A Weekend in Bagan

August 30, 2019August 31, 2020

At work I currently support our Myanmar, China and Mongolia country programmes. This summer I went out for an induction with our Myanmar programme, and seeing the work we do on the ground was such an amazing experience.

I was there for about two weeks and while I can’t offer much in the way of logistics, as those were handled by work, I did take a personal trip to Bagan over the weekend and I’d really like to talk about that.

From Yangon, the best options to get to Bagan are via air or bus. For environmental (and fear-based) reasons, I always prefer bus over plane – a night bus being the dream. And there are quite a few night buses that run from Yangon to Bagan. The one I took was quite comfortable (and freezing), with our own TVs and blankets and such. Be sure to book a VIP ticket, as that is a row of single seats, meaning no one is next to you.

Tip: All the buses generally stop for about 30 minutes at a rest stop – everyone is forced off the bus, even at 1 am and even in the rain. I was pretty panicked because they announce when it’s time to reboard over loudspeaker in Burmese, but the bus drivers knew to look out for you and came and found me when I didn’t reboard.

We departed Yangon around 9:30 pm and arrived in Bagan around 5:30 am. There will be cabs waiting, so snag one and head to your hotel. I stayed ___ and it was loooovely. Right on the river, in the middle of Old Bagan, with a pagoda right in the garden. As Bagan is now a world heritage site, hotels built around pagodas will have to move, so not sure how long this place will be open but it’s a great spot while it’s available.

Tip: Just rent a motorbike.

I’m terrified of motorbikes and was completely against renting one. I rented a normal bicycle and struggled to move anywhere in the sand while motorbikes whizzed past. I persevered for about an hour before giving in, and the motorbike was such a great choice! You can see so much of Bagan on one. I don’t really have a Bagan itinerary, as there is a new pagoda every few feet and part of the experience is stumbling across less popular ones where you have their beauty to yourself. I went during rainy season and it didn’t rain at all in Bagan and meant I was one of the only tourists around. I was lucky with the weather but it was such a great time to see the city.

Tip: You can’t climb the pagodas anymore (there are “guides” who will sneak you up a few for some cash, I’d recommend not doing this as it’s illegal), so if you want views head to Bagan Tower (Nann Myint Tower). It was about 30 minutes by motorbike from my hotel, and the views were definitely worth it.

Bagan is incredibly stunning and though it wasn’t a place I’d long dreamed of going, I am incredibly grateful I was able to visit. Next time, maybe I face my fear of heights and join in on the famous hot air balloons?

From Bagan I headed to Mandalay for another week of work, however we finished early one day and my fantastic colleagues took me sight seeing, and wow is Mandalay beautiful!

Stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

August 30, 2019January 30, 2021

On my way home from Mada, I used airline miles to build in stops in Addis and Nairobi. I wasn’t sure when I’d be back to the African continent, and wanted to see as much as I could while I was there. I’d heard less than stellar things about Addis (vs the rest of Ethiopia which is meant to be lovely) – I didn’t have enough time to venture outside the city and I’m so glad I couldn’t because I loved Addis!

I hired a guide for a full day tour and it was wonderful. To start, I can’t really recommend my guide enough. I felt totally comfortable with him one on one all day long, it never felt awkward which I was a bit worried about. He was an official tour guide, but using the money he earned to fund opening a health clinic in his home village, and he had his MPH, the same degree I’m working on getting.

Itinerary

First we went to the National Museum, which is the home of Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old skeleton that is the most complete skeleton of an early human ancestor ever discovered. When Obama visited Ethiopia they brought her skeleton to the palace so he could meet her.

From there we went to the Ethnological Museum, which I loved. The artwork displayed, the different exhibits – we spent more time here than the National Museum. This museum is also part of Addis Ababa University, and I loved seeing the course postings and students milling about.

Next was Mount Entoto, the highest peak of the Entoto Mountains which overlook the city. The views were incredible (I think it looks a bit like LA actually!) and the whole area was woodsy and green.

Then we had a next level delicious lunch at the Taitu Hotel. This was the first hotel in the city and still functions as one today. Every lunch they have a huge vegetarian buffet and it was top notch delicious. I’ve heard less than stellar things about the actual hotel rooms, so while I’d def come back to eat maybe not to stay.

From there we went to Tomoca Coffee. I don’t drink coffee so I ordered a tea like a dummy. My guide convinced me to just try a sip of his and it was AMAZING. I immediately ordered one and then drank all the Ethiopian coffee I could for the remainder of my trip. It was so good. The only coffee I’ve ever truly enjoyed and I think this would be the first stop on any return trip to the city.

Then we hit Addis Mercato, the largest open air market in Africa. The tour guide said he only added this because people kept asking to go, but as I’d spent the last six months shopping at an open air market I knew it wasn’t the place to get nice, hand crafted items but instead would be a bustling, chaotic free for all. We drove through and that was definitely enough!

Last on the tour was St George’s Cathedral, one of the country’s oldest monasteries and known for its distinctive octagonal shape.

After that I went back to my hotel for one last Injera dinner before trying to sleep before my flight to Nairobi the next morning. It was a bit stressful because four days before the same flight I was taking had crashed (it was the second Boeing 737 Max crash, and at this point the Max series hadn’t been grounded yet). I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous to fly as I was during the four flights it took me to get back to London from Madagascar, but luckily it at went smoothly!

Masters of Public Health First Year

August 28, 2019August 30, 2020

I passed all three of my exams for the first year of my masters!!

This was a rough stretch of time. I haven’t been a student in nearly a decade and I legit forgot how to study. And this time I did it with a new, full time job!

I started waking up at 5 am about six weeks before exams and studying, studying during my lunch break, studying on weekends. Just so much studying! And the morning of my hardest exam I found a leftover gift from Madagascar – a huge worm! I took the exam and went straight to A&E to try to get deworming pills, but they kept me in for loads of tests and I ended up being there until about 2 am. It seriously threw off my study schedule – I had one exam left and it was my easiest one, so I hadn’t studied much at all. I seriously considered skipping it but luckily I did not and it was actually super easy. And now I’m done with my first year!

I have eight classes left – seven exams, six papers, and a huge project. It feels pretty daunting at the moment but eventually I’ll get there!

TWO WEEK INTENSIVE FRENCH COURSE IN MONTPELLIER, FRANCE

August 12, 2019July 12, 2020

Between Madagascar and moving back to London, there was a lot of uncertainty – would I actual go back to London? Would I move back to California* like I’ve been dreaming about for a few years now? Look for another position in the field with a more robust health care system? Or even take a few months off just to focus on language?

Then I got offered my current position back at MSI and the decision was made. I’d be moving to London and happily back in with G! I had a few weeks to play around with before my start date, and learning French is something that has been on my list of goals for years. It would be a huge career boost, and despite taking a course at MSI in early 2018, I still felt like I lacked even the most basic building blocks of the language. So I decided to book in for an intensive two week course in the south of France at LSF French school. I decided on this school because of price, location (I’d never been to S of France, I liked the small size of the city, and the weather was meant to be lovely – though I had terrible luck in that regard), and reputation – it had loads of excellent reviews.

My experience

I stayed with a host family which is very out of character – I value independence and privacy highly. I did it because it’s meant to offer the best opportunity to learn French, and while I don’t regret having done it, I wouldn’t again.

Pros:

– You can practice French in a natural environment with people who have to be patient with you. You’ll learn how people speak colloquially, learn words about everyday living that may not come up in class, and be exposed to the language basically 24/7.

– You can see how locals lived, which is something I think is important when visiting a new place – to get outside of the tourist bubble. I was quite far out and had to take a 25-minute metro ride into the city centre every day, and while this wasn’t ideal it did allow me to live a bit more like a local than tourist.

Cons:

– Every family is different, and you’re inserted right into someone else’s family. Two weeks is a bit of an awkward time. It’s difficult to get close, but you’re right there living with them – there was some personal drama that happened while I was there that I was a bit caught up in – very awkward when you’re an outsider who doesn’t speak the language!

– In my experience, the expectation was very much that I would spend as much free time with the family as possible. I spent 90% of my time in the library studying, and I think my host mother felt a tiny bit put out by this. I didn’t sign up for catered food, but started feeling guilty if I didn’t eat with the family every night anyway (with my own food obviously), and even at nearly 30 years old, they very much wanted to know my whereabouts at all times.

– I think the biggest issue I had was that I came in as a complete beginner. The family didn’t speak English, and I think a few decades ago the model would have worked where I’d have been forced to gesture until I could speak, and then speak and build from what I was learning each day, etc. Instead the host family used Google translate to communicate with me. I did eventually ask them to at least speak the words as well, so I could hear it in French, and it wasn’t terrible both seeing it written out and hearing it out loud. But I didn’t feel comfortable enough to do that right away, and for a while it felt like the only things I was learning were from listening in on their conversations to each other.

These things all might be very expected for a host family, and even desirable for some people. It’s also just one experience – I’d stayed with one other host family when I was in Guatemala for a few weeks in 2010, and in that instance we had breakfast together every day, but there were no expectation to spend free time socializing together. They were very happy to help when needed and would have a chat in Spanish at the end of most nights, but I still felt quite independent. That wasn’t the case here, and I think will be hard to know what kind of situation you’re getting before arrival.

Montpellier and LSF

Montpellier was incredible. This was my first trip to the south of France and it didn’t disappoint. The skies were blue, the town gorgeous, and the food delicious – which was even more meaningful after living with the limited food option in Mada for nearly six months. I love a small city in which to learn a language, and Montpellier was ideal.

LSF, the school where I studied was perfect. The teaching style was fantastic, the technology top notch, and I honestly learned faster than I ever could have imagined. It’s a bit of a let down because I’ve always dreamed of moving to the French countryside and taking lessons long term, however if I were to over go back it would be hard to not returned to LSF. I know the quality of their education and it would feel like a waste of time and money to go elsewhere!

*This would have been difficult to do as I don’t have health insurance in America anymore. If I got sick now, it would be nearly impossible to move home with my family to receive care. Another reason America’s HC system needs overhauling and another reason to vote for Elizabeth Warren in the upcoming primaries and election!

Stopover in Nairobi, Kenya

July 6, 2019August 31, 2020

On my way back from Madagascar, I stopped over in Addis Ababa and Nairobi for a few days. My perception was definitely skewed, after living in what is now classified as the least developed country in the world, but Nairobi felt like paradise. I honestly couldn’t have told you how it was any different than London or LA, except Nairobi has GIRAFFES!

I was there for two days and have a basic itinerary everyone should follow. I’ve also got some tips – basically don’t be me and book the cheapest accommodation you can find. My room was full of mosquitos and though malaria isn’t really a worry in Nairobi, after spending months being extremely sceptical of any mosquito it was really unpleasant to hear them buzzing in my ear all night. I’d either book a legit hotel, as I did in Addis, or stay in Karen, which isn’t that close to the city centre but is really close to a lot of the tourist places.

I booked a tour and I have to say it was really unnecessary. Uber is huge in Nairobi and I could have easily just Ubered myself to each of the places on the tour – most come with their own guides so our official tour guide didn’t even come inside most of the places. He was basically a glorified driver, though he was the one who brought us on our safari of Nairobi National Park – and it was clear he wasn’t a professional. Top tip: hire a real safari guide for NNP and uber the rest of the way – unless you’re flying solo like I was and wanted some forced company. I had two cool women on my trip and one took loads of photos for me, so that was pretty bomb.

Itinerary

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MADAGASCAR – MONTH FIVE

March 26, 2019August 30, 2020

A lot of exciting things have happened this month!

First, we had International Women’s Day, where the women of SEED, along with many other groups, marched through town.

The next morning we left for Sainte Luce, where SEED has a camp. It was GORGEOUS. I did a lot of things that would have freaked me out in a previous life, mostly like exist in closed spaces close to huntsmen spiders, and it was fine.

I think that’s kind of the big thing I’ve realised I’m learning from this experience. I can do hard things. My laptop broke when we went to Greece and I CRIED because I couldn’t imagine how I’d get through the trip without it. My laptop broke in Mada about 6 weeks ago and you just kind of get on with things. (That is my excuse why I got so behind on these updates). When we first moved in, the cockroaches terrified me, and now they are nothing. Just big beetles really. I used to be so neurotic about food and I’ve really come around there as well – there’s no point in stressing. If I did that here it would be every meal and that’s just a terrible way to live. I don’t find it embarrassing to have diarrhea or health issues – my body is incredible for how it’s gotten through everything. My bed is filled with ants and fleas, there are ALWAYS bugs all over me when I’m sleeping. For a while I was going to bed in full pants and socks but it’s just too hot so I let them have at it. You adjust. You can do hard things. What an empowering thing to not only believe but to know and live.

TRAVEL

I also spent some time this month travelling in Ethiopia and Kenya, which I was freaked out about doing solo and really shouldn’t have been. First of all, compared to Mada those places might as well be the UK. I think another thing I’ve learned is life just goes on everywhere. Mada was recently named the poorest country in the world, and yes, sure, you can see that. The infrastructure is poor, as are the education and health systems and so on. But you can always find a bar to listen to music or have a dance, everyone still loves to laugh, and life honestly stops feeling any different there vs here. Kenya and Ethiopia used to sound exotic to me, but by the time I got there they felt familiar in ways they reminded me of Mada or the UK and interesting in ways they were different. But exotic isn’t really a thing, is it?

The last big highlight of month five was stopping in at Marie Stopes Madagascar in Tana. I spent an hour with the Country Director, just talking SRHR in Madagascar and it was educating and inspiring and wonderful. I’m so incredibly proud of the time I spend working for MSI and really hope to be back there some day.

I’m in the UK for another week and just got back from a quick trip to Sevilla with Gareth which was amaaazing. I’ll do posts about Addis and Nairobi and Sevilla soon, as well, now that I’ve got a working computer and SO MUCH FREE INTERNET WHAT.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IN MADAGASCAR

March 26, 2019July 10, 20201 Comment

International Women’s day in Madagascar is a big deal. Women get the day off and most big groups are represented in the march through town. It was fun and festive and really empowering. After the march we went to a bar and spent hours talking feminism and harassment and other important subjects. The whole day left me really proud to have these women beside me. We ended the day swimming at a stunning beach, floating through huge waves and it was such a vivid moment of, “I can’t believe I get to live here and do this work.” International Women’s day in Madagascar was absolutely amazing.

And very timely because we had recently started having seminars about harassment women face in Malagasy culture, and let’s just say there’s a real divide between how national and international staff view harassment. It was a nice way to feel re-empowered after some difficult conversations.

*some photos taken by other SEED staff

SAINTE LUCE, MADAGASCAR

March 26, 2019July 10, 20201 Comment

The morning after International Women’s Day, we left for our Sainte Luce trip to SEED’s camp.

It was GORGEOUS. We rode these little boats made from trees (that had to be consistently bailed the entire trip or they’d sink, haha), down the water to a completely wild beach. It was heaven. From there we walked through the forest to the other side of the area and had dinners and played games at an empty bar with ocean views.

Then we had a bush party, where a local band plays and woman dance and then you all dance and it was pretty fun. I was really proud of myself cause we were quite remote – the drive out took a while and often I can feel anxious being far from a town. But this was fine. I camped in a tent with spiders, I used a squat latrine WITH HUNTSMEN SPIDERS IN THEM, and just got on with it. Go me. The Sainte Luce trip was another weekend spent being so happy and proud this is my life right now!

MADAGASCAR – MONTH FOUR

March 26, 2019August 30, 2020

Month Four has easily been my best month yet and started off with quite a bang! We spent the
weekend in Evatraha – my favourite place I’ve been in Madagascar thus far!

We met a bit outside of town before hopping in a few boats and riding for about an hour
through the lake and reeds to get to the coolest little camp on the water. It was fairly remote,
but with bungalows to sleep in, paddle boats to borrow, and a great dock to jump off of.
We pre-ordered all our meals so there was no hassle with food and brought quite a bit of beer
with us, and logistically it all worked really well. We played games, read, swam and just relaxed, and it ended up being my best weekend to date! I loved Evatraha!

Other big things to happen… I’ve started my health economics course for my masters, which is
the one I was most dreading of all my classes this year. And so far, I’ve really enjoyed it! I’m
pretty surprised by it, and nervous for the final, but the process of learning about it has actually proved to be quite engaging.

Wales beat England in 6 Nations, making Gareth and I quite the sports power couple. Some
other horrific sports stuff happened that has once again called into question the morality of my
love for the NFL, and what I would class as the only ACTUAL Patriots scandal that deserves
outrage. Why can’t we have nice things? Why do men in power consistently let us down?

BIGGEST NEWS, I’m finally (touch wood) healthy!! My stomach is the best it’s been since I arrived, which is honestly such a game changer. Also, during all of these medical visits I got to know the local doctor here and she is incredibly inspiring and passionate about family planning and contraception, which led to some really interesting conversations.

ANYWAY. I’m riding a bit of a high at the moment because MY PROJECT IS NOW FULLY FUNDED! Honestly, the high of getting funded is like no other. I am into it.

We had a lovely dinner at my friend’s flat – we hung out with her new kitty, made DELICIOUS curry, and two different types of cookies. It was luxury.

It’s still hot.

Also, I head back for a visit to London in just about two weeks, and on the way I used my trusty
airline miles to build in a 1.5 day layover in Addis Ababa and 2.5 days in Nairobi. Now I just have to decide if I want to hang out in Nairobi the whole time or squeeze in a two day, one night safari to Masai Mara National Reserve. These are the decisions that keep me up at night.

MADAGASCAR – MONTH THREE

March 26, 2019August 30, 2020

Obviously, the top highlight is WINNING THE SUPER BOWL. What else was I gonna say? To some it may be the most boring Super Bowl in history, but I was pretty stressed out the whole way through – it was within a field goal or tied down to the last 7 minutes. Also, our D played lights out and JULES GOT MVP! Brady got SIX. We tied the Steelers, life is good, etc etc.

source

Nearly tied with the Super Bowl win was the AFC Championship though. THAT GAME. OH MY GOD. From the moment it started to the heart attack inducing final moments, I wasn’t sure I’d survive it. Kansas City. Kansas City of “we’re onto Cincinnati” fame. Kansas City where we played so poorly I named my newly adopted (and now 5 year old) kitten Brady in remembrance of the once-great QB. In Arrowhead Stadium, which was only happening because we couldn’t close the Dolphins game. We didn’t look like us. This wasn’t our year. We were going to make it to a record breaking 8 th straight AFC Championship and then go home. I just wanted to keep in close. AND KEEP IN CLOSE WE DID. I honestly do not think I’ve ever been so stressed throughout a game but man was it worth it.

For both these games I had to watch from 2:30 – 6:00sih and the next days at work were rough. But well worth it. I miss football. Gronk and McCourty please don’t retire. Trey Flowers, how ‘bout a team friendly deal??

Gareth’s last days in Mada

I spent quite a few days this month at Talinjoo, the fancy hotel just outside of town. It was heave.

Another overarching theme of the month has been illness! I don’t think the giardia ever really went away, and I spent the break getting sicker and sicker until by the new year I was properly really quite ill again. That led to another round of being bedridden, though this time I went to the doctor much earlier so I wasn’t REALLY sick for as long.

Before I even finished the antibiotics for that, dehydration led to a UTI and kidney infection which was really quite hellish. They don’t have that dye medication that takes away the pain here, so I was drinking loads of baking soda to try to lessen the pain which was semi-successful. The medication for all of these things made me really sick, so it was just so many compounding things. I lost a lot of weight and looked like a really malnourished version of myself.

Now for serious life stuff, unfortunately.

A colleague’s son died from measles and that was really difficult. We’re in such a weird position here because we have the privilege of being Vazahs, have health insurance, get to travel to beautiful parts of the area, can eat at the nicer restaurants sometimes, but then there’s this other side of life where water is scarce and my bed is infested with fleas and you’re sick all the time and life is fragile for people who live in this context all the time. Our night guard and his wife and 7 month old daughter live in a tiny wooden shack in our back garden and their daughter got measles (it’s outbreaking here). The treatment was about $7, which they couldn’t afford to pay. We obviously paid for it, and made sure she got ongoing care. However that turned into them asking us for basic necessities like fruit and vegetables, which was fine, but then turned into about 2-3 daily calls with requests for luxuries like diapers and sugar. It’s so hard to know how to handle things like that, and luckily SEED took over once it got too excessive – but it’s hard because you’re so privileged compared to people who have nothing. It honestly took us about 6 weeks to even realise anyone lived there – through our unadjusted eyes it seemed impossible a family could fit in such a small space.

a family lives in this shed in our garden

Someone else in the office has Scarlett Fever and it feels like every day someone else is ill with something new. I will say, it hasn’t been me! Since getting over the stomach stuff and kidney infection, I’ve been relatively healthy which has been SUCH a nice break. I was starting to doubt I’d ever adjust/feel healthy again in my life. You hear horror stories of someone contracting something once and never really recovering digestively and I was terrified that was me. But nope! All good on that front (or as good as can be expected in the context haha).

It hasn’t been that eventful of a month. We had a really fun retirement party with lots of dancing. Lots of studying for my masters.

It continues to be so hot it’s difficult to work or focus or breathe, and we’ve started having near daily power cuts and I gotta tell you life without the fan isn’t my favourite.

Still plugging along trying to get the rest of our funding. Organising some activities we can be doing now, which is exciting!