Resurrection 2016

Hear ye! Hear ye! 

The (Mis)Adventures of Miss Lynsee Melchi is hearby resurrected from electronic slumber! 

Greetings, dear friends, followers, and well-wishers!  

In a few days I'm headed back to South Africa for another (veterinary) adventure, so this definitely calls for shaking the dust off the ol' blog.  I'm going to try to post here while I'm away so folks can stay up with my (mis)adventures in the southern hemisphere.  

For those of you new to the game...this space was originally created in 2006 as a conduit for my experiences of Southern Africa during my time as a Rotary International Ambassador of Peace and Goodwill.  Part of my directive was to "build goodwill and better friendships" and this blog helped me to share my impressions with the Americans that sent me, the Southern Africans I was meeting, as well as just about anyone with an internet connection.  An interesting outcome of the original blog was getting to meet and advise international students interested in attending the University of Pretoria.  I got to know a microbiologist from Vietnam, a geographer from Iran, and a veterinarian from Singapore all through these words.  Sometimes the internet is a pretty cool place for fostering global relationships. 

This is my fifth-ish trip to South Africa.  My first time was a study abroad trip in 2002 to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (then University of Natal) in Pietermaritzburg.  As the kids say, it's been "on like Donkey Kong" ever since.  In 2007, with the help of a scholarship from Rotary International, I studied veterinary medicine at the University of Pretoria and in 2010 I was lucky enough to visit for the first FIFA World Cup held in Africa.  It is an understatement to say that South Africa is like a second home to me.  

This time around I'm going to be completing clinical rotations with a few of my former veterinary classmates.  I'm a clinical year veterinary student and my school allows me to go learn wherever I like, so I choose South Africa.  I will be spending 2 weeks at a small animal/exotics clinic in Johannesburg, 2 weeks doing meat/milk inspection with a state vet in Polokwane, and 2 weeks doing livestock work with a state vet in KwaZulu-Natal.  

I'm very excited and nervous this time around.  I hope I am not a complete know-nothing when it comes to working with my friends in the "real world."  I also am worried that I have a static version of South Africa in my head.  I don't want to assume too much about this second home of mine.  On my very first trip to South Africa I landed with almost zero preconceptions about the place.  I think that mentality served me well and I will be trying to fall back into that mindset.  I have (re)learned many times that just when I think I know how something works in South Africa that is the day I will meet the person that teaches me otherwise.  I'm also just damn excited to see my people.  To meet all the new children of my friends.  To laugh. To relax.  To eat my favorite foods.  To ride the Guatrain for the first time!!  To try to let some of the stress that has built up over my last few years in vet school slowly ooze out of my brain as I rejoin "African time."  

Stay tuned, people.  

Until then...keep the faith and spread it gently.  

Love, Lynsee