December 30, 2009
After another long day of driving I finally reached Denver. There is something about this city that makes it feel so comfortable to me; like the beat up old hat I can’t seem to part with. Through trials and triumphs, we have been formed by and left impressions on each other to the point that we fit like a lock and key. Yet, mixed in with the feelings of excitement and nostalgia was something else. While driving down Wynkoop past the pubs, shops and well dressed people I realized that the heavy feeling was a bit of culture shock. Denver is a really nice place. There isn’t trash lining the streets or crippled old men and women sifting through the refuse looking for scraps to eat or recyclables to make a little money. There was no choking pollution from the industry or burning garbage hanging in the air causing me to cough uncontrollably. Everyone was driving cars that were made within the past decade and cloths that had been recently washed in clean water and free of holes and stains. Shops were wide and grand and so were the shops. The sewage was completely out of site and mind unlike the uncovered, running sewage through the streets of India. No one was trying to scam me or tossing cow shit on my shoes so they could sell me a shoe shining. And I, I was in my nice clean, well running car surrounded by thousands of dollars of gear; camera equipment, computer, iPod, motorcycle gear, jackets, boots.
Perhaps the thing that hit me the hardest was that these people walking along the sidewalk had no idea what life was like on the other side of the planet. This was striking not because I was judging them as ignorant fools, but it made me realize how naive I was before this whole thing started. Being back here makes me conscious of my own potential to get wrapped back up in life here in the states and forget what I have seen. I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to get so wrapped up in the things that surround me that I loose perspective on the rest of the world.
December 29, 2009
Right, so after only four short days with the fam in Gig Harbor I am once again on the road. This time, I am headed from the Harbor back to Denver. No time for the scenic route along the coast or stopping to see friends along the way, new years eve is quickly approaching and the call of the mountains is getting louder and louder by the day.
I left my parents’ house around 10 this morning and made my way, uneventfully, through Washington, Oregon and half of Idaho. The drive is beautiful and the time alone in the car gave me some much needed space to contemplate my next move in life. For now, I am drawn between Medical Device sales and Project Engineering in the Military. Both have their ups and down and while I am currently leaning toward the latter, my mood will most likely swing again by morning. Well, there are still 12 more hours of driving between me and Denver. Perhaps the epiphany will come tomorrow.
My next stop after picking up a few things in Denver will be Frisco to hang out with Megger and the O’Neills for a few days. Then it’s down to business…looking for jobs. If you know of anyone hiring. Please let me know!
December 26, 2009
Screening for the mission in Guwahati was done at the police hospital down the street from the mission hospital. Every morning, local police officers would sit around waiting to start their shift. I have never been nervous about people with guns before, but when the police officers are resting their chest or chin on the muzzle, I start to worry.
Our fearless Clinical Coordinator Lee O’Malley sporting Jimmy’s sexy new old man shades.
Our home for 3 weeks, the Ginger Hotel. Owned and operated by the TATA Corporation. Which also manufactured the towels and linens in the hotel, the bus and cars that took us from the hotel to the hospital every day, and controls the internet service for all of Guwahati. Almost everything we touched in India was a TATA product.
The street vendor across from the Hotel sells snacks and tobacco products to the locals.
The three weeks we spent in Guwahati, India was one of the most intense missions to date. We were attempting to complete something that had never been done before and succeeded. Over one week of screening, 871 people received a basic health care checkup. Over two weeks of surgery, 509 people from all over the state of Assam received surgery.
This mission brought a new role for me. With the PIT position already filled by a local volunteer, Brooke, I stepped took over the lead for Electronic Medical Records. Victoria and I spent 16 hours a day for 3 weeks trying to keep up with the volume of data we were to enter. In the end, we were not as successful as I would have hoped, but we learned a lot and improved something about the EMR process every day.
November 29, 2009
I woke up this morning at Tim’s place in Hanoi. Still feeling a little under the weather, I dragged myself from bed, down the stairs and out the front door. In the morning, the neighbors set up small tables, stools and charcoal stoves all along the alley. You can buy anything from noodle soup to fresh produce. Two weeks ago, Tim introduced me to the egg sandwich (baguette with egg, seasoned meat, cucumber and onion). They are great everywhere in town, but the lady who makes them on our block is the only one with a warming oven for the baguette. The final product melts in your mouth. A little further down the block, a woman was selling fresh produce. I picked up a Kilo of Quyt (mandarin oranges) and made my way back to the house to feast. After having traveled 16 hours yesterday with a cold and hungover from the night before, the meal is heaven.
Today is a rest day before getting on another plane for Delhi tomorrow! India, here I come!
November 20, 2009
Now, Meg, please don’t kill me. I saw Manchester United play the Vietnamese National Team last night… Keep reading →
November 17, 2009
1. mother and child wait to be seen by the op smile mission team on screening day Keep reading →
November 4, 2009
For the last few days, the Operation Smile office in Hanoi has been in chaos. Volunteers are running around everywhere, boxes and tshirts cover every inch of available floor space and the coordinators are hard at work locking down the final details for the 17 simultaneous missions that are about to take place all over Vietnam. My mission in Hanoi kicks off tomorrow with a 9am meeting and a few hours of screening.
October 30, 2009
This trip has been a breeze compared to the last time I crossed the pond. A quick 11 hour flight straight from Seattle/Tacoma to Seoul, Korea (much better than 16 hours to Taiwan) a one hour layover (when staying on Korean Air and passing through Seoul, I don’t have to go through customs, claim my bag, change terminals, check back in, back through security and then to the gate like most other transfer cities). This is the way to fly. My seat mate was a nice lady from Everett, Wa. She works for the Engineering division of the Navy so we talked about possible future jobs as well as the usual…family and travel plans. She almost kicked my butt in a game of Gin, but I rallied in the end to finish her off 325 to 290. For now, I am sipping a protein shake from Smoothy King (I like being able to get the comforts of home during long travel days) and catching up on e-mails before boarding the 3 hour flight to Hanoi. Once I land at 10:30 local, I will have a 30 minute taxi ride into the city followed by 30 minutes of arguing with the taxi driver over directions because he doesn’t know where it’s going. Then I’ll be a Jimmy’s to crash on the couch and pray that I will once again escape the west bound jetlag. I’m starting to feel like a seasoned veteran at this asia travel stuff. I’m gonna miss it when this whole thing’s over. For now, I am excited for the job at hand. This should be a great mission.
