This post will be a continuation of my last post, which I
wrote over a month ago - sorry, I have been a little MIA. To recap: I went to PC Medical in late
September, and they could not figure out what was wrong with me. They figured that I had an upper GI bleed
that healed itself. Well, that turned
out not to be the case…
A week
after I went to medical, I started to have a sharp right-sided pain. I figured it was just cramps; I took some
Ibuprofen and went to bed. Well, I woke
up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain, and started violently
vomiting. I called my parents because
that seemed like the logical thing to do.
I mean, after all, they are only halfway across the world. My dad told me to call medical because he said
it could be my appendix.
I called
medical and PC sent a car for me that morning because they thought it was my
appendix too. If I hadn’t felt so sick,
then I really would have enjoyed the sweet ride in a nice car with
air-conditioning. Unfortunately, I was
nauseated the whole way and just wanted to get out of the car. They took me to the hospital – I had blood
drawn and an ultrasound done. My
ultrasound came back fine (yay! No surgery needed in Uganda!) and my blood
tests were normal. I had a bit of a
fever and my CBC indicated a possible bacterial infection. So, Peace Corps gave me some antibiotics, and
told me I could go home the next day.
I was on
the bus home when I got a call from the medical office. The nurse said, “So Aubrey, I’m looking at
your lab results from the last time you were here, and I think I found the
problem. You have schistosomiasis.” Well, this was no surprise for me. I have been rafting four times, so it was
bound to happen. For those that do not
know, schistosomiasis is parasitic worms.
Yippee! They had another
volunteer bring me my medicine, and now I am better.
My parents
were very happy that I was coming
home the following week for a visit.
They made me get checked out by all sorts of doctors – I am happy to
report that I am a healthy girl! Going
home was also glorious. I was pampered
for a week. Manicure, pedicure, facial,
eyebrows waxed, and haircut! Everyone
kept asking if I was having a hard time adjusting, but I felt right at
home. I went back to my old ways – had
my dad bring me Starbucks and I went shopping at Saks. I also spent my ten days eating anything that
I could. I probably gained five pounds,
and I am not exaggerating. I am so happy
that I went home – it was nice to see my friends and family and to be spoiled
for a week.
I only had
two “culture shock” moments that I can remember. The first was when I got home. I walked out of my bathroom and my bedroom
light was off. The first thing that came
to my mind was, “Oh man! The power is
out.” Did not take me long to realize
that power outages are not common in the US and I just had to flip the
switch. The second moment was when my
sister and I were about to leave the house.
I told her to unplug the computers because there might be a power
surge. She looked at me like I was
insane, and then started laughing at me.
Oh right…those do not happen either in America. As you can tell, most of my cultural
adjustments were related to power.
I thought
that it might be hard to come back to Uganda after enjoying the luxuries of the
Western World, but it feels like I never left.
My neighbors were ecstatic to have me back – Stephen was waiting outside
of my house for me. My students cleaned
my house and my latrine, where there was a dead rat (of course!). My neighbors were also excited to get their
gifts from America – they were going nuts.
I gave a lot of candy to my students too and they all started screaming
they were so excited. My neighbors kept telling
me that they thought I would not come back because I would realize how much
better the US was. While I do miss my
shower at home, it is good to be back and see everyone!
As I finish
this post, I just thought of another thing that I found weird while in the
US. That Gangnam Style song!! I cannot understand why it is so
popular. However, the music video for
that song just came on in the café that I am in. So, I guess the craze is about to hit
Uganda. Maybe I will bust out those sick
dance moves from the music video at the club since I have retired the
worm. I see a potential new signature
move!
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