It's a girl!

A girl mosquito that is… which gave me malaria… cuz only females transmit it… 

Bleed on a stick, know your
results 15 minutes later!
Super simple stuff

Please join us as we dive into this heartwarming story of an unsuspecting PCV and a bite she just couldn’t find. “Captivating!”-New York Times

Twas the night of Sunday and while sitting in my chair,

my muscles felt achy like I’d just fought a bear.

Monday came round and I felt so much better,

I enjoyed the day and its beautiful weather.  

On Tuesday evening I fell in my bed,

shivering cold, teeth chattering in my head.

I piled up blankets to make a heat trap,

and closed my eyes for a very long nap.

Ok enough rhyming for now. It’s getting difficult :P

After the chills, the sisters I live with came to check up on me and brought me dinner and tea. Then the fever came. I put a wet wash cloth on my head and spent the night trying to sleep through the heat. When I woke up Wednesday, I felt much better so I went to school. I felt fine the whole of that day.

Thursday I was fine until lunch. After lunch I was teaching and I started to feel really bad so as soon as class ended I went home and rested for a couple of hours. I was going to meet friends for dinner, but on my walk to their place, I started to get chills. “Oh no” I thought, but I kept going. I knew I couldn’t stay by the time I reached there though so I had her drive me back home. I got in bed again and the sisters once more came to check on me. Since I hadn’t eaten all day, they brought me juice boxes, biscuit cookies, pineapple, watermelon, and bread with peanut butter. After seeing my temperature was 102.5, I took my malaria test.

I don’t like pricking myself, so the sisters got a nurse from the hospital next door to come do it for me. She had never done one of these tests before though, so I had to read the instructions and walk her through it :P But finally, the results were conclusive… I was positive!

I spent the next couple of hours on the phone. Talking to Peace Corps medical about what meds to start taking and how I was going to get to the capital for treatment. Finally agreed they would send a driver to pick me up the next morning.

One of the sisters sat in my room with me to make sure I ate something because I wasn’t. While I ate she updated me on what I’d missed in the episode of the Mexican soap opera we watch every night. After making sure I was ok, she left and I fell asleep. This night’s sleep wasn’t so bad.

On Friday I was so thankful for the private driver instead of taking a public bus. That would have been so terrible! We arrived at the PC office and the doctor did some tests. Before I left to go to the nurse’s house, I used the bathroom. What crazy timing that this should happen, but there was blood in my urine. So I they also did a test on that. Results came back that I had a UTI so I got meds for that too. I knew my “haven’t been sick yet” streak would end with a bang ;)

I spent the weekend at a really nice house of a very sweet, elderly Ugandan nurse who was essentially the role of a grandma. I honestly think the love and care she showed me (also the really good food) is what really helped me get better. It was also in a very quiet neighborhood so I spent all weekend outside reading. I definitely felt like I was on vacation with how relaxed I was. I even took a hot bath while I was there! Wow.

Monday I went back to the doctor to get more tests to see if I was ok and ready to go home. Good news everyone: I was!

I came back last night and the sisters were having a big party. There were lots of guests, food, drink, music, and dancing. A good welcome home! Then today at school, my pupils brought me passion fruits, eggs, and four pineapples since my counterpart had told them I was sick. Some of them helped me carry the things home. It was so sweet <3

Some of my great pupils.
I treated them with dum dums and showed them
pictures from home

A funny point to mention: The reaction you get from an American when you tell them you have malaria is soooo different than the Ugandan one.

           

            American: WHAT!! MALARIA?? OMG, ARE YOU OK? YOU’RE GOING TO DIE!!
            Ugandan: ok

Not even joking, that is how it went. Sometimes, a Ugandan would also say “sorry”. But it happens to everyone all the time here. It’s really not a big deal so they’re just like whatever.

**ATTENTION**FAVORITE MOMENT IN COUNTRY MENTIONED BELOW**

While I was walking with my pupils today, some other kids from a different school shouted “mzungu!” at me and my favorite pupil shouted back at them “She’s not a mzungu! She is Teacher Hannah!” I love these kids so much :)