Last couple “hoorahs” and coming home

This blog entry finds me in the great country of USA! I have traveled internationally before-farther than Africa, actually… no matter where I go, I always feel a wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling upon returning to this great nation. There are happy tears shed every single time… Honestly, we have much to be thankful for.

I will go back a little over the last couple of days and give you an idea of what I have been up to. The last two days of work were a blur to say the least. Somehow, I managed to get everything done although I literally was working to the 11th hour. We got to the hospital that last day at around 7:45, and we left when I finally finished the last set of materials I had created at 7:15. This trip was definitely not long enough to accomplish all I needed to do there, but I at least gave them a good start. When I went down to the peds unit to give them the resources and say my goodbyes before they all left, they were very appreciative. They told me I need to come back and stay longer next time. They also gave me a lot of travel tips for northern Botswana and Cape Town in South Africa. I would like to see Victoria Falls at some point- if you don’t know what that is and haven’t seen a picture, you should look it up! It’s amazing. Someday I will get there… The nurses and I were talking about PA because they all wanted to know how long the flight was, what the time difference is, what PA is like, and about the weather. *sigh* I told them I would prefer to take the 90 degree days home with me because it’s winter in the US. They said that they know what it’s like because they have winter there too- just opposite of us. Yeah… winter in Africa. I was thinking there is no way it’s as cold there as it is for us, so I asked what their typical low temp is. They told me it’s as cold as -1 degrees… Celsius. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that’s about 30 degrees F. I said wow… -1 degrees Celsius? Try -1 degrees Fahrenheit! They decided they didn’t like the idea of experiencing that. They also wanted to know about snow, and I told them we have a lot of it- especially the further north you live. They said they can understand why people like to experience the different seasons- a lot of them have never seen snow. : )

In any case, the people really were wonderful, and it was a pleasure to work with/for them. I hope in some small way, I made their situation a little better. Botswana is a great place to visit, and I truly hope I can go back at some point. Speaking of wanting to go back, I discovered a couple of interesting/strange things on this trip that we don’t have/do in the US (that I know of). First of all, for some reason in this part of Africa, they don’t really put a priority on refrigeration. I think I had mentioned the luke-warm yogurt that was often present for breakfast. It was the same with cold cuts (meats and cheeses), any type of deli sandwiches that would usually be in a cooler, some drinks, eggs, and milk! Apparently, they don’t think those things need to be kept cold. It’s very strange. I basically just avoided it all so that I wouldn’t have problems. I also noticed that they don’t have any large quantities of soda anywhere. I wasn’t at one restaurant the whole time where they had a soda machine. They have single cans of everything and bottles of water, and when you order a drink, they bring you one can and a glass with ice. Even when we went to the supermarket, they had single cans- no six packs, no cases. I thought that was so weird. It’s interesting to see the different ways things are done in other countries. I wish I could have brought one of their drinks home with me. It’s a sparkling juice- kind of the same idea as the Welch’s sparking grape juice and apple cider that you have around the holidays, but this is a sparking apple juice. I think the name brand was ceres or something like that. I will have to look it up to try to find some because it was so good! Basically it took my favorite juice and made it even better : ) The simple things in life…

On Thursday night, our last night there, we went out to dinner with some of the gang from the states. We went to a Portuguese restaurant that reminded me of a “ma and pa” Italian place. There was an outside patio with twinkle lights and greenery hanging- very nice atmosphere. We enjoyed some South African wine (I even liked it) and good conversation. At the table behind us were a group of medical students from the U-Penn program where they spend a rotation in Botswana. It was interesting to listen to their take on things- I don’t think they had been there for long yet. The food was good, but the service was pretty slow, so we got back with not much time left to pack. I know this will shock all of you, but I had actually done a lot of it the night before so I would be prepared. Some habits die hard… In any case, Rich and I were up early the next morning to make a second trip to the local game park called Mokolodi before we left on our flight. We stopped on the way to get gas in the new rental car, and I noticed for the first time since I had been there that every gas station still has attendants who fill your tank for you and wash your windows. They will also check your tires and fluids! I didn’t notice the first time we stopped for gas because the girls and I had gone in to buy some snacks. Anyway, the attendants did a good job and had us on the road again in no time. I told Rich my dad had started his working days as a gas station attendant and can still quote his sales pitch line to the customers, “Can I fill it up with super premium, sir?” or something similar. He also tells stories of looking at the pretty ladies through the windshield while he washed it. : ) I appreciated the trip back in time.

We made it to Mokolodi, and this time it was not pouring down rain, so we were able to go on the game drive! We saw some more of the same animals, but we enjoyed ourselves and got a lot more great pictures. The guide told me that she had actually spent a year working at Disney World in Orlando. I learned when we did a backstage tour of Disney that they often make it very worth it to come over from other countries to work there. They offer English classes and other education, they take care of their entire work wardrobe, and they generally offer them a great experience. She confirmed that concept and told me she would definitely return if she was asked. She had worked at the Animal Kingdom as one of the handlers there. (fitting)

Soon after the game drive, we were on our way to the airport, unsure of what security would be like on the way back. It turned out that it was a little more stringent for sure. We spent two hours in Dakar instead of one. I am sure this was mostly due to the increased security for people joining us on the plane. All in all, the trip was fine- no major problems, and I managed to sleep about the same 3-4 hours as I did on the way there. When we made it to Pittsburgh, our dear friends Kate and Bryan and their kids Ethan, Elyse, and Josie were my welcoming committee. They came, complete with signs, to welcome me home. What a great site to see after a long, LONG trip. It was good to be home! This experience has been like no other, and I have learned so much. I hope you feel a little like you were there with me. I look forward to seeing you all and showing you the pictures. Thank you for reading all of this- I know I tend to be detailed at times… For now, I will say goodbye and save the rest of the stories for when I see you! This has been an awesome two weeks… God is good! ~A