So January was somewhat busy. I had my first encounter with malaria. It wasn’t much fun. Basically, everyday I would get headaches between the hours of 12noon and 1pm that would last until bed that night. I would also get low-grade fevers with the onset of the headaches. I was very worn out and my body ached. I finally went and got a malaria test done at a local clinic and it came back positive. Luckily, I had a mild case. As malaria worsens, it can cause all sorts of things including hallucinations, or even death. Cerebral malaria is what you really have to watch out for, but I definitely did not have that. I missed one day of school in order to medicate and pretty much spent it sleeping in bed. I guess I should mention that I stopped taking anti-malarials here. Basically, even on them you can get malaria, you just don’t get it as badly. The thing is, once you do get malaria you’re medicated with a different prophylaxis anyways. Also, I was on Malarone and it made me sick. Everyday I had an upset stomach to the point where I thought I might have giardia because I was getting so sick at times. About a week after stopping the malarone, my stomach settled and began to feel better again. Now I only have the other related stomach ailments that come with living in West Africa. The good news is that since I have so much extra malarone, I can also just use that to treat myself if I do get malaria. I don’t mind the stomach aches as long as they are for only a few days and they get rid of all the other bad feelings.
The harmattan also happened in January. This is basically a high wind that comes off of the Sahara and brings lots of dust and cooler temps and breezes to Monrovia. It was like a big cloud had settled on Monrovia. It almost felt like the first days of spring in the morning hours and I loved it! Probably some of the coolest weather I’ve had since arriving. Temperatures were down in the low 70s at times. This is amazing for here, where the daily temp. is in the low 90s (in Fahrenheit). For more info, check out wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmattan.
I’ve mainly been trucking along as time has passed. School is going well, my kids are still awesome most days and bug me a lot on others. My friends are good and well. We have fun. I realize that I miss having parks to go and hang out in, coffee shops for meeting up with people, and Mexican food. Other than that, though, I can’t complain too much. Two of my friends put together a Valentine’s Day party at a local restaurant. It was 80s themed. My friend Ben and I spent a good part of the day in Waterside looking for outfits to wear. Right b
efore we were finished I stumbled on the most hideously perfect dress. It was fantastic! A blue-green color that some said reminded them of the Little Mermaid. There was a big bow on the side and it was a metallic fabric so it shimmered a little. I also found plastic heart earrings and a few bangles. What more could I ask for. I put my hair up on the top of my head, though it ended up being a side pony later in the evening, and danced my heart out with my friends to some great 80s tunes. A few of us ventured out to the club after and continued our dancing spree. All in all, a pretty great Valentine’s day.The same day, after Waterside, Ben and I went up to the Ducor, an old five star hotel in Monrovia. The building has been gutted and pretty much destroyed, but the views from up there are still awesome. It’s amazing how Monrovia can look from far way…like an actual city. It is quite beautiful actually. A very nice man named Emmanuel showed us around. He used to work there before the hotel closed and still lives there. We went up to the top and looked around from the roof. We also decided it would be a fantastic place to watch the sunset or sunrise. You never realize how narrow the land that Monrovia sits on is until you can see it all from above. It pretty much tapers to a point and the city takes it up until the coastline. No matter where you are, you’re close to the water. Now if only all that water were clean and swim worthy…
After the Ducor we went to the National Museum. It’s a small room with masks and artifacts from all over the country. Unfortunately, it’s not designed well and has no flow. The man who showed us around, however, was very knowledgeable. He told us all about the old school that young girls sometimes are still sent to which focuses more on becoming a woman in villages than the traditional school system. It also makes them ready to be taken as a wife to someone in their village. There were great pictures from the 70s taken by a former Peace Corps volunteer who donated them to the museum. The hope is that the museum will be redone so the upper two floors are also used and the collection will have plenty of room to expand. The history of Liberia is quite intricate and unique and there’s a lot to say about the place. Besides the civil wars, there’s the whole bit about colonization by former slaves and the divide between the Liberians that were here and the Americo-Liberians. There are 16 tribes in Liberia, all of which have their own history and customs, and many of which have their own languages. It really is an interesting place and it would be fantastic to see it get more recognition and be more thoroughly explained in their own national museum.
Well I’m off to get ready for dinner. The Great Wall restaurant is calling the name of myself and a few others tonight. A UN vehicle just sped through the compound as I sit on the porch writing this. My view of the UN has also changed a bit since being here. But that’s information for another post. I’m off!
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