8.08.2005

Is sleep really necessary?

I'm in a serious time crunch. Which was wholly expected and mostly unavoidable, but I still feel the need to whine about it. I had a lot of extremely entertaining guests this weekend--old friends and new, hailing from Italy and Costa Rica and Minnesota and D.C.--and I want to say thanks for coming out and celebrating with me and tolerating my occasional anxiety outbreaks about silly things. I learned the recipe for the best daiquiris ever from Sheila & Corey, involving fresh strawberries and a healthy amount of spiced rum. I will miss you all.

I found out today there is a sharp increase of malaria in Ethiopia and they fear an epidemic; the government warns that they may actually run out of mosquito nets & malaria drugs. So my decision to NOT take antimalarials while in Addis--generally a mosquito-free zone--and instead buy 3 months worth of Malarone (a daily drug with few side effects) just for travelling outside of Addis could, in retrospect, have been a little stupid. I suppose this is how one learns. Taking mefloquine (a drug whose warnings include psychotic breaks) for a full year versus getting malaria in a country where I have no one to bring me ice cream once I can eat again...that's a tough one. Good thing my dad is out of town or he would physically restrain me from getting on the flight without a mefloquine regimen underway. Don't worry! I'll be fine. Malaria has got to be better than some of the things I found in my "Healthy Travel in Africa" book, like...anal larvae. No, I won't go into further detail. Look it up.

Here's the countdown:

Tomorrow: Go to work, say good-bye, lug my new baby--a brand new, 20-lb laptop, home
2 days from now: My cell phone service will be disconnected (on August 10th.) I suppose I should have told people this earlier but I honestly don't have time for the phone and, also, I hate talking on it. So I can be reached via e-mail or my home phone.
3 days from now: Try desperately to fit a lot of pharmaceuticals, books, and some clothes that make me look like a choirgirl into as few suitcases as possible. Temper tantrums a strong possibility.
4 days from now: Board flight to Ethiopia
Unthinkably long time after, inhaling recycled air and trying not to eat the airline food, talk to my neighbor, or go to the bathroom: Arrive in Addis on Saturday night. Explore the active nightlife via drinking lots of water and going immediately to sleep.

posted by Margot @ 4:41 PM