When I was at PSI I was responsible, among other things, for handling the details of a relationship between PSI and the cellphone company Ikatel, who broadcast our SMS messages on malaria and HIV; making a quarterly newsletter and other layout/design duties; and helping to organize a big concert with many Malian artists, along with a dinner/gala at Oumou Sangare’s hotel to kick that off.

Now my TDY (temporary duty) job is to help organize a concert with multiple Malian artists, perhaps large, perhaps at Oumou’s hotel with VIPs, write and design a ‘plaquette’ or malaria fact sheet/folder, and perhaps work with the new Ikatel, Orange, to send out SMS for Africa Malaria Day.

I’ve called up my old buddies, Oumou’s husband, our Burkinabais production and sound system guy, Habib’s little brother the sound guy, and we’re underway in the planning. My goal is to introduce the team to these folks and they can take it from there. Already we’ve laid out the messages for 4 3-minute sketches to be written and approved on Monday, filmed Tuesday and Wednesday, edited and in the can on Thursday, and broadcast on Friday just before Mali’s most popular soap opera, D’où la famille. Nevermind that this is BCC (behavior change communication) and not advocacy (shh, don’t tell our donor!).

As promised, Areana and I met Julia at the Bla Bla, which is now enclosed in glass and brick and is air conditioned, and has all the charm and atmosphere of a crappy café. The pork chops were still excellent, however. Thursday we hit Sukothai with British engineers and a Dutch guy straight out of the book I’m reading, “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.” They’re doing the design for the Millenium Challenge Corp’s irrigation and road-building project up north of Niono, all the way to Timbuktu. But maybe there’s no water to do this – it’s unclear. The food was excellent and we spoke with the Belgian owner, whose Thai wife runs the kitchen. They’re retired (he’s an ex-consultant).

Today we went shopping, and of course of the four places we went, one was closed until October, and the rest I have to find time to go back to before I leave, to pick up things. Ahmed had some really nice stuff, I got my picture frames, and my bracelet from 2000 is being repaired. Mia Mali is now Mali Chic and was closed for no good reason – I need to get Mary Beth her napkin rings so on verra when I’ll have time to get over there again. Perhaps when we take Areana to pre-enregistrement on Wednesday. We also each got two pairs of sandals at the Grand Artisanat, for 5000 each, which I can’t remember if that’s a good price or not, but we bargained for a while. Areana’s and Julia’s are more fancy and African, while mine are basically leather copies of some strappy teva flip flops from last season – but more my style.

Tuesday March 27th

It was 95 degrees when I landed in Bamako at 8:30. Claudia didn’t check the flight arrival time and wasn’t there to pick me up; fortunately my blackberry found the Malitel network and I was able to call her – probably only cost 10 dollars! On the ride to the hotel she told me that the strategy workshop I had flown out for had been canceled, since the National Malaria Control Program had decided April was African Malaria Month (April 25 is Africa Malaria Day) and that our project would organize all the activities, ideally one every day. April starts on Sunday, so….great.

The hotel is one I’ve been to before for workshops – it’s way out on the edge of downtown, close to our offices (5 minute walk, and 10 minutes from PSI). The wireless is free but inconsistent, and there’s nothing more depressing than a hotel room with no connection. It’s lonely.

Last night was more lonely, mostly because all of a sudden I had no idea what I would be doing, but today we sat down with the team and went over the activities, and there’s a lot I can help out on. Tonight I was hoping to get on the internet but am forced to do work. Tomorrow though Areana and I will head out to the Bla Bla and Thursday Julia and I are going to Sukothai, the best Thai restaurant in Africa.

We called Matt today and it looks like a) he is crumbling by himself in Baltimore and b) we are going to Nairobi in mid-May, after the RBM board meeting, for a strategic planning workshop for Year 2 with Claudia, Matt, Bonnie, myself, Gerald from Kenya, and Emmanuel. Also probably Regina from Mozambique and Djiba from Bamako. And Areana. I guess I’m excited but that leaves me very little time to organize the GHC panel (May 30th) and finish writing the annual report (May 30th). But – that’s life in the fast lane.

What's in the Water?

Sunday at brunch, co-workers told me that someone at the office thought I was cute. Of course I get all excited. "Too bad he's British and gay!" they said. But if our gay British colleague thinks I'm just so adorable, that is a good thing, because he is well known for being awesome and having good taste.

Today it continued - Anna said I looked very huggable. And then Lisa wanted to grab my ass! I mean, our hallway is tight and all, but this is getting a little out of hand. I don't know what people have been drinking lately, but I kinda like it.

Interns dropping like flies

After a terrible terrible 3/4 of the day things actually aren't so bad. No, we don't have the super awesome francophone intern I thought fer-sure would take our career-boosting internship, nor do we have the backup candidate because I said 'sorry!' to her before hearing back from our first choice. Nor do we know what the hell we're doing now that Kim's gone, and we sure don't have any other photos for our Africa Malaria Day photo exhibit besides Net Company #1's (beautiful, gorgeous, amazing) shots. But Net Company #2 is supposed to call me, and there are always more suckers looking for internships, and even when you think someone is ignoring you, maybe they are just busy watching DVDs and don't realize that you're all stressed out because, hey, did you say you were stressed out? So how are they supposed to know?

So I haven't quite failed yet although we're getting pretty close. I like living on the edge. Keeps me humble.

Plus did I mention my bike is HOTT? Pics soon, I promise.

Tylenol PM 1, HK 0

I am having the old insomnia again. Last night I was in bed at 10, lights out at 10:30, and at 11:00 it was clear that the old wheels were turning just a tad too fast. So I took 2 Tyl-pm and at 12:30 I was still awake and miserable.

Of course then I do fall asleep and wake up an hour after my alarm goes off, plenty late for work, with bags under my eyes the size of ping pong balls.

The good news is I'm going to Mali and Ghana in two weeks. The bad news is that one of my bosses is leaving right then and so my other boss will either be all on his own (bad) or training the new person without me (also bad).

Ugh. I'm in the suck. But at least now I know that Tylenol PM is NOT my friend.

Jazz Fest 2007

Bought my ticket. April 27-30th. Gillian Welch, Calexico, Dr John, Lucinda Williams. Cochon de lait po'boys and dinner at Cochon, Laura's bro's restaurant. Fun with Miss P (the O.G., not my old bike!) and the Gabon crew. Wandering around New Orleans with a pack on my back and sleeping on the floor, crawfish boils and real gumbo and fried oysters and Magazine street and oh my god I'm so hungry.

I was there last spring break when Kara was still there and we had the best time! Will post some pics when I get back home today.

Crystal, Neely/Doug - sorry to miss out on Merlefest this year!

I have a $250 voucher on American I have to use before June 25. Prizes to best suggestion for what to do with it.

hk

End of an Era

The other weekend Al and I wanted to go to the Dime Museum, but it was closed and getting ready to auction off all its weird artifacts (elephant man, mummies, etc). Now everything's sold. Fortunately some of the stuff will wind up in my boss's sister's new restaurant across from the Charles Theatre, so we'll still get to see it eventually.

Baltimore passes smoking ban!

Read all about it.

Card-Carrying Non-Members

Shootin'

We went shootin' Saturday with Thuy and Wes, Mary Beth and Meghan. And Thuy's friend Stephen. First two targets I got 7/13 in the black (at 15 feet), and the next two targets were slightly less great. We were shooting Thuy's 9mm service weapon which had NO SAFETY. That's right - he likes to live on the edge. Instead it had something called a decocking lever which served more or less the same purpose. The picture here is pretty close to what it looked like. For those that haven't shot before, it was loud (we were in the NRA's underground range), and actually there were a lot more women this time than last time (Dec 05). I attributed this to the new Democratic Congress but you may have your own theories. It was a little scary walking in there and handinling the gun again for the first time, but of course pretty soon we were shooting off rounds and loading clips like it was nothing. MB unfortunately caught a shell down the front of her shirt and was waving the gun all over as she shimmied to get the thing to drop down out of her cleavage, but no one was hurt and she just has a little burn on her neck. I think everyone should shoot a gun at least once in a range - although then I wouldn't get those looks of 'OMG' when I tell people at the office what I'm doing over the weekend.

Guns and Shovels

Feeling pretty proud of myself for getting the car out of the parking spot it's been iced into since Tuesday. Peter and I were making fun of this girl in a sportscar the other day who got stuck, and generally, of people who don't know how to rock and not spin their wheels. My car was in an angled parking space pointing slightly downward - but I had a secret weapon. At some point, perhaps before I moved to Baltimore, someone gave me a military shovel, the kind that folds up and you dig foxholes with when the enemy is firing at you in a) icy tundra or b) a forest setting. I guess I thought I would use it for camping but of course I never did. Now it has finally served its purpose, slicing through sheets of ice and carving out a nice path for my front wheels to grab. It was nice using my hands, the snick and crunch of blade through snow and ice, and the satisfying crack as the blocks broke up and skittered away under the car.

Now I can use the car to go to Virginia and shoot guns at the NRA Range, and then go skating. Supa-dupa.

Ghana's Golden Jubilee

Did you know Ghana's 50th anniversary of independence is March 6? Neither did I! To celebrate, our project is creating a one page flyer about how far the country has come on malaria control since 1957, and where we still need work. I have like, 10 days to do this. Awesome.

A few more

Boy. I'm really bored.

New T-shirts

I ordered some t-shirts online from Threadless.com last week and they finally came, a little late for one of my purposes but in plenty of time for another purpose. Sorry - the secrets are still necessary. I promise all will be revealed later next week. Anyway - I had this void in my closet of printed tees, having only plain shirts from the Gap, tshirts that were vintage in 1998, or actual high school track tshirts that are pretty much translucent. I needed shirts for climbing and for going to rock shows. Here are some (I didn't get all of them), and you can see what else they have on their website. Be warned - I had to order a medium as the sizes run pretty small.

Snow Day

We got off work today. I celebrated by cleaning the mouse poop out of the kitchen and mopping. Also by watching two episodes of CSI: Las Vegas. And making cocoa. I did manage to finish a draft powerpoint so all was not lost. I may even do some reading now to make up for laying in bed like a slug for six hours!

Weakness

Oh, Patagonia, why must you slash your prices, forcing me to buy things I really do not need (except underwear!)?

Origami

It's sleeting out and I got to come home from work early. Instead of catching up on reading for work (The Economics of Malaria Control Interventions) I am catching up on the New Yorker. There's an article about Robert Lang, a physicist who folds origami. The article has no pictures, which is too bad, because the pictures of his work are amazing. The one in this post is actually by Brian Chan and is one piece of paper. Lang also has pics of polyhedra which are often several pieces of paper folded the same way, then fitted together to make buckyballs, etc.

Hoping for a snow day tomorrow.

Overheard at Dizzy's

Saturday night after climbing we went to Dizzy Issie's, the only place I am happy eating a hamburger, and my favorite bar in Baltimore. Next to us were a pair of old dudes, spry enough, somewhat hale, perhaps not as hearty as they once had been. Late 70's, early 80s maybe. They were discussing finances, the way you or I would discuss setting up a 401k or which mutual fund might give the best return. Only their conversation was this:

"I heard this thing the other day, when you die it's really hard for your relatives to get at your money. So what you do is, see, you make it a joint account with one a' them. That way it's in both your names and when you die they take care of it."
"That's good, you gonna do it? You should get your brother to do that."

...conversation about getting plots in the cemetery....insurance...and the recurring motif of the conversation, stated so matter-of-factly it broke my heart:

"See, what I'm doin' is preparing to die. I'm just getting my stuff in order is what."
"That's right, that's right. It's good to plan ahead! You want one a' these wraps here? They're pretty good. Got corn beef in 'em."

It was one of those special Dizzy's moments, not unlike the night I met the guy with the Colnago.

Rocket to Venus II

This weekend we went back to Rocket to Venus, on 34th and Chestnut in Hampden, so Alistair could have a real Ham experience. Sure enough the waiters did not disappoint, with their rock-star mullets, tight jeans, and nice-blasé attitudes. The hostess texted on her cellphone all night and read the latest issue of Tank Girl. They were out of pirogies so we got the bacon/pork dumplings (good), the potato-leek soup, which had great consistency but tasted mainly of ground pepper, the grilled cheese ("Wow, this is a lot of cheese!" said Al), the Szechuan noodles (spicy and good!), and the house salad (super boring, but the boys managed to eat it all). The table next to us got the wimpies, veggie and meat, and they looked pretty good. Maybe next time.

Apparently, they also have free wireless for customers! Too bad they aren't open during the day.

Bumpers are for Bumping

I am passive aggressive. Especially when it comes to parking. I really don't mind using my bumpers as guides, but noticed this weekend that it is REALLY MORTIFYING to be continuously bashing into people while other people are in the car. So my new goal is not to touch other bumpers while parking (or when backing up to get out of the drop-off zone at the train station...). This came in handy this morning when the car behind me was my friend Lisa's from work. If we start from this morning, with a clean slate, the score is H 1, bumpers 0.