Hey Folks,
So...let me fill you in on the last few weeks. Since returning from Cape Town, work has been extremely busy. With most of the Teen Club staff away on leave or at workshops in Gabs or out of country. There is just Lorena and I to man the office and the little projects and assignments that keeping popping up, particularly the last minute deadlines assigned to us on friday afternoon and due on Monday...typical!
However, besides that I am really enjoying it...this Saturday is my last Teen Club event before I leave and its a big one. This teen club event is particular cool, because I came up with the activity for the life skills session. The younger kids will be wokring with me on an introductory activity on Human Rights and HIV. This was one of my projects I was assigned to while here and I am looking forward to see how it goes. The older ones will be working on clearing the plot of our adolescent centre by clearing the overgrown grass and brush to make way for the new portable caravan that should be arriving soon and all the Teen Club staff will be moving into. After both sessions the Teens will also be having there Teen Leader elections and will be voting. Approximatley 35 teens will be giving speeches and 10 will be elected (5 boys and 5 girls). Its going to be interesting coordinating over 150 kids to vote, but it should be fun nonetheless.
I will let you all know how it went after saturday...
However, not all my news this week is as positive or exciting, but still important to mention.
Firstly, sad news from our morning play group. One of our adult volunteers who was pregnant with twins has passed away after giving bith on Saturday. Turns out she was sent home the day after her c-section with Pneumonia and passed away a few days later. Really sad news, but the babies are perfectly healthy.
Secondly, with only two weeks left in Gabs and being incident free in terms of losing anything, break-ins, being robbed (even after being in Joburg) I had a incident at my house last night.
At 2:30am Magali and I were woken up by the blaring of our two alarm systems. The first from our electric fence and the second from our family room/kitchen alarm (which is activated at night and allows the alarm to be on when people are home and asleep in their bedrooms).
Now we have had quite a few false alarms where the fence alarm has been tripped by a branch or a lizard, but we have never had both alarms go off. When we woke up we turned off the alarms and opened the door to the living room. We looked around and noticed that one of the windows was wide open and the burglar bars had been broken. The security company arrived within 5 minutes and thats when I remembered/noticed that I had left my backpack that night in the living room with my laptop, which was now missing. So within a 30 second time frame that they broke in and tripped the second alarm they culprits had just enough time to get in swipe the bag (wipe down the window with a wet cloth - to remove finger prints, very CSI of them).
Security and police arrived, filed some reports about what was stolen and what it looked like.
To tell you the truth I am really glad that nothing worse happened. It really sucks that my laptop is now gone and that I was planning on moving out of that house this weekend, but again nothing worse happened (like them coming into our rooms or even having to see them, which would have been pretty terrible).
The thing I am actually most upset about is not the laptop itself, but all my work from Baylor in particular The Human Rights Guide that I had been working on the last few months which was due for submission next week. ALL OF IT GONE!!!! I can start again, but it wont be ready next week! Luckily all my pictures are still on my camera and a lot of my documents are save in my gmail account. I am also really upset about my backpack...I LOVED THAT BAG! haha. So if I see anyone walking around Gabs with a brown bag and a little canadian flag sown on the back I might have to ask them where they got it...lol
But yah thats life, no point of dwelling and getting all upset about it. My time here has been great and it doesnt spoil anything
That being said I wouldnt mind having a drink or two tonight and I am also very much considering doing a one night two day safari, just to be out in the bush and see some awesome animals and take my mind off things!
So yah...I am going to enjoy the rest of my time here and then I will be seeing you guys shortly. I think there is some talk of me stopping over in Greece on my way home to pick up some Tsiporo for my dad, but we will see. This whole Volcanic ash thing is making it really difficult to get throught to BA to try and change my flight.
So that has been my last few days. Hopefully, the next few get better and that I can get that safari trip in order.
until next time....
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Cape Town and Rabies
Hello Everyone,
So, I thought it was about time that I fill everyone in on what my last few weeks were like here in Botswana. They were definitely far from ordinary. As I has mentioned in my last blog, I had planned a trip to Cape Town over the Easter Long Weekend, it was a great trip and before I get into that let me fill you in on the incident with the dog. So on the tuesday before I was supposed to leave for Cape Town. Ed and Agatha (my friends from work) and I decided to make the 20-25 minute walk to Fresh Cafe for lunch. A walk we have made many times before and well worth it. Fresh Cafe for those who dont know is a restaurant/cafe with delicious western style food, ciabatta sandwiches, smoothies, thai chicken wraps, real salad etc. I could go on for a while! So, as I was saying we were heading to Fresh Cafe, and along the way we ran into two dogs across the street one big brown one and the other smaller and black. Now for the record most stray dogs or any dogs in Gabs are extremely skiddish and wont even come up to people because they are afraid of getting beat.
However, these two seemed extremely interested in Agatha and I and stared us down a bit before deciding to run across the street and bark at us and threaten to bite. At first they kept their distance, but then they tried to bite. My initial reaction was to yell "HEY!!!" very effective! haha. It did keep them away long enough for Agatha and I to walk away a bit, but the little black one came back a second time and managed to nip my left leg just behind my knee before I kicked it. I was wearing pants and noticed that nothing ripped so I thought nothing of it. While at Fresh Cafe, the place where I got bit started to sting and I went to the bathroom and saw that it had actually broken the skin and there was a defined bite mark on the back of my leg. I thought nothing of it, washed it and that was that. While at lunch two doctors from Baylor, friend of ours, came into Fresh Cafe. In conversation we told them about our run in with the dogs and my bite and they both immediately wanted to see it. I told them it was barely a scratch and nothing to worry about. However, they insisted and once they saw it they went into full doctor mode. Talking about the type of wound and then began to tell me that it was more serious that I originally thought.
While the cut wasnt big, the simple fact that it broke the skin, that it was unidentified dog, that it attacked unprovoked made them think that I should get the rabies vaccines, especially if we couldnt find the dog or its owner. (we couldnt). Now the likelihood that the dog was actually rabid was slim, but with a disease that has a 100% fatality rate, it wasnt worth the risk.
So after lunch we went back to the clinic to talk to the associate director. Dr. Mike Tolle who back in texas, used to have a travel clinic he began the process of locating the series of vaccines I would need. Turns out that I would need a total of 11 vaccines. 5 of the rabbies vaccine and 6 shots of the Rabies immuno globluin ( which they had to inject around the wound). However, it turned out that the globulin was nowhere to be found in Botswana and was only available in Johannesburg, South Africa. So it was now a scramble to book an appointment at a clinic there and find out how I was going to get there.
Luckily I had already planned to be in Joburg on friday to catch my bus to capetown, so I simply caught a ride with two friends who were heading there on wednesday and I hung out in Joburg for two days with Agatha.
*Sidenote* Joburg is nowhere near ready for the World Cup. The construction is still far from being done, the traffic was terrible and the crime is still a big issue.
Anyway I Got the globulin and day 3 vaccine and caught my bus to cape town, where I still had to get my shot for day 7 and I have two more to go 1 on tuesday and then one a few weeks later. It was kind of a pain in the ass, but I am extremely lucky that I work at a clinic with doctors who helped me out so much. If I had to arrange getting to Joburg on my own or finding my own vaccines it would have been an even bigger nightmare. Dr. Tolle was such a huge help and he even talked to my mom on the phone so she didnt freak out haha. Also, all these shots were uber expensive...thank god for insurance and for WUSC who will cover the remainder of my shots here in Gabs.
So that was that, definitely an adventure but a good story and I am now vaccinated againts rabies, which would have costs way more in Canada!
Anyway, let me also tell you about my little trip to Cape Town. It was AMAZING! I would argue it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. The food was amazing, great seafood, sushi and everything else. I even tried some game meat (crocodile=disgusting, warthog=great, ostrich=delicious). I still think I will just stick to the classics. While there we went to Cape Point the most Southwestern point on the african continent and apparently it is the location where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic battle it out. Unfortunately, the weather was really windy when we were there and robben island was closed most of the time or sold out. Also, the cable car up table mountain was closed most of the week and there was alot of cloud cover. However, we did climb lions head which was equally as beautiful and the views were great! We of course headed to Simonstown and Boulders beach to see the Penguins, which were pretty cool.
It was definitely an fantastic trip and a place I can see my self visiting over and over again. Now, I am back in Gabs for my last month. Time has flown by and I will be home before I know it. In terms of traveling, I have one more place I would like to visit. I am thinking of a weekend trip to Victoria Falls, I orignially ruled it out, but being this close and not going would be a shame! I am thinkning the first weekend of May, once I am finished my main projects at work and before I start packing up to leave.
Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Easter, I know I did.
ps. Sorry but the pictures were not loading properly, so I think I will just create a Facebook album for Cape Town.
So, I thought it was about time that I fill everyone in on what my last few weeks were like here in Botswana. They were definitely far from ordinary. As I has mentioned in my last blog, I had planned a trip to Cape Town over the Easter Long Weekend, it was a great trip and before I get into that let me fill you in on the incident with the dog. So on the tuesday before I was supposed to leave for Cape Town. Ed and Agatha (my friends from work) and I decided to make the 20-25 minute walk to Fresh Cafe for lunch. A walk we have made many times before and well worth it. Fresh Cafe for those who dont know is a restaurant/cafe with delicious western style food, ciabatta sandwiches, smoothies, thai chicken wraps, real salad etc. I could go on for a while! So, as I was saying we were heading to Fresh Cafe, and along the way we ran into two dogs across the street one big brown one and the other smaller and black. Now for the record most stray dogs or any dogs in Gabs are extremely skiddish and wont even come up to people because they are afraid of getting beat.
However, these two seemed extremely interested in Agatha and I and stared us down a bit before deciding to run across the street and bark at us and threaten to bite. At first they kept their distance, but then they tried to bite. My initial reaction was to yell "HEY!!!" very effective! haha. It did keep them away long enough for Agatha and I to walk away a bit, but the little black one came back a second time and managed to nip my left leg just behind my knee before I kicked it. I was wearing pants and noticed that nothing ripped so I thought nothing of it. While at Fresh Cafe, the place where I got bit started to sting and I went to the bathroom and saw that it had actually broken the skin and there was a defined bite mark on the back of my leg. I thought nothing of it, washed it and that was that. While at lunch two doctors from Baylor, friend of ours, came into Fresh Cafe. In conversation we told them about our run in with the dogs and my bite and they both immediately wanted to see it. I told them it was barely a scratch and nothing to worry about. However, they insisted and once they saw it they went into full doctor mode. Talking about the type of wound and then began to tell me that it was more serious that I originally thought.
While the cut wasnt big, the simple fact that it broke the skin, that it was unidentified dog, that it attacked unprovoked made them think that I should get the rabies vaccines, especially if we couldnt find the dog or its owner. (we couldnt). Now the likelihood that the dog was actually rabid was slim, but with a disease that has a 100% fatality rate, it wasnt worth the risk.
So after lunch we went back to the clinic to talk to the associate director. Dr. Mike Tolle who back in texas, used to have a travel clinic he began the process of locating the series of vaccines I would need. Turns out that I would need a total of 11 vaccines. 5 of the rabbies vaccine and 6 shots of the Rabies immuno globluin ( which they had to inject around the wound). However, it turned out that the globulin was nowhere to be found in Botswana and was only available in Johannesburg, South Africa. So it was now a scramble to book an appointment at a clinic there and find out how I was going to get there.
Luckily I had already planned to be in Joburg on friday to catch my bus to capetown, so I simply caught a ride with two friends who were heading there on wednesday and I hung out in Joburg for two days with Agatha.
*Sidenote* Joburg is nowhere near ready for the World Cup. The construction is still far from being done, the traffic was terrible and the crime is still a big issue.
Anyway I Got the globulin and day 3 vaccine and caught my bus to cape town, where I still had to get my shot for day 7 and I have two more to go 1 on tuesday and then one a few weeks later. It was kind of a pain in the ass, but I am extremely lucky that I work at a clinic with doctors who helped me out so much. If I had to arrange getting to Joburg on my own or finding my own vaccines it would have been an even bigger nightmare. Dr. Tolle was such a huge help and he even talked to my mom on the phone so she didnt freak out haha. Also, all these shots were uber expensive...thank god for insurance and for WUSC who will cover the remainder of my shots here in Gabs.
So that was that, definitely an adventure but a good story and I am now vaccinated againts rabies, which would have costs way more in Canada!
Anyway, let me also tell you about my little trip to Cape Town. It was AMAZING! I would argue it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. The food was amazing, great seafood, sushi and everything else. I even tried some game meat (crocodile=disgusting, warthog=great, ostrich=delicious). I still think I will just stick to the classics. While there we went to Cape Point the most Southwestern point on the african continent and apparently it is the location where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic battle it out. Unfortunately, the weather was really windy when we were there and robben island was closed most of the time or sold out. Also, the cable car up table mountain was closed most of the week and there was alot of cloud cover. However, we did climb lions head which was equally as beautiful and the views were great! We of course headed to Simonstown and Boulders beach to see the Penguins, which were pretty cool.
It was definitely an fantastic trip and a place I can see my self visiting over and over again. Now, I am back in Gabs for my last month. Time has flown by and I will be home before I know it. In terms of traveling, I have one more place I would like to visit. I am thinking of a weekend trip to Victoria Falls, I orignially ruled it out, but being this close and not going would be a shame! I am thinkning the first weekend of May, once I am finished my main projects at work and before I start packing up to leave.
Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Easter, I know I did.
ps. Sorry but the pictures were not loading properly, so I think I will just create a Facebook album for Cape Town.
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