Thursday, February 09, 2006

I am feeling almost 100% now, so it must have been bacterial…thank you, Cipro.

I’ve had a pretty rough work week, but things seem to be on their way to working themselves out. It will mean some changes in our workplan, but nothing we can’t handle. It does seem, though, like I will be coming back to Lesotho at the beginning of April instead of the end of April. This will make the third year in a row that I have been away for Patriot’s Day, which means I will miss the Boston Marathon once again. On the bright side, I will definitely be in the country for Rachel’s first birthday in May.

I went to see King Kong with Nthunya and ‘Manapo in the Kingsway Cinema tonight. Their computer was broken, so they couldn’t issue actual tickets, but we could still go in for R15 (<$2.50). The theatre was huge and I would guess that there were about 15 people in the theatre…and at least half of us were white. Half way through the movie, the projector stopped for about 10 minutes. I never did figure out if it was an intentional intermission or if they were having technical difficulties. Nthunya wasn’t expecting “horror” or that it would last 3 hours, so I think he may have been a bit disappointed with the movie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEL!

  Monday, February 06, 2006

People are celebrating in Pittsburgh, but for me it is a sad, sad day. The Steelers won the Superbowl for the first time in my lifetime, Bettis played the last game of his career, Roethlisberger becomes the youngest quarterback to win a Superbowl, and the Steelers pull off an amazing trick play…and I missed it. I don’t suppose I can call myself a true Pittsburgher anymore. Nonetheless, I am going to throw a Superbowl party when I get back, and people will come donning black and gold, swinging terrible towels, and making me believe it’s the first time they’ve seen it.

This week has actually been a pretty rough one for me. Apparently the ginger beer didn’t quite agree with me at Nthunya’s wedding and it decided to attack my stomach and any food that entered it. The last real meal I’ve eaten was lunch last Tuesday. But that didn’t stop me from going out to send off Lisa Brennan (of Habitat for Humanity). It’s so sad to see her go.


Anyway I finally went to the doctor today and he gave me Cipro and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t really need. It was a really interesting experience for me and very different from the States even though this was a private clinic which is certified as a post for the U.S. Embassy. They don’t make appointments, which means you have to wait a long time, but no one complains. I explained my symptoms to the doctor and he took my blood pressure and pulse. Then he said it’s probably a virus OR a bacteria, but it could be an amoeba (so glad he narrowed it down for me), so he gave me Cipro and if it doesn’t work in a week, I’m supposed to come back and he’ll give me an amoebicide. I paid R70 (<$12) for the consultation and then went to the clinic’s pharmacy (right there) and got my drugs right away…3 prescriptions and oral rehydration therapy packets for R150 (<$25).

I am going to attempt to eat my first real meal in a week tonight, so hold thumbs that it sets well with me (South African way of saying “keep your fingers crossed”).