Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

7/12/11

Only song title I could think of with goodbye in it.  I should start with yesterday.  My last day at the clinic was fairly uneventful.  I brought in some snacks-cookies, ground nuts, something I couldn’t identify, but I assumed was good-and cards for the people at the clinic since it was my last day!  After swapping many hugs and email addresses, I wrote for the rest of the day.  Oh, almost forgot, Maureen gave me another dress yesterday, but wouldn’t let me pay for it.  This one is another sundress, black with a little eyelet lace, and again, it made me so very happy. 

Big news, one of the clinical trials that has been happening at the clinic has stopped and been redirected.  I couldn’t figure out what the shouting and running was for, but then I found out that it means the drug they’re testing is so effective that they will no longer use placebos, and every person on study will get the drug.  Basically, they’ve found a really good way to prevent transmission of HIV from one partner in a monogamous relationship to another.  It’s a very big deal!  I don’t know what that means for the bigger picture of cure, or if you’re having sex and are not married or monogamous.  There’s promising talk of a vaccine, too, just FYI. 

After all of that, Stephen drove me around for a looooong time last night to show me his family’s farm, and to meet some friends of his.  It was very sweet of him, but I find Stephen a little harder to carry on a conversation with than some people, and I was just desperate to get home. 

Little did I know that home now includes a male roommate.  Tom is very kind, but it was a quick and shocking adjustment to sharing a bathroom, hanging underwear and bras up to dry, sitting properly in a skirt, and watching Sex and the City.  And in case you’ve never heard this rant, I HATE sharing a bathroom with a boy.  I love my brothers in law (where does the ‘s’ go in that one?), but my least favorite part of everyone home is sharing the bathroom with two boys.  We are hoping we’ll make friends soon enough that he’ll go some places with us after dark, so we can enjoy the night life a little more. 

I woke up this morning in a MOOD.  I was wide awake at 6:30, the power was in and out, I was out of Coke (probably the biggest factor), and I woke up to several questions of if my supervisors are leaving, why should I stick around to do write a paper that I could easily do at home.  I thought it was a fair point (one I didn’t really allow myself to think too hard about before), but 2 very important factors are in my way.  1. $1180.  For $400 more, I could have just bought an entirely new plane ticket.  I can’t fathom spending that much money for a difference of a week, no matter who’s paying or the infinite happiness going home would bring me.  2. I don’t want to leave Verity to fend for herself.  Dani leaves us on Saturday, and I know she’s a big girl, and she’s lived alone in foreign countries before, but still.  It would be that much harder for her, especially when we’ve made plans for our last week (and by plans I mean pool, facial, pedicure, etc.).  So I’m staying (again).  After a few tears with the Delta customer support people, I regrouped, the power returned, I took a decently hot shower, and I did laundry.  God must be cracking up right now because the domestic chore of washing my underwear in a bucket (which I hope to never have to do again once I’m home) put me in a significantly better mood.  Go figure. 

Anyway, I’m Thankful...
 1. for last days.  Praise the Lord, it’s a big step out of the way.
 2. for another dress.  I’m quite pleased, and am so thankful for Maureen to take care of me in all kinds of ways. 
 3. for the beautiful garden Stephen’s friends had.  It smelled a little like gardenias, but it was a different flower, and it might have been the prettiest yard I’ve ever seen.  I have no idea how they pulled off watering a lawn in Africa.  My only regret was it was dark, and I didn’t have a camera anyway.
 4. for a random task to distract me from my self pity. 
 5. to know a reason for my constant hunger (even thought I think it’s kind of BS): apparently the preservatives in American food stay in your stomach longer than food without preservatives here.  Too bad the calories stay in your stomach either way
6. for a friend who tried really hard to mail Diet Dr. Pepper to Uganda.  Apparently it’s a lot harder than it sounds, but just the thought made my day. 

Much love!