Warning: Parts of this post will be disturbing for some readers. At least the events described were disturbing enough to experience.
So the last post ended with the words "I can't help it if I'm lucky." Man, was I asking for it. Within 12 hours of writing those words it seems a virus carried on some food that I ate brought about my worst week in Peace Corps. It started with vomiting, a slight fever, and then things got serious. I think everyone is familiar with the word diarrhea, but I submit that most Americans don't really understand what that word means. I do. I was reminded approximately every one or two hours for three straight days, then five or six times a day for a few days after that. Oh, and I have a squat toilet. Up to then I had seemed to have a stomach of steele, but I now know that's not the case. I can safely say that was my worst week in Peace Corps. A week in bed running to the bathroom every hour with only my satellite radio for company. Actually, that's not fair, a lot of the teachers came by and brought me food and things. They were very good to me.
I continued to feel sick all of last weekend and finally Monday felt pretty good. Monday was the first time in nine days I managed to eat two meals on the same day. That was fantastic. Needless to say I was still pretty weak most of this past week. This weekend I came into Lushoto again to get out of the house and since I was out of food. I hope I never get a bug like this again, but these things happen. Life in Africa ain't always pretty.
Since I've recovered things are going well. In two weeks we have graduation at the school so everyone's focused on that right now. For some reason they do graduation before the national exams which I think is a big mistake because now the students aren't very focused on anything except the graduation. All the classes do a song and a dance performance as part of the ceremony so they are spending a lot of time rehearsing. It should be real nice and I'll try to get some pictures put up here. That's all I've got for now. I may not be able to post as often now because there is only electricity for two days a week now. I think many of my readers already know how I feel about the power company here, so I won't go into it.
So the moral of today's post, kids, is don't eat raw vegetables from questionable sources. Bad things happen when you do that. Really bad things.
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13 comments:
Andrew,
Glad you're doing better. I suppose that it was only a matter of time before you got some foreign bug, just count your blessings that it wasn't hemoragic fever or something. Love the picture. Your friend has a great view. I'm using it as my background photo now. We find out what happens in F1 today. Is Schumi going to retire? Is Kimi going to Ferrari? Who will be McLaren's #2? Its all very exciting. Do you get the F1 gossip when you can get to a computer? Maybe its not as important as world events but I get tired of the same things all the time. Bad news about Iraq, bad news about Isreal, good news about the stock market, same old same old. Anyway I'll be back in three weeks. I guess that Dalen is comming back. We keep missing each other by a few days, maybe we'll be able to get toghther next time. Stay safe.
In solidarity and defiance,
Justin B. VanAtta
Update for Andrew's readers:
We talked with him today, Sunday, Sept. 17, and he's doing very well but busy at school. He's completely recovered from his recent illness.
Unfortunately, daytime electricity in Lushoto has been suspended, which means he'll have fewer opportunities to post entries on the blog when he goes into town. Likewise, he won't be able to check his email often until Tansesco turns the juice back on.
As always, he appreciates letters. Please drop him a line occasionally. Thanks.
Doug Clark
as tanzanians say
'pole pole bwana'
Andrew, just saying hi. Sorry you got sick - glad to see you recovered. Although Tanzania is something you will never recover from - in a good way I hope.
Andrew update:
His mother and I talked with him Sunday, Oct. 1. He was in Lushoto with Jen, Josh and Vanessa. All were well. Still no daytime electricity, which means the internet cafe wasn't open. He's hoping to go to Tanga this weekend and believes he might find some electricity there. (Everywhere is better than Lushoto, he thinks.) If so, he may be able to update the blog. Thanks for keeping up with him. Please send letters.
Doug Clark
Glad the poop-o-meter is back to normal soft-serve flow.
Keep it real, amigo.
Hey. Finally made it to internet, but there are still a lot of problems with the connection. Maybe I can write a new post, not sure. It looks like internet will only come around once a month or so for awhile, so posting will be very difficult. Anyway, other than that things are ok, but real busy for the next six weeks.
Andrew update:
We talked with him today, Oct. 8. He was just back from Tanga, where he went with Jen Hill and a couple of visiting PCVs serving in Jordan. They had a good time, when to the beach. No electricity in Tanga, either.
Doug Clark
Andrew update, Oct. 22:
He's doing well and has been busy at school. The short rainy season has begun and will continue for about two months. Rains are intermittent rather than continuous during this period. It rained pretty heavily this past week, making the road to Lushoto impassable. If there are a few dry days, he might be able to get into town. There are a couple of national holidays this week marking the end of Ramadan.
As always, he welcomes mail although, unfortunately, he doesn't receive everything that's sent. Also, the most recent letter we received from him took six weeks, So, if it seems he's not answering your letters, give him another chance. Thanks.
Doug Clark
Andrew - So sorry to hear about you being sick. Sory I couldn't be there to save your life like you did mine when I had strep throat freshman year...remember that? "Don't die Rene, there I just saved your life." I still think of that whenever I get sick.
Happy Halloween!
Rene
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