bagamoyo

i'm in bagamoyo now for a few more days. it's so relaxing here! it's a good thing, too, because the data collection is h-e-c-t-i-c. the hospital itself is amazing; people really are doing a great job with few resources and the patients seem very well cared for and content with their care (my swahili is not good at all--lonely planet might be good for catch phrases but not for conversation!). it's really heartening to see. the flip side, of course, is that the medical staff are not such great record keepers, which is where the hectic part comes into play. the surgeon i traveled here with and i have been swamped trying to make heads or tails of it all. we're trying hard to document all we can and get us the information we need to do our research, but it certainly is not easy.

the great news is that my internet connection here is amazing! i feel kind of like a cop-out because i'm staying in a very resorty place (my colleague called it posh, which i found really cute--when he said it i had images of a skinny mrs beckham running through the lobby). i have a tv in my room that broadcasts...drum roll please.....the UEFA champion's league soccer tournament! i about fell out of my chair when i turned the tube on and saw arsenal playing against inter milan.

i've also had a chance to do more traditional things outside of the resort. we visited the historical museum that documents the slave trade route through the sea port here in bagamoyo. this was an old german colonial town before WWI, and a british one after WWI, so it has some interesting cultural sites. and of course, because it is still an important sea port i'm completely in love with the food here. so good!

back to data cleaning! miss you all!