One more week has passed

And a week goes so fast in Kampala, especially if you are sick, as I (Wictoria) have been. Now we are done with almost half of the interviews. Our plan is to do the rest of the interviews next week, but we dont know if this is possible yet. It’s not always so easy to find nurses to interview at the hospital because they have a lot to do. But the interviews are very interesting so all the struggle is worth it.

Carl

Besides, the interviews we also had the time to visit a handicraft market in Kampala. It was nice, but it’s the same things as everywhere else in East Africa. I love the crafts, but if you seen one shop – you’ve seen it all. We also had some fresh passion fruit juice at a café. That is to die for here. The best thing you can drink in Uganda!

I had to visit another hospital on Thursday, so now I been a patient as well. My stomach haven’t been so nice to me so I needed to visit a doctor. I got some antibiotics and worm medicine. The doctor said that here in Uganda everyone should take worm medication every 6 month because you get worms in the food you eat even though you are careful. So both me and Carl bought the medication and took like the cats we are. I feel a little bit better now when the antibiotics are over, but now entire fine. So, I have to evaluate tomorrow or Tuesday if I have to go back to the hospital if it’s not getting any better. Well, life outside of Sweden has it’s downsides aswell…

Wictoria

The plan for next week is just work and no fun. Maybe visit a tailor and make some new clothes, but our friend Halima is trying to find out if her friend can find time for us. This is the holiday season so eveyone makes new clothes so all the taylors are so busy!
Until next time!

Bye,

Wictoria and Carl

We are in Uganda!

The view from
Our balcony

 

First week in Uganda is done. It was a somehow a rocky start for us. The hospital we were in contact with and thought we were gonna do our interviews at changed their minds so we had to start over. Our contact person took us to a hospital and we met the research officer there who gave us papers to fill in, asked us questions about our bachelor thesis and wanted her to give her our proposal. We left there a bit confused and asked our contact person about the proposal and she told us that it is our project plan. So that night we went home, filled in all the papers and changed some things in the project plan. We met the research officer some days later again at the hospital and gave her everything and at the 28th they going to do a ethical review of our project plan at the hospital. We are hopeful that after that we can start interviewing nurses!

Kampala from one of the hills

We are also trying to get to know our new town Kampala. And get used to all the traffic. Because it is so much traffic and it is always a jam, no matter what time it is. If you have an appointment you need to get an Uber at least 1,5 hour in advance even though the distance isn’t even that far. We have gone with motorcycle taxis a couple of times (here it’s called boda or boda boda), but they drive very fast and so far there have not been any helmets involved for the passengers…

The monkey wants the cookies
Happy monkeys

We went with our contact person and now also friend to the Zoo in Entebbe. It is not just a zoo, it is also a rescue and education center. The coolest animals was the wild monkey though that came to the zoo when it started to get cooler in the afternoon. They were so many and not at all afraid. We bought some cookies to have on the way home but on the way to the car a monkey with a baby saw them from far away and started to run towards Halima who held them! She started to scream and the monkey was persistent to get the cookies and Halima surrender fast! It was hilarious to watch.

Becase there are still time until we can start doing interviews we are going to Nairobi, Kenya. Then we are off for two nights and tree days in Masaai Mara and hopefully getting to see The Big Five!

Wictoria and Carl

Namaste!

Namaste, bloggläsare!

Nu har vi spenderat en vecka i Nepal och det är först nu som vi börjar inse att det här inte är en feberdröm. Vi har blivit bombade med intryck och ska här göra vårt bästa för att omvandla dessa till uttryck!

Efter en lång men smärtfri resa landade vi i Kathmandu och välkomnades där av vår kontaktperson och hennes löjligt varma familj. Första intrycket av Nepal och Kathmandu har varit ett som kommer vara bestående. Chockartad trängsel i symbios med med inre lugn. Gatorna är trånga och fyllda av mopeder, bilar, turister, hundar och kor. Alla ska någonstans men ofta åt olika håll. Trots detta så ser vi ingen stress i människors blickar. Det får ta den tid det tar… Löning innan julafton i Malmö är värre, trust us!

Innan mötet med våra informater så har vi valt att tillbringa första veckan med att acklimatisera oss (aka turist;a). Vi har besökt Swayambhunath, Chitwuan Nationalpark och Thamel.

Swayambhunath eller “The Monkey Temple” är ett buddistiskt tempel beläget på toppen av den längsta trappan vi har försökt oss på. Där uppe får man en vacker vy över staden och ett face to face-möte med vår närmsta kusin i Darwins släktträd. Så håll hårt i era ägodelar!

Chituwan är ett område i Nepals södra delar. Här är det fuktigare, inga berg och mer inriktat mot turism. Nationalparken erbjöd djur från hela djungelboken. Resan dit tog ca 6-8 timmar med bil på trådsmala vägar genom bergen. Så spendera ett par nätter där! Det är värt det!

Thamel är mittpunkten som Kathmandu snurrar runt. Här har du allt från gamla palats och monument, turiststråk, och nedgångna krogar.

Men överallt så ser vi fattigdom. Vi ser människor som kämpar för sin överlevnad. Det värsta att se är stadens utsatta barn. Det är en ögonöppnare som förhoppningsvis kommer att göra oss mer ödmjuka gentemot det vi själva har i Sverige. Det är en klyscha, men ta mig fan så sann!

I nästa vecka ska vi besöka härgärget som vår kontaktperson driver! Det ska bli superspännande att träffa både patienter och personal!

Until next time!

ps. Vi kan tillägga att staden är färgglad utom beskrivning! Kathmandu får regnbågen att se ut som botten på min askkopp.

Coming to an end

Now I find myself in paradise. No kidding. Dolphins swimming, palm trees swaying, waves crashing and birds singing. So, once we landed in Arambol we realized what a crazy place it was. Filled with drunken Russian kids, harassing sales men and loud clubbing music. Not really our scene. We succeeded in getting up early to watch the dolphins and hide from these obnoxious masses, but soon they would fill the beach and shopping areas and we were overwhelmed again. In the midst of this chaos I got sick, but was ok with spending my days in my room with AC away from these intense cultural chasms. Agnes hated Arambol even more than I did and took a train from north to south Goa. She said it was a lovely quiet ride and recommends it to future visitors to this south west coast. Once I was feeling better I took a taxi ride down with a frustrating driver who continuously asked me to date him. I lied and said I was married with kids, but this had little or no effect on his advances. In my mind I was ready to smack him silly if he tried anything, but thankfully this was not needed. Soon however I made it to Agonda where a wide white beach, calm sweet cows, more dolphins, and wild horses greeted me in the sun. I felt as if I had gone from party-ville to paradise. Here Agnes and I were able to focus and finish our analysis. It was a complicated procedure since we had 12 pretty individual and long interviews, but we managed after some time to categorize our material and then lay them in themes. If one wants to visit Goa I recommend visiting Agona, its quiet and beautiful. We stayed at a guest house called Monsoon, run by a German guy and a sweet Nepalese family. I made friends with adorable calves who rule the beach and learned to love paneer tikka. After ten days in the Agondan paradise Agnes flew back home and left me to fend for myself in the beach life. I bunkered down for three days and worked until my bum was sore from sitting, and finished my results. Or rather the first draught of part of the results. Then I took a day off, nice. After diving into Agonda it was time to move to my next destination. Little did I know it would be an even more secluded and surreal paradise beach. Its called Little cove beach or Little Cola beach, depending on who you talk too. I met Nina, my fellow nurse colleague, and we have been soaking up the sun, eating yummy food and learning to stand on our heads. I can’t complain. It’s an awesome place to spend the last couple weeks of my India adventure. Also a pretty good place to try to finish this paper before I go back to Sweden. Im hopeful that I’ll succeed even though its extremely tempting to just space out and watch the waves and palm trees. So, yeh, needless to say I recommend coming to this little gem of a place if you like the quiet things in life.

From monsoon to sunshine

Since last time I wrote much has happened. Agnes and I completed our six interviews at Aster Medcity hospital within three days and feel like we got a lot of nice information. Everyone at the ward where we conducted the meetings were curious and sweet and helpful. The following couple days we ventured around and went to Fort Cochin and Marina drive. We took a local ferry for 12kr and was given the grand tour in a language we didn’t understand, it was perfect. We also ate and drank our fair share of dosas and over sweetened tea and coffee, delicious. In southern India there have been monsoon rains and one night we ended up standing in this wet downpour and watching the lightning illuminate the canals. One such bolt struck the water and cracked open just above us, that’s when we realised it was time to go inside. We followed the monsoon to Chennai and arrived to overfilled reservoirs and rivers. We stayed at a nice hotel but the rain came through our windows and made big puddles on the floor. The interviews went great at SIMS hospital and we completed six meetings within two days with extremely qualified nurses from every kind of ward. The director of nursing was very helpful and gave us a tour of the hospital and a meeting with the director of medicine. We felt a bit under qualified for all this attention, but also intrigued by the details in the hospital and the different varieties of patients. After four nights in Chennai we realized that the city is not much fun in the rainy season. There was also flooding around us so we decided to seek out some sunshine instead and bought another flight, with an earlier date that originally planned, to Goa. I was very grateful to get out of Chennai as I’m not so into loud and complicated cities, and felt like I wasn’t able to move or breathe. It’s interesting to come from an extreme Indian metropolis to a very differently categorized bustling beach town with tourists sprouting from every corner. I however really appreciate the ability to walk on the beach alone without feeling like its inappropriate. I’m also stoked about the amount of restaurants and juice places and actually just stuffed my face with a huge fruit and yoghurt bowl. So, now the challenge is to enjoy this sunny place while actually get some writing done. As of now we are in the midst of transcribing and will soon start analyzing. Wish us luck!

Cochin

Its been a little while since my last blog and much has happened over the past few days. Diwali, the festival of lights was celebrated with fireworks, tasty treats and festivities in accordance with tradition. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism observe various customs related to Diwali. I enjoyed the candles lit in oil and the sparkly fireworks painting the sky and lighting up everyone’s faces.  Another favorite part of the last few weeks has been watching the sun sink into the ocean. Its red turning deeper as it slowly dips into the sea, illuminating the sky into a surreal pink and orange, all while the crescent moon watches from above. Here in India the moon is turned the other way than in Sweden leaving it like a fat grin in the sky.

This week I received the most amazing massage called Abiyangha with Shirodhara. This is a full body oil massage with an oil running on to the forehead. It is the most wondrous experience which turns your mind off, leaving you in a state of utter calmness and satisfaction, I highly recommend it. Between these luxurious moments I have also been delving deeper into the background of our paper, analyzing what communication really is in its multifaceted definitions and usages. I also tried to pinpoint what we really are searching for with our questions and how to foresee all the outcomes and possible misdirection which we may encounter during the interviews. It has been a little surreal to work with Agnes across the different continents, but this week she arrived which has been a great a reality check.

On Wednesday October 25th I drove down from Guruvayur to Aster Medcity hospital in Cochin to meet the doctor and become entrusted the nurses. The hospital is like its own city on an island between marshes and palm trees. All very organized and clean, perfect for the international clientele, yet surprising in the midst of India and its other bustling and busy ways. That night Agnes arrived to our funny and fancy hotel on Willington island, which turned out to be a navy base. So, we are surrounded by military airplanes and military grounds with very little space to actually wander. But its ok right now because it helps us stay focused on our paper, and an excuse to just sit by the pool. Once we’re finished with the interviews we’ll venture out to explore fort Cochin. Yesterday day Agnes and I drove to the hospital again and started our interview process. We met two highly qualified and extremely sweet nurses whom were fun to chat with, and I think we acquired some useful information from the interviews. Today we head back to the hospital for two more meetings and then probably dinner by the pool, watching the bats and crows.

Week 1

I find myself in the southern most state of India. The beautiful, lush and green Kerala. People here are curious and friendly. Working their jobs, far more hours than we are accustomed to, but still with a smile. Its impressive and thought provoking

My trip over here was long yet good. An eleven-hour layover in New Delhi could have been worse without a Holiday Inn hotel at the airport and masala chai down the terminal.

I have been here for six days now and am so happy to be spending some time on the Cochin beaches soaking up the sun, walking in the hot downpours of monsoon rains and eating delicious food, before we start the interview process. I was also able to watch a theater and dance performance which was fascinating even though I didn’t understand what was happening most of the time. The movements however were beautiful, sometimes terrifying,  yet fascinating. One part of our project is looking into medical tourism, not because its a focus of our paper, but because it is a factor in the interviews for our study. Most patients who our nurse participants care for are people from other countries who come to India for medical treatment, this so called medical tourism. While India has very good western medicine they also incorporate other types of holistic care into their healthcare system. So, while Agnes is still back in Sweden finishing exams I am spending this first period of the trip receiving Ayurvedic treatments, another kind of medical tourism. I have so far met people from many different parts of India, as well as people from France, Russia and Germany. Not a bad place to work on the background of our thesis, formulate and reformulate the interview questions, and again contact the hospitals. I have so far reached the supervisor/gatekeeper at the Aster MedCity hospital in Cochin where we will be conducting our interviews and solidified some dates. It feels goo to start setting specific times for this next part of our research even though I know that these plans can and probably will change many times over.

I Stone town!

Hej hej halloj, idag är det Li som skriver.

Ber om ursäkt för dålig uppdatering härifrån. Skyller på en blandning av dåligt internet och mycket annat som snurrat i huvudet. Idag går vi iallafall in i vecka tre här på Zanzibar. Just nu befinner vi oss i Stone Town! Mycket mysig och fin stad. Vi bor på ett hotell som ligger mitt i myllret i gamla stan. Eftersom att skrivningen har gått i lite blandad fart så beslutade vi oss för att förlänga vår vistelse här i några dagar. På torsdag planerar vi att vara färdiga och då åker vi norr ut för att bara sola, bada och ha det göttigt sista tiden innan hemresa. SÅ knäppt att vi åker hem om två veckor!! Tiden har gått supersnabbt och superlångsamt samtidigt. Och jag känner mig både redo och inte redo att åka hem. Alltså himla ambivalenta känslor. Ska iallafall bli skönt att äta ordentlig veggis-mat hemma. Och kramas med alla människor som jag saknar såklart.

Tänkte att jag skulle försöka sammanfatta lite kort vad vi haft för oss på senaste, så here we go..

Som Hanna skrev förut så bode vi en vecka på ett lyxigt resort. Det var fint och harmoniskt och vi fick bra skrivro. Upptäckte dock efter typ tre nätter att vi hade kompisar i sängarna, alltså bedbugs. Jag bölade och kliade mig sönder och samman. Vi fick byta rum fyra (4!!!!!!) gånger pga var bedbugs överallt. Annars så skrev vi gärnet och fick ihop ett resultat. Efter en vecka så lämnade vi (förhoppningsvis!!!!!!!! peppar peppar…) bedbugsen bakom oss och begav oss hit, till Stone town. Vi har för det mesta suttit på takterassen på vårt hotell och kämpat med skrivandet. Och när vi inte gjort det så har vi strosat runt i stadens slingriga små gränder, shoppat och blivit fenor på att pruta (ok, Hanna kanske snäppet bättre än jag då), vart på guidad rundvandring på en superstor kryddplantage, åkt båt ut till Prison island där vi klappade 150-åriga jätte sköldpaddor. Bland annat 🙂

Igår kväll skickade vi iväg uppsatsen till handledare och diverse andra hjälpsamma läsare, så vi unnar oss en day of medan vi väntar in kommentarerna. Vi tänkte ta en dala-dala och åka till Paje, ska vara en fin stand typ en timme bort.

Så är det med det!!! här får ni lite bilder. Ska försöka vara duktigare med uppdataterandet nu sista tiden.

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Hanna gosar med en jättegammal sköldis
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Supernöjda snorklare
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Glada turister på spice tour hehe. Han i mitten skapade våra fina assessorer av bananlöv.
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Såna här maffiga dörrar finns det lite överallt här
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Och här satt vi och sörplade drinkar i solnedgång hehe

Hujambo!

Hej och godkväll! Idag är det Limpan som skriver!!

Vi har nu varit här på TICC i tre veckor och dagarna rullar på. Vi är färdiga med både intervjuerna och transkriberingen. Det gick mycket snabbare och smidigare än vad jag tänkt mig faktiskt. Dock var det himla tradigt att transkribera, men, nu är det klart och det är väldigt skönt.

Vi har intervjuat sjuksköterskor både på en HIV-klinik och på en förlossningsavdelning på Bombo Hospital. Alla intervjuer var väldigt spännande och jag känner mig så himla tacksam över att vi fått intervjua dom och ta del av alla smarta och viktiga saker dom hade att säga. Nu ska det bli spännande att börja jobba med all data vi samlat in. 

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Elderly home under upprustning

Idag tog vi en liten paus från uppsats-jobbandet och följde med ut till ett äldreboende där vi hjälpte till att måla om. Äldreboendet har varit i väldigt dåligt skick men TICC har gått in och bidragit med resurser, så nu pågår upprustning för fullt!

Annars så har vi bestämt ett avresedatum härifrån nu. Om ca två veckor drar vi vidare till Arusha för safari. Det känns bra tycker jag. Det är fantastiskt att ha möjlighet att kunna följa med ut till olika health centers, kliniker, äldreboende och annat. Det är ju något vi inte kommer ha möjlighet att göra på andra ställen. Men det känns också bra att komma vidare och se lite annat av Tanzania. TICC är lite som en norsk Ö i Tanga. Det är ett mycket bra ställe men blir ju lite mycket norskt i längden hehe. Nu ska vi iallafall carpa sista tiden här och följa med ut på så mycket program vi kan.

Det var allt för mig. Här kommer lite bilder också.

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journaler på HIV-kliniken
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Fin affisch på Bombo hospital
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Gammalt övergivet sjukhus på Bombo sjukhusområdet.

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Skumpig dala-dala resa

Kan ju även tillägga att jag typ genomgår daglig KBT-träning för alla insekter och småkryp och diverse krälande/krypande varelser. Så mycket djur alltså. Tur att jag bor med en som inte är lika kinkig som jag.

Kwaherini!