http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Afrique-Nana/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Afrique Nana en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:37:27 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:37:27 +0000 Itrsquos pretty amazing if a little nerveracking flying into the next place yoursquore going to live without ever even having been there before. Itrsquos funny but this is something Irsquom getting quite used to starting with our move to a beautifulsounding town picked out of Frommerrsquos France lsquo91 back in 7th grade. I had heard rumors about the flight from Chiang Mai to M http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Mae-Hong-Son/blog-426750.html So after a tough debate with myself over whether to take a human rights officer post with the UN peacekeeping mission in Cote drsquoIvoire which after Senegal I knew I would love or an associate resettlement officer job in northern Thailand with UNHCRhellipyou all know where I ended up. Having worked previously in Africa I was eager to gain experience in a new cultural context like Asia http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-390611.html Last weeks in MalawiSoon after my return from Zimbabwe something many of us mzungus had been looking forward to for months was finally happening 'Indecision 2008' to use Jon Stewartrsquos terminology . Chameleonrsquos a mzunguowned bar in Lilongwe had promised to stay open all night and broadcast the U.S. presidential election live on CNN for us. After sleeping for a few hours Maki Av http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-385785.html ZIMBABWE TRIP October 1726The next Friday I boarded a big bus to head out on my big Zimbabwean adventure. I know most of you think it was positively insane to go to Zimbabwe at this time but before departing I had spoken to plenty of Zimbabweans including a colleague of mine at UNHCR Ennie who assured me that I would be perfectly fine. Zimbabwe was not dangerous especially not for foreig http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/blog-384386.html LAKE OF STARS FESTIVAL SENGA BAY MALAWIOne of the only things Malawi is known for in the Westmdashbesides Madonnarsquos adoption there which is usually the first thing people think ofmdashis the Lake of Stars Festival an annual music event which is held on the beach of Lake Malawi and features musicians and famous DJs from the United Kingdom primarily but also other places including Mala http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Senga-Bay/blog-384362.html Forgot about me didn't ya... As you know I just arrived in northern Thailand for my new post with UNHCR but I want to quickly wrap up the last few months in Malawi because there was so much going on I will get these out quickly so I can start posting pictures of my new digs.I think I may have mentioned in an earlier blog that I had been trying for months to organize some kind of traditional da http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Southern/Cape-Maclear/blog-383829.html For some reason in midAugust most of my closest friends were all abandoning me here in Malawi to move on for better pastures Caroline was returning home to work on a public health degree Sebastien was going to work for UNHCR in Djibouti which would turn out to be a disaster Olivier was going back to Quebec where people could actually understand him and John Paul was moving to Ontario for u http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-353857.html I awoke in the middle of the night one Sunday to the sound of rain. Yet it was only July in the middle of the dry winter...I hadn't seen or thought of rain in months. Then I noticed it sounded more like my shower running...only I'd been asleep for well over three hours. Strangely the sound seemed to be coming from the other side of the flat than my bathroom... I ran to the bedroom door and s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-352011.html The week we returned from Kande Beach we all went out to get Ethiopian food to celebrate or mourn Mike and Lesleyrsquos departure from Malawimdashthe first in a series of abandonments by my best friends here alas thus is expat life. The restaurant is basically run in the home of an Ethiopian family the mom is the chef and her kids moonlight as servers when they have customers. It's a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-350263.html PART II continued from Part IAfter breakfast we set out to Mzuzu Malawi's third city for the nation's big Independence Day celebration which this year was being held in Mzuzu's soccer stadium. We had no idea what we were in for whether we would get in and whether it would be worth it...but we were going It was a pleasant hourlong drive through a rubbertree forest. Amazingly you can a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Lake-Malawi/Kandi-Beach/blog-335453.html PART IHaving enjoyed Kande Beach so much the first time Mike and Lesley and I decided to take a trip back there on Friday for a threeday weekend this time with our friends Sebastien John Paul and Tayllor who came Saturday. We had two holidays to celebrate American independence on July 4 and Malawian independence on July 6 The five of us piled into my little car and we headed out of L http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Lake-Malawi/Kandi-Beach/blog-332207.html Since arriving in Malawi I had been very eager to begin taking Swahili lessons and at the Congolese wedding I attended my host told me the groom was a teacher in Lilongwe and could probably do the lessons. So we agreed to have a onehour lesson twice a week and during the week of June 26 I had the first lessons with two colleagues from a partner NGO. One of the first things we learned I actual http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-332537.html During the weeks of June 920 I had my first round of real interviews in which I was conducting refugee status determination with refugees on my own. It was a really difficult period partially because the interviews are depressing and partially because itrsquos just very exhausting work. We leave for the camp around 8 arrive sometime after 9 and then sit in a room with all the members of a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-326874.html Dear all I could not be more sorry for the horrendous delay in blog postings. My beloved Sony Vaio crashed about 5 weeks ago so I have had no access to any of my journals or photos Luckily most or all of my data has finally been recovered yes even laptop repair here progresses at a pace akin to that of the Malawi government so I can finally start putting blogs up again.So where were we http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-325276.html After an exhausting week of interviews I was ready to set off for the lake Friday afternoon with my new Canadian colleagues Mike and Lesley a couple of lefties like me . Mind you I hadnrsquot had my car for that long and granted it is older than I was when I took my SATs but I definitely wasnrsquot prepared for it to die on me at 2pm as I was just about to leave work to pick them up W http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Lake-Malawi/Kandi-Beach/blog-308888.html After settling in at UNHCR and at home I finally started getting to the real focus of my work here refugee status determination which meant spending a lot more time at the camp and at the RSD Unit around the corner from my house. For the first few days I sat in with my colleague Nelson during his interviews so I could get a sense of how it goes. I was free to ask questions of my own but in gen http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Dzaleka/blog-303152.html You may be asking yourself what exactly is Martina doing in Malawi This is my attempt to explain my job. It may be a little technical but I hope itrsquos at least understandable for those of you who are interested.I am in Malawi working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR. That is the UNrsquos refugee agency whose responsibility is to ensure protection to the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-300051.html After a grueling 36 hours or so enroute across the continent I finally made it to Lilongwe. Thanks to a lot of effort on Mommyrsquos part I had an apartment to move into the very afternoon I landed and didn't have to hole up in some grimy backpackers I found the place through an acquaintance Irsquod made last summer who it turns out is now my nextdoor neighbor. My apartment is HUGEmd http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-297993.html We had originally planned to return to Dakar on Wednesday but it was so relaxing in Saly Niakhniakhal we ended up staying until Friday. I was scheduled to fly to Malawi on Sunday morning so by Friday we had no choice but to head back. I spent most of the last day swimming in the fabulous Petit Jura pool then around 4pm we caught a septplace from Mbour to Dakar. The city was ringed by its us http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Senegal/Thies-Region/Saly-Niakhniakhal/blog-293889.html My last week in Senegal I was still sans camera so the photos here are random ones taken in Dakar.After dealing with all the formalities resulting from the theft of my purse etc. I decided to get out of Dakar for a while and headed south down the coast along what is called the Petite Cte or in the case of a couple of spots Senegal's Cte d'Azur with my friend Baye Fall. Our mode of transpor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Senegal/Thies-Region/Joal-Fadiouth/blog-292342.html