I thought everything was going to be easy when I returned home...

.....apparently not! The first day home was great- Tropical Storm Fay was hanging out overhead, school was canceled for Kristina and Mom and Dad got to stay home from work. It was a nice party in the dark (our power went out for a while too). Wednesday is when things got dicey.

Wednesday morning, Dad and I left the house early to run some errands as I was supposed to leave for school on Thursday. We went to the bank and the car dealership and decided to go to Perkins for breakfast. Now, I hadn't slept too much in the past few days (jet lag and excitement) nor had I been able to keep much food down. Well breakfast comes and I can only eat two bites of it before I feel incredibly sick. I think I am just having a difficult time adjusting to the food as the food that I was eating in Africa was rather bland. I became extremely cold as we were leaving Perkins (I felt like I was living in a freezer) and I began to feel dizzy and have numbness in my hands and feet and heart palpitations (it felt like my heart was made up of butterflies). Now, I'm not a trained doctor but I have enough sense to know that this is not a good combination. Dad takes me to the urgent care for a blood test as I am sure I have malaria. Well, I end up almost passing out twice (I literally slid down the wall in a haze) and spent the next few hours hooked up to an IV, giving blood for testing and answering many many questions. After a while (and two specialist consults later), the urgent care doctor decided it was best for me to go to the emergency room to see if they could figure it out and so that they could do the malaria test (urgent care doesn't have people who know how to read a malaria smear). Mom joins dad and I and after Mom informs the triage nurse that I have an extremely high white blood cell count and that my EKG was abnormal, I was brought back to a room that they opened just for me. I was hooked up to another IV, had more blood taken from me and had a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray showed that I have pneumonia (which is really strange since I don't have any symptoms). The blood smears and cultures had to be sent to the lab in Ft. Myers and so we wouldn't hear about those until the next day. But, seeing as I still did have pneumonia, the ER doctor ordered IV Levequin and was set to discharge me after the Levequin was finished running in. As Mom and I were walking out of the ER (by this point Dad had left to be with Kristina), all of the sudden my heart felt like it was stopping (I though I was dying, no joke), my legs went numb and my hearing disappeared. I fell to the flood, a wheelchair was brought for me and I was wheeled back into the room I had occupied before. When the ER doctor came in and saw my gray appearance and heard what had happened, he admitted me for more testing. Once admitted, I had my vitals taken every hour, blood taken quite a few times, and had a cardiac echo, among other things.

I'm now home and though very tired, I feel generally fine (though I felt "generally fine" before all of this happened.) We found out that the malaria smear was negative though Mom talked to the doctor that read the smear today and he said that you really need three smears done to make sure that you don't have malaria. And the cardiologist said the echo looked fine. So basically, I know nothing more now than I did before. Oh well!

I was supposed to drive up to school on Thursday but that has been postponed until Sunday though even that is not a guarantee as I might fly to school and come back for my car later. But I have to be at school by Tuesday for enrollment clearance so I will be back to Memphis soon.

Also, below are a few pictures from my trip. I have just uploaded a bunch to the flickr site (the kids, safari and Zanzibar) so make sure you go check those out! http://www.flickr.com/photos/24414765@N07/

Namaste!

Its raining, its pouring (thanks TS Fay)...

... and its also 4:30 in the morning (darned jet lag!)

I am now back in Florida after two (extremely long) days of traveling. I had exit row bulk head seats for both flights (Dar to London and London to Miami) which helped the time pass as I wasn't sitting with my chin on my knees as I do in other airplane seats. The flight to London was about 10.5 hours long and I was so excited to get off the airplane, through customs and to the hotel I was staying at that I didn't pay enough attention to where I was walking (well that and I am also notoriously clumsy)- as I was walking towards immigration, with a ton of people walking behind me, I tripped on a piece of carpet and literally did a somersault as I fell the ground. Of course, I had my hands completely full and every that I was carrying flew everywhere and I was in a skirt (oh the embarrassment never ends!). I skinned my knees pretty badly and my (good) knee is now rather stiff and sore but other than that I am fine. Everyone was very helpful to me and one gentleman even carried my bag to immigration for me-very kind. When I arrived at my hotel (the Yotel in Heathrow's terminal 4), I was informed that they were having severe maintenance issues at the moment and have moved all of their guests to the Hilton. Well, this Hilton is very nice (and very expensive) and I had a wonderful room (with hot water!) and loved sleeping without the mosquito net.

On Monday morning, I got up fairly early to take the Hilton's shuttle to terminal 5, London Heathrow's newest terminal. I was unsure what going through security would be like so I allowed myself 3 hours. Naturally, I didn't need that much time as I made it through security in 15 minutes but it was nice to wander around the shops and to people watch. On the flight to Miami, I again had a exit row bulkhead, and I sat next to a very nice fellow who was also from Naples. We had some very good conversations throughout the 9 hour flight. Even though this flight was one hour shorter, it felt like it would never end; I was very excited to see my family! It took one hour to go through US Customs and Immigration but when I finally made it through, my dad was waiting literally as close as one could without getting taken away by Homeland Security. It was great to see him and I spent the entire two hour drive back filling him in on all the little stories and details of the summers adventure. When I got home, my granny had cooked an AMAZING meal of different vegetables and cornbread (I was really missing these things) and I told more stories and just enjoyed being in the presence of my family. Kristina made a cute welcome home sign for the front door and I'm telling you that nothing is like a hug from your mom when you have been away for a while. After dinner, I handed out presents and then we went through about 1/3 of the photos that I took (eventually we will make it through all of them).

It is really great to be home (even though there is a tropical storm in the area) but reality hasn't really set in for me yet; being back in the States is rather surreal to me as I expect to hear the dogs fighting and the roosters crowing any second waking me up from some dream. I miss the kids like crazy but I think in a week, when I have adjusted to life in the USA again, it will really hit me that it is going to be a long while before I see them again, if ever at all and I will miss them even more. But there are two volunteers there right now and they are going to be there for the next month and they have promised to email update me on the kids' progress as often as possible, so I'm not completely disconnected. :)

Today or tomorrow I will be posting A LOT of pictures and some video's so please check back for that.

The last day

Today was my last day at Malaika. It was rough. Really really rough.

I captured their handprints on paper today so that I could bring a little bit of them home with me (and because who doesn't love sticking you hands in finger paint) and we danced on the table to Indian music. At the end of the day, all the kids sang beautiful song for me and then lined up to give me a hug. I cried and they cried and it was so hard to leave.

I didn't think it was actually going to be this hard to leave them....

Two more days.

Goodness gracious, the days are getting harder and harder and shorter and shorter. Today and tomorrow are my last days of work at Malaika (its hard to believe it actually is almost over) and I start the two day trip home early Sunday morning. I have to admit, thought, that even though I am really going to miss the kids and Tanzania, I am really excited to go home and see my family and talk to friends and have something to eat other than starches! (Mom and Dad, could you please buy lots of different vegetables! asante sana!)

Two days ago, I was given quite an unexpected gift. Solome, one of the women who work at Malaika, wrote a song for me as a gift and secretly taught the older girls the song and the dance. On Tuesday, they performed it for me and it was amazing and such a blessing. I took video of it and when I return stateside, I will post the video on the blog so you all can enjoy the gift too. Today, I am going to write down the words in Swahili and attempt to translate it into English and I will post that on here soon too.

Yesterday, Solome invited me to church with her and it was quite an interesting experience. The church itself was a small and unassuming building, decorated with fake flowers and twinkle lights and a simple cross. Yet, even in its simplicity, the spirit was definitely moving through the people. I didn't understand much of what was going on (they were speaking really fast swahili) but a woman saw my confusion and sat down next to me and started to translate the whole (4 hour) service for me. It was really great. Halfway through the service, I was invited to read the days Bible lesson in English for the congregation (it was quickly followed up by the Swahili version). It was an amazing feeling to be instantly welcomed into the congregation and it really reminded me that it is not a church in Tanzania or a church in Naples or a church in Memphis that I am a member of but rather the Church of and in Christ that I am a member of.

Well, I must go to work now. I think I'm a little late (I stopped wearing a watch a few weeks ago and I have no idea what time it is. :) )

Oh, and until next time, say some prayers for the people of Georgia and Russia.

Namaste!

The last week.....

I arrived back to the hostel last night after an amazing weekend on Zanzibar. After I wrote the last post, Kristen (my traveling buddy) and I went back to the spice market to wander about some more, wandered around the labyrinth-like streets and eventually made it back to the hotel for sunset. Now, Naples, Florida has amazing sunsets, but absolutely nothing like the sunsets on Zanzibar. The colors were so vibrant, only made brighter next to the stark white sails of the dhow boats coming back in for the evening. After sunset, we made our way to the Omani Fort where we were meeting up with Oulti, a volunteer from Finland, to have dinner at the Old Fort Restaurant. We sat in the middle of the amphitheatre, surrounded by walls build in 1032 and listened to the local music that was being played at the far side of the fort. I had barracuda (I didn't know that you could actually eat this fish!) and it was fantastic! We chatted for a few hours before heading back to our respective hotels for a good nights rest. Kristen and I woke up at 7:30(too early for vacation but its hard to break a habit) and headed down for breakfast on the beach. We were served all different types of tropical fruits, breakfast breads and cakes, eggs, sausage, coffee, passion fruit juice, the list keeps going on and on. Like good (and cheap) travelers, never knowing when our next meal will be or what it's going to be, we wrapped up some of the breads in our napkins to save for later. :)

Our next meal turned out not to be that much later. After walking around for a few more hours, we wandered up to Mercury's restaurant, named after the late lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury who was born on Zanzibar. We had some drinks while overlooking the beach and waited for the next ferry to arrive. Two other volunteers, Amy and Courtney, were going to be joining Kristen on Zanzibar and they were going to stay a few more nights. We were halfway through lunch when the ferry came in so Kristen ran the 5 minutes to the port to meet them and bring them back to the restaurant. We stayed for a while longer and then it was time for me to head to the port for the 4 pm ferry. After 2 (very bumpy) hours, I arrived back at Dar es Salaam and the hostel.

Today started my last week of work and I cannot believe that it is already here! It seems like not too long ago I was writing in this blog about how excited I was to be going and that I couldn't wait for the trip to start. It seems like just a day or two ago that I texted my Mom and Dad to say that I was homesick and thinking of coming home early and it seems like a few hours ago that I finally got the hang of living here and began having the time of my life. And now it is all coming to a close. I'm going to stay the night at the orphanage for the next few nights so that I can have as much time as I can with the kids. It is going to be so hard to leave them; I don't even know how to begin to prepare myself. Being with and taking care of these kids has become my life- I miss them when I am not with them and the times goes by too quickly when I am. I know Friday is going to be rough- I'm not looking forward to it.

There has been a big elephant in the room (ok- in this blog) that I haven't addressed and maybe since it is my last few days, I feel more comfortable bringing it up. That is the health of the kids. It has been a subject that I've been avoiding talking about on the blog I think because it is not really something that I am able to fully process. Some of my kids are very sick and all are in constant poor health. We have a number of kids with HIV, serious kidney infections have become standard, horrible and painful skin infections have become routine and the local doctor and I are on a fist name basis. It is so hard to see these kids so sick and know that they are really limited- in access to health care and in lifespan. It is absolutely horrible to watch these kids be in pain and know that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it in the long term because my time with them is limited as are my own personal funds. They have already been dealt a rough hand in life, being left orphaned or abandoned, and it is only made more difficult by disease and sickness. The health of the kids is something I have avoided thinking about and dealing because it is the one thing that has caused me the most grief and anger since I have been here. And now I am leaving and no other volunteers are coming in behind me to hold their hands when they don't feel well or are exhausted or to buy them an ice cream cone after a series of injections.

Friday is definitely going to be rough. I'm not looking forward to it.


Namaste.

Zanzibar

Zanzibar is amazing! Absolutely beautiful. Kristen, one of the volunteers who came into the mess this week, decided to come over with me and the two of us left the hostel at 5:30 this morning. The reason for the early departure was that Kristen had not bought the ticket and we needed to do that an hour before the ferry left. We were actually the first ones on the ferry (after I rather gracefully slipped up the steps) and we got a great seat by the window. The ferry ride was rather short (or maybe it just seemed that way because we were deep in conversation) and before we knew it dhow boats were racing by us, their insides full of fish and octopi, and the bright blue water and sandy beaches were greeting us. We went through the formality of customs, even though Zanzibar is part of Tanzania and we started our (short) trek down the beach to the Tembo House Hotel. Holy Moly this hotel is amazing. Needless to say, the two of us were a little unsure if this was actually where we were staying given how absolutely gorgeous the hotel is (and especially after where we have been living for the past few weeks). The lobby is amazing- designed in traditional Zanzibar design (a mixture of Arabic and Indian- amazing!). I am staying in room 17 and though it is a single, my family of 5 could totally fit in this room comfortably. Its great with a beautiful carved 4 poster bed as the center piece. There is a balcony that overlooks the pool and the beach where we are going to watch sunset later this evening.

We left the hotel, started walking around and got completely lost. We soon found ourselves by Tibu Tip's house, a former slave trader. We were reading a sign outside and were soon invited on a cool tour given by one of the residents. After we left Tibu's house, we were again completely lost and were found by a very nice Zanzibari man. He ended up taking us on a FANTASTIC tour of the city, including a trip to the spice market before delivering us to our hotel. It has been a great day here and this evening we are going to watch the sunset from the beach and then we are headed to dinner at the Omani Fort.

Its fantastic here!

Namaste

Corruption sucks....

So, if you ever become a country coordinator for a non-profit organization, please never send fake immigration officers to your charges volunteer agencies, threatening arrest if you don't bribe them. Also, don't tell the other volunteers that people have been arrested in a ruse to get more money out of them and to take their passports. Poor life choices!

Yes, this is what has actually happened. After much investigating and sneaking around, the few other volunteers and I have found out that this whole immigration/arrest thing was just a ploy done by the country coordinator. It's crazy really. The group of us talked with volunteers around the country over email and phone, talked with immigration and talked with the different embassy's of the countries we represent and pieced together that our country coordinator has been lying to us the entire time. It is hard because the majority of the volunteers are very young, some traveling to another country alone for the first time, and you think that of all the people you can trust in a foreign country, the country coordinator is that person. I think we all feel really let down, cheated and used. I hate that this has but a big stain on the rest of a very great experience. I just hope I don't remember this when I look back on my time here, but rather that I think of all the AMAZING experiences that I have had here.

In other news, I'm sick! I have two HUGE swollen masses on the sides of both legs and I have been running a bit of a fever (though fevers are hard to tell here because it is always SO hot) Today I got to visit the TMJ Hospital, a very nice facility very close to the hostel. It cost me 6,500 tsh (about 7 dollars) to see the doctor and 24,000 tsh for the medicine he prescribed. All the tests were included in the price of the doctor's visit. After waiting about 20 minutes, I was let in to the doctors office, greeted by a very kind doctor. He asked what was wrong with me and after explaining I was worried that it was either malaria (lots of mosquito's here) or African sleeping sickness (Selous Game Reserve has lots and lots of tsetse flies....and one of the other kids on Safari was bit) he put on gloves and examined the two masses. He wasn't as gentle at his poking and prodding as I would have wished but he was very nice and completely put me at ease. He said that he didn't think it was malaria or African sleeping sickness but he would do the tests to make sure (and to put my worried mind at ease.) After he did the blood test (and yes, everything he used was new, right out of the package, no worries), he assured me that it wasn't some horrible disease but rather something more common among people in Southern Tanzania- Acacia tree sickness. Apparently, sometime in the last week or two, I brushed up upon an acacia tree and got a little of the poison under my skin. Its nothing to worry about (though very painful) and usually clears up on its own. But, since he could tell that I was in pain and that I would be traveling soon, he prescribed two medicines that will help it clear up sooner (I don't remember their names, but I know that they are medicines also given in the USA). He said it should be gone in 5 days, but if by Wednesday I still have pain and swelling in the area, I should come back to visit and we will talk about what to do instead.

So it has been an interesting few days. Tomorrow morning, I'm headed to Zanzibar for the weekend, staying at the Tembo House Hotel (thanks Dad for booking that for me). On Monday, I start my last week of work and I start the journey back to the USA next Sunday. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave (though I really miss my family and friends).

Watch the Olympics for me!

Namaste!