So, I have gotten sick a few times here. Giardia, Ameobas, heat rashes, and some stuff that was undiagnosed. This last time I got sick was the worst so far I think. It was a classic case of Giardia, which is "an infection of the small intestine caused by a microscopic organism...outbreaks can occur in communities in both developed and developing countries where water supplies become contaminated with raw sewage" Lucky me. I think I got it from drinking some unfiltered well water, ain't I smart? So anyways I woke up feeling really tired, and diarrhea, and then the sulfur burps came (classic symptom of Giardia is having an unusually high amount of burps that taste like sulfur.) So like a good Peace Corps volunteer I called med to double check the medicine i should buy(I was pretty sure of the medicine 'Fasigyne' but I just wanted to be sure). I called, and told the person on the other line my name and site, and what was wrong, and they weren't quite sure why I was calling. I explained myself again and asked for a doctor. at that point in time the doctors were attending the new volunteers swear in ceremony, (which I do approve of as a completely legitimate excuse) and the man on the phone asked me if he wanted them to send down any medicine. I needed the medicine now, not in two days from now, so I asked him again if he could just tell me the name of the medicine I needed to take. He failed. I hung up and bought the medicine. I ate the medicine and some tylenol, and tried to nap. Unfortunately for me, my next door neighbors were having a wedding. This meant that there were giant speakers and a hundred people making noise. I pretty much watched movies and read for most of the day and night. the next day I was still not feeling so good. I went to pams house and told her im sick. and then I came home and decided to watch the Mighty Ducks trilogy. at this point some guy came into my compound with my host dads key took some mangos I think and left...but he didn't lock the door behind him. so ten minutes later all these ladies form the wedding next door are in my compound asking me to fetch them water, and ice water, and ice, and all sorts of stuff. I am not amused. I am not hospitable. I do not know who the hell these ladies are. So there I am in the hot african heat, sick, with crazy ladies bothering me and I have to watch them, cause I don't know who they are and if they feel like stealing something from my house. Eventually my host dad comes back and I can go to sleep. Sleeping was difficult this whole time. when the power was on, I could use my fan and sleep in relative coolness but the giant speakers next door were blasting terrible senegalese music and Akon. When the power was out, the music was gone, but it was too hot. By night fall, I took some more tylenol, and drank a bunch of gatorade and I was feeling relatively good. I went to a restaurant and ate some eggs and potatoes, I checked out a new bar that had jsut opened up (I didn't drink anything) and then went back home. Then the worst 5 minutes happened. Suddenly the power went out. not a problem I walk outside and drink some cold water. then I realized I had to pee. I want to see the color of my piss to know how hydrated I am so I bring in my cell phone because it has a flashlight. I repeat to myself over and over, "Don't drop it in, don't drop it in, don't drop it in" of course I do drop it in. Now let me tell you. I have a nasty toilet. it is really really gross. I stare at it for a few seconds, and sigh and begin the search for a flashlight. during the search I slice open my thumb on a piece of metal (of course I don't realize this till much later cause I can't see anything) and I eventually find my flashlight and latex gloves. I fished it out and swiftly walked outside with the phone dripping nasty goo from its seams. As soon as I had laid the phone down and started wiping it down with an old cloth, the power came back on. I went to Pams house and told her everything. She pretty much just laughed. I put the phone in a bag of rice in hopes that the next day it would work. 3 hours later I started feeling extremely nauseas. this lasted until the next morning. my stomach hurt so much, I got only a few hours of sleep. Then the next day I was so tired and felt so sick I could barely get out of bed. I managed to walk to pams house and used her phone for some work stuff and then went home and slept. That night I was feeling well enough to talk to the women's group president. I had to tell her that I had to move the date of the workshop again. I was feeling so loopy, I could barely understand a thing she was saying to me. I can only hope that I got my message across.
Now I am feeling much better although my appetite has still not completely returned, and I am still a little tired. I can only eat a half bowl of rice. Gatorade is a real lifesaver. That stuff is awesome.
It has Rained twice this week! last night it was pretty scary. a lot of wind and lightening. almost reminded me of home. In a few weeks time my city will turn into the Venice of Senegal! Imagine a town with its streets flooded from rainwater stirring up all the donkey, cow, goat, pig, and human feces into a wonderful beautiful river. I can hardly wait.
-Mike
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