Today I spent the morning in Amharic class. We have around 13
students, including two other MTW interns -- Derek & Jim. I am
learning lots of things, like colors, numbers, prepositions, etc...
But the coolest thing is that we are learning the Amharic alphabet,
which FYI has over 300 letters. It sounds and LOOKS scary, but we
learn it in seven different forms, so we eat the elephant bite by
bite.

This afternoon I spent in the clinic with the medical team from
Baltimore. In a building (the term building should not be confused
with any establishment in the Western world; it's more like a really
old enclosed pavilion with corrugated tin/eucalyptus/cement walls,
shaped like a warehouse) we had triage, doctors meeting with patients,
a pharmacy, and a lab. I worked in the lab, running tests for
chlamydia and gonorrhea and learning how to mount slides for TB tests.
And did I mention that this clinic has been set up in the roughest
slum of Addis? It's the type of slum you smell before you see it.
Sewage and trash everywhere. Kids playing barefoot in the street.
People staring at me and Derek as we walk in with lab supplies (maybe
it was combination of ferengi and bottles of reagents).

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with a medical team doing home visits
in Lideta. We treated four different families, all beneficiaries of
the HIV project. It was amazing. We went into these homes with Alemu,
the social worker/ translator, and administered health care.

These 'homes' are probably a lot less than the shed where you keep
your lawnmower. Yet, their owners have them tidied up, music playing
and seats for their guests. We were treated with the utmost
hospitality.

This week I have finally been hit with the realization that I am in
Africa being a part of a project that helps the sick. I am working,
and it feels good.

Betsy