I recently came across an excellent blog by Kathleen Robinson an American medical student. She has just started a year stint working with AIDS in Lusaka, Zambia:

The first week of work ... "I actually got out to a few of the clinics this morning and we'll be going back tomorrow to complete the data extraction process (Isn't that a great name for it? As if the data was firmly wedged someplace uncomfortable and we had to yank it out with giant pliers)"

On the expat life ... "I felt (and still feel) strangely cloistered - working all day with expats and then spending all evening at home in a quiet compound, I barely feel like I'm even in Zambia."

On Clubbing in Lusaka ... "When was the last time a man on crutches, wearing a fake tiger fur jacket reached out and grabbed you around the waist?"