Sunday is Meflaquine day
Sunday September 21, 2003
Sunday evening. Tonight is Meflaquine night. That is my anti malarial medication. Possible side effects include psychosis, hallucinations and crazy dreams, and stomach aches. I had a great dream the first time I took it, but since then I pretty much just get the stomach aches… unless I stuff myself. I think I will grab another “bar de maniok” and try it with peanut butter. I hope that will help.
The reason I am thinking about has to do with the large number of insect bites I seem to have gotten over the last 48 hours. I’m not sure they are mosquito bites, some of the groupings are not right for that. There may be some biting bugs in my bed (I have my net up, so it isn’t mosquitoes at night), or in the house… I’m just going to have to wait and see… but in any case, I am making super sure that my Meflaquine is not missed. I also need to get some fabric that I can hang over my front door so that I don’t have to keep it closed. The door closing seems to present two problems. One, no air is getting in. Two, people think that I don’t want them to stop by and say hi. This social thing is going to get me down later I know it. I am in the center of town, and everyone stops by going to and from wherever to say hi. I guess if I can get to the point where I don’t have to stop what I am doing while they are here, I’ll be good.
I did yoga today. I love doing yoga in a tropical environment, I stretch like a rubber band without really having to do the hard work. It makes me feel healthy even when I’m not. I do know that I am not very strong anymore, and I really will need to work on that. I also know that I was sweating up a storm. There were puddles on the floor. I am actually sweating a lot more than I thought I would here. Its not really that hot, it’s the humidity that gets me, and more than that, the stagnant air inside. I positively start to flow whenever I get shut in a room with no breeze. I’m hoping this is an adjustment, and that my doing yoga will help re-set my body thermometer. If not, well everyone here is going to have to get used to the sweating giant.
This thing with Alex is a little strange. He pretty much has decided that I am his father figure already. I’m torn. Part of me wants to pretty much stay out of that kind of role, the other part of me is thinking… if I’m not here to help like this, then why did I come. Oh, and I found out he is the cousin of Charlie, and that he had been living in Yaounde until he came back here for some reason this summer. I suspect that I will really be helping Charlie by taking in Alex, as much as Alex. Charlie is pretty much the man of the house (I think he’s in his late 20’s), and I think the man of a few houses. All of the kids and women there are not his offspring. I think that they are his brothers and cousins. It seems to me that he is pretty much supporting a family of 6 or 7. I am going to have to do some real work setting boundaries if this is going to work out… but I am trying to be careful. Sigh. George (the other VSO volunteer) is pretty much supporting a family as well… although it is his girlfriends, so there is a different kind of responsibility there.
On another note, the GameBoy is a hit. I’m going to need a few more games sent. Aside from Metroid, and somewhat WarioWare, the games I have are not interesting enough for the kids around here. I think some platformers would work great. I’ll never touch the unit again of course… it has pretty much been adopted by Alex, and his friends. They wear it around like jewelry. I’m sure if I put up a stink I could get it back for a night here and there, but I’m ok with them enjoying it.
On the work front, I am starting to send out email requests for information so that I can do some fund-raising. I realized that I might as well give in to it, and try to put some development dollars to work if I can. It’s a skill that will be useful in the future as well.