So I Have Malaria
So when my friend said 'you'll know' when you get malaria, he was right. I have Malaria and I know it.
I hope that I don't spend a night as uncomfortable as last night for a very long time. When I got off the boat I went straight back to my cheap, bad, seven dollar amazonian hotel and put my bags down. I was pretty tired, but I made myself go buy a bottle of water and a spear. I ate something and realized I didn't feel so good. I drank a lot of gatorade and went to an internet cafe where I tried to write an e-mail just as the power went out (this happens a lot). I left and stopped by a pharmacy which was the only store with a power generator and bought another bottle of water and as I was leaving to stumble through the dark streets to find my hotel I realized that it would be a good idea to pick up some kind of medicine in case I do actually have malaria. I asked the pharmacist what kind of medicine people take when they have malaria and he looked at me sort of scared. I told him I thought my friend had malaria, then he was polite and handed me two kinds of pills and said my friend should take them every eight hours.
I found my hotel room in the dark and realized that this was going to be a very bad night. My 'hotel' is really a large house for a small family that has a long of small rectangles of rooms that have a block of cement in the shape of a bed on which there are some cushions. There is a window with no screen, a fan and a light. Because the power was out, there was no light and there was no fan. I found my flashlight after a nauseating frustration that made me want to cry. I turned it on to discover that my room was full of cockroaches. There were probably ten in avery small room. But the worst part was, they were not all on the floor, they were on the ceiling and on the walls and as I would later discovcer, they could fly. If you know how much I hate cockroaches, and if you know how big Amazonian cockroaches are, and you've had malaria in 100 degree weather with no fan, you can imagine how I felt. It was not long after that that I felt so dizzy and feverish that I KNEW I had malaria. I had be humming the same damn Juanes song (the one that starts out 'cuando me dices por media voz...') for hours and all I could think about was the proof that pi is irrational. The thoughts were repeating themselves. I was sweating and shivering at once. I was dizzy and I didn't want to stand up. I had been worried earlier about not having a screen on the window because of the bugs but at this point I didn't care. I had a fever and I was cold and I really disliked thinking about the cockroaches so I did the only thing one can do and turned off my flashlight so I didn't have to see them, took my pills and tried to go to sleep.
I kept thinking about cockroaches and that juanes song, not much math anymore. I woke up in the middle of the night becuase I was really hot and thirsty. I turned on my flashlight to find that the bottle of watter I had set on the table was covered with the same big amazonian cockroaches. I turned it back of and tried to go back to sleep.
I woke up at six am to find all the cockroaches gone. I went to go take a shower and realized that the family who owns the hotel has a pet monkey in the washroom which is right next to the bathroom. It was all I could do to brush my teeth. I wanted to shave, but it was too much work. I'm pretty gross right now and I think I'm going to go to the airport or something. I came here to read about the symptoms of malaria.
I won't describe it, but if you want to know how I feel, you can read this:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/malaria/page3_em.htm
Also, I think this article by Malcolm Gladwell, of whom I am a big fan, is pretty interesting about wy malaria is such a problem in some places and about a great Malaria warrior, Fred Soper. I've revised some of my opinions about malaria and i'll have mroe to say about that, probably when I feel more like writing.
http://www.gladwell.com/2001/2001_07_02_a_ddt.htm
Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is malaria and it sucks. I'll be in bogotá soon.
I hope that I don't spend a night as uncomfortable as last night for a very long time. When I got off the boat I went straight back to my cheap, bad, seven dollar amazonian hotel and put my bags down. I was pretty tired, but I made myself go buy a bottle of water and a spear. I ate something and realized I didn't feel so good. I drank a lot of gatorade and went to an internet cafe where I tried to write an e-mail just as the power went out (this happens a lot). I left and stopped by a pharmacy which was the only store with a power generator and bought another bottle of water and as I was leaving to stumble through the dark streets to find my hotel I realized that it would be a good idea to pick up some kind of medicine in case I do actually have malaria. I asked the pharmacist what kind of medicine people take when they have malaria and he looked at me sort of scared. I told him I thought my friend had malaria, then he was polite and handed me two kinds of pills and said my friend should take them every eight hours.
I found my hotel room in the dark and realized that this was going to be a very bad night. My 'hotel' is really a large house for a small family that has a long of small rectangles of rooms that have a block of cement in the shape of a bed on which there are some cushions. There is a window with no screen, a fan and a light. Because the power was out, there was no light and there was no fan. I found my flashlight after a nauseating frustration that made me want to cry. I turned it on to discover that my room was full of cockroaches. There were probably ten in avery small room. But the worst part was, they were not all on the floor, they were on the ceiling and on the walls and as I would later discovcer, they could fly. If you know how much I hate cockroaches, and if you know how big Amazonian cockroaches are, and you've had malaria in 100 degree weather with no fan, you can imagine how I felt. It was not long after that that I felt so dizzy and feverish that I KNEW I had malaria. I had be humming the same damn Juanes song (the one that starts out 'cuando me dices por media voz...') for hours and all I could think about was the proof that pi is irrational. The thoughts were repeating themselves. I was sweating and shivering at once. I was dizzy and I didn't want to stand up. I had been worried earlier about not having a screen on the window because of the bugs but at this point I didn't care. I had a fever and I was cold and I really disliked thinking about the cockroaches so I did the only thing one can do and turned off my flashlight so I didn't have to see them, took my pills and tried to go to sleep.
I kept thinking about cockroaches and that juanes song, not much math anymore. I woke up in the middle of the night becuase I was really hot and thirsty. I turned on my flashlight to find that the bottle of watter I had set on the table was covered with the same big amazonian cockroaches. I turned it back of and tried to go back to sleep.
I woke up at six am to find all the cockroaches gone. I went to go take a shower and realized that the family who owns the hotel has a pet monkey in the washroom which is right next to the bathroom. It was all I could do to brush my teeth. I wanted to shave, but it was too much work. I'm pretty gross right now and I think I'm going to go to the airport or something. I came here to read about the symptoms of malaria.
I won't describe it, but if you want to know how I feel, you can read this:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/malaria/page3_em.htm
Also, I think this article by Malcolm Gladwell, of whom I am a big fan, is pretty interesting about wy malaria is such a problem in some places and about a great Malaria warrior, Fred Soper. I've revised some of my opinions about malaria and i'll have mroe to say about that, probably when I feel more like writing.
http://www.gladwell.com/2001/2001_07_02_a_ddt.htm
Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is malaria and it sucks. I'll be in bogotá soon.
posted by Walter at
7:26 AM
1 Comments:
I read your article, which is very interesting, but why are you reading articles about DDT when you should be getting better? your night sounded wretched, i don't know what to say. take care of yourself.
By
Anonymous, at 9:14 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home