It's Been A While

It has been a very interesting month, one which I am very happy to have ended. It began with me heading to Kanye for a workshop, with a stop in Francistown to see my friend prior to catching the night train. She and I were walking her new puppy when, out of the blue, a massive black dog came running towards us and began devouring her puppy. My first and not my brightest reaction was to pick up the puppy because in the US - generally speaking - if you remove puppy then the dog is likely to bugger off. Unfortunately the dog decided to go after us. Well done Brent. But the three of us (myself, friend, and dog) all made it out alive; unfortunately my friend's leg was mauled. We were rushed to the Ftown hospital and treated, and consequently I was unable to make the train that night - a small price to pay considering that 3 weeks later my friend still can't walk without assistance. But she will be ok, as is the puppy. I guess the result was a lot better than it could have been, but the sound of large dogs barking will likely not be the same, for either of us, for some time.

A few days later I managed to catch a ride to Kanye for a fashionably-late arrival to our workshop. Within days I began to develop some pains in my lower right abdomen, which at first I thought was a pulled muscle after an intense workout. However the pains continued along with some other symptoms and towards the end of the workshop I was sent to Gaborone for a sonogram, CAT scan, blood work, etc. Apparently my appendix was near bursting so within two hours I was checking out of my hotel and checking in to the hospital for a laproscopic appendectomy. The surgery itself went ok and I was out in a few days. I was driven to a friend's house in Molepolole for further recovery; however, a few hours after arrival I developed a high fever, severe vomiting and diarrhea, inability to walk, and loss of circulation in my hands and feet. I had memories circa 2006 of my malarial experience in eastern Ghana. So, within just a short time the driver turned around and collected me and we met an ambulance half way, who rushed me back to the same hospital - and same ward - in Gaborone. It turns out I had a minor infection and something called pseudo-membrane nescolitis, a condition the Dr. claims he hasn't seen in over 15 years. I am so lucky. So that took 5 days and 6 nights in the hospital to recover from, during which I developed some surface-level internal bleeding (which supposedly isn't too worrisome, though two weeks after the surgery I am still having some bruising and small pain - and not near the incisions). Then they had me stay in a lodge in Gaborone for an additional 5 days for observation. Now I am determined to make it home today! One more day in Gaborone will have me both depressed and bankrupt. (The cost of one meal in Gabs is roughly equivalent to my daily wage... so you can imagine what buying 2-3 meals a day has done to my living allowance. I'll get a small per-diem to help compensate the loss but it certainly wont suffice). So I'll be living very very simply this quarter, something I can certainly afford to do with a little bit of effort.

Despite the range of medical issues that have arisen, I have been impressed with the care here. The hospital I was in was NOTHING like those in Ghana - so there was actually running water and there were no goats going through my bags while I was sleeping. They even served meals! The PC staff has also been great. But I think we are all ready to send me back to Maitengwe, haha. So tonight I will catch the train from Gaborone to Francistown (I have a first class sleeper... which isn't as classy as it sounds but it does provide me with a bed on which to sleep) and I will arrive in Ftown tomorrow morning. After a boring 2+ hour bus ride tomorrow I should be safely and happily at home, where I am told I have quite a large number of mail waiting for me... so a big THANKS to everyone who has sent something in the past month. I am not sure when I'll next come to Francistown. While my house is low on food, my energy is likely to be lower so it will be at least a week before I will feel strong enough to head to Francistown as it makes for an exhausting day of travel.

So that's been my September. Who's had a worse month: me or America? I vote the latter. The hospital and the hotels have done a good job of keeping me up to date with the news. Geeze, I could say a ton about the political and economic situation of our country at the moment, but those of you who agree with me will find it redundant and those of you who don't are unlikely to alter your opinions anyway so I guess my ramblings would be completely futile, eh? :)