Day 8

I woke up freezing. I grabbed for more blankets, but was still unusually cold. I reached towards the heater to see how warm it was, but found it cold. It turns out that our power went out in the middle of the night. We run off the same power source the clinic does, so it meant that we were both out. I threw on the warmest clothes I could find, brushed my teeth, grabbed my water bottle and peanut butter-banana-and-honey-on-bread-breakfast and headed off to the clinic.

It’s about 9:45am and I’m running off the battery power left on my laptop.

The computer system was working a bit this morning, but shut off after about an hour. They’ve stopped seeing patients until the power comes back on, but on the bright side of things it means that I can write this post! I’m currently wearing cotton socks, wool socks, hiking boots, long underwear, khakis, tank top, long sleeve shirt, v-neck sweater, and a fleece (I’m debating whether or not I should put my gloves on…). But I am warm! The clinic’s usually pretty well heated, it’s just the lack of power that’s making it colder than usual. Our cottage is almost always chilly. Luckily, we have heaters we can huddle around and plenty of tea!

And on that note, TEA TEA TEA! I LOVE TEA! I drink 3-6 cups a day. Seriously, it’s the best. I drink either earl grey or three roses and doctor it up with soymilk and sugar. Not only is it delicious, but it keeps me warm! We have one of those electric water boilers and it’s definitely the most used appliance in our cottage. They also serve it everywhere here! And not just a little steaming mug, but they serve it with a full tea set with a little teapot, a little cup of milk, an equally mini cup of sugar, and a teacup. It’s awesome. Okay, this love session is over. But basically, you should drink tea.

Tea and Me

Okay so anyways. Problem: no power = electric water boiler doesn’t work. I’m contemplating making a small fire outside of my cottage to heat up my tea, but for fear of looking like a crazed, white, caveman, attempting to prehistorically heat water, I decided to bear the withdrawal instead.

Just made a trek to the bathroom. I say trek because it’s pitch black in the bathroom, so I had to use a cell phone light to navigate J.

me in the bathroom

power came back on. ended up shadowing Rajni until noon, heard a lecture on HIV epidemiology, and then discussed more future projects with Meena.

The lecture was fascinating! I'll make sure to post some of the tidbits I learned later. But in summary lecture=inspiration to work harder.

life at the cottage

cottage of chefs! (it's like living in the food network, there's always something cooking)

dinner! (rice, lentils, and mixed vegetables)