It's not in my head, I'm NOT crazy!

I've sort of taken a vacation from writin my blog. Nothing much has happened since the last time I wrote (which I know pretty much said that I was continually sick) : I've continued to be sick! Fever, lack of energy, either missed work or went but didn't have enough energy to see patients...

Last weekend, my grand outing of the day was to go to laudine’s and decorate for Xmas. It was a lot of fun and it put me in the mood for Christmas, despite the everpresent sunshine, blue skies, banana trees etc. Claudine has a lot of teenagers in her family and everyone was into making the decorations and mounting them in their yard. Let me tell you though, being in a tropical muselman country, it sure doesn’t feel like Xmas! On Saturday night, Phil called me to say he had arrived in Senegal!! I pretty much spent all of Sunday in bed feeling like crap and waiting for Phil's arrival. My grand outing of Sunday was to go get him at the airport (which is pretty much a wall beside a runway...). I was so happy to see my paled tall lover boy!! We fit in each other's arms perfectly; four months of not seeing each other did not alter our fabulous chemistry :)

(Image left: People from Dakar have come to celebrate Christmas: Nadine, Anne-Marie, Mathieu, Marie-Hélène, myself)

Monday I went to work but was too pooped once I got there to actually work. Finally, MC + Claudine told me this has been going on for too long and to go see the doctor. Coming from a family of doctors, I know they CANNOT STAND patients who come to tell them they have runny noses and headaches. Hence the reason I didn't consult for the longest time. But, my friends were right: Dr. Fatou Bintou Diouf listened to my lungs, took my BP and told me I had bronchitis and to go get the Goutte épaisse (malaria testing). She was extremely sweet because she had been out of town for the day and saw me at 8 pm!

(Image right: 24th Xmas party. We spelled NOËL with human bodies. I'm the ¨ !!!!)

My coughing / bronchitis is easily explainable by the recent Ziguinchor fad of burning garbage near dwelling with massive amounts of plastic. Unfortunately and suprisingly, Africans haven't understood that you are NOT supposed to burn garbage. The streets are toxic these days; its extremely hard to breath and prompts headaches.

(Image right: mon chéri in the tropics :)

The next day, I got tested for malaria and the following day I got my result: POSITIVE! What a wonderful Christmas gift fate had for me! I Can't believe I got malaria considering I'm taking the most modern/expensive prophylactic drug on the market: malarone (5 CAD per day). As soon as I found out, I called Dr. Fatou Binto and she told me what meds to take, next my supervisor Abba wrote the Rx and I went directly to the pharmacy to get and administer the drug: Coartem. That very day (December 24), after TWO WEEKS of feeling under the weather, I started feeling better :)

I was in good enough shape to enjoy our Christmas party chez Claudine. We had a delicious buffet/pot luck. And when I say delicious, I mean it! Months and months of planning and craving for this meal! There was a good mix of Senegalais + white people and the most important person was there to share the happy celebration with me: Phil :)

(Image left: El Hadj - dressed in Xmas colors - interacting with his Canadian friends. To my nephews and nieces : note the fine art in the background.... I miss you guys so much!)

On Christmas day, Phil and I packed up (with El Hadj's help) and headed to Cap Skirring for our super vacation. We are staying at a French lady's private home on the beach that I researched for in October. To put it concisely, it is Fantastic. We have our own litte room with hot water in our bathroom + access to a nicely furnished kitchen. I'll let the photos explain the rest.

Nothing much planned for new years. Will make a shrimp salad and drink wine while watching the sunset. Then, we'll tune our ears and hunt for the best djembe party Cap Skirring has to offer us...

Happy New Year 2009!!!

(Image right: view of ocean from the balcony. In the background, a cow. There are more cows on the beach than tourists! Marjo, tu capoterais ici! Mom, this place is infested with bougainvillias!!!)

(Image left: Phil and I at the Djola Museum. We walked about 6 km on deserted beach to get to the next village. We are behind a fromager tree with a hole)

(Image right: tourists on the endless beach. I really enjoy the cows.

I had the pleasure of seeing a cow give birth right in front of me! Amazing the gift of life and animal instincts.

Marjo, je pense souvent à toi; ça serait vraiment la destination parfaite pour toi. Est-ce que tu penses que cela serait des vacances quand même? Tu te sentirais peut-être débordée)

(Image left: Phil and I enjoying a home cooked meal on our terrace during sunset. I'm telling you, its not easy this life!)