Blogs from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa - page 56

Yesterday wasn't a very nice day, and started much earlier than normal. I will let my diary of the early morning expain... Early Morning Bowel Movements 17/12/05 Immediately after diarrhoea shivering. The 5/10 minutes later hot flush and sweating. Wake up feeling thirsty and abdominal cramp. First bowel movement - small amound of faeces produced. Second bowel movement (shivering) - very small amount of faeces produced. Third bowel movement - Medium / small amount of faeces produced -some collected and frozen Time after third bowel movement 01:20 Treated with salt rehydration solution - 1 glass before bowel movements - 1 glass sipped during gaps finished off after third bowel movement. Drugs in previous 24hrs - Deoxycline (note mispelling, I was not at my best) 100mg taken with breakfast - Ciproflaxin 2 x 500mg in afternoon - ... read more

Diarrhoea was worse again yesterday morning. I decided to take myself along to the Doctor again. This meant my trip to Jozani Forest was sadly delayed again, although Nuhu decided it wasn't a good idea anyway due to the election. The Doctor was a different one compared to the last time, even though the dispensary was the same. The malaria test was negative, which is good news, but I didn't find this Doctor as helpful. He prescribed me paracetamol and Becozinc TM. The paracetamol was because of the headaches yesterday (these were very mild, and given my tiredness, I will not take it, I am feeling sleepy as it is). The Becozinc was for my blood pressure of all things, which was measured as 90/60 which he said was low. I am no sure what exactly ... read more

Yesterday I was back at work on the website, although I am still taking things fairly easy. The residential permit form has now gone off to the immigration department. Hopefully that will be done before Christmas. Still feeling a bit tired, but malaria destroys red blood cells, so even if it is (hopefully) gone as I have finished the course, I will probably take a while to fully recover. Red blood cells normally have a lifetime of 90 days, although I expect I will have more or less recovered quicker than this. The diarrhoea has pretty much gone. ... read more

Yesterday was a very stressful day. Again I went to church in the morning, hoping for the first time that I would last the full service, and I lasted 40 minutes, but again during the sermon I had to leave, this time not to go to the toilet, but because I needed to drink. The temperature was in the high thirties yesterday, and it was very hot in the Church. When I left I went to the restaurant and drank a soda and a bottle of water (500ml), before then needed to go to the loo. (I am really fed up with diarrhoea.) By this point I was feeling very rough and weak. At one point I wondered if I was going to be sick. Fortunately I wasn't, and breathing heavily I went downstairs and asked ... read more

Yesterday was Uhuru (independence day) in Tanzania, so no work! Except I did some reading for my English teaching anyway. They held a parade in Dar Es Salaam (and broadcast on TV) of the soldiers, airforce, marines, navy, national service, police and prisons forces. It seemed as if they inherited some of our military tradition. I used the opportunity to explore the more local shops near to where I am staying, and get some sodas and a newspaper. I brought The Citizen, the sister publication to a Swahili newspaper (Mwananchi). The Tanzania General Election is coming next Wednesday, so the papers are full of stuff relating to that. It looks as though it will be much more competitively fought this time, with the CHADEMA candidate using a helicopter to get around to different rallies. Although the ... read more