the new love of my life

Add to the list of "Things I Could Have Done Without": parasites.

So it's been a rough couple of weeks, stomach-wise. I will spare you the gruesome details (and oh, MY are they gruesome), but suffice it to say that weird bacteria-based stomach illnesses (I was kidding about the parasites thing... I think) have now added themselves to my list of enemies, along with avocadoes (then again, I love avocadoes in spite of their illness-inducing properties, so it's not really the same). Anyway.

After a few too many nights of spending more time in the bathroom than my bed, and a few too many days of searching desperately for the key to the staff bathroom at work (they keep it locked, and only ONE person has a key, and that person will be gone for an hour and a half at lunch), I decided enough was enough, and self-medicated.

Which brings me to the subject of my title.... Oh, how I love Cipro. It has made me whole again, in the way that only a broad-spectrum antibiotic can do. I don't think I really realized how bad it was until Cipro made it go away. If Cipro were a man, I would stand outside his window at dusk, playing Peter Gabriel in a stereo held high above my head. That's how much I love it.

Here is a man who seems to understand how I feel about antibiotics.

Anyway. Enough about that.



Now that I am feeling better, the rest of my life here has continued to be great! The work at the psychiatric hospital is really cool, as I am spending quite a bit of time with the day school for kids with mental handicaps, apparently supervising the nursing students who are on rotation there. I already have my favourite kid (don't tell the others!!)... he is this little guy who is just incredibly bright, and when he talks, he seems just like a little adult. The only way I can describe him is to say he has this depth and wisdom about him that is way beyond his years. I don't think he belongs with the kids he's with...



This weekend, we went to a wedding, which was an incredible (if slightly uncomfortable) experience! It was outside the city, in someone's front yard underneath a few tarps. We sat on wooden benches borrowed from the local school (for like 4 hours!! hence the uncomfortable part), and it was really really amazing. There were dancers and singers, and lots of speeches. It was all in kinyarwanda, but I got someone next to me to translate to French, so I understood most of it. I will post pictures/possibly video soon!



Ok, I've rambled on long enough... Hope everyone is doing well back home! Missing you all!



N