We Did It!!!

On Saturday December 19th at 6am, Phil, Ryan, Katie, and I successfully made it to the summit of the tallest free-standing mountain in the world!! Mout Kilimanjaro in Tanzania stands at 5895 meters (over 19,300 feet). It was an amazing adventure with many challenges! We walked over 50 miles during our 6 day trek and slept and climbed in below freezing temperatures. We can't wait to tell you more about the climb when we return from safari. Thank you for all your thought and prayers that kept us safe!

The whole crew plus our guides at the summit!!

ps: Happy early Birthday John Avola...we missed you up there!

Christmas Break!

Friday was my last day of work at the hospital until January, so I am officially on Christmas break! Our church play was very fun and we were able to raise lots of money for the Plaster House.

After almost 3 months of anticipation, Phil finally arrives in Arusha tomorrow afternoon! We have a fabulously busy 2 weeks planned and I can hardly wait! On Tuesday December 15 we begin our 6 day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb via the Machame route. We return to Arusha on December 20 and then leave the following morning for a 2 day safari to Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater. After safari we have a day and half in Arusha and then on Christmas Eve Day we fly to Zanzibar! We will be spending time in Stone Town and also in several cities on the east coast. Phil returns to the US on December 28th and I am staying in Zanzibar for New Years! I’ll post pictures as soon as I have a chance! Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!!

December Update

December has been flying by in Arusha! It has been difficult to get in the Christmas spirit when it is 80+ degrees and sunny outside! My big Christmas present, Phil, will be arriving on a plane in just 2 short days and I can hardly wait!!

My mom keeps asking me to post new pictures on my blog, but I no longer carry my camera around to document everyday life. For the last 2 weeks I have been working on the internal medicine team at Selian. The hospital is struggling financially and the interns have not been paid since September! Most of our antibiotics are “out of stock,” along with several malaria drugs, our urinary catheters, and disposable gloves. The staff is frustrated and patients aren’t getting the treatment they need. We have been seeing a lot of congestive heart failure patients this week. In the US, the most common cause of CHF is a heart attack, but here it results from heart valve dysfunction from rheumatic fever or from long standing, untreated hypertension. We have also had several cases of Brucellosis, which is a bacterial infection that patients get from working with animals or drinking unpasteurized milk.

Outside of the hospital we have been spending lots of time with friends! Winnie, an advanced medical officer at Selian, had us over to her apartment for a traditional Masai meal last week. We ate corn and milk stew and she told us about life growing up in a traditional Masai boma. She is getting married in February and having both a traditional and “Western” wedding! We are hoping to get invited! On Saturday night we went out dancing with Philipo and Sanaa and 2 pilots from Flying Medical Service, Ezra and Travis.

Philipo, Sanaa, and me

On Sunday, Philipo and Sanaa took us to Moshi, a town about 1.5 hours from Arusha. We must be cursed because the car broke down on the way and we had to find a mechanic to fix it! We made it to Moshi in time to have a traditional Arabic lunch with Sanaa’s family and tour the “Africa Muslims Agency” where her family lives and works. This is a compound with an orphanage, a school, a mosque, and a clinic for local Muslim children. Sanaa also told us about growing up in Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Nairobi and going to medical school in Sudan! Afterwards we went to Philipo’s house and had sodas with his parents and sister. It was a lovely day!

Car trouble on the way to Moshi

Last night Vino and Ali, 2 interns from Mt. Meru hospital, had us over for a Sri Lankan feast! Vino was born in Sri Lanka, went to medical school in Russia, and is doing his internship here in Arusha. The world is a fascinating place and you can’t beat getting an inside perspective!

Tonight is opening night for our church play “Amahl and the night visitors!” Here is a teaser picture from dress rehearsal yesterday. Wish me luck and I’ll post more pictures this weekend!

The 3 kings (Dr. Jacobson is far left in blue) and poor cripled Amahl

Go Vikes and Thanksgiving!

I saw this man along the road to Selian and couldn’t resist taking his picture! I tried to explain in broken Swahili why I loved his shirt, but I’m not sure he got it (hence the confused look). Go Vikes!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at the Jacobsons’ home along with 45 other expats! When we arrived, our Tanzanian mother Linda had some tasks for us to do to help with dinner preparation. While others began chopping vegetables and making punch, Linda looked at me and said, “I have a special job for you. We have a family tradition of making a “turkey” out of edible items and having it as the table centerpiece. Use whatever you can find in the kitchen and get creative!” I was a bit flustered at first, but the “turkey” came together nicely and was quite a party hit! The whole evening was wonderful. We ate turkey imported from Kenya, had delicious pumpkin pie, and even sang Christmas carols.

This week I am back doing Medicine at Selian. I am working with 2 great interns, Andrew and Sanaa, and the med-peds resident Angela that just arrived from the states. Tomorrow we are going to the Gracious School for their Christmas party and in the evening we are going to Winnie's (an intern) house for a "Tanzanian feast!"