1 week. 2 holidays.
July 1st, a holiday here it Botswana, allowed us to have a 3-day weekend. The day was spent catching up on some much-needed sleep and baking cupcakes for a friend's birthday. In the evening, Allie and I went to a nearby restaurant called Linga Longa for "rib night." It was here that we had our first taste of St. Louis, a locally made beer. I thought it was pretty good, especially considering the price of 14 pula (less than 2 US dollars).
We celebrated July 4th by getting off work early (after being forced to recite the pledge of allegiance in front of our co-workers) and attending a party hosted by the US Embassy. We called a cab and asked the driver to take us to Embassy. Once we arrived, tickets in hand, we asked one of the uniformed and heavily-armed guards where we should go for the party. He wore a confused look on his face; he didn't know of any 4th of July party. Turned out that the celebration was not at the Embassy itself, but rather at the recreation center further down the street (I hadn't read the invitation closely enough in the rush to leave). Despite the mistake and the fact that we didn't get to go inside, it was still fun to see Botswana's US Embassy.
When we arrived, the recreation center was decorated with red, white and blue and American flags. Feeling a little bit awkward about being some of the first people there (apparently even American events run according to Africa time), Allie and I headed to the bar and very un-patriotically ordered 2 bottles of St. Louis. We ate hamburgers, hotdogs, corn, cupcakes and much much more at dinner. It was nice to have American food for a change since we couldn't be home to celebrate.
July 1st, a holiday here it Botswana, allowed us to have a 3-day weekend. The day was spent catching up on some much-needed sleep and baking cupcakes for a friend's birthday. In the evening, Allie and I went to a nearby restaurant called Linga Longa for "rib night." It was here that we had our first taste of St. Louis, a locally made beer. I thought it was pretty good, especially considering the price of 14 pula (less than 2 US dollars).
We celebrated July 4th by getting off work early (after being forced to recite the pledge of allegiance in front of our co-workers) and attending a party hosted by the US Embassy. We called a cab and asked the driver to take us to Embassy. Once we arrived, tickets in hand, we asked one of the uniformed and heavily-armed guards where we should go for the party. He wore a confused look on his face; he didn't know of any 4th of July party. Turned out that the celebration was not at the Embassy itself, but rather at the recreation center further down the street (I hadn't read the invitation closely enough in the rush to leave). Despite the mistake and the fact that we didn't get to go inside, it was still fun to see Botswana's US Embassy.
When we arrived, the recreation center was decorated with red, white and blue and American flags. Feeling a little bit awkward about being some of the first people there (apparently even American events run according to Africa time), Allie and I headed to the bar and very un-patriotically ordered 2 bottles of St. Louis. We ate hamburgers, hotdogs, corn, cupcakes and much much more at dinner. It was nice to have American food for a change since we couldn't be home to celebrate.
Between the holiday festivities, we also got to see a few really interested cases in the clinic this week. I was allowed to scrub in on a surgery to repair a vaginal prolapse (apparently very common in a breed found in Africa called the Boerboel). The procedure required us to pull the part of the vagina that had been externalized back into the pelvic cavity and fix it there with sutures.
The same day, a dog came in with extensive soft tissue damage to the palmar aspect of one of its forelimbs. The owners were not home when the injury occurred, and the vet recommended amputation. It was a very interesting surgery to watch (we had only seen a partial amputation in the past). It is remarkable how quickly animals recover from this type of procedure and how well they cope with only three legs.
Later in the week, a dog came in with a basketball sized mass on its chest. The vet suspected that it was a seroma and proceeded by opening and draining the lump. At first a large amount of serum-like fluid and blood poured out. Upon further exploration however, the vet discovered cancerous tissue that appeared to be a hemangiosarcoma. Based on this finding, the owner elected to put the dog down.
Looking forward to spending a nice, relaxing weekend in Gabs (one of our last, since the rest will be spent traveling).
I love how you go straight from food to a vaginal prolapse. Good grief!
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