My apologies for my online absence for over a week but this time I have a legitimate excuse. It only took seven months but I finally got malaria this past week. Yup, those anti-malarials I’ve been taking faithfully every morning since touching down in Africa failed me. In all fairness, the box does have a disclaimer stating it’s only 99% effective. The longer you stay in a malaria zone, the higher your chances of it taking hold at some point.
I woke up Thursday morning feeling ok but by early afternoon I was in bed with a serious fever, at least, I hoped that was all it was. I spent the night wrapped in a fleece jacket, yoga pants, and socks under a quilt, freezing. The next minute, I was so hot, I could barely stand having a sheet on top of me. Coupled with frequent trips to the bathroom, let’s just say I had a rough night. The next morning, I announced to my host parents I had malaria and would they be able buy some malaria medication for me. My host father and my boss insisted I get tested first and I agreed. We took a taxi to a private clinic – it was very clean and well-run, reassuring to me in my state of illness. Well, I managed to get through the blood test but as I waited for the results, I got seriously nauseous. The last thing I remember was hanging over the rail trying to keep steady and then I was sitting on the floor. My host parents picked me up and leaned me against the railing and I collapsed again. This time, the doctor and a nurse joined in to carry me to a nearby bed. I think that’s the first (and second) time I’ve ever fainted...
Turns out, my glucose levels were too low and my heart rate was sky high. I hadn’t eaten much for the last 24 hours because I had no appetite. The doctor immediately put me on a glucose drip and, lucky me, I got to spend the rest of the day in hospital. I was well-taken care of: my host parents stayed with me for most of the afternoon and my boss plus some other co-workers dropped by on their way to town to check on me. My host mum went home to get me some fruit, chai, and fresh juice in an effort to perk me up and get me eating again. One of my students accompanied her and both of them made certain I was comfortable and had everything I needed. Thankfully, my stay did not involve a hospital gown The doctor let me go later that evening and I was just happy to be home again and in my own bed. What was supposed to be a quick visit to the clinic to get a malaria test and some medication turned into an all-day affair. As far as hospital experiences go, this one was pretty good although I’m not keen to repeat it any time soon.
Saturday morning, I woke up to find my co-workers and students waiting to visit me. By early afternoon, I’d welcomed a steady stream of well-wishers. They were all concerned after it was announced in chapel that their English teacher was in hospital. I reassured them I was on the mend and thanked them for their prayers. Then the rash hit, big red spots that spread all over my body and itched like crazy! At first, I thought I’d have to go back to the clinic immediately. Then I calmed down and texted another team member who’s a nurse. I guessed (correctly it turns out) that I was having an allergic reaction to the malaria medication I had popped that morning. Sure enough, it turns out I’m allergic to sulfa. Who knew? All my life, I thought I wasn’t allergic to anything and it takes getting malaria in Tanzania and being prescribed the one malaria medication that has sulfa in it to discover my allergy! 24 hours later, the red spots disappeared and I was feeling relieved that the worst of my ordeal was now behind me.
I returned to class the following Monday, much to everyone’s amazement (I think my students were hoping for a longer English break :-). The internet’s been acting wonky for over a week so I didn’t have a chance to email anyone, including my mum, about what was happening. Now you’re up to date on the latest. I am so thankful for all the prayers that were offered up on my behalf, even if you didn’t know what was going on. I know that God had a clear hand in bringing me to the hospital when He did. I am so blessed to have people here and at home who care so much about me and take such good care of me. Thank-you!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
I saw the top two African killer animals...
And lived to tell about it! I can finally check off a tour of the Serengeti from my bucket list. It was beginning to be a bit embarrassing – to think that I’ve lived within a few hours’ drive of one of the most amazing game reserves in the world these past six months and it took me this long to see it. I have Kurtis and Carla to thank. I spent the past weekend with them and they suggested we go for a game drive. We hit the road before the crack of dawn and watched the sun rise over the Serengeti plains. As we drove along, we saw the shapes of giraffes, antelope, and elephants pass us by. The next five hours consisted of driving along various designated tracks and keeping a sharp lookout for anything that moved. Peter remarked how cool it would be to see a hippo out of the water for a change and, wouldn’t you know it, out walked the biggest hippo you have ever seen! He lumbered into the road on his stubby little legs, turned his head towards us, gave us this look of disgust, turned his rump in our direction, and shuffled right back to where he’d come from. Hard to believe that something so huge can walk on legs that short and be considered the second most dangerous animal in Africa. We continued on our merry way when, all of a sudden, I spotted something dark to our right. Kurtis hit the brakes and up popped three black heads – Cape Buffalo, the most dangerous animal in all of Africa! They are easily recognizable by their unique set of horns propped on top of their heads. They are completely fearless and will charge at the slightest hint of danger instead of running away like most animals. We sat in hushed silence, taking a few pictures before slowly driving away.
As we drove onto the vast Serengeti plains, we spotted a herd of about 30 elephants making their way slowly to a fresh feeding ground. The largest female took the lead and directed the others. It was quite the sight to behold as they moved majestically as one group, the newborns in the midst of the pack for protection. They crossed right in front of us without giving us a second glance. And then we hit the jackpot! Peter thought he saw some lions in the distance tracking a kill and, slightly to the left, some dark shapes were slinking away. His guess was cheetahs, a rare sighting! The lions were too far away but we were determined to see the cheetahs. The only way to do that was to follow a “path” off the main track. We were able to drive right up beside five (!) cheetahs lounging under a bush, keeping an eye on the lions in the distance. Some time later, we came across the same pride of lions taking it easy near a riverbed. One of the lionesses was taking her sweet time following the others and just as we stopped, she decided to catch up to the others. She walked right by our car window!!! Man, she was all muscle and, up close, her head looked completely out of proportion to the rest of her body – it was huge! She looked fierce.
A word of advice: If you’re ever in the Serengeti and are having trouble finding animals, just survey the horizon and find several safari vehicles at a standstill – you’re guaranteed to see something. We turned the corner of a pile of rocks and nearly slammed into about five safari vehicles crowded around one tree. We had no clue what they were looking at. Peter leaned out his window and asked another safari guide what was so interesting. A leopard, the guide casually replied, as if this was an everyday occurrence. We freaked! Just to give you an idea how rare a leopard sighting is, Carla has been living in Africa on and off for over 20 years and has never seen a leopard. The leopard was so well-disguised unless you knew where he was hanging out in the tree, you’d completely miss him. We just sat and stared in awe, waiting for the slightest movement to give us a better look.
What a day! We ended off by lunching and swimming at a nearby safari lodge. It was exhausting and exhilarating to have seen so much in one day. Our first safari tour and we’d seen just about every animal imaginable!
As we drove onto the vast Serengeti plains, we spotted a herd of about 30 elephants making their way slowly to a fresh feeding ground. The largest female took the lead and directed the others. It was quite the sight to behold as they moved majestically as one group, the newborns in the midst of the pack for protection. They crossed right in front of us without giving us a second glance. And then we hit the jackpot! Peter thought he saw some lions in the distance tracking a kill and, slightly to the left, some dark shapes were slinking away. His guess was cheetahs, a rare sighting! The lions were too far away but we were determined to see the cheetahs. The only way to do that was to follow a “path” off the main track. We were able to drive right up beside five (!) cheetahs lounging under a bush, keeping an eye on the lions in the distance. Some time later, we came across the same pride of lions taking it easy near a riverbed. One of the lionesses was taking her sweet time following the others and just as we stopped, she decided to catch up to the others. She walked right by our car window!!! Man, she was all muscle and, up close, her head looked completely out of proportion to the rest of her body – it was huge! She looked fierce.
A word of advice: If you’re ever in the Serengeti and are having trouble finding animals, just survey the horizon and find several safari vehicles at a standstill – you’re guaranteed to see something. We turned the corner of a pile of rocks and nearly slammed into about five safari vehicles crowded around one tree. We had no clue what they were looking at. Peter leaned out his window and asked another safari guide what was so interesting. A leopard, the guide casually replied, as if this was an everyday occurrence. We freaked! Just to give you an idea how rare a leopard sighting is, Carla has been living in Africa on and off for over 20 years and has never seen a leopard. The leopard was so well-disguised unless you knew where he was hanging out in the tree, you’d completely miss him. We just sat and stared in awe, waiting for the slightest movement to give us a better look.
What a day! We ended off by lunching and swimming at a nearby safari lodge. It was exhausting and exhilarating to have seen so much in one day. Our first safari tour and we’d seen just about every animal imaginable!
No News is Good News
I’ve been gently reminded that I have not posted any new entries since mid-January and people may be curious to know what I’ve been up to for the last month or so. Well, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in school work and loving it! It’s not a good excuse but the three courses I’m teaching this semester have definitely filled up all the free time I seemed to have to let you know what’s been happening. Again, my sense of admiration for all teachers continues to grow as every teaching day passes. The amount of time that goes into simply prepping a lesson and then marking the homework that you’ve assigned is often mind-boggling. I can tell you I’ve become a lot more efficient with my time; my days of procrastination are behind me. Part of being a good teacher is being prepared a week in advance, enough time to get together any teaching materials I might need and catching the photocopier on a good day, ie. it’s cooperating and the power is on, two key ingredients
We just completed mid-term exams last week and I was encouraged by the overall rise in marks among my students. I have a sneaking suspicion they might have studied some this time around. I have really enjoyed the English class I was assigned this semester in addition to the two afternoon classes. It’s a writing-intensive course that is meant to prepare the Diploma I students to write solid research papers in English. We’ve gone over the different kinds of paragraphs and are now delving into composition writing with the standard format of introductory paragraph, body, and closing paragraph. I’m constantly having flashbacks to my elementary school days of trying to come up with a good topic sentence, not to mention a complete report.
I had an enlightening discussion with my advanced English class before the mid-term break. I was beginning to feel frustrated with the lack of participation and my inability to engage my students. I had exhausted just about every creative English learning activity I could think of when I decided to ask them again what they wanted to do during our class. I’d tried this several times before and had only received blank stares; I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of suggestions they gave me and the amount of good ideas they came up with. Turns out they want to learn English through drama. They love to act but have no opportunities to put their gifts and talents to good use. I had no idea! I had never seen any of them perform a skit or drama during chapel and here they were telling me this is what they want to do and they’d love to put on some sort of play for the rest of the school to see. Our final semester project has all of the students working in small groups, writing and then performing their skits for the rest of the class. If all goes well, we’ll be doing more of the same in our next semester.
Overall, this teaching assignment has been a roller coaster ride with good days and bad days, moments of sheer excitement and complete disappointment. Through it all, I’m learning not to be so easily discouraged and to focus on the positive, especially when it feels as though everything I taught in the previous lesson has been forgotten. Learning is a long-term process, as my brother, Phil, reminded me. I may not see many results instantly but I can walk away knowing I passed on as much of my knowledge as I possibly could and what my students do with it is up to them. Relying on God is the most important part of my “survival strategy”, spending time every morning in prayer and facing the day with the knowledge that I am not alone in my daily struggles of teaching and living in a foreign culture. Your thoughts and prayers are also an endless source of encouragement to me. Thank-you!
We just completed mid-term exams last week and I was encouraged by the overall rise in marks among my students. I have a sneaking suspicion they might have studied some this time around. I have really enjoyed the English class I was assigned this semester in addition to the two afternoon classes. It’s a writing-intensive course that is meant to prepare the Diploma I students to write solid research papers in English. We’ve gone over the different kinds of paragraphs and are now delving into composition writing with the standard format of introductory paragraph, body, and closing paragraph. I’m constantly having flashbacks to my elementary school days of trying to come up with a good topic sentence, not to mention a complete report.
I had an enlightening discussion with my advanced English class before the mid-term break. I was beginning to feel frustrated with the lack of participation and my inability to engage my students. I had exhausted just about every creative English learning activity I could think of when I decided to ask them again what they wanted to do during our class. I’d tried this several times before and had only received blank stares; I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of suggestions they gave me and the amount of good ideas they came up with. Turns out they want to learn English through drama. They love to act but have no opportunities to put their gifts and talents to good use. I had no idea! I had never seen any of them perform a skit or drama during chapel and here they were telling me this is what they want to do and they’d love to put on some sort of play for the rest of the school to see. Our final semester project has all of the students working in small groups, writing and then performing their skits for the rest of the class. If all goes well, we’ll be doing more of the same in our next semester.
Overall, this teaching assignment has been a roller coaster ride with good days and bad days, moments of sheer excitement and complete disappointment. Through it all, I’m learning not to be so easily discouraged and to focus on the positive, especially when it feels as though everything I taught in the previous lesson has been forgotten. Learning is a long-term process, as my brother, Phil, reminded me. I may not see many results instantly but I can walk away knowing I passed on as much of my knowledge as I possibly could and what my students do with it is up to them. Relying on God is the most important part of my “survival strategy”, spending time every morning in prayer and facing the day with the knowledge that I am not alone in my daily struggles of teaching and living in a foreign culture. Your thoughts and prayers are also an endless source of encouragement to me. Thank-you!
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