I feel AWFUL. I wake up with headaches every day, my stomach is upset, I'm exhausted, I can't focus, and I just want to go back to bed. Unfortunately, I'm not actually sick and my symptoms aren't really severe enough to justify staying home from work, nor do I want to do that my first week. So here I be...uggghhhh.
Aside from that, everything is fine. I'll be moving out of my hotel and into a guesthouse tomorrow afternoon. I'll try to post pictures over the weekend, though I don't know if I'll be online there. I'm happy about the move, as I'll finally be able to unpack completely and shop for groceries. The food in my hotel is extremely overpriced, not that good, and very unhealthy. I haven't gone out to dinner much because I've felt like crap and been a bit antisocial because of it. My goal for the weekend and next week is to change all that.
Work is going well, but not sure I can stomach the thought of writing a lot about it now (sorry). I was terrified for my first couple days and felt in over my head, but now as I'm learning more about the task at hand and realizing the work for me won't pick up until next month, I feel better. At the moment I'm mostly attending meetings and getting briefed by people at the agencies here who work on HIV/AIDS (CDC, USAID, State, Defense Department, Peace Corps, etc.), and then I have a couple smaller projects I work on in my downtime. I promise a meatier entry about work later on.
I bought a plane ticket to go to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from August 1st-4th to stay with some friends there. I'm going early because one of my friends is leaving in a couple weeks, and also because it's easier for me to take time off work now than it will be later on in my detail. There's a Zambian holiday on the 4th, so I only have to take off Friday the 1st for this trip (and we work half-day Fridays), so my boss was cool with it. I'll probably try to go to Victoria Falls, Livingstone, and some of the game reserves in Zambia later on when I can cram those trips into regular weekends. I'm also hoping to join a road trip around the western Zambia provinces with my boss and/or the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) planned for September. The DCM is the second-ranking official behind the Ambassador, and he will be Chargé d'Affaires (acting Ambassador) starting next week when the Ambassador leaves. Our new Ambassador won't arrive until later this year. The DCM/Chargé is a super nice guy from Rhode Island that I think I'll get along well with.
Despite the down note of this entry, I am still very happy and excited to be here. More positive entries once I feel better, I promise!!
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A journal for friends, family, and colleagues to share my adventures in Africa.
4 comments:
Loving the blog JP. I hope someday I can make it to Africa too. Enjoy your travels and take tons of pictures. And as long as you're staying safe, whenever you're feeling too tired and groggy or whatever to do something, just ask yourself how you'll look back on your decision to stay in or not go somewhere when you're 45 years old. Once your gut gives you your answer, then make your decision.
Goodspeed, friend.
-Sheehan
I want pictures!
Seriously.
Also, I hope you feel better.
Glad to see you made it there safely; sorry you haven't been feeling well. Have you tried any unusual foods yet? I'm curious what the 'typical' dish there might consist of.
Tim N.
Ugh, my god. Take the pink stuff!!
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