I'm back!

Okay, I apologize for not keeping up with the blog in my final weeks. It was getting tough to find time with the internet...and when I did find time I needed a lot of it just to get the essential things done. So, here we are...me back in America after nearly 4 months in beautiful South Africa. As I sat on the plane I continually kept thinking "I'm really going back home". It did not seem like I had been in SA long enough. I will miss my life in Limpopo. I think coming back was harder to going because at least I knew when I would be coming back to the US...I don't know when I"ll be going back to SA. I hope it won't be too long.

What have I been up to the past two weeks?

Glad you asked. Internet access has been iffy. the server at UNIVEN has been down soI've been using an internet cafe (which has it's own issues). I traveled to a town about 2 hours south in the next district. I worked with the other doctoral student on the project (who is also an officer in the provincial TB program) doing focus groups and interivews). We had to be flexible and work with unplanned obstacles (I did not have my translations for my interview guides, electricity was out at the village we visited for patient interviews). Overall I think it went well.

I wanted to go back this week, but will probably have to wait until next week (Thursday or Friday...I want to spend Tuesday following the elections back home).

Okay...what else? Mainly I've been working with project team members. I have not been taking a lot of pictures lately (though there are more I need to add to the wesite). I've started looking for housing back home (my realtor has been looking). It's kinda sad to know that I won't be living in my own house when I return...now I am once again at the mecy of landlord restrictions (mostly I'm concerned about being able to find something nice with enough room for me and Romeo).

That's it for now.

My vote is on it's way to America

I just got word that my ballot which I mailed to the embassy in S.A. (since my last mail to the US did not make it) has been received. Yay! I jumped through hoops in order to cast my ballot. In other news, we completed another interview today. I need to sort out the info I have so far and decide how to precede. Things are not going as planned because the funder has not yet made the promised funds available. We are doing the best we can...we just won't be able to do everything in the way we said we would. Ah...the challenges of international work (or any work with limited resources).

Answered Prayer

I would like to start this blog talkinga bout my journey to vote in the U.S. presidential election. It has been challenging. I had sent in a registration form for an absentee ballot mid to late August. I called the Harris county election office on October 2nd and was told they did not receive it. The representative emailed me another form and said I could email it back. Well, I could not edit the document and save it so I ended up faxing it. I went ahead and faxed my ballot as well. I am nervous about my vote counting. She said she would make an exception for me since I am in a rural area, don't have a car and can not get to the embassy in S.A. Still...that's iffy to me. I am in touch with Democrats Abroad and the prsesident in S.A. said I could end my ballot to him and he would hand deliver it to the embassy. That way I can guarantee they get a hard copy to count.

Okay, so that is one thing. the other challenging issue for me this weekend was that I left my keys in a taxi on saturday - something I had been dreading. Now, Thohoyandou is a small town, but there are hundreds of taxis. I had a feeling I left my keys in the taxi as soon as I closed the door but I kept going. When I got to the office my feeling as confirmed. So, I called my coworker and got the number for the office key and as able to get a copy at the locksmith. I planned to go back later and get a copy of my room key but the person over the guesthouses did not know the key number. So I said I'll go back anyway and see if I recognize my room key in the locksmith's stock of keys. Well, the locksmith was closed. So, I decide it's not the end of the world (I can still ge tin the house because someone else is at home)and I"ll go back home and look for a locksmith in Sibasa. As I am walking back to the taxi rank I pray for a miracle that I will see the taxi with my key - doesn't happen.

I call Cebisa, a friend who is also a neighbor, and told her the situation. She and another neighbor came over to try and help me find a key that matches my room key. Long story short - we did not find a similar key, we even had a hardstore owner to come with the keys he had in stock. Sunday I went to church with Cebisa and her family. We went back to the house and cooked and ate. It was a nice and relaxing sunday. On Monday the person who in charge of the guesthouses informed me that she was in Joburg and could not help me and directed me to someone in maintenace. So I wonder how more interesting this story can get. Well, my period starts. Darn. I construct a makeshift sanitary pad and head for campus. I get in a tax and the driver stares at me. I stare back at him and he reaches over and hands me my keys (hallalujuah!).

P.S. There are a lot of details I am not sharing. The main point is God answers prayer.

Quick note

Sorry, I've slacked off a bit. But alot is going on. In between power and water outtages I got sick and that just slowedm e down in general. Then last week my German roommates decided to move on campus (rooms became available in the guest house on campus) . They wanted me to move with them. At first my thought was that staying in Sibasa would be better. It would be quieter now and I could focus on my work. Then I considered how conveneint staying on campus would be: I could go to the office and stay as late as I wanted (there is 24 hr security on campus) and I would be around other students (this has alot of pluses and minuses). So I went to the house to see what the space looked like. There are only three rooms so the girls said they could share (no big deal, they shared a room in Sibasa and the rooms are pretty big). Great, the only problem is tha the one open room does not have cabinets for me to store my things. Plus it is the first room as you enter the house, and there are no locks. I would just feel better if I had a closet. So I decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet and stay in Sibasa for now. My professor is still across the street and my other roommate (the professor) will not be moving for another week.

I am starting to do interviews this week (was going to start today but the head nurse was too busy). I hope things go well.

Catch up from last week

I left for Cape Town on the 6th. My roommates decided to have another campfire before the trip (they were leaving for the Durban trip). A few students from UNIVEN joined us this time.

Sept. 7th - You could hear the bus before you could see it. House music was blasting as the bus approached campus (by the way - music was blasting from the bus 24/7 for the next 6 days). We did not leave until close to 10am. Got to Cape Town close to 12:30pm on Monday. The bus ride was quite interesting...you'll have to email me privately for the details...On a sad note - we saw 4 car accidents on the way up to cape town. One had multiple fatalities. As we were approaching the accident I told the girl seating next to me that it looked like luggage and pieces of an automobile were scattered on the road. She said no, those are people...she was right. I did not look out the window as we passed, but I could hear the cries of the others on the bus.

Sept. 8th - Monday was a rest day. My ears needed rest more than my body (we had been on the bus for more than 26 hours with music on full blast the entire time). One of the first things I did was buy a pair of earplugs.

Sept. 9th - We drove to Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope). It was a surprise to most people that we would have to pay our own way to any of the attractions we visited. So...since this wasn't discussed or planned out before the trip, the group decided to leave and spent the rest of the day at the waterfront. This was fine with me...the only place I absolutely wanted to visit was Robbin Island (and I was told that we would go on Friday). I was just happy to get to Cape Town for only $480 rand...hotel and food included (though I told the organizer not to include me in the food count). I walked to the Convention Center in hopes that Hillsong Cape Town had a mid-week service... they did not. So I joined the rest of the group at the waterfront.

Sept. 10th - We went to Table Mountain. It was nice...beautiful views of Cape Town and robbin Island, saw a few animals up there. Very cold and windy. We went to another mall later in the day (going to the mall was a big deal during this trip). Sometime between yesterday and today I devel0ped the flu.

Sept 11th - No rain today! We went to the beach. Although it was sunny...it was still very cold. Didn't stop anyone from getting into their swim suits and playing in the water. I sat on the beach with a plastic bag and tissue (spent the time reading and blowing my nose). Later today is when we found out that the money situation was more serious than previously thought. The student organizer for the trip had been using his personal money to buy food for everyone. The hotel had gone up on their prices...which left him short on money for food. The most devastating news was that we were not going to Robbin Island. I had considered going by myself, then I figured I should not separate myself from the group...I didn't want to make myself more of an outsider. So....I missed out. Maybe I'll have another opportunity to visit Cape Town....just for the purpose of going to Robbin Island.

We left Cape Town on Friday because of the money situation.

Note - hey, I hope all the Houston people are all right. I heard about Hurricane once I got back to the internet Monday.

more pictures

check them out: http://picasaweb.google.com/mona949802/MyJourneyInSouthAfrica?authkey=T3McShzvtV8#