Mosquitoes

It seems that no Peace Corps blog is complete without a post concerning the most recent sickness that has plagued the volunteer-author. Here's mine. I got malaria two weeks ago! This was malaria's debut performance in my liver, and it was very happy to be there in all it's glory.

I, however, was not so happy. I'd describe it as feeling like the worst hangover you've ever felt, for three days straight. My whole body was exhausted, my body ached, loss of appetite, and every time I stood up or sat down I had to take a really deep breath to as the blood rushed to my head and started pounding. Yikes.

I first knew I had it when I woke up in the middle of the night freezing cold, and then sweating bullets an hour later. I pretty much had diagnosed myself by morning, so I started the medince that PC stocks us with, and went to the hospital to get my blood examined and confirmed it. That first day wasn't so bad, but starting that night for the next two days I was out of it--all of the above stated symptoms. But after the last dose of medicine and two days, I was pretty much back to normal, but it was quite the ride and definitely not worth the story value of being able to say "Yeah, I lived in Africa and got malaria." I would have preferred not to have a three day migraine.

And during the entire time, I received all sorts of suggestions and explanations from friends and acquaintences about what to do about why I got malaria and what I should do. Apparently beans, peanuts, cold weather, farming, and corn on the cob gives you malaria. The first couple times I tried to explain that it really was just mosquitoes, but I eventually gave up and just told people I ate too many beans. I was a bit gassy, I suppose...

So back in good health, I'm back to work and life as I knew it. I spent a weekend in Garoua with a bunch of the health pcvs who were in town for a training; some of which I hadn't seen since December. It was a great time, and a great mini-vacation. The trip here, however, proved to be quite the adventure as the road to my village gets worse and worse. I guess that's what happens during the rainy season as the mud gets thicker and thicker and never dries. And when nobody closes the rain-gates, cars drive on it anyway and only make it worse. It took me over two hours on a motorcycle to go 60 kilometers. Yikes. So I'm heading back to village today, and I'm hoping that it hasn't rained in the past 24 hours so we can move a little bit faster and I won't risk falling in the mud. I'll cross my fingers, and stay away from the beans.