Long Live The Sar

It's hard to believe another summer in Africa is coming to a close.  My days are packed as I try to fit in everything I've put off and then some...  Yesterday was an especially busy (learning) day as I started the morning with ~Grand Rounds @ Black Lion Hospital - a 20 yr old female patient, known Type 1 Diabetes, with very short stature and discussed possible reasons for her short build ~Hip Hop class with Tesh - the whole classed learned a combination, almost 10 8-counts, I'll post video when I get back to the states - and then ~nursing class with Abebe at night - we learned about Trichuriasis and Strongyloidiasis (two intestinal worms endemic in Ethiopia)   So I learned a lot and stayed very busy. Because this is my second summer here, much of the day-to-day craziness ceases to strike me the way it did last year and for whatever reason, my stay has been essentially bereft of any deep "Africa revelations" like I had weekly last yea...

As we sit on the 33rd floor of our 5-star hotel in Dubai and log on to a free high speed Internet connection, our minds drift back to the wonderfully bizarre land that Sar has chosen to call "home" for a second summer in a row.  Ethiopia, where the water runs like diarreah and the people flock to Faranjis (foreigners) saying things like "My name is Money.  Can I have some Money?"    First off, Long Live the Sar!!!  He orders macchiatos and egg sandwiches in Amharic like a Habasha (Ethiopian), smells remarkably decent for showering once a week whether he needs it or not, navigates the labryinth that is Addis Ababa better than Diana does the grid that is Manhattan, and is making a HUGE difference to patients at the Mission.  If we had to choose one highlight for the week, it would be visiting Hanouk, Sar's patient/friend who had his leg amputated in an attempt to prevent cancer from spreading -- ...

I apologize for not writing in the last week but Ari and Diana were in the house and to say that we experienced everything this country has to offer would not be an exaggeration.  To give you an appreciation for the craziness that was last week, I will go through the events of the past seven days.    Tuesday (7/22) -  Ari and Diana arrived at 12:50 AM.  According to Rick, only Ethiopian Air flights arrive on time/early, so Tesh and I assumed we had time to stop @ Cocoon Burger on the way to the airport @ 12:15.  One delicious beef patty later, Tesh and I walked to the airport, arriving at 1:30 only to find Ari and Dia preparing to call the Sheraton.  Whoops.  But all's well that ends well and I brought them to their cozy, albeit smelly and not too comfortable, room at the Taitu.  In the morning we had a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and then off to the mission.  I showed them wound care and gave them a tour of the compound....