Why I Dislike Lizards

               I haven’t always been afraid of lizards – I distinctly remember catching them in my front yard as a little kid.  It wasn’t until I saw an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Nickelodeon that I became terrified of lizards.  I cannot even remember what happened in this episode, but the fear of these creatures, big or small, remains.  Unfortunately, I live in an area that is inhabited by both small geckos and terrifyingly large lizards.  I was, however, getting used to the small geckos that live on the walls in my house (they eat the mosquitoes after all)…until the other night.  The power was out (of course!) and I was watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother on my computer.  It was dark except for the light from my computer, and I felt something heavy drop on my chest.  Needless to say, I shrieked and jumped of f of the couch, and a small gecko fell to the floor.  Shivering with disgust, I grabbed a flashlight and made sure there were no more geckos before I returned to the couch.  It didn’t take long for my neighbor to come knocking on my door to see if I was all right.  I contemplated making up a story to explain my screaming, but decided I better just stick with the truth.  Stephen kept saying “oh sorry, sorry,” but I am sure he was thinking “this mzungu is nuts.” 

            My neighbors are probably the greatest people on earth, and they are a big part of why I am enjoying my time here.  Two weeks ago I got really bad food poisoning, and I was truly miserable.  I was violently vomiting, and Stephen came over to check up on me and see what was wrong.  I was curled up in the fetal position on the concrete floor with a bucket at my side – I don’t think I looked too hot.  He ran and got my neighbor Sauya, Sister Francis, and the school nurse.  They all came to take care of me by giving me water, mixing up Gatorade, and calling the Peace Corps medical office.  The nurse gave me a malaria test, which was thankfully negative!  Sauya spent the night on my extra bed and she woke up each time to hold my hair back as well as clean out my sick bucket.  The next day Sister Francis, Sister Goretti, and Sauya drove me to the hospital and then arranged a private hire to take me to the Peace Corps Medical Office in Kampala.  I am so thankful that they were here to take care of me because it was comforting to know I was in good hands.  After two IVs and medicine to stop making me throw up – I felt significantly better.  I was then pampered for two days in Kampala (hot showers!), which was glorious.  When I returned back to my site, everyone came to my house to tell me they were praying for me and that they had all been worried.  For the next week no one would let me work because they thought I had been on my deathbed.  It’s a great feeling to know that my community has my back – makes me feel much more at home. 

            This past Saturday we had a potluck at Bethany’s house for Ryan and Elizabeth’s birthdays.  I think I still have a food baby from the amount of food I ate.  It was great to eat an obscene amount of American food and get a little taste of home.  I made hummus and fried chapati to make tortilla chips (delicious!).  There was guacamole, pasta salad, mac and cheese, fruit salad, cake, and brownies.  Max, however, takes the cake for the best contribution…deep-fried Oreos with powdered sugar.  Unfortunately, it started a bad trend, because then we kept coming up with ideas of things we could fry.  So we fried: banana, banana with peanut butter, chocolate, and cheese.  Then we just started eating the fried batter.  I think I’m ok with rice and beans for the next week because I’m sure my arteries are all clogged. 

            I would have liked to upload photos, but unfortunately, my computer broke this week :( (Yes, I was pissed!)  So it will be a while until I upload again.