Birthday In Juba

I turned 34 today. Looking back, I turned 30 in Lesotho, 32 in Malawi, and here I am in South Sudan for 34. The majority of people in this country are less than 30, so in at least one way, that makes me old and uncommon.

I started the day off with a 10K run with a few friends that were going to run the Juba Marathon before it was cancelled. The prize for the sweat and grime was a delicious homemade pancake by fellow frisbee player Niki, the first one I've had in Juba and the best I've had in a long while. In Juba, it's the little things that matter.

I then stepped onto the ward to see how the junior docs were doing with their patients. Unfortunately, none of them had shown up, and the patients had been seen by a clinical officer student. When I tried to see what he had discovered on history and physical, I was stuck since the files had been sent en mass to the pharmacy. We need to change that. Cathryn, the visiting resident from my old stomping grounds in Santa Rosa, gave a great lecture on asthma. We then broke for a nice Ethiopian lunch at Green Garden (photo of birthday present attached), followed by home-fired pizza with the Italians.

Except for some generalized lymphadenopathy and a bruised rib from frisbee, all is well, and happy to be alive. Thanks for the birthday wishes!