How I Spent Canada Day

These are a few random pics from my "Congolese in Swaziland" July 1st celebration. In Swaziland, most of the doctors are from other African countries (since there's no med school in Swaziland) and one of them invited them to join him in celebrating Congo's independence day (actually on June 30th, but delayed one day so people could party hard). So I spent Canada day at the Congolese clubhouse listening to speeches about Congo, eating Congolese food, and dancing on the deck with Congolese dudes... for some reason none of the girls came onto the dance floor... even when I was there! I'm not one to sit and watch, especially when somebody's dressed like a Cow.

I'm back from Africa and getting settled in Toronto for the rest of the summer. I arrived yesterday (and my luggage arrived today) and I have my orientation tomorrow. I'm loving living downtown -- I'm right in the think of it. We'll see if the novelty wears off.

I've got a million stories and thoughts and rants from Africa that I could share... and I'll do that in the next few weeks. It was a really good trip -- especially when Jamie and my old and new friends from UBC med school showed up. We had a blast! I did also get to do some practical stuff, the most exciting of which was probably learning to suture.

Here are a few more pictures:

A building in downtown Johannasburg (South Africa). This building is... totally empty. All of the businesses pulled outta town when apartheid ended 12 years ago because they were worried the economy would go downhill. Just nuts.

Some "constructive" graffiti. AIDS is a huge issue here and you see public messaging all over. There's a lot that I could say here... I had a doctor sit me down for 45 minutes (while patients were waiting) to explain why the west's approach to solving this problem in Africa is misguided. These are the conversations that I travel to have -- I love being offended by this sort of comment. One of the things he said was that when the South Africa's leader said that HIV doesn't cause AIDS (which we all heard about on TV because he obviously can't add 2 + 2, even though he runs a country), it was because he was saying that poverty is the real cause (they didn't mention this on the news). Because when a person is worried about surviving the next day, they don't care about preventing some virus that might kill them in 10 years. And many in Africa would blame western countries for this poverty. Food for thought...

One of the hipper doctors I spent time with. This guy was from Zimbabwe. We went out dancing my last weekend in Swaziland, and he came out dressed like a total thug. It was awesome.

Here's a traditional Swazi wedding I went to up in some mountain village. This was interesting because it was the second wedding. In some Swazi groups a man and woman will marry each other first, and then marry each others' families in a second ceremony. So we watched them give each other's families gifts for hours... and then watched ritual where the wife puts the husband to bed and combs his hair... on a blanket in front of everybody! The middle aged women loved it and so did I.

Here's me, Jamie (a friend who does development work in Swaziland) and a guide who took us and the UBCers up the tallest mountain in Swaziland.

I'm outta here -- find me in the real world and I'll show you more pictures! Peace.

Currently Reading Lonely Planet South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (Lonely Planet South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland) By Becca Blond, Gemma Pitcher, Mary Fitzpatrick, Simon Richmond, Matt Warren see related

Hey all,

I''m out and about again this summer and have decided to revive my long dead travel blog. I need to keep in touch with all of my friends that I love so much! If I haven't talked to you in a while, I'm in Swaziland (Southern Africa) right now, doing some medical stuff for six weeks. I'll be back in Vancouver July 2nd, I'll spend a couple days there and in Edmonton, and then I fly to Toronto. I'll spend the rest of my summer in a research program at the Sick Kids hospital there.

I've been in Swaziland for three and a half weeks and things are great, though a bit different than I expected. I'm less useful than I had hoped -- I thought they might have been really overloaded and needing people to do basic things, but they've actually got a nursing school here with plenty of willing hands. So I'm hardly "saving" Africa and am glad I didn't raise any support. But it still rules here! I've spend most of my time running around with the doctors and learning things from them, which has been really interesting and educational. Swaziland's got the highest HIV prevalence in the world -- around 40% outside of the hospital, who knows what amoung the patients -- so that's a lot of what I see. It's a pretty big issue here. I see a lot of sad situations but things are still upbeat and far from depressing.

The hospital is a different from what I'm used to. It's always out of something -- today they ran out of plaster for casts, and almost ran out of anaesthetic in the OR. The doctors are from all kinds of places and vary in their technique -- from the partiers just of of med school to the seasoned gynecologist with very "rough" technique (I wince every time I watch him and I don't even have those parts...) And the guys in the ER all wear K-Mart vests. Don't ask me why. It's really strange. They must have just needed red vests and that was cheapest. Oh yeah, and cats roam free on the hospital grounds -- they're all over the place.

I've got weekends off and have taken it pretty easy -- no wild adventures yet (thought I'm going to Mozambique for the next weekend which should get my blood flowing a bit). I went on a rural Swaziland trip one weekend with an American couple who's also at the hospital (and paid for eating all the strange food with a few sick days), and have spend some time at a local orphanege. There are a lot of orphans here because of AIDS, and it's going to get a lot worse in the future. Let me know if you want to sponsor any of the kiddies! The orphanege is actually run by the granddaughter of the hospital's founder, and her dad is also in town and works at a local clinic that I've also visited (he's actually the country's former health minister).

It has been a bit lonely here at times since I came alone -- especially since it gets dark early and it's not too safe to go out so I'm often stuck at the hospital, where I live. But it's forced me to make friends with the locals, and my social calendar's filling up now. Four American students arrived today, and the rest of my Canadian crew (all from UBC) arrives Monday, so I think my slow evenings are over.

The internet cafe I'm writing this from is hilarious. It's a new business for the guy, and now and again it shuts down because because he forgets to pay his bills, or else "the phone company is using his line to make international calls -- they're all crooks". When I first signed up I pointed out that his prices gave you the best deal when you bought 10 minutes, and that you paid more when you bought more time. He was amazed with my math skills and changed his whole pricing schedule on the spot.

So that's the scoop on my life in Swaziland. I hope you're all doing well! Take care,

Tim

Currently Listening Re-Joyce: The Christmas Album By Jessica Simpson see related

Merry Christmas!

I'm currently back in Prince George spending time with my family. It's raining -- I don't know how far north you've gotta go for a white Christmas these days. Holiday highlights have included family charades, my Mom's beginning trumpet playing (she got a rental for Christmas; it sounds like she's blowing her nose) and my British Dad's rousing rendition of "Knees up Mother Brown". Never a dull moment...

So semester #1 of med school is over! I'm happy to report that I'm definitely in the right field; I love everything that I'm doing and look forward to going back in January (when we get to start hacking up cadavers). So far med school's been less work than I had expected -- they're easing us into things, and the pass/fail grading system helps. Also, the social element rules -- you see the same people in every class (there's the jocks and class clowns and the works, just like high school), and I've made a lot of new friends.

Aside from school, my new life in Edmonton has turned out pretty good. My housing situation is communal living at it's finest -- me and seven friends in a house made for five. There's seven of us guys and one girl, who's married to one of the guys and has a baby due in March. Everybody in the house is a willing guinea pig when I need to practice reflexes or finding thyroid glands. The married ones share a room, as do two of the other guys (they actually share a bed -- they're old friends). Roommate #8 (Alan) lives in a tent in the basement. We recently had a big party with lots of kids from school over and the tent was a regular tourist attraction. We should have charged cash to see it.

I do still miss Vancouver, especially my church, band, and friends! A few of my roommates may be moving down that way soon, giving me extra incentive to move back when I'm done (2009 -- just a shade before the Olympics). But who knows. I'm actually hoping to make a trip down that way for reading break in February. Stay tuned.

My mom's playing the trumpet again. I think she's improving...

So that's my update -- see you in another 6 months or so! Later.

Currently Reading The Source By James A. Michener see related

Hey ya'll!

I'm back in Prince George, my northern hometown, and I've finally gotten my act together with my pictures! I've got 50 of my favourites posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tgutz/. I couldn't figure out how to order them so they're a bit jumbled -- if you want to see the full, organized deal you'll have to track me down in person!

After arriving back in Canada around a month ago, I spent two weeks in the Vancouver area chillin' with people and saying my final goodbyes, and I've now been in Prince George for almost three weeks. I've been doing a lot to get organized before I start med school in Edmonton on the 29th, and also a lot of reflecting and processing my experiences. I learned a lot more from my trip than I had expected, especially from my experiences in non-Western countries, and a few things threw me for a bit of a loop. But I feel like I've found a lot of clarity since my trip and come out with a bit of a paradigm shift. Without delving into it, I think my perception of Christian truth has broadened in certain ways and I'm now thinking a bit more "liberally" (compared to my Baptist background anyway). 'Nuff said!

Next week I'll likely be working at Bible Camp which I haven't done in years, and then it's off to Edmonton! I'll be living at "the Pad" there with a bunch of friends... they've already got their own reality TV show -- check it at http://www.pokedog.com/ThePAD.html. It's gonna be a wild mix of crazy antics and med school.

That's it for tonight. Peace.