On Visiting a Nevada Vineyard

The other night, we drove an hour outside of Las Vegas to the Pahrump Winery.  Guess everyone makes wines now-a-days.

Light on the hills

Pre-dinner tastings

Post-dinner Argus-ing

On Eau de Dog

Argus-the-Dog enjoying last year's rare Vegas snow

Yesterday was a fun-work day.  We hauled in the Christmas tree, got out the boxes decorations from the garage, and set about getting into the Christmas spirit.  My dad and I then decided to go take Argus-the-Dog to the park and get ingredients for lasagne while we were out.  I didn't bother showering beforehand since the dog park in the drizzle was likely to be messy.

Argus-the-Dog and I have been spending a lot of time together.  He's silky, and warm, and recently received a delux bath at the vet's, so he smells pretty good.  I can occasionally convince him to lie on my feet while I work.

As I was standing in the check out line at the supermarket, the woman in line in behind said to me, "Mmm...you smell good.  What is that?"  I racked my brain to think of what good thing I could possibly smell like, and then it hit me:

Argus-the-Dog's shampoo.

On Capturing Stories

I'm in Ahmerikah, the birthplace of Whole Foods and the land of reliable and fast internet.  One of the luxuries of being here is streaming NPR all day long.  Ahhhhh........

I just caught up on Story Corps, a project that allows people to interview each other for a minute or two and tell stories that then get archived in the Library of Congress.  The stories that emerge are amazing.  Some are hilarious, most are touching, and a surprising number have moved me to tears: all pretty remarkable for two minutes of air time.

http://storycorps.org/listen/

I'd guess that a lot of the stories that get recorded are stories that have been told around the dinner table, at family gatherings, at the pub countless times.  But there's something about going with someone into a little recording booth that seems to allow some people to dig deep and talk about things they've never talked about before.

I tried to get my father to write down some of his stories but for all the nagging and assignments and deadlines and threats, I only got a few submissions.  It's a trying to squeeze juice out of a really promising-looking orange and only getting three drops.

Well, the other night, apropos of nothing, out came a story I had never heard from my father's days of working in Ngongoro Crater.  He worked in the Crater over the summers, tracking wildebeast migrations and a lot of my favourite stories are from those days.  So here is the story (prompted, I think, by a discussion of cultural stereotypes of foreigners in East Africa) to the best of my recollection:

Well, you know, we rescued the French, tolerated the British, and got on rather well with the Germans.  There was one American guy - a real pain - we got him to ride a wildebeast!  On my last day in the Crater, he came over, wanting us to show him how to dart [animals].  So we said, fine, ok, we'll show you how to dart.  I showed him how to use the rifle and what to do and then he asked if we could go out and actually dart a few wildebeast.

So we said alright and darted a couple...and then he said he wanted a go.  Well none of us really liked this fellow so we decided to play a trick on him.  You see, when you dart a wildebeast and it goes down, you have to sit on its back and pull back its head or it will drown in its own saliva.  Because it loses muscle function.  You sit on its back and pull back on its horns like so [cradling in crook of arm] and throw a cloth over the animal's face.  And when the thing starts waking up, you feel the muscles under your legs relax, then twitch so you know it's time to get off and then take off the cloth.

When this fellow got on the back of the animal, the other guy [on our team] gave me a look...and we took the cloth off the animal's face before the American guy knew it was time to get off.  The animal got up and off he went!  [laughing] 

Mean.  Mean, but funny.

Wait until you hear my mother's story of making one of her preschool students cry just so she could comfort the little girl and watch the kohl stream down her face!  With parents like these, I look pretty nice in comparison, huh?

On Angry Haiti

I'm on my way back from Honduras to Haiti.  Was supposed to have a layover in Miami, but now I'm stuck here because the airport in Haiti is closed and flights are cancelled.  People are angry because the preliminary election results indicated a run-off between one of the two popular candidates and the current [unpopular] president's favourite.

Things are looking bad.

On Antigua

I spent the day wandering through the Guatemalan town of Antigua today where I met the cake/church that I fell in love with in Alex's photos.  

Also, there were many charming cafes and restaurants.  I had a chocolate shot in one.

Emmanuella and Sherley on their way to spending muchos quetzales.

On Guatemala City

I don't have a camera right now.  It's a shame, since this city has some phenomenal architecture, but it also means I can enjoy it without trying to capture it for posterity.  The city streets are well paved, the buildings are a mix of modern and historic, there are charming restaurants and shootings on the streets, nice hotels and very poor people.  Once again, I realize that Haiti is on a completely different developmental level than its neighbors. Here, there are malls and Christmas decorations on the streets.  In Port-au-Prince, we are still working on providing water and sanitation to residents.  My Haitian colleague confessed to me in the car yesterday that she longs to leave Haiti and live someplace with space (she spread her arms) where things are spread out and safe and clean.  I don't blame her.

We are here to visit our Guatemala and our regional offices, just like we did in Trinidad.  

On our first day, we visited a government health clinic where we provide family planning services in the form of intrauterine devices and hormonal implants.  Women who we see there often start having children as young as 15 and have several by the time they are 24.  I was impressed with the quality of the education sessions our colleagues delivered to the women at the clinic: they were able to explain how IUDs and implants work and show the women how they are implanted.  Both methods are for five years of contraception and are provided at no cost to the women.

December 1 was World AIDS Day.  We went to a square where events were taking place.  Two young volunteer radio hosts MCed the event, but even they couldn't hold my attention amidst the cold and the endless school band performances.    

At one point, a circle of witches materialized on one side of the square with brooms and a cauldron.  They were HIV positive witches demanding free anti-retro viral treatment, protection from violence, and other rights. I appreciated their non-conventional presentation, but it was hard to know who they were addressing.  

I was happy to see several gay and transgender youth at the event.  Guatemala is a very conservative, very Catholic country where it's very difficult to talk openly about sexual health.  I'm told the outgoing Catholic leader equated a condom to a bullet.  Hmm.  We later visited a couple of partner organizations who provide services for gay and transgender people.  

One of the centers where transgender people meet is also a clinic with a full laboratory that provides comprehensive sexual health services.  They had a small hospital that served 760 HIV+ patients that has been unable to stay open because government funds have dried up.  Their operating budget was $500,000 per year.  That's about $650 per patient.  Peanuts.

On Politics over People

Let's recap:

Right now in Haiti, every NGO worker I know has a curfew and tight security restrictions.  There are riots across the country against UN troops.  There is a cholera epidemic that has killed over 1,200 people.  There are earthquake survivors living in 1,300 camps across Port-au-Prince.  The infrastructure is a shambles.  There are reports of arms being smuggled into the country in anticipation of the presidential elections this weekend.  My boss left the country on Friday with her daughter because of the deteriorating security situation.

And today at a meeting with USAID, they off-handedly mentioned that danger pay has been discontinued for Haiti.  What does this mean?  It means that in the midst of all that is currently going on, I just took a 20% pay cut.

Shame on you, USAID.

On Addition to the Bucket List

I saw the Goodyear blimp last Saturday!!  So cool!  Retro cool!!

On Cholera + Elections

Everybody thought that after the January 12 earthquake, an outbreak of diarrheal disease was inevitable and would be tragic for Haiti.

Instead, we were hit with cholera 10 months after the quake and the timing is just as bad or worse than it would have been if cholera hit us in February.

Between the voodoo and a history of traumatic political leadership, Haitians are a suspicious people.  Remember World Handwashing Day on October 15th?  Some may call it fortuitous that World Handwashing Day messages on good hygiene and diarrhea prevention and treatment were still being disseminated when the first case of cholera was confirmed a week later.  Some people though it was no coincidence: that the government (or whomever) knew cholera was going to hit.  Keep in mind that presidential elections are on November 28 - everyone is expecting some sort of funny business.

Last Saturday, I had organized an event for the PSI all-staff meeting for everyone to practice doing marketplace promotions of our products.  This was done on the PSI compound but afterwards the group went into the camp next door to talk one-on-one with the residents on prevention of cholera (handwashing, water treatment, ORS). I was in Jupiter that day, but when I asked my colleagues about it later, ALL of them said they faced resistance to the cholera prevention messages because some people blew cholera off as "politics."

I'm not really sure what that means.  It could mean that the cholera epidemic is a fabrication of the government  - a pre-election strategy of some kind.  Some people clearly think that UN troops from Nepal are responsible for the outbreak, as demonstrated by violent protests yesterday in Cap-Haitian (no where near me).  Political candidates in next week's elections are apparently fueling this fire and vowing to get to the bottom of "this" (the origin of the epidemic?) and hold the UN (or whomever) accountable.

Given that the US mission here is the only assurance of violence-free elections, leading the population to believe the peacekeeping troops are responsible for cholera is not in the interest of anyone interested in free and fair elections.

On the Kindle Apologia

Might as well get this out there once and for all:  I just bought a Kindle.  Yes, a Kindle!  And I'm not afraid to say that I love it!

Don't give me that hesitation, the slight recoil of disappointment, the minute sniff of disdain!  I don't hate books!  Books and I go way back.  We were friends before I knew what I friend was.  Getting a Kindle is not a betrayal of our friendship!

I love the way books smell - especially the musty, familiar smell of all library books.
I love the feel of the paper.
I appreciate a good font choice.
I love it when a book falls open in my hand.
I like the texture of a book cover.
I plan to own a children's bookshop/coffee shop in my next life.

But I don't like the weight of three books in my carry-on luggage.  I read fast.  Even a week-long trip requires at least two books.  And since the chaos of Haiti's baggage terminal has made me allergic to checked luggage, books have become a bit of a pain to carry around.  Literally.

Enter the Kindle.  I weighs as much as an issue of The Economist and contains enough reading material for a year of travel.  And I can buy books instantly, even in Haiti!  Go ahead - recommend a book to me!  Not only can I find it, but I can read it as fast as I want to without the fear of running out of precious, precious reading material.

Capiche?