May 21, 2012: The African Adventure begins again. I will be leaving my home in Los Angeles in less than 48 hours, and returning to the now familiar surroundings of Kigutu. I will be departing Wednesday in the early A.M. for my third sojourn in Burundi. I am not a religious person;  in fact, those who know me know that I am vehemently anti-religious. But Burundi serves as my religious experience. Kigutu is my mecca. This trip has become my annual pilgrimage, my hegira to escape the modern world that I normally inhabit.

Why do I go? I go because I have to go. I go because I cannot imagine not going. I go because my time in Kigutu fulfills both personal and professional needs for me. I go because this trip provides a necessary respite from my routine here. I go because I  love the work. I go because I love the people of this small, landlocked, impoverished nation. I go because I love the children of this small, landlocked, impoverished country. I go because of the indomitable spirit that is so much a part of the people of Burundi. I go because I love the doctors and nurses with whom I work. I count many of those nurses and doctors as my friends now, and number one of those friends would be the gentle giant, Dr. Melino. I go because, once again, I will work with Dr. Melino: a role model for all of my fellow physicians. I go because, in the midst of the hard work we do, we have time to have fun, to laugh, and to enjoy life. I go because Kigutu is a sea of tranquility in the maelstrom that is my life outside Kigutu. I go because my experience in Burundi brings me an inner peace and tranquility that I find nowhere else. I go because being there simply makes me happy, and because of the joy that I feel when I am there. I go because I have fallen in love with a continent, a continent that goes by the name of Africa. And what is it that I love about this exotic continent; this continent of extreme contrasts: the overwhelming beauty and the equally overwhelming poverty? I love the sights, the sounds, the feel, the rhythms of Africa. I love the essence of Africa, the spirit of Africa. It is a continent that draws me to it, that beckons me to come very year.

I go back to Burundi because I can go back to Burundi. I have the professional expertise and training to do meaningful work in a third world country. I count myself lucky that I can do that, for not  many people can do essentially the same work in a setting completely foreign to their normal setting.  I can  also go because my partners encourage me to go. I list them by name to give them each credit for their unflagging support in my annual journey: Drs. Marshall Goldberg, Marie Medawar, Michael Wolke, Lynn Osher, and Mary Choi. I thank them collectively and individually for their generosity of spirit in allowing me to do this every year. I know that my extended absence from the practice places an extra work-load burden on them; I owe them a debt of gratitude for taking on that extra work-load.

Finally, I go because (and only readers of my previous blog posts will understand this) the Short Tie Club (STC) needs me. The STC is at a crisis point right now, so much so that I am concerned that its mere existence is in question. This is all because of the nefarious efforts of the Long Tie Club (LTC) to poison the minds of the people against it. Their propaganda directed at the STC has fulfilled their desired aim of destroying the reputation of the STC. I return to re-establish that reputation. I believe that my presence is required in Burundi to put the STC back on solid ground. I promise that I will lead the STC out of the wilderness and back into the prominent position they once held. I further promise that I will once again make the STC the pre-eminent tie club not only in Burundi, but also anywhere in the world where ties are worn.  I must go now so that the day will come, as it once did, when, as the pictures below demonstrate, every man, woman, child, dog, and cat will, once again, be proud to wear the Short Tie.

I am eager to go to Burundi, yet there is much that I will miss over the next six weeks. I will miss my daughters, Julie and Jessica, and my son-in-law, Garth. yet I will stay in touch with all of them via our daily Skype sessions. I will miss my morning cappucino, my morning breakfast routine. I will miss my twin Bichons, the irascible Ozzie and Harry. I will miss our morning and evening walks together.

But there is something new this year, something that was not present during my previous sojourns in Burundi; something that has changed my life; as well as the lives of many others. This something is actually a someone, and her name is Violet Rees Friedrich (although she often goes by the diminutive of Vio.).  She is the daughter of the former Julie Rose Shulman, and her husband, Garth Friedrich. She is the new love of my life, as well she should be. Moreover, I can state, as a completely objective observer, that she is a beautiful baby. I will miss this child, as only a "grampy," (for that is what I am called) can miss his beloved granddaughter. I will miss seeing her and being with her over these next six weeks. I will miss watching her grow and develop and evolve over that time. I know she will be a different human being when I come back, and a cuter one too. I will miss her smiling face, and her adorable personality. I will miss my Thursday evenings with Vio. I  will miss everything about her: the now three month old Vio. Finally, I offer in evidence photographic proof that my granddaughter is indeed a beautiful baby. Here she is at three months of age. The first picture is the swimsuit edition of Vio., as she readies herself for her first swimming party. Based on this picture, I see her as a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, circa 2032. The second picture is Vio. in her ready-for- summer outfit.

Thus I bid adieu to all of my friends and family here in the United States, as I take wing on the next installment of the adventure known as "Dr. Pete Goes To Burundi." More to come from Burundi. Far more.