Ready to Go!

Well, the bags are packed, the bills are paid, and the puppies are confused and subdued. We’re set to head off tomorrow morning! Well, Barbara and I are anyway. The puppies are set to head over next door, although they don’t quite realize it yet. They’re going to have a great time with Pat and her chocolate lab Jake.

The picture is how my friends from OHSU sent me off before my final day there last week. My cube was filled with various stuffed African animals as well as an incredibly large cardboard syringe. Presumably, that once held the HGH that Bob the gorilla (sitting on my keyboard) used to get so buff. Another picture was taken with me in it, but since it’s hard to tell which one is me and which one is the gorilla, I figured I’d post just this one. I’m sad to be leaving a bunch of really fun people, but I don’t have any regrets about choosing this trip. I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful character building experience. Hopefully, the character building will involve as little sickness as possible, but that’s what immodium and cipro are for.

Speaking of poop, the poops are definitely going to be missed. It’s weird to think that I get so much fun out of having a little dog sitting in my lap or throwing the ball for them and watching them race back as fast as they can whilst trying to steal it from each other. They’re great friends who always love us no matter what, and it’s often humbling to get frustrated with them when they just have no idea they’ve done anything wrong.

Anyway, we’re off to Uganda! We’ve got 20 hours of flight time ahead of us! Woo hoo! The best part of the next few days will be finally getting to Mbarara and settling in to our new home for the next few months. I know it’s going to be quite different from Nigeria, but the fact that we’ve been to Africa before has caused many of the concerns I had to be minimized this time around. For example, we’ll be cooking all our own food, and the idea of going to the market to buy my own food when I don’t speak the language was intimidating the first time I did it. Now that I’ve done it once, at least I don’t have that level of unfamiliarity to get past.

One of the things that worries me is that I will constantly be comparing Uganda to Nigeria. That’s not really fair to either place, so hopefully I can have the grace to do it objectively and in a way that is as respectful as possible. Probably the more interesting side of things for you all is how it compares to the U.S., and that is something I’m a bit more qualified to report on. I can tell you right now, even before going, that the weather is warmer this time of year than it is in Portland. See? That’s the kind of brilliant insight you have to look forward to. Hopefully, Barb will post some or you’ll be stuck with this dribble. Anyway, we’ll be thinking of you all as we travel!

Off to Uganda!

Wow, the last time I posted here was in June of 2006. Good thing Barbara's so much better at posting regularly than I am!

If you haven't noticed, the blog title has changed to Esselinks in Uganda. Yes, just as we went to Nigeria two years ago, we're heading to Uganda this year. This time it'll be for just a month, but we're every bit as excited as we were last time. The path to get to this point, however, has been quite different. When Barbara was looking for residency programs at the end of medical school, one of the first things she would ask about was whether or not there would be an opportunity to practice abroad during her residency. She feels very strongly that doing so is not only of benefit to the communities that she goes to serve, but also of great benefit to her own perspective as a physician here in the States. If you've read any of her past bloggings on our trip to Nigeria, you know that we here in America have a lot that we can learn from other cultures. At any rate, Providence Portland (PPMC) was one of those residency programs that Barbara inteviewed with that partners regularly with a hospital overseas to send residents there. In PPMC's case, that hospital is located in Eldoret, Kenya.

So last fall, Barbara heard from her program director that she'd be able to accompany them on their trip to Kenya this march. We made preparations and also started to investigate whether or not I would be able to come along. Then, Kenya held their election in late December and amidst accusations of vote rigging, the nation erupted in violence. Eldoret was one of the places affected greatly and from what we've heard, is still somewhat unstable even as Kofi Annan works to resolve the political crisis. I decided for sure that I would be going along with Barbara regardless of what affect that had on my current employment. I just felt very strongly that Barbara would not be going alone, and that passing on an opportunity like this was not something we were willing to consider. Despite the unstable situation, we were still eager to go to Kenya. We knew from Nigeria that the western press isn't typically a good indicator of the situation as it really is. Often, the danger is overly dramatized and the implication is that it's more widespread than it is in reality. At other times, you simply don't get any information at all. For example, in Nigeria, we spent most of our time in Jos, nearly a full day's drive from the coastal region where the oil related kidnappings have happened, yet the western impression of Nigeria is that the entire country is rife with it. We felt none of that in Jos and thought that perhaps Kenya would be similar.

As it turns out, that wasn't really the case. The word we got from various people in Kenya was that the violence was indeed less frequent than the press made it sound, but it was taking place in Eldoret and the neighboring areas. While the residency director didn't tell us we weren't going to be allowed to go, it became fairly clear that was what would happen. We were hoping that we'd be able to go back to Jos instead, but PPMC said no to Nigeria. I guess because it's not a country they've gone to before and the oil region has enough problems to scare people about the rest of the country. Fortunately, Barbara connected with a local physician planning to head to Mbarara, Uganda this March, and things have worked out so that we'll be able to go along there instead.

Just like we did for Nigeria, we'll try to post regularly while we're gone about the trip and our experiences there. Internet access will probably be rather limited, so I don't know how much we'll really be able to post, but we'll certainly write about it and post later if we have to. If you're interested in supporting us, please just pray that the trip would go well and that it would be both safe and a great learning experience for everyone involved. We hope to be as respectful as possible of Ugandan culture but we're sure we won't fully understand everything. Our dogs Sophie and Teddy will be staying with our neighbor who has a chocolate lab. The four of them get along tremendously, so no worries there. Finally, do pray for Kenya as what's gone on there over the past two months is just very tragic. I can't begin to understand the depth of emotion that has led to the current situation, but I do hope that things resolve peacefully from here forward.

I'm a Bad Person

I can't really begin to express how grateful I've been to all the support I've recieved from people since my mom passed away last November. I can tell you I feel very blessed to have friends who've sent me cards, emails, and flowers to encourage me. I also feel guilty for not having written a single thank you card. No one has been more of an encouragement to me than Barbara, and I can't imagine having had to go through this without her. She also encouraged me to sing at the funeral, an experience I was terrified of, but knew my mom loved watching from heaven. It was the right thing to do and I think it helped me feel like I had some closure.

It's been a bit of an odd experience since. I find myself wondering why I haven't cried more or why I can still go about my daily life as if everything's the same. Since we returned to Portland, there have only been a couple of cases where it's really affected me. One of those times was when I installed the curtains she sent to me the Tuesday before she died, which we found waiting for us when we got back to Portland. I didn't put them up till late January, and they're tremendously beautiful, but somehow it felt like another act of goodbye. In reality, it's a tribute to one of the things that she got a great deal of satisfaction out of doing. I do miss her still, but her passing is a natural part of life, and I'm happy that she's in a much better place now where the miseries of this world can't touch her.

Thanks so much to all of you who've sent support, either via card, flowers, prayer, or simply a kind thought. They do make a difference.