Roaming in Amsterdam

Sleep is eluding me. One would presume that after the hectic month pre-departure, I would be capsizing into bed every night. Unfortunately the PPD included sleep deprivation as part of the course - the orienteering game ran well into the night, and the few evenings of Heineken did not improve the situation either (although the mingling definitely improved, to those concerned). Yet the anticipation keeps me hyperactive. A and I walk about wondering why in the world we are so tired - it must be age, I smile. She also reassures me - in spite of having been on the field in Côte d'Ivoire for five years, she is still nervous about starting work in Dubie. Imagine me, then: I can intubate and run a modern emergency room, but I have no idea what to prescribe to a malnourished child burning with malaria...

We are all impressed with the quantity of material that MSF has jammed into our brains in the short intense week of 12-hour days. My mindmap of MSF now includes the words mandate, ethics, accountability, transparency, human resources management, security-security-security, professionalism, advocacy, witnessing, protocols, and logistics-logistics-logistics. From the course material, it seems that MSF is an organization that is down to business, has credibility, is financially efficient and has the merit of setting standards in humanitarian work. I'll have to test my neo-colonialism theory on the field, then.

The PPD wrapped up well. Most people are going home to their loved ones, with a project probably-maybe-sometime-soon. New friendships were forged; we wonder if we'll ever see each other again, maybe on mission one day. The statistics for a first missioner to become a repeat offender approach 50% - again, impressive.

Today, A, M and I took the train into Amsterdam. We said goodbye to L, who will not be going to PNG after all. The compactness of this city surprises me still, even though it is my third time here. I get lost, as usual - canals and cobbled streets and pretty centenarian Dutch houses. It doesn't help that the last time that I was here, I was cycling around following a local and not paying attention. Need to work on that sense of orientation and observation... I had the obligatory smoked herring for a third time and am already longingly thinking of the last sushi meal for the next six months or so. It is coming up. Maybe I should go twice for sushi in the next few days, as a precaution. Hmm... there's a thought.

Pictures of Amsterdam here.