Counter-indications

So, I am taking the cheapest anti-malarial medicine, doxycycline. For a number of reasons -- my grad student budget, and also because it's better to take the minimum thing needed for a given area, what still works, rather than dosing on new drugs. But the counter-indication for my meds is sun sensitivity, which I thought was a reasonable risk to take. I'm a smart kid, and careful, don't like to lay out, and I bought SPF 45 sunblock. And yesterday, before going out on an excursion, I slathered myself and gave it time to soak in, the whole nine yards.

But I didn't reapply after going swimming the first time. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Then I went snorkeling with the snorkel my friend found me, and got very excited about the fish. Wasn't wearing a watch to keep track of time, now am wearing a really comprehensive sunburn. Usually a sunburn is just a little bit of pink, right, no problem. This one really feels like a burn, which I've heard is also a consequence of the meds.

Today, it seems like it would've been worth any awkwardness to ask someone for help getting sunscreen on my back, but yesterday that seemed really weird. There were plenty of groups of women around, it would've been fine. Sigh. It'll fade. I just hope I can manage my backpack when Kolz and I start traveling...

Which is in two days. Apparently the hospital I want to visit in northern TZ is really huge, so I'll have to be a bit more careful getting in touch with the right folks this time around.

It has been a fortuitous few days in terms of traveling and visiting around. One of the professors I've met here says that you have to give yourself some fun things to do - the beach, touristy stuff - or you'll spend the whole time in the archives or library and you won't ever want to come back. Dar itself isn't a destination, though many other places in Tanzania are. This weekend was about giving myself an incentive to work, and more reasons to be excited about coming back for a longer haul someday. It's a lot easier to imagine spending two months in the archives when you know that there is a beautiful beach you can spend the day on the beach for under $10 (all-inclusive), and the Indian Ocean is the bluest blue. And I then everyone here has made it easier, every day something new.

I have to say, though, I am ready to come home. I was ready when I had to leave Berlin, just for a break to see my family and my nieces and nephews (who are growing like weeds and up to all sorts of fun), my brunch girls, my boyfriend. Being here made me put those thoughts aside, because Dar is a demanding city. But yesterday afternoon, I saw the Emirates flight leaving -- there are 5 airlines that fly in and out of Dar every day, so everyone knows that if you're leaving in the morning, it's British Air; afternoon is Emirates, 11 pm is KLM. I stopped for a second and watched it go. In a week, that will be my flight back to Dubai, then Frankfurt...and someday soon, too, home.

But Kolz arrives tomorrow, and that brings home to me. It has been an amazing few weeks here, and more good ones to come.