Touchdown, Africa
I'm here.
But instead of feeling like I've entered into another dimension, I feel like I'm the martian. A vanful of muzungo journalists teetering down the road to Bagamoyo seems almost like a funny sight to me.
Maybe the delirium from the 10 hour flight to Dar hasn't yet worn off. And let me just take the time to say this now--it's like, Africa hot here.
My initial sense is that it seems like Uganda. People in the streets, going about their business, carrying produce and wood, selling odds and ends, children fetching water. I think about the utter poverty, and the fact that Tanzania was a major slave port, and it reminds me once again that there are very few fair shakes in life.
But make no mistake--I'm so happy to be here. On the flight, I talked with this bloke from the Wellcome Trust, a nonprofit that focuses on, among other things, figuring out how to engage the private sector in preclinical research for neglected diseases. Pretty interesting stuff--hope it is a sign of good things to come. And don't cry for me Argentina: the place where the conference is being held is beautiful, major beachfront property.
The rest of today is a preamble to the press junket. There's 14 journalists with me, from all over the world (but I'm the only one from the US). My favorite person to talk to so far is the health reporter from El Mundo, Spain's second largest newspaper. Planned for us is a lunch, a historial tour of Bagamoyo, and then an opening reception tonight--so much different than the last time I came to Africa, when I was on my own without a single thing planned for me, but don't worry Joanna, you'll get your adventure in.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Brian Elliott. He turns 40 today.
But instead of feeling like I've entered into another dimension, I feel like I'm the martian. A vanful of muzungo journalists teetering down the road to Bagamoyo seems almost like a funny sight to me.
Maybe the delirium from the 10 hour flight to Dar hasn't yet worn off. And let me just take the time to say this now--it's like, Africa hot here.
My initial sense is that it seems like Uganda. People in the streets, going about their business, carrying produce and wood, selling odds and ends, children fetching water. I think about the utter poverty, and the fact that Tanzania was a major slave port, and it reminds me once again that there are very few fair shakes in life.
But make no mistake--I'm so happy to be here. On the flight, I talked with this bloke from the Wellcome Trust, a nonprofit that focuses on, among other things, figuring out how to engage the private sector in preclinical research for neglected diseases. Pretty interesting stuff--hope it is a sign of good things to come. And don't cry for me Argentina: the place where the conference is being held is beautiful, major beachfront property.
The rest of today is a preamble to the press junket. There's 14 journalists with me, from all over the world (but I'm the only one from the US). My favorite person to talk to so far is the health reporter from El Mundo, Spain's second largest newspaper. Planned for us is a lunch, a historial tour of Bagamoyo, and then an opening reception tonight--so much different than the last time I came to Africa, when I was on my own without a single thing planned for me, but don't worry Joanna, you'll get your adventure in.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Brian Elliott. He turns 40 today.
posted by Joanna at 11:17 AM
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Searching for clean room supplies ?
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