Our plane takes off three weeks from today. Time seems to be accelerating.
I’ve started my oral typhoid vaccine. I alternate days–take a pill, skip the next day, take a pill, skip…and so on. And I snagged my malaria meds from the pharmacy. I’ll start those in two weeks, then will continue taking them once a week while I’m “on the ground,” and then I’ll wrap up with four weeks of pills once I get back. Oh, and apparently Blue Cross is doing some kind of free generics thing or something, because the Rx was totally free. Now, if only they’d do the same for all the shots I got last week…those will probably cost a few hundred dollars once all is said and done.
We had our first team meeting last week, Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. In my opinion, because I am not particularly a morning person, no one should ever meet at 7:30 a.m. for anything, but I quickly forgot about how early it was because I had so much other stuff to think about. What to wear. What to say. What not to say. What not to do. Where to sleep. What to drink.
When Robin lived in Congo, she was told that people there expected her (as a woman) to wear pants because she was a Westerner, but it wasn’t something they were really over the moon about, so while I’m definitely going to be in jeans on the trip, I figured I’d see if I couldn’t find a few comfy skirts to bring with. Of course, how often do you see me in skirts? And long skirts? Yeah. So, I need to buy some. Fortunately, I was complaining about my lack of fashion sense to one of Jesse’s coworkers, and she offered to take me shopping. She’s one of the most fashionable people I know, so I am very excited. I also need to make an appointment to get my eyebrows done, I am considering a perm (a loose one–not the poodle kind), and I bought a trial kit of that Bare Minerals stuff. Not all for Congo, but I figured I might as well get these things done before I go. It’s rather ridiculous, but I don’t care. I’m excited.
I watched Ghosts of Rwanda the other night to get a better background on one part of the Congo conflict. I found it fascinating and horrifying. I highly recommend the film. I also went to the library and came back with a stack of books I really need to read before heading over there (the actual reading list if I’m going to do a project on this is about a mile long, so I’d better get started). But, between work and the house and food and life in general, it’s hard to find time to do everything that needs doing.
On that note, I’m going to sign off and get started on said work…three weeks, huh? Really?
6 Comments
Wow. Three weeks is soon!
I vote on waiting to get your hair done until you come back. As it is, you are familiar with your hair and its texture, but if you change it just before leaving the country, you may not have access to the products and other resources to satisfactorily tame its new texture and shape. Plus, it will feel nice to go to a salon for a bit of pampering after returning from an unfamiliar experience.
I’m definitely not set on the hair change or its timing yet. I’m going to talk to my hair-person (what is the appropriate term now? hair dresser? hair stylist?) and ask her opinion (she’s the first hair-person I have actually felt could give real and reliable advice–I love her). Since I may not be able to style my hair there with any electric goodies (hair dryer, straightening iron), I’m looking for something that will be better with the air drying thing. Currently, my hair gets curly-ish, but mostly messy and frizzy. If a perm will just make it curlier but still messy and frizzy, then it won’t do. I got the idea from a friend who went on a similar trip years ago and permed her hair before going. She found it made things easier to deal with. Of course, with my hair luck I’d probably have the opposite experience…
All this talk of vaccines and malaria meds is very scary! Good luck with packing and shopping, or rather shopping and packing. And I can totally sympathize with curly and frizzy hair. It’s such a trial! But I am too lazy to actually do anything about it, like straighten it every day, so it’s usually in a fairly natural state.
I know–today I made the mistake of reading some health warnings about the Congo. Not a good idea. But, the good news is that the latest outbreak of Ebola seems to be over for now! (Oh jeez…)
First… I am constantly confused by what we are supposed to call our hair people now, too. Hair dresser seems to old lady-ish, but hair stylist makes me feel like I think I’m a celebrity. If you find out what the appropriate term is, let me know!
Second… I certainly wouldn’t recommend you trying to read it now, considering the huge reading list you already have, but I wanted to tell you about a most amazing book, assuming you haven’t already heard of it. It is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (more recently the author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle). It is one of my favorite novels of all time, strangely enough. Poisonwood is a fiction about a missionary family who moves to the Belgian Congo in 1959. It is a great story about the family themselves with some excellent characterization in the four daughters’ whose stories are individually narrated through first person pov. But in addition to that, the story in novel is told against the backdrop of the Congolese revolution and the harsh and tragic political issues of the time. I’m sure you can get a clearer, more academic view elsewhere, but this is told in such a moving story. Hmmm, maybe you could get it on audio!
Oooh, I have read The Poisonwood Bible, but I should read it again, and I love the idea of listening to it as an audio book. You’re the one who first introduced me to the wonders of the audio book!