update

I got some of the blood test results back, and they are normal, except that I'm slightly anemic (when am I not?). That means I'm not going to feel guilty about ordering steak the next few times we go out to eat.

I felt much better today, and was able to pack more. We plan to leave Friday morning.

800 mg of ibuprofen

Right in the middle of all this packing, I've been getting progressively sicker. My joints are inflamed and painful to the point that I can hardly walk. It feels the same as the rheumatic fever I had at age 13. I went in to the doctor, and she ordered all sorts of blood tests (5 viles!). Those results should be in tomorrow and give us a clue what's going on with my body.

Justin made me promise to just rest today--no packing for me. Which is a good thing, but it's very tempting to pack just one box. And a suitcase. And then, oh, look, the last of the dishes.

packing

We're just packing, packing, packing, trying to eat the rest of our food, canceling utilities, running last-minute errands...We leave New Haven on Friday to head to Utah. By car. Yes, we are crazy.

update

I've been absent from the blog for a while, given finals, a quick trip to Amsterdam, and then work and packing. The trip to Amsterdam was for a medical anthropology conference at the University of Amsterdam, and one of my papers was accepted to it. I ended up not having to present anything, so I just enjoyed two days worth of interesting (to me) talks. I also met a lot of people, one of whom will be very helpful to know in Tanzania.

I also got to see some of the city, both touristy and non-touristy. I went on a canal boat tour (very touristy), stood in the wrong line in the airport (twice), walked through the red light district at night (yikes!), ate at local cafes (bread and cheese, bread and cheese), got lost on the trains and trams in the middle of the night, asked for directions at least 20 times (stupid, bumbling American tourist!), and bought lots of chocolate. Oh, and I bought airport gifts. How lame can I get?

The getting majorly-lost story involves several trains & trams, and the Hague (the city I stayed in for the nights). Luckily, Holland is relatively safe, even at 10:30 at night, and the Dutch tend to be very nice and helpful when giving directions to lost Americans wearing Canada jackets and hauling suitcases around. Good thing the Dutch speak English, though I suppose I might have been able to get along with German. But probably not.

And that was my first experience traveling in Europe alone.

silly, silly

Juma's new favorite toy. Um...

done!

I just sent in my last final! Woohoo!

parenting

Juma just mooned a friend while they were outside playing. Oy.

finals

It's the time of the semester again: finals week. I just turned in two papers, one on depression, and one on needle-exchange in Connecticut. The needle-exchange one was a semester-long group project involving interviews, and all sorts of local politics that I would have rather not had to have dealt with. But that's how public health practice goes, I suppose. It's a big relief to have those two papers in (one of them was 56 pages). But instead of being less stressed, I just am thinking about the other project, statistical analysis, and two essays I have to still turn in. Oy.

It will be over soon. Except that as soon as it's over, I fly to Amsterdam. Then as soon as I get back from there, I have to start packing up our apartment. More oy.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing summer.

on top of spaghetti

Juma learned the "On Top of Spaghetti" song in school, and entertained us with his rendition of it--skipping lines and a bit out of tune--during dinner.

On top of spaghetti
I had a meatball
'Til somebody sneezed
Aaaa-chooo!
It rolled under the bush
And turned into mush
Early next summer
It grew into a tree
It had lovely meatballs
And tomato sauce!

After about the fifth time, I asked him if meatballs really could grow on trees.

Juma: No!
Sarah: Why not?
Juma: Because!
Sarah: But why? Let's go out and plant a meatball and see what happens.
Juma: No, that won't work.
Sarah: Why can't they grow into trees?
Juma: Because they grow into bushes!

After we laughed and laughed, he finally concluded it's because meatballs are made from meat, which comes from animals, which grow in their mommies. And meatballs don't have seeds.