3 continents, 6 countries, 5 days....

Well hello friends, family and others!

All is well here, apart from whatever virus I am now carrying...but it could also just be jetlag or these damn Harmatan sand storms.

I made a very quick trip last week to California for Yvette's 40th birthday, where all the "De-Freitas women" were gathering for a celebration at my aunt's place in Palm Desert. It was a very last minute decision on my part, as i was supposed to be out in the field monitoring polio transmissions or something like that, but fate intervened and allowed me to get away for a few days!

So, as i had a meeting in Malabo, Equitorial Guinea on the Thursday, I was able to catch a plane from there to Germany and then direct to Los Angeles, where I then drove another 2 hours to get to my aunt's place to finally arrive on the Friday afteroon (good thing about traveling west is that the time difference is 9 hours to my advantage), but not so good for the jet lag! And, then I was back on a plane Monday morning, heading back to Africa for even more, never ending meetings! I came back exhausted, and even more exhausted after 3 days of meetings again In Malabo, and then in Accra, Ghana…but I was more than exhausted, I was flat out sick and so this last weekend, I spent almost the whole time in bed! But, all is good now…who knows what I had…I think it was just exhaustion! But, good thing I have Mary around…she is fantastic and knows all the non medicinal cures…although they don’t taste so good!

Work is very busy now, as we are just starting a major malaria, measles and meningitis campaign (along with polio vaccinations)…we are giving out over 60 million bed nets and measle and meningitis shots in the north parts of Nigeria over the next week, and then the second week of December we head south to do the same thing…so the next few weeks will be a bit of a whirlwind…but after that it will be holiday time again! That is turning into an interesting story into itself…and currently I am trying to figure out just where I will end up and when ( I at least have it narrowed down to one of 3 continents - Asia, Africa or Europe)…so I will keep you posted on that. But, you can be guaranteed it will be an adventure!

The one thing I will say that is really weird is that this is the first time ever that I am not constantly reminded that it is Christmas season…even though Nigeria is 50% Christian, there are no overt signs that Christmas is coming…no obnoxious Christmas music playing everywhere, santa claus standing on street corners, holiday shopping, peppermint flavoured this or egg nog flavoured that…it just does not exist here. I have yet to see one single decoration, hear a Christmas jingle or overhear people talking about what to buy or how difficult others are to shop for…While it is celebrated, it not like the developed world where we try to outspend one another and give/get things we don’t really need…people here plan for time with their families, and going to church, etc. So, it is actually quite refreshing for a change. I am not anti-Christmas or anything, but I do think we go a little too crazy with the whole thing. While I have been away for Christmas before, this is the first time that I really forget it is coming…and it is also 40 degrees (Celcius) everyday…so that also a bit of a change!

I keep hearing about the fires in California, but they really need to start talking about the ones here in Africa…on a daily basis, outside my office window, there is a huge fire destroying homes and farmer fields, and as there is really no such thing as a fire department, everything just burns to the ground…the few people with buckets are relatively useless as 50 people using buckets on a huge fire just doesn’t really work so well…so quite sad to see, but then you just see then rebuilding a few hundred metres away!

Anyways, that is it for me for now. I have posted some new photos, but should have more coming soon.

Hope you are all getting ready for the season, and enjoying the rain/sun/snow/ice/cold where ever you are!

A presto, Andrea