Blogs from Africa - page 2971

Bob is doing fine now - there may be a stone in there somewhere, but he is feeling fine. We have been seeing a doctor of Chinese medicine, who told Bob he isn't drinking enough water. It has to be water that "a fish could live in," not just liquid, so Bob is drinking more plain water, and we are both taking herbs. We go back again tomorrow. The doctor is a white South African with a calm, peaceful demeanor who became interested in Chinese medicine while he was a merchant marine. He studied on his own extensively for a number of years and several years ago took the Chinese government’s certitifcation exam for acupuncturists; he was surprised to pass with 85 percent correct. He now practices in Jo’burg, with a small office and consultation room ... read more

... ist Staub, Schweiss, Sunblock und Antimueckenspray. Ja, wir sind laengst in den tropischen Gebieten Afrikas angekommen. Hier, wo Malaria noch heimisch ist. Und so wird sofort nach der abendlichen Dusche der ganze Koerper mit dieser ekligen Substanz eingeschmiert. Man moechte ja kein Malaria kriegen. Besonders, da ich die Tabletten inzwischen abgesetzt habe. Zuletzt habe ich von komischen Traeumen berichtet. Das war ja ganz ok und lustig. Aber was soll ich sagen, Malariatabletten koennen im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes beschissene und verkotzte Nebenwirkungen haben. Und das ist bei 40 Grad nicht lustig. Da alle, die schon mehrfach hier waren, die Tabletten eh nicht nehmen, habe ich jetzt aufgehoert. Ausserdem gibts hier Tonic Water mit 67 Prozent Chinin. Bei uns ist das verboten, hier ist das normal. Und Chinin ist ja ein natuerlicher Schutz vor Malaria. Was ... read more

Sorry about the last entry, I could've made it so much better but it was my first real experience with electricity in three weeks and I was kind of overwhemeled with hearing from the outside world for the first time in a while. Sooo, I'll try again and I can't remember what I wrote the last time: The heat was pretty hard to get used to at first, at times I felt like I was in a sauna, almost short of breath. I was also a little dehydrated which was my own stupid fault because I was too much of a wimp to drink the water from the "Chicago" water sachets that tasted like plastic or rotten celery. Church in Battor was a good three times longer than I was used to. During the collection time, ... read more

Howzit Bro? Greetings from South Africa! After a long flight it was excellent to sample the home comforts offered to us by the extended Isaacson family in Jo'Burg. So much so we were tempted to delay the first part of the trip and stay with Avril for longer! After some good sleep (we were tired after all the organization it took to leave London - ahhh bless I here you say) we decided to change plans before we had even started. We looked at a map and thought it was foolish to travel past the Kruger Park without actually getting off the bus. So that we did, and we blew our budget straight away by hiring a small car to get us into the park - incidentally it was a Toyota Tazz, a rather appropriate name ... read more

Alright! This is gonna be a good posting :o) So what have i been up to the last couple days? (god it feels like WEEKS!!) Well the first day was just to settle into the hostel and meet all the other volunteers. There are about 15 of us in total, some Germans, Canadians (3 of us from Ontario, 1 from Montreal, 1 from BC), one Norwegian girl, and some dutch people! Everybody is super nice and we're all getting along fairly well. Although spending 24/7 together has definitely starting to take a toll, we are all spending more alone time and trying not to be grumpy with each other because we're tired! Speaking of which, SOOO many people are stressing out about not being able to keep in good contact with home. That really kinda annoys ... read more