Floods, Pigs, and HIV

It has been a couple academically arduous weeks since my last post, and a few interesting things have happened. Floods, pigs and HIV, to summarize it with a few words.

First things first though, the obligatory weather update. No more PMS weather (knock on wood), but from hear on out spring is properly present. As I type these words people are having the seasons first grill parties out by the lake, and everybody agrees that life is worth living again. The buzz is back, and the optimism (mine included) is just about bearable. In stark contrast, and I excuse the deviation from my usually lighthearted rhetoric,  my hometown in Mozambique is drowning in floods. Aside from the immediate death and destruction from obvious reasons, there are a lot of aftermath problems that one could spend a serious while discussing. In the interest of moving things along, however, I'll leave that discussion for another day. My family is fine though, for which I am thankful. 

This road leads to my neighborhood.

From flooded Pemba to something entirely different, we have started to learn the basics of suturing at school. Obviously we are all very much excited, especially as we get to do it on pigs. Yup, they bring us some chopped up pig legs and we get to tear them apart and stitch them back together again. I don't know if it is a tad macabre to find it enjoyable, but I have learned it is best not to think in these patterns. Especially not at autopsies. Trust me on this one, it will save whatever sanity you have left.

Martin busy at work

Pigture Perfect (not even sorry :P )

On to some news related to a little project I have been developing for some time. I am a coordinator of a Peer Education project for my university's branch of the student organization called IFMSA. It's all about educating other young people about HIV/AIDS, in an effort to deliver knowledge of a difficult topic in an understandable way. We had our first seminar just last week, for a group of high school students in the area, and it was well received and appreciated. All in all it was a pleasant start, and I'm feeling quite positive about it. Click for more info on Peer Education: HIV/AIDS.

Have a good week everyone!

P.S. Have Coldplay ever made a bad song? Honestly though, have they?? Their new one is fabulous.

Wipes and South African Humour

Growing up in Mozambique in the international community one inescapably gets saturated with a good dose of South African culture. Not only Braai parties and outdoor adventures, but also a certain cheeky style of humour. Already having a penchant for any astute observation of an innocent mistake, especially in official matters, this is right up my alley.
In South Africa they have a travel magazine called Getaway. Like your everyday travel magazine, it is a collection of stories of places by people who have made the trip there. However, what makes this magazine special is that they have a very popular section called "Funny Signs of the Week". Now, in Pemba, there lived this South African couple who not only had many Getaway magazines, but also the special edition compilations. Basically, an entire book filled with all the funny signs sent in by the readers of Getaway. Whenever we would visit them, I would sit on the floor and read all about these marvelous mishaps. It is something about the innocence of it all that makes it so ridiculously funny, with the owner of the sign often having no idea what it actually means. It is a clash of cultures at it's finest, and that is something the South Africans, and myself, find very amusing. I shall share some of my favourites:

=)

A rather unfortunate way to present this certain individuals name.

My absolute favourite. OF ALL TIME:

Right, so why this little anecdote from my past you ask? Well, I just happened to stumble upon something similar to other day when out shopping. It gave me a good laugh, so I thought I'd share it with the world. Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone! 

If you ever wondered where to wipe.

P.S. if you are in need of a great song, and by some miracle have not yet heard this one, then I'd definitively give it a listen.