One Week Until Arrival

In exactly one week (give or take 20 mins) my plane will touch down in Dar Es Salaam and I will begin my volunteering. So you'd think I would be on here every day writing about how excited I am. Unfortunately, I've been too busy juggling all sorts of details that need to be in place before I leave, to write much.

My first big task was to but all the supplies I needed. This included a large backpack (the one I got has a 75L capacity), clothes, a sleeping bag and related items, as well as many small things that may come in handy during my 12 weeks overseas. I have spent a good amout of time at Mountain Equipment Co-op in the last three weeks. Medications also took up a big chunk of that (if I get sick, I will be prepared). It took me over a week to get the majority of the items and I'm still slowly working on a few every day. The good news is hopefully I will have everything I need by Sunday.

Packing has also been an activity I've devoted many hours to. I've decided I'll need to be organized if I want to be living out of a couple of bags for three months. I've divided all my clothes up and put them into varying sizes of ziplock bags. I've done this for two reasons: 1) easy access (and it won't create a mess just looking for one thing), and 2) protection against leaky items. Hopefully it works out and I can continue to use the bags for the whole trip. I've filled my bigger bag and I have a smaller one I will likely end up checking in for the flight as well. Hopefully I don't go too much over. I will take a smaller shoulder bag for my netbook and some books on the plane. I have been asked by a tour operator to buy a daypack (for him) so I may use that as a carry-on as well.

I also found the time to get one final vaccination: multi-strain menningococcal. It was a bit pricey, but hopefully it will help keep me healthy while in Tanzania.

Another task that has cost me a lot of time has been my travel arrangements, but more on that in a few days. Mostly I am all set for what I am doing in my four weeks, but I have one or two loose ends to tie up before I'm ready to share the whole trip.

So that's what I've been up to the last little while. The next week will be spent finalizing all the little details (travel insurance, visas, final packing, getting ready for my actual programming, learning swahili, and on and on). I'm sure I'll be getting ready right until Sunday afternoon when we leave for the airport.

Anyway, keep watching this space. I'm sure in about 8 days time it will actually start to get interesting - and before then I hope to put up some good answers as to what I will be doing in Tanzania.

Pills, Pills, Pills! 약은 아주 비쌌어요!

After teaching today, I left school quickly so that I could get my prescriptions necessary for my trip (see here for an account of my doctor's visit). It was a fairly easy and painless process but for a few things. The pills I got were not cheap. For a total of 120 doses (1 per day) of my antimalarial medicine (doxycycline) and 56 doses (2 cycles of 2 pills 2 times a day for 7 days) of an antibiotic (ciprobay) - just in case - I paid 103,000 won (approximately $91 Canadian at the current exchange rate). I wonder what the cost would be back home. Incidentally, the majority of that cost was the ciprobay, not the antimalarials.

The second thing (and this worries me a bit, but it probably will amount to nothing) is the lack of labelling on my pills (see the picture below). My name is not on the bottle, nor is it on the prescription (well, it is in Hanguel: 마이클, but that's not likely to be understood by customs officials in Tanzania). We'll see what fun things this will lead too.

Yellow Fever Vaccination. 황열

You may remember that I had to get a medical checkup and some vaccinations for my trip. You may also remember that I didn't get everything I needed. I had been told that getting my Yellow Fever vaccine in Seoul would be pretty easy and cheap (around 15 000won which is approximately $13 or $14 in Canadian funds). The catch was that I needed some help getting an appointment (since it needed to be made in Korean) and getting some time off of work (because the hospital's hours were similar to my school's hours). Days turned into weeks and weeks into months and I had yet to get all the necessary work done to get my appointment (the Korean teachers who can do a lot of this are very busy and I don't always have the time to ask them for favours).

Fast forward to late April, when sad events made me decide (well, someone else had to decide for me because I was unable at the time, but that's another story) to return home to Canada for a few days. I decided it would be easier to get the vaccine done in Canada where I don't have to know a foreign language. Unfortunately, after booking an appointment, I was informed that the cost of the appointment plus shot would be $175. Frustrated, I decided not to get it in Canada and within a few days of my return to Korea got my appointment to have it done there.

A few weeks ago I had that appointment. Overall it was an easy experience. I found my way to the National Medical Centre in Seoul on my own and with my combination of broken Korean and their combination of broken English got to where I needed to be in the hospital. The doctor's English was alright and he informed me of a small chance that I could have very bad side effects (a brain disease). The shot was probably the quickest shot I've had in a while (and I've had a lot of needles in me lately) and mostly painless. I had to wait around for about half an hour to make sure I wasn't getting any serious side effects (which I didn't - though I've been a little sick since then).

The good news was that this whole thing only cost me 21 000won (about $17-18) and I didn't really miss any classes at school. I'm told that after 10 days I am now 90% immune and that after a whole month I will be almost 100% immune for the next 10 years.

There are no more required vaccinations, though I may spring for the other one (multi-strain meningococcal) that I couldn't get in Korea.

Now it's on to finishing raising money, buying supplies and booking flights (not to mention figuring out post-project travel, and packing everything up from Korea and moving back to Canada).

Until next time!

Vaccination and Medical Test Fun! 병원에 갔어요.

A week and a half ago, I made a trip to the Itaewon International Clinic in Seoul to get my medical check started and to plan out a course of vaccinations. The doctor was more than accommodating and checked me out right there and then. I must say that going to Africa required less medical checks (no bodily fluid tests, x-rays, etc.), but requires quite a bit more needles putting things into my body.

Much to my surprise, the doctor offered to give me a few shots the same day. So I got a Hepatitis B booster shot, a Typhoid Fever shot and a TB test shot (which I returned to get read two days later - I don't have TB, if you were wondering). Three needles in one day was a bit much. I had to get one in each shoulder and one on my forearm. Fun times for someone who doesn't like needles (and who just had blood taken a week or two earlier to get his teaching visa renewed)

I was informed by this doctor that there is no multi-strain meningococcal and thus no vaccine is available. Although I don't find it strange that the disease is not here, I do find it odd that I cannot get a vaccine for it in Korea. Does that mean that there is Typhoid Fever and Yellow Fever in Korea? Either way, I will have to wait until I return to Canada (or another country that has the vaccine) before I can get that shot in the arm.

On top of all that, I got two prescriptions: one for malaria pills (apparently not the ones that will give me bad dreams) and one for an antibiotic (cypro I think?). I have a long time until I need them, but since things are so cheap in Korea, I'll likely get them pre-departure.

I was also told that I have to go to a special place to get my Yellow Fever vaccination. I have yet to make this appointment, as teaching has been very busy the last few weeks. Look for a description of that ordeal in the future (I may have to go to the Airport to get this, but probably not).

Anyway, here's hoping it all works out.

Until next time!