11/24/06

Thoughts \ Developed Thoughts \ Rants \ Raves \ Writing

12/07/2005 22:28 +0200 GMT

Call it a Day

Long-ass day, but I got my money's worth, as Brad Edwards (UASOM MSIV) would say. I was in the office all day, but instead of reviewing powerpoints and notes, I was placing the same level of intensity of focus on lab books, data extraction sheets, all the while keeping a little peripheral attention on the data entry staff.

Today was a national holiday, but data entry folks have been coming in day and evenings to enter the data that we have been collecting from clinics and the labs. I write "we" but I am just coming in on the tail-end of the bulk of the work done by Andy and Erin, who are absolute stars in my book. I imagine that George Shaw and Beatrice Hahn were once like these guys - perfectionists, no-nonsense, yet funny, exceptionally bright, and immensely interesting to work with.

The data entry folks are paid extra to work the longer hours, of course. Human nature being what it is, you can imagine the temptation to get on Yahoo! Messenger, chat, or internet...Policing workers brought back unpleasant memories of the labour troubles at Project San Francisco. I don't want to be involved in staff oversight here any more. I must make that clear to the other interns.

Two interns arrived today, both American women, applying for medical school. Just as it took me a few balking days before I settled into this rigorous, Herculean effort, I sense that they are struggling to adjust to immediate, seemingly endless work. It's difficult when you set a substantial goal, and plough through a two-inch thick stack of papers, capturing every iota of information on them, correcting data when needed, and just when a sense of satisfaction hits, you're harshly reminded of the trunks full of papers that remain to be processed. I need to get in the clinic again!

I received a surprise phone call from Rose Agola today (UASOM, 2008). I spoke with Neha too. They may make it down this weekend for a UASOM group hug at the Falls. That would be spectacular.

I just finished Chicken Saag Waala at Danny's. This time there was only one car in the car par, and I was the only diner. My kind of place, and add to that the garlic naan, plain yogurt...very nice.

I walked to Northmead market at lunch time, had a chicken sawaarma at a little Egyptian place, then saw a sign over the marketplace, advertising haircuts. The barber wasn't in, unfortunately. (I can imagine Maggie breathing a sigh of relief.) I learned the price: K3,500, which is less than $1, US. I can handle that, and I've got enough random hairs sprouting out that I need to take action.

With me, everything boils down to AIDS, and if you go to the root of things, it all boils down to economics - the mother of all social sciences.

Isn't it interesting that the cheapest haircut in the US would buy you approximately 5 gallons of gas, but here in Lusaka, the same $10 0r $12 wouldn't get you even one gallon of petrol. This is why I cut my own hair, in personal protest to the money we Americans spend on such vane luxuries. It's K5,160 per liter of petrol here, which is over a dollar, and K3,500 for a haircut. $2.20 for a gallon of gas in the US, whereas over $4.20 for a gallon here, and you might get coiffed for about $12 in the US...I haven't paid for a haircut in years, but I'll break down here. Unless the Stringer's have some clippers stashed away.

I think Harry and Mike Saag should make a sequel to The Plague that Thunders - this place has changed so much. I'm storing up several examples that I'll unload all at once, about the New Lusaka.