Week two was a success. Last Monday was my first day of “real” work, but again it mostly just another day of meeting new people and touring the many different places they said I could work. I didn’t quite understand why they didn’t assign me a work place, but I wasn’t complaining that they gave me the choice of an air-conditioned room vs a non air-conditioned room. By the end of Tuesday it became clear that my biggest challenge while working here would be the internet connection. My first project is to create a web page for a new experiment the institute is conducting, and having a poor internet connection has proved to be a bump in the road. However, I do not see this being a problem for very long. I mentioned the internet later in the week to one of my peers and I noticed by Friday there was already a guy poking around the routers. After I asked how he was doing he said he was working on getting a stronger internet connection in the room.
That’s another thing I must be careful about. My comments to my peers are often times interpreted to a higher degree than I expect. After making the observation to my friend Manuu that most people here ride bikes to get around, an hour later there was a bike outside my door with my name on it.
Another instance of this was me commenting that perhaps having the air conditioner right above the “smell machine” was affecting how the mosquitos flew through the tubes of the machine. I did not have proof that this was true and I hadn’t put that much thought into my comment, but the next day the AC unit was moved (cut out of the wall) to a different side of the room, away from the smell machine. I don’t mind being spoiled but I also don’t know what I’m talking about half the time, so I will use extra caution from now on. Otherwise it feels good to be treated like the smart guy in the room, even though there are experts here with years more experience than I have.
Above is a picture of the machine I'll be working with. It's called the smell machine, and next week after some parts arrive from Dar Es Salam I will be working on getting it operational.
Friday was a fun day. We were told to leave work early and go for a swim in the pool. I have been taking full advantage of the pool and often swim at least twice a day. Its currently 2pm Sunday and I’ve already jumped in twice with another plan to go swimming before dinner with friends. The pool is a very popular place here.
Above is a picture of the pool with my house in the background. This is a rare picture as no one is in it due to it just being chlorinated.
Friday evening I was invited to a movie night and had a great time. Its sort of funny, on Wednesday I told my friend Lina about the many movies I brought with me on an external hard drive, and by Thursday afternoon I was one of the most popular people at IHI. Everyone here loves movies and I have found sharing them to be a good way to make friends. I already think I got to know almost all of the younger scientist through this method and now see many more familiar faces while walking throughout IHI. Anyways, yes, the movie we all watched at Friday’s movie night was one from my collection.
I had the freshest kitimoto (means pork, but oddly translated to hot-sit in English) I've ever had and 100% mango juice that night as well. I said I would like to eventually learn how to make delicious things like these at the movie night Friday, and by noon Saturday I was on my way with three others into town to pick up fresh mangos and pork. I ended up not getting any pork, but I am enjoying my first batch of mango juice as I write this post.
I think transitioning to my new living situation has been made easy by all the new friends I’ve made and the excitement of working on projects that are directly affecting the people around me. Many of the scientist have family’s here in Ifakara and by working towards the elimination of Malaria, even on a smaller scale like mine, is a task everyone takes very seriously. I’m looking forward to the next week of work and hope to have new stories for you next Sunday.
