http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Michelle-K/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Michelle K en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 17:50:24 +0000 Thu, 23 May 2013 17:50:24 +0000 My week in Tanzania flew by so quickly I barely had time to breathe. I was there to do a sort of reconnaissance trip for a new study we are developing on health communication impact. We are looking at people who receive no messages interpersonal communication through healthcare providers and health workers and those who hear mass media messages or those delivered through SMS. We are looking at s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-785442.html My last days in Ethiopia were unforgettable and Im not exaggerating. We wrapped up the course with student presentations of their final qualitative projects. They were well done overall and very creativeone group is interviewing street youth another asking people why they prefer injections over oral meds another asking health workers about media campaigns concerning female genital mutilat http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Jimma/blog-728913.html As predicted I picked up a little intestinal bacteria. Every time I was served food on a dish that was not completely dried or had water from the shower splash in my mouth or watched the kitchen staff prepare my food when I know toilet paper is hard to come by I was wondering if this would be the incident to do me in.The stomach cramps were pretty bad and of course there was diarrhea and comp http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Jimma/blog-728446.html It definitely takes a couple of weeks of spending time in a new place before you start to recognize patterns in peoples behaviors and interactions. For instance just yesterday I realized that the reason why people say Fine to me is because they are asking Are you fine And now that I have been here long enough and people are comfortable with me all sorts of conversations are sta http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Jimma/blog-725107.html This week has been amazing. I mean really. I feel so fortunate to be having this experience. And while I get frustrated some days because of the hours that the electricity and water are off and that I havent had a hot shower in many days and that there are undoubtedly cockroaches scurrying over me at night I feel like I am doing so much good here.The students are becoming more comfortable wi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Jimma/blog-722867.html I am sitting in a hotel room I share with many cockroaches in a tiny hotel in a tiny town of 150000 called Jimma in Ethiopia. I am here to teach a 3week course on Qualitative Research Methods at Jimma Universitys Department of Public Health. The university is one of the most prestigious and well known in Africa but it is very resource poor. A colleague and I are being sponsored by the CDC to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Jimma/blog-721944.html The second half of my trip was much more what I was expecting from Bali. Wednesday morning the dive bus picked me up at my hotel and we drove 2.5 hours up the coast to Tulamben. We parked at a beautiful resort on the rocky shore and the water was pure blue with a pristine infinity pool meeting it. We geared up and made the trek over the rocky beach carrying our tanks on our backs. Once you finall http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Tulamben/blog-718085.html I made it to Bali. Its not quite what I was expecting except for the heat and humidity. I guess I had this image of it being similar to Fiji because its a honeymoon destinationvery romantic very tropical very remote. But in reality its quite over developed. Im in the town of Sanur which is where the first Westerners settled over 100 years ago aside from the colonists. Im s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Sanur/blog-717256.html I left Bogor on Saturday since our work there is finished and the left for Palembang in South Sumatra yesterday. The work in Bogor ended kind of strangely. Friday afternoon 2 of the fieldworkers were meeting some antitobacco advocates at an office at the train station for an interview. Shortly after I got there I got a call that the media was there and wanted photos of me. Great. So the driver p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jakarta/blog-717255.html I am very pleased with my research team. They are super organized and are getting through all necessary interviews quicker than expected which means I get to go back to my oasis in Jakarta a day early. I also dont feel like I have to hover over them to make sure everything goes according to protocol. The research capacity here in Indonesia is quite high.But as in other countries data collect http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Bogor/blog-716054.html My time in Indonesia this trip has been a bit frustrating so far mostly because the IRB in the U.S. delayed our start. I spent an extra few days in Jakarta waiting for paperwork. My team was trained and ready to go already having scheduled several interviews. But bureaucracy requires extreme patience.Right now I am sitting in a little community center in the backstreets of Bogor an hour outs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Bogor/blog-715573.html The countryside was an hour drive outside of Seoul. My friend Y. and I took the subway to the outskirts of the city to meet his pal J. the other guy I met on the Everest trail. He came into the city just to see me which was sweet although his parents live there as well so his family had a chance to visit. He lives about 4 hours from Seoul and is a physician traditional Eastern medic http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-713836.html Seoul South Korea. Hadnt really pictured myself coming here ever and was not really sure what to expect. I just knew it was a big city with lots of people in a developed country. It is clean organized safe and very populated. There are poor people very wealthy people and most people are working hard just trying to live their daily lives. KIAs and Hyundais mostly in white black and gray http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/Itaewon/blog-713629.html The last few days were spent in Bogor a city about an hour outside of Jakarta that was the first to implement a policy banning smoking in public spaces. In 3 days we had meetings with the City Health Department walked through a local clinic where many people had TBgood thing I get tested for it after each trip talked with the chief of the civil police visited an antitobacco NGO and met http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Bogor/blog-686141.html Yesterday was a lovely end to the week. My colleague sent her driver who spoke no English at all to pick me up at 9am to take me to a highly recommended spa. For less than 75 I had three hours of a massage body scrub body mask and a manipedi. It was so relaxing The place was beautiful with private spa rooms complete with a shower and tub. And the scents of burning oils strategically place http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jakarta/blog-685569.html Is it possible to fall in love with yet another country Indonesia has impressed me so far and I can tell I am going to enjoy working here. Jakarta reminds me very much of Bangkok with its humidity terrible traffic migrating food carts and Southeast Asian faces. People are friendly and pleasant and the Asian hospitality is a treat. There are no electricity problems good internet connections http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jakarta/blog-684460.html Im off again on another adventure. This time I am 3 hours into 21 total hours of flying time to Indonesia to set up formative research on secondhand smoke. I dont like studying tobacco control. To be honest I find it boring. But because I worked on tobaccorelated projects in the past I was asked to be on this yearlong project. Since I have always wanted to go to Bali I thought why not http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/blog-684211.html Tonight I fly back to Dar es Salaam and tomorrow night back to the US. But Ive started my decompression process early. It was an emotional weekend and I think that sparked me to reflect on the past 5 weeks earlier than I usually doduring the 18hour journey home or when I finally collapse into my own bed. The first time I went to AfricaSouth Africa Botswana and ZimbabweI felt fundam http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Mwanza/blog-660547.html I am now in Mwanza a small city in the northern part of the country on Lake Victoria. We are collecting data for my latest study on malaria prevention programs that our Tanzania office has been running for a while particularly a program where they trained community change agents CCAs to teach people in the high malaria incidence areas about prevention and treatment. The CCAs are given a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Mwanza/blog-660073.html This past weekend was one of the best and most exhausting Ive had in Tanzania. I spent the weekend with local friends being driven and driving the car myself yikes around Dar to meet new people visit friends relax by the beach and enjoy the party scene. I met the family of one of my friends. They did not know I was coming but immediately they brought out ugali beans and goat meat. I http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Dar-es-Salaam/blog-657935.html