Finally, it came. For the ten days that I have been here in Nigeria ,
I was waiting for the moment when this horrifying pestilence would come
creeping into my quarters. I had played with fire. I knew that much. I had
eaten warm chicken, over-ripe fruit, and stale rice. I didn’t want to be rude,
so I willingly sacrificed myself to the god of hospitality and got hit with the
dreaded illness: diarrhea. It came on all of a sudden. I felt fine upon waking.
I even drank some tea and chatted with a few early-arriving teachers. And then,
unexpectedly, while standing in the library, I felt a cramp. A knife-like pain
in my gut warned me that I had to immediately vacate the premise to the nearest
toilet, hole, bush, anything. I found the girls bathroom. I ran in. And the
deluge flowed like a fierce tropical storm. My body was angry at me. The bug
came at me with a vengeance, as if it was mad that it had taken nearly two weeks
for me to succumb to its evilness. And it lasted ALL
DAY . I have three very strong anti-diarrhea pills at my disposal. I opened the package gingerly and stared at them for a
long time. “Do I want to use these precious gifts right now?” “What will happen
in two weeks when I need them again?” I set the bottle down. I was trying to
conserve them. They're worth their weight in gold. They are theVictoria Diamond
in 500 mg form. And then it came again. This time even worse and I wasn’t so
concerned with future preservation, but with immediate relief. I took one, swallowed
the pill and made supplications to the Igbo god Chukwu to heal my sickness. I
literally then crapped out all of my insides, from my intestines to my
esophagus. And if my luck wasn’t good enough, the toilet didn’t flush. I poured
a bucket of water in the basin to dilute the highly-concentrated horror that
came out of me. Thankfully, it worked. I opened windows, washed my hands, and
prayed to the lord almighty that no one, and I mean no one, took the wrong step
and entered the bathroom for another hour. I didn’t stick around to find out.
The powerful elixir that I took did its job well-enough, but I know I’m going
to use the precious resource tomorrow morning. And then maybe even Friday
morning. What did I eat? My theory is that I had some stank, old rice and drank some bacteria infused water. I
just pray that it doesn’t rear its angry head at night. And I hope that my
body’s defenses are up to the challenge. I’m trying to maintain my hydration
level, but when it’s 85 degrees and 95% humidity, it’s a losing battle.
I taught three classes today, even while I was sick. They
all went extremely well. In the fifth grade class, I’m having them work on a
class project. I am having them write, produce, and design a travel magazine
for the city of Owerri . Today we
took a field trip to the city and drove to various interesting sites. At each
stop, I had the students jump out, pose, and then I snapped their picture. We
went to the University, the hotel, the zoo, the Igbo cultural center, a
restaurant, and cyber school, and an art studio. The kids had a fantastic time.
My goal is that the students will produce an excellent magazine, which they can
present to the state governor. The trip was great publicity for the school I am
teaching (Pater Noster Academy
Today I saw and heard (mainly heard, wow!) a weaver bird.
They have black caps, faces and beaks, and are adorned with white wing bars and
very yellow breast and tail feathers. They are extremely loud and rather
cute—the look almost like yellow orioles. I would love to see on of them build
a nest. I have not seen as many birds as I would like, but so is the case with
living in an urban environment. However, I have nevertheless seen my fair share
of African magpies, vultures, and sparrows (?). The flora, however, has been
spectacular. There are towering cassava plants, plaintain trees with their
gargantuan leaves, spindly (and stout) palms, and abundant tropical lilies
and grasses. The soil is extremely loose and looks rather bare of minerals.
Most yards are complete sand.
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