The funny thing about Africa is…

The diseases you get. Really it isn’t so funny. I have Malaria and Typhoid. Let me just start at the beginning.

First of all, I probably deserve this, because Kerry is eternally getting bit by mosquitoes. Any time of the day I can look over at her and she will be swatting furiously at some little winged creatures. I always laugh, rather cruelly, to be honest, that it is her and not me. The mosquitoes don’t even bother with me. Then we laugh and joke about how Nigeria is so mean to her, with the mosquitoes, mango mouth and heat rash. I have even been so bold as to say, “You will probably get malaria at least once, while I will be malaria free!” I am sure you would agree that I have jinxed myself.

This whole scene has been happening for months now. But add to it the multiplying fatigue and headaches and I was starting to feel a bit run down. Finally, on Thursday, I called my boss and told her I was sick and not coming into school. “Check for Malaria” was her reply. I didn’t. I thought, how could I possibly have malaria? I can count the number of times on one hand that I have been bitten. So I ignored her advice and went to sleep. O, it was not good. I had this pain all up and down my arms and legs, my head was splitting and I was so tired. I just lay in my bed and tried to escape the misery. Half way through the day there was a knock on the door. It was one of the sisters, mad at me that I didn’t tell them I was not feeling well. I described what I was feeling and I saw her lips turn into a thin line. “You have malaria”, she said. Later that afternoon I was escorted to the hospital for a blood test. I also decided to have the typhoid test too, just to be sure.

The next day I went back for my results and sure enough I have them both! I came back to the house, armed with several different kinds of antibiotics to combat the diseases. Now I am taking about a dozen pills a day, and getting better. People keep freaking out about my ‘diseases’. I don’t know why I am putting that in quotations, because I do have ‘diseases’. I guess it just feels funny to call them ‘diseases’. But the truth of the matter is this: I have malaria and typhoid. But I am in no way in danger. I was lucky to have been tested early on while the bacteria were young. I have not suffered most of the awful symptoms that people associate with malaria and typhoid: high fevers, nausea, chills ect. I am just a bit tired, and if I exert myself too much I tend to have a headache and need a nap. Hopefully I will be back to my old self in no time.

Actually, in a little side note… My worrying mother emailed Kerry to ask “How is she, really”? Kerry in her response noted that at that very moment I was sitting in front of my closet, exclaiming in English and Spanish that I couldn’t find my razors. So that is an indication that I must be ok…

To sum it all up, I had a note on my bed from Kerry yesterday: ‘Congratulations on your African Baptism’ it said. You haven’t really experienced Africa till you have malaria and/or typhoid. At least that’s what people tell me.