana
> neutrogene acne wash
> 4 beach balls, inflatable
> balloons 50 count
> baking soda deoderant
> 2 big bottles advil
> energy booster supplement
> 3 boxes crayons
> 4 composition books
> incense
> shelf paper (flowered)
> 24 AA batteries
> another whole box full of candy for lambarene host
> family:
> 2 bags cotton candy
> 2 boxes gobstoppers
> 2 nerds
> nerf football
> 2 bubble tape
> 6 wrapped gifts
> 4 ring pops
> 2 flip n dip
> 5 popping candy
> one big wrapped gift, for parents
>
> Thirteen packages total, costing 751.90 in postage,
> not including the Fed Ex box (Extremely Urgent:
> recipient please hand deliver to addressee) which
> didn't have a postage amount on it.
>
> Jennifer said: Oh my god I think I'm gonna throw up.
> Oh my god oh my god oh my god (repeated). She also
> was
> disappointed that her khakis (the only thing she had
> really asked for) were not sent. Also, 'good thing
> I have students!'
>
> mom dad, people stateside - this is not a good
> representation of things to send me, except for the
> oreos. just looking at all that stuff made me freak
> out. we wanted to cover it with a sheet or
> something.
> what a wierd night.
>
> ciao, ragazzi,
> h

Upgraded!

I just in the nick of time got my Flying Blue GOLD UPGRADE!!!

Now I no longer have to suffer on one-person airport waiting room seats during long layovers. I can access the lounge, baby!

Not sure if this is a random upgrade, or they're actually checking my flights, or if it's some latent bonus from the strike, but hey I'll take it!

The Wire Previews!

http://bigscreenlittlescreen.net/2007/11/29/the-wire-hbo-drops-premiere-date-16-early-on-demand-5-promos/

New Lease on Life

I think that because of the lucky outcome of my collision, I am supposed to have a new perspective on things. I've not yet figured out what that is, though. I think I still feel pretty much physically invincible (Unbreakable!), like most young people.

Maybe I'll just stick with that, for now.

Hit by Car

Friday morning I was rounding one of the last corners into work, where I have a stop sign and turn left into a small alley usually devoid of cars. Instead a car was speeding through, fast enough so that he wasn't there in the reflection in the large window opposite me that I use to check traffic, but then there he was when I went through the intersection. I thought I would make it somehow and he hit my left leg, knocking the bike sideways. I tore out of my toeclips and fell on my front teeth and the front of my helmet, rolling to the far curb.

My leg hurt a lot but at this point I still thought he'd hit my rear wheel. I could move my toes and didn't think it was broken. The guy, a detective, called an ambulance. His cop buddies came over from the police station a block away with some gauze. A big fire truck came with some medics. The ambulance arrived. My friend Chris from work was walking by when the accident happened and stayed till they took me away. My leg kept hurting and in the ambulance Sean and Dennis gave me some morphine and splinted both my ankles, there was a small scrape on my right one too that I hadn't noticed. My lip was cut and bleeding but my teeth were still there.

At UMD Shock Trauma they cut my jeans off (but saved my new patagonia green fleece!) and checked my spine and pupils. I had been shivering from shock but the morphine helped with that, and by the time they were xraying (chest, left leg, ankle, foot) it had worn off and I was shaking again. They gave me another two mg and it felt bitter through my body, but then I was warm.

A doctor came and stitched up my lip and a crazy volunteer came and talked to me while I waited for the xrays to come back. The guy in the next bed had had a stroke or a fall after a stroke but was really chatty. A cop was brought in who'd been in a collision and had some pain in his back but seemed like he would be ok.

Xrays were negative. Two (different) sergeants came by and took a statement and told me the bike was at the police station. At first I heard the guy who hit me was FBI but then someone said something about a 'task force' and all I could think was I got hit by the guys they based the Wire on. They sent me home with crutches which I haven't used at all and an Rx for oxycodone which I took two of and then felt like throwing up, though it might have been from hitting my head. All in all I have a bruised and maybe sprained left lower leg, scrapes and two stitches on my lip, badass bruise on my knee (from hitting the top tube on my bike as he hit me), and a small scrape and a bruise on my right ankle and hip. I expected a lot of whiplash soreness the next morning but really, it's been fine. I kind of look like a turtle or a giraffe, though, with my lip all poofy on top.

Everyone's been so great; Bonnie got me from the ER, Tarik brought chocolate, and Nick and a few others have called or stopped by. Edith and I went and got the bike on Saturday and it seems fine - which is sort of surprising and sort of not, considering he hit my leg and not the bike. I have some pics I'll post after I hook up the camera.

My helmet saved my head and my nose. Please wear your helmets.

Pyervi blin

There's a Russian saying I hold dear, because it's true: "The first pancake is always a flop."

But the 3rd pancake, he is smart and nice and good looking!

Office Olympics

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou is one of the malaria spokespeople for Roll Back Malaria. Lisa his manager in the states (sort of) got us tickets for the Kennedy Center show last night. We had nice drinks and food at Dish beforehand, where I mistakenly ordered my salmon medium (OOPS!) but it was still pretty good. As always UNF and BASF picked up most of the bill.


Jumana and I went right up front and danced. Fun. I saw Jamaica from PSI (ex PC-Guinea) in the other aisle. Every other white person was an RPCV. This pic of Jumana is not nearly as scary in large format as it was on my camera, when she looked straight out of "Lost Boys".

Comp and the weekend

The climbing comp yesterday was fun except for the part where I was trying this rad move involving a low pocket undercling with my left ring and middle fingers, pushing down with my feet so I could get up to a nice flat sloper with my right, and something popped in my left wrist. It was pretty much curtains after that. Not too much pain, but a sense of weakness in the wrist, and pain all up the forearm to the ring finger. I climbed a few more things but couldn't finish any of them, though I did enjoy the slab route. Sean did really really well, sending a bunch of 11's, and ended up fourth overall, only missing the finals by - well, ok, a lot, but only because VJ, Ben, and the kid from Loyala are crazy good and can onsight 5.12. That means climb it the first time without falling or having any prior tips on how to do it.

So it's rest for me and the wrist and perhaps a trip to urgent care on Wednesday before mom comes into town just to make sure it doesn't need to be immobilized or something. I tweaked it again opening the car door (an undercling, technically) and it aches. I guess going to Mali for three weeks and not climbing through the holidays will be the best thing for it, but it bums me out.

A sort of frustrating continuation to some other things, including boots getting stolen (or misdelivered) off our porch, the treadmill not having its startup key, and not being able to install Windows on my mac this weekend so that I can use our new trial mapping software. Nothing major really. And offset by lots of good hanging out time all weekend and my free Prana jeans I won in the comp raffle. They are size L, but fit pretty good, and hopefully I can shrink them a bit in the wash.

That familiar sense of panic

I am going back to Mali Dec 5-20th for the integrated measles/malaria/polio/Vitamin A campaign so that I can babysit journalists, translate, and do logistics. I'm excited but now I only have two weeks to do this database thing which makes me want to shoot myself. Plus Office Olympics (November 27th) and the Friends of Gabon Mayumba ITN distribution. Yiiiiikes.

Panic Free Weekend

I made a potful of Hazan's ragu this friday. Here's the recipe so that I don't have to keep calling up my mom every time I want to make it!

Melt
8 tbl yellow onion
8 tbl diced carrot
in 12 tbl olive oil and a stick of butter

crumble in
3 lbs chuck just until loses its red color, and 4 tsp kosher salt.

add a bottle of white wine, cook until evaporated.
Then add 2 cups milk (whole is better, duh) and cook until evaporated. All this over medium-high heat.

Oops I forgot the 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Oh well.

Add 3 large cans (~8 cups) San Marzano tomatoes. Chop 'em up in the can first.

Cook uncovered for 5 hours or as long as possible. Sauce should not be too liquidy at the end. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.

Sean's Dream

I went climbing with Sean yesterday and got some beers after. Here's the dream he had last night:

I had an interesting dream last night. The four of us were out driving
in the country somewhere, past lots of corn fields and we passed this
makeshift dirt dragstrip. Someone was racing two white limousines on
the dragstrip, so when we passed it a second time we stopped to take a
look. This older guy owned the place and he liked all things fast.
Hannah seemed to know him. We went inside his house where bryan found a
rolling desk chair, a propane tank, and a stack of cash. He got this
grreat idea that he could sit in the desk chair with the propane tank,
open it up and light it, and shoot down the dragstrip. He liked this
idea so much, he was going to race one of the limos and bet his new
found wad of cash. So we looked around for a helmet he could wear. We
found a stash of about 20 dusty old peugeot bikes. I got excited,
thinking i could buy one off the guy, but Hannah assured me that he
loved them all an would never sell them. So we found bryan a bike
helmet, an old style leather one, and he headed out to race. Everyone
was waiting for him, including a guy riding around on a red track bike.
Unfortunately, i woke up before the race went down, but bryan was so
sure he was going to win, it was hardly worth watching anyway.

We made it out

Sorry for not posting, not like any of you actually read this to make sure I'm still alive :)

I'm in Philly, in a hotel room next to the bank of elevators, listening to sessions I cannot concentrate on, signing myself up for website design for 80 hours a week for the next two months, and hoping the fog in my head will not lead to malaria. Jet lag is getting better and we appear to be moving forward with the project but I'm just so tired, and Gates is taking over the malaria world without putting any more money into it. Kevin describes it as 'the predator', running through the leaves and bushes around us, but we can't see it.

Okie dokie

On our flip chart in a conference room where no one is discussing work and everyone is checking their email, we have:

Dakar Flight

8:30 leave hotel
9am formalities/weigh-in
11:00am departure

It's not much, but it's a lot. Now if we can just get the Ghanaians, our director, and the Camerounaise to Ouaga by road we will have taken care of everybody.

I think I've missed my calling as a logistics expert.

Low blood sugar

Eating always makes you feel better.

We have everyone's tickets changed and distributed - I am not sure if our first flight is 9:30am Saturday or 16:40 Saturday, or how long it will take to fly to Dakar with this little plane, but we will figure it out tomorrow. We had a nice chat before dinner with Charles the airplane mechanic who reassured us that Soviet planes last a long time, so hopefully we will be ok. Then off to the National Museum, which has a FANTASTIC sculpture outside of a minibus filled with people and piled high with metal trunks, plastic mama bags, goats, and lanterns and salidagas. The passengers are made of paper maché and it's covered in stickers like "BinLadens" and presidential campaign photos. The ouijala was excellent as always (Museum has the best Malian food of any restaurant) and it was very nice to see my old friends Maiga and Tandina from the other CCP projects, who I met when I was working here for PSI. It was a little CCP family dinner with our director who got stuck with a pretty large bogolan. Fortunately she's not on our flight so I don't have to worry about the weight!

It's ten to 9:00 and I'm going to sleep. Hopefully Charles will tell me how great the Appaloosa Halloween party was tomorrow.

Charter Flight

We have chartered a 16 seat plane to Dakar on Saturday. If everyone's luggage is under 25 kilos we won't crash.

I'm getting pretty close to not being able to function anymore. At this point it's almost not worth going to Philly since I"ll be broken there anyway and unable to really participate, though I guess we'll see if I can find some strength somewhere.

Two if by land, one if by charter plane

Options:

Charter a small plane to take the 6 of us to Dakar saturday morning; see if we can get on one of the many flights out of Dakar home.

Drive 12 hours to Ouaga where Air France says they can maybe put us on the one AF flight from Ouaga to Paris. We'd have to get visas today.

Stay until the 12th of November because the backup from the strike and the airport closing mean a lot of people need to get out. I love Bamako, but not that much.

Kara, I love you

but not when you call me at 1:40 in the morning. Sorry if I was rude!