Mi gato, San Patricio y Seattle

Yesterday my cat Tigre Patricio (Tiger Patrick, in Spanish) turned 5 months old and he is becoming quite a nice cat and a good ratter to boot! He is a lovely ginger and cream color with amber eyes and a Philly-style attitude (but secretly a big love junkie!). I’m more of a dog gal myself (still mourning my dog Hamish after all these years) but Tigre has stolen my heart and kept my place rat free for over 3 months. He was born on St. Pat’s day in case you are wondering about his moniker (plus Spanish names are much sexier than their English counterparts!) and he has kept this lonely gal company (one of the downsides to working in Lesotho is a nonexistent social life) in these cold mountains! I'm not sure if I will be able to bring him back to the US :-(

I interviewed for the ICAP Monitioring and Evaluation Advisor position and both interviews went well. The pay is great and the benefits aren’t too shabby for someone in my position but even if they offer me the post (and I have a gut feeling that they will) I don’t think I will take it. I need a mental break from Lesotho. This is a tough country to work in. There doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency about the HIV/AIDS crisis from the national level all the way down to the local-level and a third of the adult population is dying from HIV/AIDS!!!! The level of incompetence that I have encountered from both ex-pats and local Basotho government officials is mindboggling at times. Even the ex-pat Africans from Ethiopia and Ghana who work for the ICAP project seem stymied by the place. Of course, you could make the argument that this is the very reason that I need to stay because I have worked here and managed by hook or by crook to get things working and get people on board the CHIME project, but I think I need to concentrate on finishing my dissertation and figuring out what the next step in my life is going to be. Selfish perhaps but I'm allowed to be a wee bit self-centered at 31!

Speaking of the next step, I have applied for several other positions in the US and abroad but the one I would love to have is based in Seattle with PATH (Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health) and involves working on the HPV vaccine ( to prevent cervical cancer in women) roll out in four countries (Vietnam, Peru, Uganda, and India). It sounds like a challenging position that is right up my alley. I’m still seriously considering going to medical school in a few years, so who knows where this nomadic gal will end up! I will keep y’all posted ;-)