Returning to East Africa has been both a new and a familiar experience. Kenya and Tanzania are quite similar, so there is a more than vague familiarity. The most notable differences are that the Kenyan infrastructure is much more developed, especially the roads, and that English is widely spoken. I’ve been using Swahili a bit, though you can get by without knowing any.
Working in the hospital, with direct patient care responsibilities, is a new experience, but the frustrations are familiar. I was actually rather impressed with the resources available at the Moi University Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) here in Eldoret. Unlike the clinics, health centers and even the regional hospitals to which I was exposed in Ghana and Tanzania, MTRH has a functioning CT machine, a relatively respectable repertoire of laboratory resources, and even a highly functional HIV/AIDS treatment program sponsored by Indiana University and USAID that provides Anti-RetroVirals (ARVs) and even has an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. This doesn’t mean that patients in the medical ward don’t sleep two to a bed, that life-saving non-ARV drugs are available swiftly or consistently, or that more than 1 intern is present to cover up to 200 patients when on overnight or weekend call.
Although there is an undeniable lack of resources relative to, say, Columbia University Medical Center, the familiar frustration is not necessarily due to a lack of resources, but due to systems level issues by which it seems that even the available resources not used to their highest potential. The physicians and medical students are generally extremely knowledgable, but this doesn’t seem to translate in to efficient, high-quality patient care. It’s difficult to describe the issue precisely. An example: as you might expect, the in-hospital mortality rate is quite a bit higher here than in the US (though I can’t provide a number). Saying that medical the staff here is more accustomed to death than their western counterparts is a gross understatement. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems that this familiarity saps the sense of urgency from the treatment of acutely ill patients, patients in whom treatments like oxygen, diuresis, or atropine (which are available) may be potentially life-saving. Does this apparent lack of urgency have something to do with a different approach to resource management, by which physicians here have come to terms with the fact that temporizing treatments may be wasted if more chronic care resources are available? Maybe. Maybe not.
Another odd quirk of the system here is the staffing situation. During my two weeks in the medicine ward, daily rounds on the service are attended by between 20 and 35 people. My team had 8 4th year medical students, 4 6th year medical students (they’re on the British system where they do 6 years after high school, then internship), and a mass of other people who appeared on rounds but didn’t seem to be present on the wards otherwise, such as clinical and nursing officers in training. There were also about 2 foreign students present (myself and a Pharm D. student, for instance). Despite this mass of humanity, which makes it all but impossible to hear what is being said about the patients at the front of the pack, there is generally only 1 or 2 interns and 1 or 2 residents per team (of 25-50 patients). Attendings or consulting physicians are present only on some days of the week. The intern is responsible for all the patients, and the resident is rarely present on the ward after rounds. It would be near-impossible for an efficient intern to effectively carry this patient load even if ancillary services (nursing, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, etc.) were highly coordinated (they’re not), and even if the intern was not sometimes stuck at the back of the crowd and therefore unable to hear the plan of care. As such, because it is essentially impossible for the largely unsupervised intern (assisted by medical students who come and go from classes) to perform all the patient care tasks required, things just don’t get done. Laboratory tests are not sent. X-Rays are not ordered, or if ordered, not performed or not followed-up. Medications are not administered as ordered. Oxygen for a patient in severe respiratory distress may take 30 minutes to arrive. Patients die, and there seems to be little direct accountability or structured quality improvement monitoring. There is a lack of both positive and negative incentives for appropriate patient care. And everyone seems to be used to it.
So that’s what it’s like working in the hospital.
Want to hear about more fun stuff?
Well. My first weekend here in Eldoret, I was lucky enough to be invited by my team intern to head with her and her friends to the Safari Rally being held in nearby Iten. Picture long-distance, 4wd NASCAR, on tiny rural African roads. And Indian barbeque.
My intern is half Yemeni, half Indian, and raised in Kenya. Since she moved to Eldoret for her internship, she has fallen in with a crowd of Indian kids who grew up in town, and represent the demographically small, but economically important Indian presence in East Africa. Their families tend to own factories and large local businesses and most of them attended university in the UK. While it was a quintessentially Kenyan weekend (inasmuch as I was hanging out with Kenyans), one might not have expected camping out on the edge of the Great Rift Valley to involve a caravan of SUVs of pick-ups, Indian food cooked over a gas stove, trance music, and lots of beer. Following an evening of such incongruous culture, we drove out to the race course--120km of apparently randomly selected back-country road--parked on the roadside, and watched cars fly down the tiny dirt tracks at sufficiently breakneck speeds to entertain even American medical students highly skeptic of racing sports.
I dug it.
This weekend I ventured out with a few of the other visiting medical students to Mt. Elgon National Park on the Kenyan/Ugandan border. Perhaps I’ll provide further details in another post, as this one is becoming excessive, but lessons learned include: Don’t trust the trail markers in Mt. Elgon Park. Never get separated from the guy in your group with a map. Always carry a flashlight, no matter when you think you’ll be done hiking for the day. Iodine tablets are good to hike with, but a water filter is better. When all else fails, just turn around and go back the way you came, even if it is 15km back to camp. Don’t startle Giant Forest Hogs in the dark. And finally, stalking giraffe on foot through the forest is awesome.
Karibu Africa Tena!
Hello!
For those who weren't aware, I'm back in Africa. I'm finishing my last few months of medical school in style by working at Moi University Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. I'll be working here through mid-march, after which I'll be gallivanting until my mid-May graduation to Doctorhood.
I'm also accepting suggestions onwhat to do with 6 free weeks in East Africa. I just have to make it to Nairobi by May 1st. Leading possibilities include Ethiopia, Madagascar, or perhaps heading to the coast and bartering my labor to get on a boat and learn to sail. Anyone want in?
More soon!
Recently I may or may not have had my first bout of malaria, and I definitely got to climb up cellular towers in rural Tanzania.
The sickness happened thusly. And as a warning this may only be interesting to medical students and family. Actually, it might only be interesting to me. Anyway -- A few weeks ago I participated in the HAPO sports day. HAPO, you may remember is an orphans drop-in center where I have some friends doing volunteer work. Sports day is Friday. Usually it involves the boys going to play football (soccer) and the girls going to play net-ball (basketball where you don't run with the ball). On that particular Friday the boys' festivities also involved me, playing barefoot. Despite never having played much football, because I am -- you know -- post-pubescent, I think I made a pretty good showing, although it did involve finding a few cow-pies the tactile way and jamming my right big-toe pretty hard.
A few days later I noticed that my toe was a little red and tender, and that I had actually separated a decent part of my big-toe nail from the nail-bed. I cut off said nail, and went on with my life. The next day, the toe got mad. It was inflamed and there was seepage. A few hours later, I was somewhat alarmed when I got up from my desk and felt an uncomfortable lump on my right inner thigh in spot with vague, but nonetheless undeniable, proximity to my crotchal area. I felt only marginally better when I realized that it was an enlarged, tender, inferior superficial inguinal lymph node, and confirmed by internet search that these nodes do, indeed drain the toe. Several hours later, I began to feel general malaise, and that night became feverish.
I tend to be the type who grins and bears it, but even I was impressed by the quick progression of these symptoms, and as a medical student couldn't help but think about gram-positive bacteria flinging themselves into my blood stream and trying to make themselves a new home on my heart valves. I decided it was time to self treat and started cephalexin (first generation cephalosporin -- good gram-positive coverage). Although it was after pharmacy hours, one of the HAPO kids had this antibiotic handy, because a local doctor had prescribed it sometime back when she was having some stomach problems. After taking a dose or two, she spoke with her physician parents who informed her that, while it might do wonders for....say.....an infected toe, it had little chance of helping her stomach. I volunteered my toe.
After a rather restless night, I awoke afebrile, feeling better, and nerdily excited to return to the world of clinical medicine. I figured I had a pretty good story for toe-related systemic illness, but inasmuch as every fever, headache, sniffle and arthralgia here is tantamount to a diagnosis of malaria, I decided I had nothing to lose by getting a blood smear done at the hospital that day. And to my surprise, it was positive! I had 4 parasites per 500 WBCs.
So Huh. I really think the toe made me sick, and I was already feeling better before taking any antimalarials, but what about the parasites?
It's true that Africans with a lifetime of accumulated immunity can often have a few parasites in their blood and be asymptomatic. And while I have been quite proud of my immune system this year, I think it would be a bit premature to classify my immunity as African. I am also on weekly prophylaxis, and symptoms can sometimes be minimized by prophylaxis. Still, a friend of mine here was on prophylaxis and was quite ill with 4 parasites on her blood smear. Maybe, after almost a year, with my dislike of mosquito-repellent, and aided by ongoing weekly prophylaxis, I've built a little tolerance. Cool! I get to say both that I had malaria, and that I may have built up a bit of immunity!
Oh. I ended up treating for both malaria and toe, and have felt fine ever since that first night.
__________________________
On an unrelated note, we had a site visit recently from Ericsson, the mobile phone company. They're partnering with MVP to improve mobile communications technology throughout project sites. I was called upon to accompany the Ericsson guy through the cluster on his "Drive Test." While extremely important for the future of our communications system, this was not a particularly exciting job, as it involved sitting in the car for 10 hours and driving to disparate points in the cluster while he took measurements with fancy equipment.
The cool part, though, was that we also stopped at cellular towers throughout the cluster so that he could climb up and inspect the specifications and installation of various antennas and equipment. And I got to go with him! I've always been a sucker for climbing things, so this was a special treat.
Here are some of the pictures. I also took a video, which I'm trying to upload, but I'm having internet troubles like before. It might show up eventually.
And the conversation continues. I've found it interesting. I hope you guys do too. I'm interested on what people think about my reflection on racism too.
__________________________
A Russian Lady Whose Name I've now decided to edit out Wrote:
>
>Hi! Thank you so much for your nice attitude and for
>your reply. This is really nice of you.
>
>
>As to my swahili, I started to learn it and then I
>stopped, I know
>a lot of different words and phrases and even tenses. I
>am planning to continue learning it, so then I will be
>able to speak it in Tanzania.
>
>Actually I dont think that Tanzanians fell themselves
>uncomfortable in Russia, because here the workers of
>the Embassy are sheltered.They live in the center of
>Moscow in very nice appartements with numerous rooms,
>the country pays for all :food, accomodation, gasolin,
>lunches, tickets, mobile phones. the get salary in the
>amount of USD 6500-10000( you are living in Tanzaina
>and you now what this money is for their
>country)Actually for Russia and even for Moscow it is
>an incredibly high salary( for comparison the ordinary
>salary is 1000 Euro, 2000 Euro is a very good salary
>for young people.) So actually they ( Tanzanian
>diplomats) they sit and save money.
>
>Money, you know is the cause of evil. And this money
>give them the feeling that they are superior, and at
>the same time they are big bosses, and all this which
>was inside in them- their hatred towards white which
>colonized them and made them slaves.This may be
>somehow hiiden in those with whom you leave together
>with in Tanzania- but give them more power or much
>money and you will see how their attitude will
>change.
>
>
>Please, don t think that I am a racist or I am negative
>towards Africans. No, still I think that there are
>people among Tanzanians who are not so prejudiced,
>more modern in their attitude and not so concentrated
>on the past. That is the reason why I inspite of all
>want to go Tanzania.To find other attitude from what I
>have seen in Russia.
>
>Sorry , sorry for my speculations which may seem boring
>to you.
>But it is really a pleasure for me to receive replies
>from you!
>
>
>I saw on TV that you have floods in Tanzania and it is
>the season of rain now.Is this true?
>
>
>Thank you for all.
>
>Have a nice week!
>
I replied:
The paragraph that stood out for me in your last emails was this one:
">And this money
>give them the feeling that they are superior, and at
>the same time they are big bosses, and all this which
>was inside in them- their hatred towards white which
>colonized them and made them slaves.This may be
>somehow hiiden in those with whom you leave together
>with in Tanzania- but give them more power or much
>money and you will see how their attitude will
>change."
To be honest, I think that is a rather racist comment. But don't worry, I think everyone in the world is a little bit racist. I think that the human mind works by recognizing patterns of experience and using them to predict the future. So when you only know well-paid, condescending Tanzanians, you can't help but use that information to inform your world-view more generally. The same thing happens to me in the US. For instance, in New York City (where I live), the more dangerous neighborhoods, those where you're more likely to me robbed, tend to be filled with minorities -- either african americans or hispanics or whomever. So without thinking, your mind gets used to associating being in a neighborhood filled with a certain kind of people with being in danger. I don't think that my chance of being robbed in that neighborhood has anything to do with the inhabitants being of a certain race, I think it has to do completely with their socio-economic situation, but that doesn't stop my mind from making connections. I think that's how prejudice starts and that racism follows close behind.
Anyway. I don't think that within Africans or Tanzanians there is a sense of superiority or anger about past colonialism and slavery that is hidden from me, or will bubble up if they are given a position of social superiority. In my job this year, I have worked with the upper class Ghanians and Tanzanians. They are rich Africans, many of whom have pHDs and have been educated abroad, and I have never experienced anything like you describe. In fact, in a year in Africa, I've almost never heard anyone discuss slavery -- and I don't think it's because they're avoiding the subject, I think the subject is much less important to Africans in Africa than it is to their descendants who were displaced by the practice and now live as an underclass in unwelcoming societies. Actually, if you read the history of the slave-trade in Africa, you'll learn that Africans were very much complicit in the trade as slave suppliers, and also that the practice of slavery in Africa long pre-dated white slavers (though clearly white demand hugely increased the existence of slavery in Africa), and continued well after the international slave-trade was outlawed. Unlike Africans who were taken as slaves, Africans who remain in Africa may have been part of the system. So you don't hear them throwing a lot of blame around. This is not to say that the white world isn't guilty of terrible terrible crimes or that their demand for slaves wasn't key in building the system in Africa. It just that, to be honest, it's less of an issue in Africa than it is in ex-slave-owing countries. There is far more love of America amongst rural Africans, who often hold onto the idea of the American Dream, than there is amongst most minority populations in the US (whose ancestors may have been brought there by slavery).
Anyway. Just something to think about. I'm sure there was some reason that the Tanzanians you worked with were unpleasant and acted the way they did. And I'm sure it had something to do with race, because it is impossible to live above race within a society that is still overtly concerned with race. But I'm also sure that they acted that way because of their individual life experience of race, and not because they belong to a certain race; not because they are African.
Right. On another topic! It is the rainy season here. In my region of the country the rains this year have been moderate. Not enough for any big flooding, but I haven't heard much about the rest of the country.
Please don't think that I'm trying to accuse you of anything. I'm sure I'm a little racist at times, and I'd rather have people tell me about it clearly than avoid the subject. I'm interested in what you think.
Ben
You may have heard me talk about Couchsurfing.com before. It's a global hospitality network where you sign up and offer to let some travelers crash at your home for free, and in exchange you are given the right to use the worldwide network for your own travels. It's a good deal. I got an interesting message the other day. Here's the email exchange:
>>**************** Wrote:
>>>INUSERNAME: *******
>>>GENDER: Female
>>>AGE: 28
>>>LOCATION: Russia - Moscow City - Moscow
>>>
>>>
>>>I am interested in surfing your couch!
>>>
>>>Hello, my name is *****. I am from Russia.I want to come
>>>to Tanzania and see Tanzanian life because I have
>>>worked with Tanzanians for some time.Probably it will
>>>be in September. can you tell me is the place where
>>>you live far from Dar-Es Salaam?How much money
>>>approximately the person needs to spend a week in
>>>tanzania. don not worry I will spend at your place
>>>only 1-2 nights if you allow.
>>>
>>>Thank you in advance.
>>>Best regards,
>>>
>>>*****
>>>
>Benjamin Bodnar Wrote:
>>Hello!
>>
>>I'm sorry to say that I will no longer be in Tanzania
>>in September. I'm moving back to the US at the end of
>>June. Sorry!
>>
>>To answer your questions, however...
>>Tabora is extremely far from Dar es Salaam. I don't
>>know the distance exactly, but it takes about a day by
>>train, 14+ hours by bus or a 2+ hour plane flight
>>(which is a bit expensive).
>>
>>The cost of living in Tanzania is quite variable
>>because the east and the north are very touristy and
>>have a lot of international traffic, while the west
>>(where I am) doesn't see much international money, and
>>therefore is much cheaper. But to estimate -- a full
>>meal costs 1-2 dollars. at a very touristy or fancy
>>place it might be as expensive as 6-10 dollars. A beer
>>(large bottles) is between 1 and 2 dollars. Out where I
>>am, rent starts at 10$ per month (for a single room,
>>sharing all facilities with several tanzanian
>>families, pit latrines, wood-burning stove) and can go
>>as high as a few hundred dollars for a nice house with
>>ammenities. Rent in Dar itself can be much higher. A
>>hotel costs from a few dollars a night (for a room
>>with shared facilities) up to quite expensive (there
>>is good demand from wealthy folks coming for safaris
>>and such).
>>
>>hope that helps! let me know if I can help answer any
>>other questions.
>>
>>ben
>>
************** Wrote:
>Hi! Thank you for your reply!Can you help me with one
>more thing:
>
>I want when I come to Tanzania to go to some wildlife
>reserve or farm and spend my time taking care of
>animals:lions, cheetahs. this is kind of volonteering
>activities. is it possible to make in Tanzania,may be
>you can reccomend me somebody who deals with this.
>
>
>And 1 more question- what is the attitude in Tanzania
>towards white people? Is it dangerous to travel in
>Tanzania for white people on their own?because I heard
>that Africans are still not so friendly, because of the
>past.Are there many white people living?
>Excuse me if my questions seem to you strange. simply I
>want to knoow before I go there.
>
>Thank you.
>
>Best regards,
>*****
I wrote:
While there is a large amount of wildlife viewing (on safari) in Tanzania (including the famous serengeti national park), I've never heard of any locations or organizations with which you can work directly with animals. Rather, they are protected in their wild habitats away from humans. Aside from an internet search, I'm afraid I wouldn't have any information on such volunteering opportunities.
Generally, African's are spectacularly friendly and hospitable people. They tend to be far more generous and welcoming with their meager resources than Europeans or Americans who are much richer. The only racism that you're likely to come into contact with is REVERSE racism -- people will want to be friends with you just because you are white. People will assume that you are rich because you are white. The only real danger is from petty crime such as robbery. This is more likely in cities because so many people are desperately poor, and (as I said) if they see a white person they assume that they have money. That said, I've been living in Africa for almost 10 months now (first in Ghana and now in Tanzania) and I've never had any problems. Still, you have to be cautious about walking around alone at night in certain places.
People have many prejudices about Africa, and I think you'll learn that most of them are wrong. Africans are poor, yes, but they are wonderful people and they value the very same things as other people around the world.
And there aren't many white people living in Tanzania (relative to moscow, that is). But Tanzania is a very touristy place. So in some places they're used to seeing white people coming through, while in other places--places that tourists don't go, like where I am in western Tanzania--white people are a novelty. Children will laugh and point and yell "Mzungu" which means white person in swahili. Some will want to come touch you, while others will be scared and run away.
it's quite an experience. Though it's tiring. Nowhere in africa will you be able to go unnoticed. nowhere will you be able to be anonymous.
be prepared!
ben
______________
And so. As I reflected on how much of a mystery Africa and Africans still are to most of the world, and basked in my own self-assuredness and worldliness, she sent another email....
______________
Hi, Benjamin.
Thank you for the information that you have sent me, it
is very useful and interesting for me.
I want to be honest with you- the reason I want to go
to Tanzania is that I worked in Tanzanian Embassy in
Moscow for quite a long time.So as you can understand
I know a lot about Tanzanians.
During my work there I have encountered different
things such as African time ( pole-pole), and extreme
interest to white women, the last actually was not a
good experience. And really there was some kind of
negative attitude to white people.
Now when I work in another place, I still want to go to
Africa. And see it with my own eyes. I want to find
more good in Africans that I have seen before, to know
better their culture ,traditions.
Thank you ,
*****
________________________
So. Again. Be careful what you think you know (and what others don't).
She's right about pole-pole, which means, essentially, slowly-slowly. And she's right about the love of white women. It's part of that reverse racism, and the fact that with almost statistical certainty, a white person in Africa is a rich person. To snag a white person, then, is to become a rich person. But that's only part of it. Volumes could be written about post-colonial standards of beauty (and the omnipresent advertisements for skin-lightening cocoa-butter creams).
Still, I stand by what I said about African's generally.
It makes me wonder what was going on in Moscow. After all, I think I'd probably be unhappy if I moved from Tanzania to Moscow, which is not generally cited as a bastion of racial egalitarianism.
thoughts?
I wonder if it turns out that no matter how long you travel, you're still wholly vulnerable to being ripped off. That might be true from a certain point of view, but, from another perspective, eventually you transcend graft.
I just finished up a week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's coastal capital. I was there to brainstorm with some techie colleagues on our upcoming plan to create a mobile-phone-based guidance program for Community Health Workers (CommCare), meet folks at any NGO that was courteous enough to return my emails, and show up unannounced at the others whose Tanzanian receptionist prefer to hang up on me than speak English or find someone who can.
I also went to Zanzibar.
After a week of meetings which were quite educational--in the Socratic sense by which Socrates felt himself to be wiser than most men only because he knew exactly how little he knew--I was ready for a bit of a break. And so I arrived at the Dar ferry port, the tourist bottleneck, the gauntlet through which all those heading to Zanzibar must pass.
I knew there was a 1 o'oclock ferry, but because I was coming from work meetings I arrived just after 1. The ferry was still there, but the engine was running and it was clear that it would leave shortly. In my haste to be aboard that vessel, I allowed myself to be steered into a ticket office and ripped off. But here is the question -- was I ripped off?
For non-residents, a ticket on one of the fast ferries is 35-40 USD. As I was paying in Tanzanian shillings (roughly 1200 per USD often with a worse exchange rate at touristy spots) I had already decided I was ready to pay about 50,000 (given a little rounding up -- unfortunately, you have to buy your ticket through one of a number of ticketing companies intent on charging you as much as possible).
So they said: 50,000, quick the boat is leaving!
I paid it, and I made it onto the boat.
I made it onto the boat and quickly realized that this was not one of the fast ferries, this was the one remaining Slow Ferry. The Flying Horse which, as Lonely Planet notes, does not fly at all. The price for the the slow ferry is about 20$. So they got me. I paid double what I should have.
In contrast, when I came back from Zanzibar, I arrived at a ticket office without time pressure and was able to use my Volunteer Visa, and as much Swahili as I could muster (Swahinglish, really) to get the resident price for my return trip -- 19,000 on a Fast Ferry. Though the fast ferry still took about 2 hours while the slow ferry had taken only about 3 hours.
So was I ripped off? I paid what I expected to pay, and got on the boat that I wanted to get on. So what's the big deal? I think that it has something to do with that feeling of being bested. But that's just ego. The more difficult, but undoubtedly more admirable thing to do, is to recognize your privilege for what it is and give more than you have to, knowing that you'll still be privileged tomorrow.
A colleague of mine -- Neal, an American computer science pHD plus MPH who is working on CommCare and has spent much of the last few years of his life in East Africa -- occasionally refers to his spending habits as O.T.I.: OverTipping International. It's happened that we've haggled for a bit for a taxi fare, and then as we're dropped off he'll throw in a few extra thousand anyway. I've also heard him referring to overspending as a an Income Generating Activity, a term lifted from the development world where it generally refers to small-scale business alongside subsistence activities. 'It's okay. It's an income generating activity.'
I can't help but think that he's onto something. After all, with such a mindset, could he ever be ripped off?
Unfortunately, I don't know that it's that simple. Because who is getting the money? The taxi driver and the tour operator? What about the orphan and the farmer? They have no services which we privileged would pay at all, much less overpay. It's somehow unsatisfying to give a few extra dollars to a tourist tout, when I would never reach into my pocket for as much money when I pass a beggar. So if I haggle with the tout and toss only coins to the homeless, where does that leave me?
Occasionally getting ripped off and doing less good than I probably should.
___________________
Next topic -- another gem to add to the international cast of characters which I've been developing.
It turns out that I decided to visit Zanzibar at the beginning of the Monsoon. It wasn't so bad, really, but it rained on and off. My first night in Stone Town...
...the sky opened as I wandered the skewed streets. Inasmuch as I am water resistant, I decided to hoof it to the indian vegetarian restaurant I had passed earlier. I arrived soaked and ready for Thali. And a good Thali it was. Mango pickle. Mmmmmm. That moment was brought to you by the fact that as I write this I'm hungry.
Anyway. Being trapped by the monsoon turned out to be quite entertaining, as I was trapped with an interesting gentleman. His name was Steel.
Steel is a 60 year old brit stonemason who has spent the last 40 years restoring ancient monuments and is currently managing a UNESCO project to reclaim one of Stone Town's ailing sea walls.
He looked a bit like an aging Mr. Clean, and it was impossible to ignore the two hairs which sprung near perpendicularly from the tip of his reddening nose.
His father was a coal miner, and a unionist. He espoused socialist sympathies, and admitted that he enjoyed telling Africans that he had not had shoes until the age of 12 (which, of course, they don't believe).
Over a growing tally of beers (I drank Safari, he Kilimanjaro), he professed the sort of paradoxical dislike for the UK which I generally reserve for various things American. We discussed rambling topics relating to philosophy, stonemasonry, politics, working in Africa, and his recent brush with gangrene following a scorpion sting in Tajikistan and treatment in a Russian Military hospital for an "allergic reaction" which ended when a German medical student recognized rampant tissue necrosis and got him airlifted to Geneva. He also asked for advice on wound care. I was happy to oblige.
Karibu Africa.
______________________
Also: never let it be said that you can't learn something at any time. There is genius everywhere.
Have you ever been annoyed by way your soap gets all waterlogged and slimy in it's holder or on the sink edge? and then when you use it way too much soap smears off on you? It happens! To me at least.
Anyway. In the bathroom of the Radha Food House (finished Thali and merry Steel in the bar area behind me) I learned a solution. Bottle cap. Stick it in the bottom of your soap. Place soap bottle-cap-side down. Problem solved.
Genius.
Posts
I dug it.
