Today was an exercise in contrasts. And in patience. My lab director Mr. Sagoe called it my “baptism” to
6:30am: no running water today. still don’t have a bucket. really need to get to the market. no shower for today.
7:30am: standing in the Medical School Administration, trying to pay rent for the second time. The offices were closed Friday when I stopped by, as well as all weekend and Monday for a national holiday, but that didn’t stop the porter from rapping on my door daily to remind me that I needed to pay. As expected, the secretary tells me that the cashier isn’t in, that I should return at 9am. I’m scheduled to be at morning rounds at 9am. Oh well. I have until 4pm to return and only 2 hours of “work” to do all day. No problem.
9am: Morning rounds.
10am: I’m escorted across campus to the Virology lab, where I’ll be processing samples in a secondary project on patterns of resistance evolution in the HIV Reverse Transcriptase (RT) Gene. Mr. Sagoe, a doctoral student, is my point man here. I find him working on sequences. What a surprise! While across the street families can’t afford portocaths or antibiotics, Mr. Sagoe is working on genetic sequence data, using software that I first used during my undergraduate thesis, and was repeatedly reminded, “This is expensive!” I’m excited to do genetic analysis again, but surprised at the sudden shift in resources. Mr. Sagoe finishes his morning work by processing his sequences through Stanford University’s online RT Gene Resistance Profile software, to determine if his samples are resistant to any medicines. Incredible. Thank you Stanford!
11am: Mr. Sagoe invites me to run a “quick errand” with him across town so that I can see the city of
11:30am: Far from the high-tech Virology lab, I’m reminded of where I am. We drive through shanty towns where children are bathing in the streets, and Mr. Sagoe asks me to keep the windows closed to keep vendors out of the car.
12noon: The car breaks down. I’m pushing our Peugot sedan through downtown
12:30pm: Mechanic shows up! Diagnosis: a carburetor problem. We’re on our way.
1pm: Car breaks down again. I’m pushing again. People are cheering me on from the passing tro-tro’s, “Go Obruni go!” (Obruni = white girl)
1:30pm: Mechanic is called. We sit in a parking lot.
3pm: On our way again.
3:30pm: Mr. Sagoe gives in to the temptation of a vendor selling groundnuts (boiled peanuts) in the street. He stops the car to purchase them, and it doesn’t restart. I marvel at my own patience.
4pm: Sitting in a mechanic’s parking lot where we’ve pushed the car. He’s very congenial and offers me some rice. I pass, not quite ready to eat with my hands from the bowl where the mechanics (read: greasy hands) have all been eating. Maybe I’ll get there soon!
5pm: The car gets a makeshift new carburetor, and we’re finally back at Korle-Bu. Mr. Sagoe offers me a ride home, but I volunteer to happily walk the final mile.
Final Day’s Tally
Tour of
Lessons in resource allocation: check.
Workout pushing car in tropic heat: check
Rent paid: oof……
love that you have a blog! and you're such a GOOD blogger! love reading it... keep thinking about our little triple M development cooperation ;) BIG HUG from nyc!
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