Thursday, December 10, 2009
eurasia inspired haikus
Militia stands guard
No border crossing today-
The people must vote!
Painstakingly slow
Sveta cooks the hominy,
Puts the cheese inside
Tick, tick, ticking clock,
Passing time with War & Peace-
Please pick up your phone!
No border crossing today-
The people must vote!
Painstakingly slow
Sveta cooks the hominy,
Puts the cheese inside
Tick, tick, ticking clock,
Passing time with War & Peace-
Please pick up your phone!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Dogs don't get TB
What do babies crying, barking dogs and gunshots have in common?
They are things I am frequently awakened by in the middle of the night! Don’t worry the guns are not a threat. Think looney tunes a la Yosemite Sam’s wild west versus bombs over Baghdad and you have a good idea of the situation here. Practically everyone owns a gun and employs it as a sort of party favor whistle. I am only mentioning this out of annoyance from sleep deprivation. And because I am missing 'my solitude of Brooklyn'.
One very cool albeit unexpected thing I discovered is a bowling alley. This is one thing I never thought I would find walking along the boardwalk on the Black Sea in the Republic of Abkhazia. Actually, I never imagined that I would be walking along the boardwalk on the Black Sea in the Republic of Abkhazia.
Related to work: The Ministry of Internal Affairs has given the green light to ‘make education’ in the prison. There are some serious misconceptions about TB here.
Since October I have been having a support group weekly in the hospital and monthly at one of our ambulatory points.
Here is an excerpt of a few things I have heard:
“Dogs can’t get TB so is it true that if I eat a dog I can be cured of TB?”
“I heard that if you take a newborn puppy and feed it only fresh cows milk for several weeks then cook it and eat it, you will be cured. Is that true?”
“No, that’s not true. Monkeys don’t get AIDS but you don’t see people eating them to cure them of AIDS do you?”
“Anyway, if that were true I’d been cured years ago cause I’ve eaten 2 dogs already and I’m still sick”
“If UV light kills the bacilli then why don’t they just cut your chest open and lay you out in the sun to cure you?”
“Or cut your chest open and pour benzene on your lungs to kill it?”
These are a few things that I have heard.
Very uninformed indeed.
So far, there is not much discussion about the upcoming presidential election set for December 12. I think no news is good news.
They are things I am frequently awakened by in the middle of the night! Don’t worry the guns are not a threat. Think looney tunes a la Yosemite Sam’s wild west versus bombs over Baghdad and you have a good idea of the situation here. Practically everyone owns a gun and employs it as a sort of party favor whistle. I am only mentioning this out of annoyance from sleep deprivation. And because I am missing 'my solitude of Brooklyn'.
One very cool albeit unexpected thing I discovered is a bowling alley. This is one thing I never thought I would find walking along the boardwalk on the Black Sea in the Republic of Abkhazia. Actually, I never imagined that I would be walking along the boardwalk on the Black Sea in the Republic of Abkhazia.
Related to work: The Ministry of Internal Affairs has given the green light to ‘make education’ in the prison. There are some serious misconceptions about TB here.
Since October I have been having a support group weekly in the hospital and monthly at one of our ambulatory points.
Here is an excerpt of a few things I have heard:
“Dogs can’t get TB so is it true that if I eat a dog I can be cured of TB?”
“I heard that if you take a newborn puppy and feed it only fresh cows milk for several weeks then cook it and eat it, you will be cured. Is that true?”
“No, that’s not true. Monkeys don’t get AIDS but you don’t see people eating them to cure them of AIDS do you?”
“Anyway, if that were true I’d been cured years ago cause I’ve eaten 2 dogs already and I’m still sick”
“If UV light kills the bacilli then why don’t they just cut your chest open and lay you out in the sun to cure you?”
“Or cut your chest open and pour benzene on your lungs to kill it?”
These are a few things that I have heard.
Very uninformed indeed.
So far, there is not much discussion about the upcoming presidential election set for December 12. I think no news is good news.
The Supra
I don’t know how to respond except to say that I am sorry. Things have been a bit hectic in the field but still I have no excuse for, as Brooke accurately put it, ‘blog neglect’. So to make it up to you I will make 2 entries today.
I am writing from the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, where I have been for the past 4 days to get a Russian visa. Today, I leave for Zugdidi for a few days to work in the field, then back to Sukhum for a couple more days and on the 12th I leave for one week holiday in Istanbul!
Istanbul’s not Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul not Constantinople, been a long time gone, Constantinople, why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks! Oh, sorry, I become possessed with They Might Be Giants every time. . .Which reminds me, any recommendations on what to do while I am there? Would be great to know interesting unusual recs made outside Lonely Planet.
I can’t believe I have been here nearly 3 months! And only 130 days ‘til the Paris marathon?! Training is thus far going according to schedule; Ran 14 miles for first time in the other day.
Recently I had a most interesting experience. I attended a supra, which is a traditional Georgian celebration involving an abundance of food, wine, and tchatcha (homemade grape vodka aka moonshine). The head of the table, or toastmaster, is known as the tamada. The tamada on this occasion was a surgeon working in a remote area near Telavi, which is on the northeastern border of Georgia near to Chechnya. He is providing surgeries for several hundred Chechens. He himself Chechen, came to Georgia to aid refugees who fled from the conflict with Russia. We were fortunate enough to tour his hospital and surgical theater, which was nothing short of amazing. The dilapidated facility in which he works was built during soviet times and is largely abandoned but he manages to perform extensive surgeries with very limited resources. It was a nice reminder of why I am doing this kind of work and of the possibilities for what more can be done. Truly an inspiring individual.
In the future I will do my best to blog more frequently, if you promise to send the latest updates and gossip in your world.
Kisses!
I am writing from the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, where I have been for the past 4 days to get a Russian visa. Today, I leave for Zugdidi for a few days to work in the field, then back to Sukhum for a couple more days and on the 12th I leave for one week holiday in Istanbul!
Istanbul’s not Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul not Constantinople, been a long time gone, Constantinople, why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks! Oh, sorry, I become possessed with They Might Be Giants every time. . .Which reminds me, any recommendations on what to do while I am there? Would be great to know interesting unusual recs made outside Lonely Planet.
I can’t believe I have been here nearly 3 months! And only 130 days ‘til the Paris marathon?! Training is thus far going according to schedule; Ran 14 miles for first time in the other day.
Recently I had a most interesting experience. I attended a supra, which is a traditional Georgian celebration involving an abundance of food, wine, and tchatcha (homemade grape vodka aka moonshine). The head of the table, or toastmaster, is known as the tamada. The tamada on this occasion was a surgeon working in a remote area near Telavi, which is on the northeastern border of Georgia near to Chechnya. He is providing surgeries for several hundred Chechens. He himself Chechen, came to Georgia to aid refugees who fled from the conflict with Russia. We were fortunate enough to tour his hospital and surgical theater, which was nothing short of amazing. The dilapidated facility in which he works was built during soviet times and is largely abandoned but he manages to perform extensive surgeries with very limited resources. It was a nice reminder of why I am doing this kind of work and of the possibilities for what more can be done. Truly an inspiring individual.
In the future I will do my best to blog more frequently, if you promise to send the latest updates and gossip in your world.
Kisses!
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