It's been an unusual week, a rough week, and just plain exhausting week. Every time I think that I've experienced everything that there is to experience here, I'm proven wrong. The worst of the week began when I went to SUA to play frisbee with the gang last Saturday. At some point, early in the game, I got knocked down when a fellow player ran into me. I landed very hard on my knee and scratched it very badly. It was so covered in dirt and at first, I couldn't tell that it was so bad. So, being me, I kept playing. But, then, after then next score, I looked down and noticed that blood was beginning to stream down my legs. So, I ran off the field, grabbed my water bottle, and began rinsing it off so I could get a better idea of what I was dealing with. It was a bloody, nasty mess. But, Kim had a first aid kit, so I cleaned it off and put a band-aid on it. I decided to go ahead and play the second half of the game, during which time the band-aid fell off. But, never fear, she had more. After the game, I walked all the way (40 minutes) back to town and met Kjirstin at the soko (market) where we bought some slightly overpriced bananas. I almost walked away plenty of times to let this man know that I wasn't messing around and I was not going to pay his price. But, that's the way it works often times. People here see a white person and they just throw out a price that is 3X's more than they would charge their fellow Tanzanians. Now that I've been there quite a few times, I've got more of an idea of what is a fair price and what is not, so I'm not going to settle unless I feel I'm being treated fairly. After the market, we rushed to the daladala stand to meet Anne (who I met through language school) and the three of us had quite a pleasant lunch together at Ricky's Cafe. After, we completed our shopping and headed home. All this time, my knee was hurting quite badly, but I just kept going.
The knee injury has prevailed throughout the week, and I've had to take various measures concerning the issue. It's been quite the experience for me in health care here in Tanzania. Not that I had to visit a hospital or anything (and it DID NOT get infected, Bwana asifiwe). But, it's not like there's a Walgreen's or CVS Pharmacy on every corner where a plethora of medical supplies is readily available to me. I've learned that there are 3 dukas that sell medicine nearby our house, but they're small and don't always have what you need. If you need more variety, you have to go all the way to town. I had Neosporin and had been using that on my knee and big band-aids that I was using at first. But, the craziest part was running out of my stock of large band-aids. I had a TON of smaller ones, but I only had a handful of the big ones. The way my knee was oozing (sorry for the description, but it did ooze, a LOT), I was having to change the bandage quite regularly. Thus, I began using gauze (found in my first aid kit) and duct tape. I mean, that's pretty much what a band-aid is, right???
Well, the worst part of all of this was on Tuesday when I was at school. For reasons that will be explained later, I was trying to show the students a fancy ballet turn with bare feet, on the uneven, grassy ground (not exactly a smart or proud moment for me). Basically, I fell and landed smack dap on my knee and re-opened/bruised it. Also, a ton of dirt also got into it. I went home for a few minutes to try and clean it out, but it was difficult because the water wasn't on and Mama Vanessa had used just about all of the water washing our clothes that morning. Well, I proceeded as normal despite the pain and what not. I even went on my usual run and to play volleyball. After volleyball, I asked the player who was going to drive me home if he had a first aid kit in his car and if he had any large bandages that I could have. He took a look at my knee and directed me to Dr. Hank who is also one of our frequent players. It was decided that I should be taken to the clinic at the tobacco factory where they work to have my wound cleaned out and get some stuff to put on it to help it dry out. The cleaning out part was quite painful because the wound was so big and so incredibly bruised. Putting any kind of pressure on it still hurts pretty badly. But, that was probably the best thing that could've happened for me. I was also given a pretty awesome anti-bacterial cream to put on it and was told to try and keep it uncovered so it would dry out quickly which would help against infection. So far, no infection has occurred and it is looking quite well. It still hurts, but it's doing much better now and the size of the opened wound it roughly half of what it was a few days ago and has been quite well dried out for the last couple of days. Thus, things are looking good!! :D
Aside from the medical adventures, this week continues on it's unusual course. The students were supposed to start their monthly exams on Tuesday, and I was prepared for that (meaning, I wasn't exactly prepared to teach). Well, the exams didn't start on Tuesday. They didn't even start on Wednesday, for that matter. All because the place that was supposed to type them up was going very slowly. Unfortunately, I don't think that I was the only teacher who wasn't quite prepared to teach this week because most teachers were not going into any classes at all. I managed to pull some stuff together quickly (which normally isn't a problem for me). But, in between my classes, I found that the students were playing and running around because no one else was teaching. So, Kjirstin and I ended up doing a lot of entertaining. We were working with them on reading, I taught them how to use a stop watch and we did races (this impromptu PE class is the point when I was doing the ballet turns and fell for the second time), Kjirstin went and taught math to the students who were struggling, and we even made sure to have a constant pile of books on our desk for the students to take if they wanted them. The chapter books were a HUGE hit this week (and any week for that matter). Especially since I have been reading out loud in class, students have gotten more excited about reading. I'm not sure if the kids were just bored, but many of them thanked me every time I came to their class to teach. It made me feel so good. I continue to wonder over these students' dedication (most of the time) to education and their desire to learn. It real seem to be the mirror opposite of students in the US. I mean, seriously, what student in the US is going to thank their teacher for teaching them (at least, not until they're older and can truly appreciate what they've been given)??
Well, I think I shall finish out here for now. This weekend has started off a bit strange for me because Friday has been a Muslim holiday and school was cancelled. Thus, it felt like Saturday even though Saturday is not until tomorrow. But, I'll do a write up about the weekend's adventures at a later time.
May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine
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