Well aside from total exhaustion by 8pm, I'm doing fine & only 160ish days left on these lovely INH pills! Mornings & evenings are my greatest down fall, but I'm good to go during work hours, which is a plus.
Don't have to worry about the lack of alcohol I'm allowed because really I'm not awake long enough to want it (lol) I'm not planning any more trips either, cause I think weekends away really knock me out - learned that the hard way this past weekend. I flew to Frankfurt Friday night, was in bed by midnight & up at 6am for our all day Rhine River Castle & River Tour, in bed by 10pm & slept till 10am, in bed by 11pm Sunday, yet Monday I was horribly tired all day long - no matter how much caffeine I had I just couldn't get on track. So I'm sticking with my one weekend a month plan - I had considered adding a few road trips in but I'm saying oya (sounds like oh yeah but means no in Kinyarwanda) for now. Doc said maybe after a month or so my body will get more use to this & energy will come back or might get even more exhausted, I'm hoping for the increased energy, but either way I'll manage - I mean if people in Rwanda can have TB without medicine & probably have malaria on top of it - then I can suffer through 6 months of antibiotics, right????
I've been chatting with my mate Nim who's going to Rwanda in September, hence the "oya" reference above - I've been teaching her little words I remember - she's so excited & I'm soooooooooo jealous! She's going with Rwanda Aid, a UK based organisation - I'm intrigued to hear her stories!
Here is a funny story about my fight on Friday from Heathrow to Frankfurt, where I learned I really need to get myself some business cards! Who did I randomly get to sit next to???? None other than a woman named Mary Oloo who is the director of Umbrella Widows & Orphans in Kisumu, Kenya. Everyone else on the plane was German or British & we end up seated together - what are the chances?!?!?! She gave me her business card & was told me how she was on her way to Germany to meet with future volunteers who will go to Kenya for a year & help teach hygiene, English, basket weaving, cooking, pottery, etc. She said the next time I go to Rwanda, I will have to come & visit her for a week & teach about hygiene - I said yego (sounds like yeah-go - Kinyrwanda for yes)!
I'm hoping to have some photos to share with you soon, but I do have visitors arriving tomorrow for a week & between the fact that there will be 5 of us in my one room flat & that I have to work, I'm not sure if I'll actually get them posted in any sort of timely fashion, sorry!
I might be able to find a few from when I was stateside & get them up later today - fingers crossed!
So I've been bragging to everyone that this past weekend I visited my 26th country, only to realise this morning when I got to work at 07.20 (story for another time) that I was actually visiting my 27th country! So many countries, so little time, who can honestly keep track . . . not me apparently (LOL)
On Saturday, Neala, Kaylie, Christopher, Nikolas & I drove from Ramstein, Germany over to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. It's a very cute little city, very hilly & old! The weather was fantastic with lots of sun & temps around 73F. We had a great time - photos to follow.
So the story for another time is about how I forgot to switch my mobile time back onto London time (Germany is one hour ahead) so when I woke up at 07.27, showered, had breakfast, got bus into work, arrived at 08.20, I had actually woken up at 06.27 and gotten into work at 07.20 . . . Oops - feel free to laugh out loud at me, most others I've come in contact with have!
Hope you all had a good Easter, can't believe we're half way through April & don't forget to get your taxes mailed out today (if you're American).
i made it safely back to london on sunday night & had a great time in germany - just trying to sort out how to upload the photos as the DVD we made doesn't seem to work :( too much stuff to do at the moment to write about it all, but we did manage to have christmas at melissa & mike's house (mike, melissa, madison, blake, ben, neala, neala's mum, chris, nik, katelynn, kaylie & me) then off via train to heidleberg (sans mike & melissa's family) on boxing day, then to triberg via car on the 27th (sans nik who spent the night throwing up) only to have kaylie end up getting sick the whole day too so she slept in the car in the -12C temps, but all bundled up in fleece blankets while the rest of us wondered around & visited the largest coocoo clock in the world! 28th & 29th we spent rather low keyish as nik & kaylie were still under the weather, 30thneala, kaylie & I went shopping at the BX and booked a trip to munich, 31st we didn't go out late cause our train left from kaiserslauten at 6.10am so we packed & watched movies with the kids. 31st kaylie, katelynn & i went to munich for 2 nights & 3 days - a day trip out to oberaumenagau (sp?) and to see linderoff & neuschwanstein castles (built by King Ludwig II) all in all it was great - thanks to ben's military issue long johns that is!!!!
I'm leaving soon to get the tube to Heathrow so I can fly to Frankfurt tonight - YEAH!!! My bag is finally packed (yes I started this morning after the last gift arrived from the Royal Mail!)
So far the plan is for "us" (Kaylie, Neala, Neala's mum, Ben, Chris, Nik, Katelynn, and me) to go over to Melissa & Mike's house for Christmas day. Should be fun with 12 of us all together :) Then on Friday we'll go to Heidlberg and on Saturday we'll go to Triberg, two cities I've never been to so it should be an adventure - I mean any time you get 8 people travelling together something funny is bound to happen, right, and Melissa's family might join us too!
Well I best get going, have to zip my case closed, turn off all the electrical stuff, turn the heat down & bring the rubbish down to the street!
So I wish you all a Merry Christmas tomorrow or Happy Hanukkah (I think today is day 4) and I'll update as much as I can over the next 2 weeks but know that we'll be very busy! I know once I get back I'll have lots of photos to share.
How many times have you been delayed on a flight for more than one hour & never known why or had some not so fun excuse like bad weather! Well this morning in Germany a KLM flight was only delayed for just over an hour during which time they took 2 suspected terrorists into custody, rechecked all the luggage & re boarded the entire flight. Now is it just me or is that impressive?
Saw a ton, eat lots of local foods, learned a bit of science & took tons of photos - all in all an excellent holiday, oh I mean conference for work . . . that's why I was there right?!??!?!
Well to impress some who think I'm a name dropper . . . Ulrich Schiable, Stefan Elhers, JoAnne Flynn, Gilla Kaplan, Stefan Kaufmann, Douglas Young, David Russell, and a room full of 300 people where there at the Immunity to Tuberculosis Symposium at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Berlin last Thursday & Friday. For those who are more interested just in the photos & sight-seeing we did here is a video:
That's right folks, I'm on the move, AGAIN :) This time to Rome for the first May bank holiday (first weekend in May). I'm very excited about it as I've never been to Italy and have always wanted to go. Luckily for me my mate Karen was feeling the same way so off we went & booked ourselves tickets to fly out on Saturday morning & back Monday early afternoon so we don't miss any work. Main reason for not missing any work is that also in May I'm going to St Petersburg, Russia for a few days. Then there is the 2nd May bank holiday which I currently don't have plans for but am considering going to the lake district, but that's not set in stone (might wait to see how the weather's doing - don't wanna go if it's cold & rainy - as if it's ever not - LOL)
June will be full of travelling as well. Have I told you all about my conference in Berlin, Germany? Laura & I are leaving on Wednesday June 11th for a 2 day conference & then staying the weekend to sight see. I will then work Monday - Wednesday only because I'm heading home on Thursday June 19th for my dad's birthday party!!!
July 13th I'll be back in the UK and after that I'll be stationary for awhile (I think) with Jim's wedding August 16th but that's just up in Nottingham so a weekend trip.
In September I'm off to Edinburgh, Scotland with dad for a few days.
In October I might go to Rwanda - but that's WAY up in the air, but will keep you posted as I know more.
November I think I'll be totally and completely skint from my "years worth of travelling" and probably the same in December.
Just back from visiting Neala, Ben, Chris, Nik, and Katelynn (along with Melissa, Mike, Madison & Blake) on Ramstein Air Base (Germany). Had a great time, even though it was freezing cold & snowing (lol)
Here are a few photos from the weekend
Blake & Melissa
Mike, Nik and Ben playing video games
Chris & Madison
Neala & me - don't know what we found so funny, but something!
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
For those who are more interested just in the photos & sight-seeing we did here is a video:
Katelynn with her dad (Ben)
