my middle-school science fair project.

le 22 novembre   I’ve officially been here in Rwanda for one whole tube of toothpaste.I’m not sure where the idea started, but I’ve long since wondered how long exactly one bottle of shampoo lasts, one roll of floss lasts, one bar of Dove soap lasts. Usually, though, I pick from the shampoos in the shower and never get through one fully before getting bored and starting a new one. Free of all other variables, I’ve finally been able to carry out my experiment. 

For my trip, I packed four bottles of the same face wash, twelve bars of the same Dove soap, five tubes of the same Pronamel toothpaste – perfect. Also, all of the products were started on at the same time! It wasn’t until a week or two after arriving that I’d realized my luck. I quickly drafted an Excel spreadsheet and prepared myself for eight months of the perfect opportunity to be a complete nerd.

This past week, I had my first product to finish up – Dove soap lasted me from October first until November 18th. My Pronamel toothpaste (and of course I have all of the sizes recorded in my spreadsheet) lasted until November 22nd. Wow – I’ve really been here that long?

As a way to remember to take my weekly anti-malarial pill, I taped the individually-wrapped pills directly to my wall calendar. Each week, I take down the pill and check off the day. I have until the end of March already on my wall. I’ve started thinking of time in terms of Mefloquin tablets. Just yesterday, I thought “wow, only five more Mefloquin tablets in 2010.” WHO does that?

So between my science fair project and my Mefloquin calendar, it’s easy for me to know exactly how quickly time is passing. Already, I’ve been here just shy of two months – out of an 7 ½ month stay, that means I’m already ¼ of the way done. When did that happen?

Three tubes of Pronamel toothpaste from now, I’ll be on a plane home. Scary.