Kwaheri Tanzania...Dobry den Prague!!!

After traveling for almost 24 hours via cabs, a ferry, and multiple overnight flights through Ethiopia and Italy, I arrived in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic!! My fabulous college friend Megan, who has been living and working in Prague for a year and a half, met me at the airport and we started our day with a huge latte and lots of girl talk! We took the Metro to Megan's cute flat, dropped my luggage, and hit the town. We wandered along the Vltava river, drank Czech beer and ate sausage at the local Easter market, and visited the Prague castle and many other famous sites. It was weird to walk on quiet, paved sidewalks and wait at stoplights! We ended our day with spicy Thai food and drinks at a local bar!

A view of the Prague Castle from Charles' bridge


Beer + sausage = Yummy!!


Good luck for 10 years!!


St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle


This is supposedly the narrowest "street" in the world!


Megan checking on her lock at the lovers' gate. Here lovers put a padlock on the gate, throw the key in the canal, and enjoy a lifetime of relationship bliss! I think Phillip and I need to go to Prague!


The Lennon Wall


Weird baby statue!


"Dancing House" designed by Frank Gehrey who also did the Weisman in Minneapolis

Megan and I celebrated Easter in Prague with delicious brunch at her friend's house, hot wine at the Easter market, church, and a fun Czech dinner of fried cheese, rabbit, and schnitzel. It is a tradition in Prague for the boys to whip the girls with willow sticks to bring them good luck and fertility in exchange for liquor, chocolate, and eggs. We did get a few whippings, but had nothing to give in exchange.

Easter willow whips!


Painted eggs


Hot wine at the market


Megan's little dream car

A scary Easter lamb cake

On my remaining days in Prague I took a great guided walking tour of the city, visited the Communist museum, spent a day at a Nazi prison camp and Jewish ghetto, visited the beer gardens, and enjoyed many hours of bonding time with Megan! I couldn't ask for a better re-introduction to the developed world!!

The famous astronomical clock in Old Town Square

The cemetery at Terezin prison camp and Jewish ghetto

"Work will set you free" ... a Nazi lie

The typical barracks for the Jewish prisoners. You would not believe how cold, damp, and dark this room was.

The crematorium

Zanzibar...take 2!

I am safely back in Minnesota after fabulous trips to Zanzibar (with my family), Prague (with my college friend Megan), and Naples, Florida (with Phillip and his family)!

In Zanzibar, my family and I enjoyed touring Stone Town, visiting a spice farm, and playing in the Indian Ocean! Here are a few pictures from our days on the exotic island!

In Stone Town we wandered through the narrow, winding streets looking at the famous Zanzibar doors before visiting a former slave market and church, a museum, and the old fort!

All decked out in palm leaf gear on our spice tour

Eating octopus stew and Zanzibar spiced rice in a traditional village hut

Joel napping under his mosquito net!

Snorkeling in the Indian Ocean!!

Sunset sail on a wooden Dhow

Paradise!!

Snapshots from the "Griswold" family adventures...

We are having wonderful days in Tanzania!! Safari was amazing and now I am writing from our hotel room in Zanzibar! Who knew that when you traveled with parents you got to have air conditioning and wireless internet!?! Tomorrow we are going on a spice tour and then heading to the beach for 2 days. Here are a few pictures from Arusha and safari...more to come!

Joel attempting to pull the suitcase full of books and school supplies down the road to Gracious School!

Story time!

Joel, me, Kiri, Mom, and Dad with some Masai children on our cultural tour

These men were excited to have their picture taken

Randy Moss in a rural Masai village!

Picture time!

The kids love Mom!

On the rim of Ngorongoro Crater during safari. Nice socks Dad!!

A twiga in the Serengeti plains!

Relaxing at Rhino Lodge

Pretty close Rhino! We saw all of the "big 5" on our 4 day safari...Rhino, elephant, Cape buffalo, lion, and leopard! We also saw tons of giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, and so much more!

My family made it!!!

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that my family made it safely to Arusha! They arrived late Sunday night and we have been busy ever since. On Monday, we went to Gracious School and delivered a suitcase full of books, school supplies, and jump ropes that my aunt Sonja's elementary school class in Idaho collected and donated. The children and teachers at Gracious were ecstatic (picture to come)! After visiting the school we walked to Selian hospital for lunch and a tour and then made our way into central Arusha. We ran some errands, had milkshakes at Africafe, and went to the Masai market. We walked back home and Sean, Austin, and Dave had us over for a barbecue. We covered over 6 miles on foot without a word of complaint from anyone!

Yesterday we went on a cultural tour of a Masai village. We rode in 4 different dala dalas, toured the village, learned about Masai life, visited the village healer, and had a traditional Tanzanian lunch. We again walked at least 6 miles and everyone did great! We spent the evening relaxing at my house.

Today it is raining, but we are going to the Rwanda Tribunals and then back to the Masai market for souvenir shopping. Tonight we will have Indian food with friends. Tomorrow we leave for a 4-day safari to Lake Manyara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater!

In these first 3 days I've been incredibly impressed with my family's resiliency and adaptability. Africa is not an easy place to navigate and life here is hectic, dirty, exhausting, and wonderful! They have jumped in with both feet and I can't wait for the adventures ahead! I will post pictures soon!

Emergency Medical Flight!

Just a quick update on life in Arusha! My family arrives in 2 days and I can hardly wait to have them here! They are staying at a guest house just down the road from me and we have a busy 2 weeks planned. We will be visiting Selian Hospital and Gracious School, exploring the Masai villages around Mt. Meru, going on safari to the Serengeti (finally!), and relaxing on the beaches of Zanzibar! It really is impossible to understand Africa until you've been here, so I'm grateful that they get to experience a small part of my world!

This past Tuesday I got to accompany a patient on an emergency medical flight to Nairobi. The emergency flights are operated by the Flying Medical Service (FMS), which is the same organization that I did outreach clinics in the bush with back in October. I have stayed in contact with the FMS pilots, so when they needed a doctor for a flight on Tuesday they called me! I rushed to the Arusha airport and helped the pilot, Pat, prepare the plane. We put in a stretcher, oxygen tanks, and a medical kit with basic equipment and emergency medications. The patient arrived and was an adorable 71 year-old Indian women with a history of bronchitis, chest pain, and a pacemaker. Her sons wanted her to go to Nairobi for further investigations and treatment. I took her history and vitals and we boarded the plane. She was stable throughout the flight and just required monitoring of her oxygen saturation and other vitals. We landed in Nairobi and handed her off the paramedics. I was relieved that she was such an easy patient and that everything went smoothly during the flight!

Pat took me to lunch at the airport and I had a turkey sandwich!! They don't have turkey in Tanzania, so this was an extra special treat! So delicious! Pat is a 60+ year-old priest that has been flying in Tanzania for over 20 years. He has incredible stories about plane crashes and crazy patient rescues, so we had a fun time talking. On the way home we did a "flying safari!" This involved flying low to ground, so we could look for zebra, elephants, and Masai warriors! Pat let me fly the plane solo for almost half of the trip home and it was great! I almost botched the landing and needed some help, but overall he said I was a natural :)

Wednesday night we had a dinner party at our house and last night Dr. Eggert and his wife Ingrid had us over to their place for chili! Today I visited Gracious School and tonight I am going to a play at the International School with Linda. Tomorrow I am the doctor on call at the rugby tournament!! Dave did it last week and had to stitch up a guys face in the locker room with only a few beers for anesthetic! Yikes! Wish me luck!

I'll do my best to post an update when my parents are here. Can't wait to SEE everyone back in the USA in a few short weeks! Congratulations to all my friends who matched for residency yesterday!

Baseball!!

The sport of baseball has arrived in Tanzania!! Sean and Austin are baseball fanatics and have started to teach the game to the neighborhood children! Using a homemade wooden bat and tennis balls, the kids are learning to pitch, hit, and field! They love it! Last Saturday we had more than 20 players and Austin has already found his Tanzanian Joe Mauer!

Batting practice with Austin!

Have to have the right outfield stance!

Sean shared his Twins hat

This girl had a wicked arm!