I'm home. The trip from Addis to Seattle was a long one. I left my apartment at 7 p.m. Saturday (Addis time) and I walked into my house in Seattle, late Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours later. Time, of course, does not begin to measure the length of the journey.
It will be some time before I can begin to understand the impact this month has had. In Addis we will need to wait in order to learn whether our efforts to make sustainable change bear fruit. For me, however, the changes are already real.
This was my first immersion into a developing country. This was my first trip to Africa. This was my first attempt to practice medicine with severely limited resources. And this was my first real experience where I could never escape being "ferengi" the foreigner.
Although I had previously traveled through Europe, the Middle East, Central America, and Asia, in those places I some how found ways to blend in. This was not possible walking or even driving through a small village in Ethiopia or, for that matter through downtown Addis. I could be spotted a mile off. I wonder if this is what it is like for a person of color walking through my neighborhood in Madison Park.
This blog, as well, has been a new experience. I have never kept a journal which required me to reflect on my journey. It has been a good experience for me.
On they way home, I read the last pages of Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone." It is a beautiful narrative of a medical family caught up in the changing fabric of Ethiopia. For me, it was richer because the places and people described are so alive in my mind.
This will be my last post. I can't resist including a few last photos.
It will be some time before I can begin to understand the impact this month has had. In Addis we will need to wait in order to learn whether our efforts to make sustainable change bear fruit. For me, however, the changes are already real.
This was my first immersion into a developing country. This was my first trip to Africa. This was my first attempt to practice medicine with severely limited resources. And this was my first real experience where I could never escape being "ferengi" the foreigner.
Although I had previously traveled through Europe, the Middle East, Central America, and Asia, in those places I some how found ways to blend in. This was not possible walking or even driving through a small village in Ethiopia or, for that matter through downtown Addis. I could be spotted a mile off. I wonder if this is what it is like for a person of color walking through my neighborhood in Madison Park.
This blog, as well, has been a new experience. I have never kept a journal which required me to reflect on my journey. It has been a good experience for me.
On they way home, I read the last pages of Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone." It is a beautiful narrative of a medical family caught up in the changing fabric of Ethiopia. For me, it was richer because the places and people described are so alive in my mind.
This will be my last post. I can't resist including a few last photos.
