Easy does it...

I originally planned for my 3rd post to be titled "let the wild rumpus begin," and wrote an entire entry about 2 weeks ago but in Mombasa the only internet access I've had has been slow, and I pay per megabyte (seriously?!).  So, writing another entry, forget the pictures & links, was not an option.  I'm back up in the highlands where I wrote my 2nd entry.  Here are the "high"lights from that 3rd post I wrote, plus some updates.  Sorry it's so long!  

(From June 11, 2009)

Arrived in Mombasa on Wednesday after a 3-ish hour drive and an hour flight.  I slept most of the way in the car on the drive because I went to bed so late the night before (mind you, “late” meaning around midnight).  We arrived at our apartment and the younger boy exclaimed that the bricks on the sidewalk look like teddy bears, instantly reminding me how differently kids view the world.  I remember my aunt once remarked that she is envious of children and their simplified vision of life.  However, I suppose each side has its drawbacks, as the 5 year old promptly managed to make the nozzle head of the bidet-like apparatus fall into the toilet (of course, he had christened the loo already).  This seriously happened less than 5 minutes after entering our flat.  And, we’re off. 

It is noticeably warmer & more humid here on the coast.  I haven’t broken out my DEET-laden (read: 98%) bug spray just yet because I haven’t seen or heard any mosquitoes.  I’ve had a headache for about 4 days that is presenting like cerebral malaria (homa ya dege dege, the local term translating to bird fever) but it doesn’t make sense that I’d have caught it yet.  My first trip to the doctor might be tomorrow (Friday) or Saturday if it still persists.  Dodie’s uncle, a doctor, mentioned that “it’s [headache] often the only symptom people have of this severe malaria before they die.”  I doubt it is anything that serious, but it’s strange it is still bothering me now that we’re at sea-level (where I was is around 5000ft).  My dreams have been absolutely bonkers.  Last night I met President Clinton while riding my tricycle by my neighbor’s house (the yellow house across the street, for those of you from the ‘hood).  Might be the malaria meds (that might not be working at all?).  Getting a little worried about my training for the 1/2 marathon because I haven’t been keeping it up since I’ve arrived.  Oh well.  I’ll be fine.

June 24th, 2009

An update on the health situation: my situation was apparently (we think?) due to the mefloquine drugs I took.  My oh my, they are powerful.  I haven't taken this once-per-week drug for 2 weeks, and I'm still feeling the effects.  I haven't felt "normal" for some time now.  While I know I might be catching up on sleep from Yale & our "senior week" before graduation weekend, I feel like my little sister, Annie, who is famous for sleeping roughly 10-14hours each night when at home on vacation.  She might get up to watch some TV show, but thanks to Hulu.com, her schedule is now more flexible.  I've been going to bed around 9 or 10pm and getting up around 7am on a good day, still feeling tired.  yikes.

 The dreams have been eventful recently.  On the less pleasant side, I kept waking up thinking I was covered in bugs & ants a few nights ago.  On the more benign side, I was back doing gymnastics at my old gym, and had episode #2 on my tricycle around Belfast...

Off I went on my little tryke just peddling away when I ran into this guy walking a huuuuuge dog with a heavy chain collar.  He thought I had done something wrong so he started chasing me.  I ditched the tricycle at some point and was just running around the neighborhood, trying to lose him and have the dog lose my scent.  I didn't want to go straight to the house and have him lurk outside, so I did a round-about route.  There was a swamp about 3 ft high in Hamlin's back yard (one neighbor) so I swam through that to try to confuse the dog's sniffer.  I got home but they were still too close so I ran around some more in circles between our yard and Gage's (other neighbor).  I never made it inside because I woke up at the ripe old time of 5:30am.  I couldn't get to sleep for the next hour because my thoughts were consumed with trying to figure out a way to lose the dog and the creepy old guy, which entrance I should use to get into the house, and then which order I should run around the house locking the windows & doors.  Mind you, this whole dream happened when it was pitch black out (like 2am) in Belfast.  It wasn't that scary, but it was quite vivid.   I then put on my iPod and listened to some random playlist and proceeded to dream that I was part of this elite group of people chasing someone, only to find out that WE were the ones being chased.  It was an action flick with jumping up elevator shafts and between train cars and using clues to find someone's license plate to pick up something (I can't remember what "the goods" were).  Then I woke up and it was 8:30am.  the end.

Mefloquine dreams ("mef" dreams, as I've endearingly called them, making me sound like a meth addict with a lisp) are quite exciting and bizarre.  These dreams got better once I stopped taking the anti-anxiety meds doctor numero uno prescribed. 

Why the tricycle?  Great question.  When I had my wisdom teeth out this past xmas break, I got a little stir-crazy sitting in the house so decided to take this antique tryke I found after stacking wood out for a spin.  It's probably a great toy for a 3 year old, or at least someone under 36inches tall.  I rode about 2 blocks down the street on this puppy, just a peddlin' away as fast as my seemingly giant legs could go in the extremely limited space (see below photo- compliments to my father for the leather wood chopping gloves & flannel shirt).

 

Anyway, back to Africa.  I have  a bunch of pictures from the 2 mini-safaris I've been on so far, but can't load them at the moment.  I got so cross-eyed after the 2nd one I didn't appreciate the thrill of meeting a few giant tortoises, feeding a giraffe, or seeing crocs for the 1st time (the double vision is yet another fun side effect from this mefloquine).  However, a song I learned in kindergarten has been stuck in my head ever since.  here are the lyrics:

She sailed away on a lovely summer day on the back of a crocodile.

You see, said she, he's as tame as tame can be- I'll ride him down the Nile.

The croc winked his eye as she bade them all goodbye, wearing a big ol' smile,

But, at the end of the ride, the lady was inside and the smile was on the crocodile!  

Unfortunately, I won't be running the 1/2 marathon this weekend.  I haven't run in 2 weeks b/c of the headaches, and was told by doc #2 to opt-out of this challenge.  I'm bummed, but know it's for the best.  Interestingly enough, my resting pulse rate is still 42 bpm despite the lack of workouts.  Glad the heart isn't feeling the need to speed up any.

Other than that, I've started Swahili lessons and am enjoying them.  I have a lot of progress to make before I'm able to carry on a legit convo.  If you'd like to talk about fruits & veggies, where you're from, or what your name is, let me know because I can do that. :-)

I think that's enough for now.  I'll try to post bite-sized entries more regularly instead of giant ones like this.  Let me know what you're up to whenever you get a chance.