Heather's Adventures in Lesotho

I have had quite a few discussions about my 17 Before 2017 list over the last couple of months. I guess that’s related to the whole New Years resolution thing. Sadly, most of the time I can’t remember all 17 things on my list. I need to do something about that because even though very few need daily follow-up I think I need more frequent reminders. I’ve also decided that there are a few things on the list that I don’t want to do anymore. I told this to my friend V and she said that I should feel free to make changes because it should be a living document. She’s totally right. So here are the changes I’m making:

REMOVE:

1. Take swimming lessons because everyone tells me I don’t really need to know how to swim to learn to scuba AND I technically can swim, I’m just not very good at it.
2. Be on a digital scrapbooking creative team because I decided that’s not my goal with scrapbooking.
3. See Cirque du Soleil because it was a lame goal. Plus I went to see them last year and I had already booked my tickets when I added it to the list.

ADD:

1. Run a 10k. Last year I specifically mentioned not including running on my list because I hate running. Shortly afterwards I started a Couch to 5K training program. It may have taken me the whole year (with a big gap in the winter when I did no running), but I finally finished it.  And then I went on a live running Hash that was 8-9 kms and I didn’t die and I wasn’t even sore the next day. Now I’m signed up for the Two Oceans 10k Trail Run on April 5th. My goal is to finish it – even if I’m 397th out of 400 runners I will not care. (And I very well might be because I “run” only slightly faster than I can walk.) Depending on how this goes this may morph into “Run a 10k every year”. I can guarantee you that it will never morph into running a half marathon or longer.
2. Have an impromptu conversation fluently in Spanish. I have gone back and forth in my head about learning another language at all. I took Spanish in high school and a little of college but have really terrible speaking skills (and have forgotten most of my vocabulary). I also took a semester of French in grad school because I thought it would be a good language for furthering my opportunities in Africa, but really did not take off with it. After accepting that I will never become fluent enough to get a job because of my language skills in either French or Spanish I still felt compelled to work on a foreign language. Therefore I invested in the Rosetta Stone for Spanish since that is the language I have the most background in.
3. Donate at least as much as I’m spending on animal food per month to charities supporting maternal and newborn health. In Half the Sky I read that there are estimates that it would cost as much as $9 billion a year to provide all effective interventions for maternal and newborn health to 95% of the world’s population while $40 billion is spent annually on pet food globally. This had a real impact at the time and I even started looking for charities to support but then it kind of faded away. I definitely struggle with finding organizations after being in the field and seeing what actually happens. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of good being done but sometimes I find the advertising a little misleading. Please comment here if you have any suggestions!

Other ideas I’ve considered (and may end up on future revised lists):

1. Take more pictures of the people in my life. I love documenting my everyday life, but I find that I take too many pictures of things and not enough of people. I really like this idea, but I don’t know how to quantify it.
2. Go skinny dipping
3. Attend the Summer Olympics since I’ve been to the Winter Olympics and I think it’d be nice to go to both. Plus the next Summer Olympics are in Rio.
4. Paint a wall in my house a bold color like red.

On Friday I checked off the second item on my 17 Before 2017 list that has a recurring deadline – annual blood donations. (The only other recurring goal is to read 42 books per year.) I had to give myself some leeway after re-discovering blood donating on my list at the end of the year when work commitments got in the way of getting to the blood bank before I left for the year. Since I can’t donate in the U.S., I gave myself until the end of January to count for 2011.

I added annual blood donations to my list because it is way outside my comfort zone. Shamefully, until Friday I had never voluntarily given more blood than is necessary for physicals. In fact, the first time I ever had blood drawn for medical purposes was for my pre-Peace Corps physical. The doctor used a butterfly needle because I’m such a wimp. I even passed out one time giving blood for a mid-Peace Corps physical (although I’m pretty sure that was due to poor technique by the MO). At the same time I think that being a blood donor makes you a good grown up. My Mom is a great example. I remember her donating regularly when I was growing up through blood drives at church or school, etc. My brother-in-law is also a regular blood donor. I’ve just been a wimp this whole time.

Friday’s experience at the blood bank was fine. The worst part about it was when the nurse grimaced when she saw the tiny veins in my arm. I am not joking. I recruited several friends to come along and the staff at the centre were thrilled to have us. There is a desperate need for blood products in Lesotho and in most developing countries. Maternal mortality here is high and sometimes those deaths are as a result of not having blood to give when a woman has postpartum hemorrhage. The staff at the blood bank told us that if we had called ahead they would have come to us. For just 4 units! That really struck me.

I’m keeping annual blood donations on my 17 Before 2017 list, but now my intention is to go every 3 months and to try to bring someone new each time.

As some of you may remember, at the beginning of the year I published my “17 Before 2017″ list outlining the things I want to accomplish/do before I turn 40 at the end of 2017. The biggest item on my list that requires continual progress is reading 250 books – or 42 books per year. This has become quite the topic of conversation. Besides getting asked about how I’m doing, the other most frequently asked question is “Why 42 books?” Good question. I wanted to challenge myself to read more than I was previously, which I thought was about 2 books per month. Turns out, on further analysis, I was reading more like 1.5 books per month. 42 books also adds up nicely to just more than 250 books. It has been tough keeping up and sometimes I just want to read long articles on Instapaper but I feel the pressure to keep reading. Right now I only have 2 more books to finish before the end of the year. (Likely “Blue Nights” by Joan Didion and “Seriously … I’m Kidding” by Ellen Degeneres.) Here is the list of the books I read this year, in order of the ratings I gave it on Goodreads with random comments/reviews.

5 Stars:

• The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS by Elizabeth Pisani (I don’t read much about AIDS because I generally read to be distracted from work, not think about it more. This was worth reading.)
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. (Sob.)
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Cheryl WuDunn (Eye opening and motivating.)
• Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (You can tell that a TON of research went into this, but it’s all woven together into a coherent and engaging story. I tell people about this book all the time.)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Another book I tell people about all the time.)
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (Fun, blast to the past.)
• Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (Really interesting read, even for non-runners. Bought a pair of “barefoot technology” shoes after reading this and LOVE them.)
• The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Sob. Epic.)
• Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Brilliant YA book that’s not just for kids. Sob.)

4 Stars

• The Giver by Lois Lowry (How did I not read this as a kid?)
• Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann
• Faithful Place by Tana French (Have read all of her books. I love a good mystery/detective story.)
• Mrs. Kimble, The Condition and Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh (Becoming a big fan of hers.)
• The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
• One Day by David Nicholls (The ending helped win the whole book over for me.)
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson (Also a big fan of his. Fascinating.)
• The Informationist by Taylor Stevens
• Austenland by Shannon Hale
• Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo
• Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
• The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippmann (Will be reading more of her work next year.)

3 Stars

• Saturday is for Funerals by Unity Dow (Book about AIDS in Botswana.)
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet (Meh.)
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
• The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer
• Alone by Lisa Gardner
• Lonely Planet Morocco (Yes, this counts. I read basically the entire book as part of trip preparation.)
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (This was only okay. I’m trying another of her books as I’ve heard good things about her in general.)
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (Did NOT turn me into a vegetarian.)
• The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War by Greg Marinovich (Better than the movie as it dealt more with the boundaries between when a photographer should get involved or not.)
• Why He Didn’t Call You Back: 1,000 Guys Reveal What They Really Thought About You After the First Date by Rachel Greenwald (Yes, I read a book about dating.)
• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
• Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (Fun. Great for listening to on a long car ride with mixed interests.)
• The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling