I've been waiting to travel for work and I finally
got my chance last November. I traveled with a team for an evaluation of
a grant agreement. The trip was fun, exciting, and exhausting. We met up with 3
WHO colleagues who work in the Africa Regional Office. The trip took us all
over Africa, five countries total.
We started in Kenya for a few days to meet our team
from WHO/AFRO and to meet together as a whole group. After 3 days in Kenya, we
split up to go to different countries. I went with three other colleagues to
Malawi for another 3 days where we met with USAID, WHO, UNICEF, and the Malawi
Ministry of Health. After Malawi, we had a pit stop in South Africa, then
headed to a full week in Brazzaville, Congo!
Brazzaville was a weeks worth of meetings and
presentations at WHO/AFRO. The work days were super long and intense. Luckily,
I loved my colleagues and we had summer temperatures in November.
Thank you KLM Airlines for
providing Tillamook cheese on my flight.
NAIROBI, KENYA
UNICEF grounds in Nairobi
LILONGWE, MALAWI
My sleeping quarters in
Malawi- complete with mosquito net!!
Malawi backyard at our
"hotel". Okay, actually one of our consultants knew the people here,
so we stayed a little luxurious at the Kumbali Lodge. I had a private cabin and
beautiful, well kept grounds. Notice in other pictures we were at the end of
the dry season, so we were definitely in luxury as there are sprinklers, a
pool, and green grass.
My cabin
Entrance/Parking lot at lodge. Don't you love the vintage car!
I was exploring around the lodge
and came across these two sisters. They were eager to talk to me and wanted
their picture taken. (English is spoken in Malawi)
Typical house on the drive
to the office
My friend Lisa was in Malawi the same week as me!!
Lisa is a dear friend who was in my singles ward and also works at USAID. She's
my lunch buddy and running partner (we used to run home together after work).
It was so fun to meet up and have dinner....in Malawi!!!
The back side of the
lodge/farm. (notice how brown it is??)
BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO
A tributary of the Congo River ran by our hotel,
the "Brazzaville Beach Hotel" I'm not sure exactly what they are
calling a beach, but the river provided some nice sounds and looked beautiful
at night. The mosquitoes were a bit intense here and in Malawi, and I think at
one point I had over 45 mosquito bites on my legs. Note to self- drench
yourself in insect repellant and avoid shorts in the evening. Don't worry Mom,
I took my malaria drugs faithfully!
In contrast to the murky
river, we did enjoy a nice pool. I even dipped in it one time.
The Brazzaville Beach was
definitely a downgrade after Kumbali Lodge in Malawi. The internet was spotty,
food limited and so so, and the rooms basic. See the big hot water heater in
the picture? Well, the first three days I took cold showers because I couldn't
seem to get any hot water. I never really thought to complain because, hey,
it's Africa. I didn't really expect luxuries. But then I heard everyone else
had hot water (and I even used my coworkers shower once for some warm water),
so we asked at the desk and the next day, I had hot water!! Just a simple flip
of the switch! Warm showers made the rest of my stay much more pleasant!
Video conference with colleagues
in Burkina Faso, isn't technology incredible!!
Walking to the office after
lunch at WHO
Fish!!! A little intense to
have to debone your own meal, but worth the effort!!
USAID Colleagues: couldn't ask
for better travel companions. We all got along and had a blast, even amidst the
stress and long days.
The Full evaluation team minus 2
(one USAID, one WHO/AFRO)
My last day of work in Brazzaville, on my walk
home. The views were spectacular! We had one free day before flying out and the
locals were kind enough to take us shopping. I bought some sweet fabrics that I
hope to use for pillows or a bag, someday. You know, when I get crafty. We also
enjoyed awesome food and a swanky hotel/jazz night one evening. There has to be
a little play with all the work!
PARIS, FRANCE
After two weeks of traveling, work, and utter
exhaustion (we're talking 12 hour days every day), 3 of us decided we needed a
break, so we turned our 7 hour layover into a 36 hour layover in Paris! First
time to Paris and I fell in love! One of my coworkers is a fluent French
speaker and well acquainted with Paris, so she acted as the de facto tour
guide. Coming from summer weather to fall in Paris was a bit of shock and
required some creative dressing, but with how quickly we ran through that city,
we were okay.
First stop in Paris (after hotel and naps of course)
was brunch! Oh my goodness, such good food!!! We ate slowly and enjoyed our
time before we hit the city running. We strolled through gardens, passed by the
Louvre, through Paris' city center with the famous world's fair ferris wheel
before making our way to the Arc de Triomphe and onto the top of a hotel to see
the Eiffel Tower by night. After that, I split with the other two heading to
get massages while I ventured back to the hotel for some R&R. The hotel had
a spa with pools, sauna, and steam room, which I enjoyed and then met back up
with the girls for dinner. My dinner meal was so so, but my dessert was
AMAZING! I mean, life changing. Hot brioche drizzled and soaked in some sort of
cinnamon heavenly goodness. I don't get that excited over food very often, but
this dessert was seriously incredible. My mouth starts drooling a bit just
thinking about it (5 months later). The next morning we booked it to Notre Dame
and then to the airport.
Ahh, brunch!
Paris was the perfect end to our crazy work travels. It blended
relaxation with beautiful sight seeing. Also, getting to experience so many
countries in a short period of time was thrilling; Europe to East Africa to
Southern Africa to Central Africa and back to Europe. Six months later and
we're still finishing up the project we started with the trip, luckily, I love
my job! This trip was 22 days of absolute insanity. Exciting, eye opening,
instructional, exhausting, laborious, tiresome, and fun. I love traveling!!!
