dysentery... there is a first time for everything!

NOTE - this blog includes explicit info about bodily functions... and no, i don't mean running and jumping... you've been forewarned.

i guess there is little left to the imagination from the heading above, eh? first off, so my mother doesn't panic - i am fine and recovering and doing well and all that good stuff. hey, i feel alright enough to sit upright and stare at a computer screen so that you all may enjoy my experiences. all the excitement started on friday night when i suddenly realized that i wasn't feeling very well, my lymphs were beginning to swell, and my joints were beginning to ache - all in all, i was uncomfortable with the forethought of where this was heading. well, i slowly began to accrue a fever through the night, tossing and turning, sweating and freezing, aching and MORE aching. i believe that time possibly slowed down, possibly rewound through the night because that night enclosed in the mosquito net seemed like a cruel, prolonged, and heightened reality. saturday morning was the worst, though.

my fever peaked at just a tad over a 104 degrees, quickly whereafter i attempted my best at performing laborious acrobatic antics at the latrine as i was, let's say, "leaking" from both ends. i kind of felt like being on the receiving end of an unfair tag-team wrestling match. you know, when the official is distracted by your partner who is argumentatively trying to point out the egregious fouls that are being committed upon you and meanwhile, one of the opponents jumps in to lay down a nasty flying elbow while the other pins you to the ground just as the flying elbow lands right across the midsection. it was great! i can only say this now in retrospect though.

that was definitely the worst of it, and i was glad that is quickly passed. i spent the rest of saturday rehydrating, taking fever reducers, and making quick, dizzied jaunts to the bathroom. yesterday, i was taken to the PC med unit in kombo (the capital area on the coast). i managed to eat for the first time in about 2.5 days and am otherwise ok. i just have lingering aches and mild, but fleeting headache that is residual from the intense fever. also, i am about 15 pound lighter than when i arrived in country. this weight loss was accelerated by the dysentery but the diet while spending a week and a half in training village definitely cut weight, too. never was there a serious threat to my health, mom! it's basically like a really bad flu. i don't want to sensationalize this too much, it just makes for a good story now that i am better

luckily, this all happened the last night while we were at our training camp on the river. all the PC staff knew my condition and we arranged for transport as soon as i was well enough to travel. most PCVs here get dysentery at least once, and it is fully treatable, even if you are by yourself in village. maybe i just got mine out of the way early. i have spared some details, but to summarize, dysentery leaves you feeling like you've been herded over by cattle, but spared the injuries like broken bones and ruptured internal organs.

in other news, well?

• i would like to send out a shout-out to Scott B who sent me an uplifting note and pics from kentucky. scott, that bike looks sweet and the farmer's market pic really welled me up inside. mainly because i haven't seen produce that fresh in a while. thanks.
• i have some journal entries about the first week in training village that i will post later, so stay posted. i should be in kombo through mid-week.
• all the trainees received their site assignments last week. these are the assignments to where we will be posted for our two years of service after we finish training. my site sounds amazing, but altogether a bit exceptional from most other AgFo assignments. i have been assigned to a site at a place called Sapu. it is about 20 miles or so west of Bansang along the south bank. i am not completely for sure what the village is like, but the reason why i am going there is because there is a research facility. the facility is operated by the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI), an exntension branch of the Agriculture Department, and a Taiwanese-affiliated research group. evidently, i'll have my own house, unlike other volunteers who live with a family in a compound, and my house will be equipped with.... drumroll.... a FLUSH toilet and electricity! overall, i should have the best accomodations of any other AgFo volunteer that lives upcountry, according to some sources. disclaimer - if any of this turns out to be false, then i will let you all know. also, i have six banana trees in my backyard and, since the place is a reasearch facility they have powered irrigation technology. this means, i suspect, that i will have a big, irrigated garden to feed myself and won't have to rely so much on local markets and be concerned with the lack of availability of fresh foods upcountry. as for the work i will be doing, i am not for certain. the research being conducted is on alot of the grain crops (i.e. millet, sorghum, findi, rice, etc...) along with vegetable crops that are grown here. the idea is that i will assist in research, hopefully be able to coordinate and conduct my own, and serve as a medium to other AgFos in the country. the goal will be to disseminate pertinent info to them for trial and introduction in their own villages and with their own counterpart farmers. my understanding is in its infancy at the moment and my thoughts are obscured from the lingering effects of dysentery, so i apologize if i am not making a lot of sense.

alright, i am in town for a few more days. i hope to hop on the internet a few more times between now and then. talk to you all sooner or later.