Death on a Stick.

That is how I would describe how I felt yesterday. I woke up for my 7:30 AM class and immediately began to cry because my throat was swollen to the point where I couldn't swallow and my whole body hurt and I was hot and cold at the same time... and there was no way I could skip class. I had my presentation for my Gender Issues class, remember? And I was the one who was supposed to speak for my group. Too bad I could barely speak. UGHHHH. So I drugged myself up with DayQuil and Advil and trucked off to my first class and then to my Gender class. I told my group that there was no way I could speak and that one of them was going to have to give the presentation. But none of that actually mattered because the other groups ran long and we didn't actually have to present at all! AHHHH. Not only did I not need to go to class, but our group is not presenting at all. Because we just ran out of time we are turning in our paper and not giving any sort of presentation! IHATETHISSSS.

Because I was already up and out and the medicine was doing it's job - I decided to go to my third class and last class of the week. Probably a big mistake. This is one of my 3 hour long Twi classes and not even half way through, my medicine wore off. I barely made it through class and back to the dorm where I immediately passed out into a fevered sleep. It was at this time that I considered the possibility that maybe I have malaria.

Now, I know all of you are thinking that "Oh no! MALARIA!! SHE'LL DIEEEE!!" Nope. Not the case. Pretty much everyone gets malaria here. In past Tufts trips, it's been a 1 in 3 chance that you will get it. And they most definitely know how to treat it here. So you don't actually die, you just feel like death. So the thought that I had malaria was not an enticing one - but it would screw up my plans to go to Nzuluzu, a stilt village in the western region of the country.

So after trying to sleep it off and that plan failing miserably, I went back to Nyaho Clinic with Kym - my forever Nyaho buddy. 3 hours, 1 blood test, 1 kind-of-hot, British-accented, Ghanaian doctor later... and I was malaria-free. I have a bacterial infection in my throat. Which is great because the antibiotics are doing the trick! I slept for 9 hours and woke up feeling 10 times better! Still not at my best, but much better than yesterday!

So I am still going on the trip with the Tufts girls to the stilt village, enduring what could possibly be 9 hours of travel both today and coming back on Sunday. Thank god we have ear plugs to block out the blaring Nigerian movies they play on the bus...