Sometimes the irony of life kills me. Literally.
This past Tuesday, August 13, was my one-year anniversary of
my move to Tanzania. I really wanted to write a blog post wrapping things up,
give you my thoughts on reverse culture shock, and give you all of my life
updates to commemorate!
What happened instead?
I got malaria.
Now if that’s not impeccable timing, I don’t know what is.
But before I can describe to you the joys of having malaria, I should probably
give you a few updates. Most importantly, I was hired a few weeks after I
returned home to be a math teacher at St. Anthony High School in Milwaukee.
While I had a few other interviews, I was excited for this opportunity in
particular because it is a relatively small school, it is Catholic, the students
wear uniforms, and during my interviews, the administration was excited about
the possibility of connecting with my school in Tanzania. The school is also
growing, expanding, and enhancing their curriculum, which are all very exciting
opportunities to be a part of!
After I was hired, I was able to find myself a new car, a
roommate and a place to live! Wonderful blessings now that it has all come
together…because to be completely honest, these were all quite stressful at the
time (ask anyone who was around me this summer, they’ll tell you the ugly
details). I learned a lot about patience and trust in the process, which again
seems ironic to me because I thought I learned all about that while I was
actually IN Tanzania. I guess there will always be more to learn in life. This summer was certainly no exception. Just
as some things fell into place, other things fell apart. Some days were great,
some days were miserable. Sometimes all I could see was joy in the world around
me, other days I could hardly get off the couch because everything around me
felt wrong. Call these feelings “reverse culture shock,” or “missing Africa,”
or “resisting change,” or whatever you wish. All I know is that I am happy and
grateful that at the end of this summer, I have a job, a roof over my head, a
shower in my bathroom, and wonderfully supportive family and friends.
Which brings me back to Tuesday…
I started training on Monday at St. Anthony, where I am
excited to say I will be teaching freshman Algebra 1! YAY! I was exhausted
after my first day, but in a good way. Slightly overwhelmed by the amount of
information presented in training, the number of people I could actually
interact with, and the fact that the school has so many systems in place. I
know, all normal things here in America, but it’s going to take a little
getting used to again. Tuesday was much of the same, but at the end of the day,
all the staff was meeting at a local restaurant to hang out and enjoy each
other’s company. I was planning on going, since I skipped out on Monday, but by
the time I made it to my car I felt a headache coming on and I was chilled. I
sat there for a few minutes, started to shiver, and figured I should probably
just head home so I could put on a sweatshirt. Stopping at Target on the way so
I could pick up a few things for my classroom, I basically felt like a zombie.
My teeth were chattering, my body was shaking, and I could hardly focus on what
I was doing. People must have thought I was crazy. I blasted the heat in my car
the rest of the way home, telling myself that my body just must not be used to
64 degrees or being so busy. When I got home, I put on as many clothes as
possible, wrapped myself in a blanket, and ended up in bed by 7. Waking up two
hours later sweating to death, I jokingly said to my roommates, “I bet this is
malaria.” Fever, headache. Chills. Sweating. Aches. Classic symptoms. But I
just went to bed, thinking how impossible it would be since I’ve been home for
three months now, and typically symptoms occur one or two weeks after being
infected by the lovely mosquito.
Waking up Wednesday morning, I felt good as new! Must have
just been lack of sleep, I told myself.. I had a great day at school, got some
things done, set my classroom up, wrote my syllabus, and felt perfectly fine
the whole time. Thursday, same thing. A little sleepy, but nothing to complain
about initially. However, sitting in mass to celebrate the Assumption, I
started to get freezing cold and really faint. Probably didn’t eat or drink
enough…maybe it’s all the incense…maybe I didn’t get enough sleep last night.
On my drive back to school, I once again had to turn my heat on because I was
so cold, I couldn’t even bring myself to ask other teachers where they were
going for lunch to see if I could join them, and I sort of felt like death. By
the time I made it back to school, my teeth were chattering, my head was
pounding, and I couldn’t stop my body from shaking. This is when I googled
malaria and the CDC told me that symptoms can occur up to a year after returning,
and to see a doctor immediately if you have a fever or flu like symptoms.
GREAT!
At this point, I’m boiling hot again.
No denying the symptoms anymore, I hopped in the car with my
assistant principal and off to the ER we went. After way too many blood tests, they
confirmed that I did in fact test positive. I had to talk to several different
doctors and specialists, all of whom were very intrigued about my case. I’m
pretty sure the doctor from Ethiopia was actually thrilled to see someone with
malaria…Glad I was able to bring some excitement to their jobs, since
apparently they don’t see malaria cases everyday. No surprise there! They
didn’t even have the medicine I needed at the hospital, it had to be rush
ordered from somewhere else. In the meantime, I was hooked up to an IV,
admitted for the night, and thankfully after I got the medicine my fever of 103
dropped to normal before bedtime.
Friday morning I woke up feeling perfectly fine, stuck in a
hospital bed, which seriously no fun. I talked with the infectious disease
doctor who was hopeful for a speedy recovery since my parasitic levels are very
low, and he even got me out of the hospital yesterday afternoon! He actually
seemed slightly more concerned when I told him we were living with bats in our
house that occasionally found their way inside, in our dishes, in our food, etc….
Fun fact, rabies can live dormant in your body for up to two years before
symptoms occur. I’ll be getting the vaccine, no worries. I would prefer to not
write you all from the hospital room telling you about the joys of having rabies.
And that’s my life. Never a dull moment! Unfortunately, I
will be missing the first day of school on Monday, but I suppose I’ll have the
coolest story to tell when I get back. And in all my resting this weekend, I
can hopefully get ahead on lesson planning and what not. While I can’t say that
I enjoy the timing of this malaria strike (seriously, I did NOTHING all of
July...), I suppose all I can do is take life as it comes.
And you know what,
this is just solidifying the facts:
Africa will ALWAYS be
part of my heart.
