Obstacles

I have really seemed to be getting into the groove here and have loved learning about the culture, getting to know the people and am acutually starting to enjoy the pace. Everything here seems to be an obstacle, from small things like getting a hot shower to bigger things like traveling, and I enjoy the challenge. There's almost constant celebration whenever an obstacle is overcome or there is some small luxury. My friend described coming home from dinner and having power as "better than Christmas." The celebrations make all the obstacles exciting and almost fun to overcome.

One obstacle that I've been struggling with is just being sick. I've always gotten bad headaches and muscle aches when its going to rain and rainy season in Africa is no exception. Luckily, I brought some migraine medicine and that does a great job. Also, sometime around my first day here I got a parasite. I've never had a parasite and I kept contibuting it to the new foods I was trying or my malaria medicine. I know 3 other people that have been just as sick as I have, so we just laughed and said "It's Africa!" Like everyone that comes to Africa undoubtedly is isck for months on end. I've been sick for almost 2 months now with only 2-3 day reprieve every couple of weeks. It hasn't been too bad, with the exception of a dull headache due to dehydration and fatigue. Unfortunately, 3 days ago I started getting flu-like symptoms with high fever, chills, etc. I went to the pediatrician I've been volunteering for and he was furious that I hadn't told him yet and now I have a respiratory infection too! He put me on a total of 9 medications, 3 of which are antibiotics, a rehydration regime and some others. I've been sleeping for 3 days and its about to drive me crazy! I feel so lazy, that I'm losing days to be exploring Africa.

I have wonderful friends that are taking good care of me, bringing me food and checking in on me every couple of hours. I was never under the illusion that being here was going to be easy or without challenges, and I've actually never met anyone that's come to Africa without getting sick. I'm going to have a major celebration when I finally get over this little obstacle.