Friday, March 22, 2013

RE: Snakes

I thought I would follow-up after the snake incident and let you know about the precautions I’m taking now.

Some people want to know how the snake got into my house.  I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that I have a screen door, as well as a solid wood door, in the front and back of my house.  The wood doors are very sturdy and secure; but the screen doors are somewhat flimsy and the back screen door has a gap between the floor & the bottom of the door.  Snakes are quite flexible and there is more than enough room for them to squeeze through.  But they can only enter when the solid wood door is open – which means I am in the house.  I guess that’s a good thing because they won’t come in the house while I’m gone.  And now when I am at home, I stuff a towel into the screen door gap.  Hopefully that will help.  The Peace Corps nurse also mentioned that I can put a line of ash or kerosene outside the door, and that will prevent snakes from entering.  (Of course, as soon as the wind picks up or it rains, it will be washed away.)

I showed a picture of the snake to some other volunteers, and my friend Alia commented that poisonous snakes have a diamond/triangular shaped head.  So the snake in my house was most likely not poisonous.  And a man who works at my dad’s school (who just happens to be from Uganda) identified the photo as an African Rock Python (non-venomous).  So there’s some reassurance there.

Being that I live on a hospital compound, I decided to go and talk to one of the doctor’s at Kuluva Hospital.  I asked if we kept any anti-venom in stock – he said ‘No, it is gone or expired.’  And Kuluva never restocked it – I guess snakebites are low priority compared to other medical conditions.  The closest place that might have anti-venom is Arua Hospital, but even then it probably won’t be the right type.  

I was in Kampala for a meeting and I asked the Peace Corps nurse if they had anti-venom.  She said yes, but since I’m 8 hours away, it won’t do much good.  She did managed to dig out of storage the very last Snake Bite Kit that they had.  It’s no longer given out to volunteers because snakebites are so rare, but since this was the fourth snake inside my house, the nurse gave it to me.  :)  It’s an extractor to suction out the venom after a bite (also good for bee and scorpion stings).  I’m not sure how effective it is, but I feel better having the kit in my house.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Blackout Stress


It’s somehow easy to cope with not having running water, because you can always go fetch some from a borehole and refill your jerricans.  But when the electricity goes out, you’re screwed.  Some organizations have solar power (which is a beautiful thing) but it’s very expensive and Kuluva does not have it.  Most of the time, our power goes out for 30 minutes, but it can be as long as a few hours.  I always have faith that it will come back shortly . . . but sometimes it doesn’t.

I returned from Kampala on a Saturday afternoon and the power was on – a pleasant surprise.  I got a drink of cold water from my refrigerator and starting watching a movie on my computer.  Then around 7:30pm the power went out – typical.  I expected it to come back in an hour, so I continued watching Star Wars – even though I’ve seen it a billion times, I still wanted to finish it.  The power didn’t come back that night.  “No big deal, surely it be on in the morning,” I thought.

On Sunday, I got up and there still was no electricity.  Bummer.  But sometimes on the weekend, the power gets shut off for an entire day.  “Ok.  I’ll ride to town, go to the market, grab some lunch, and come back in the afternoon.  Surely the power will be back then!”  I went and did all those things and came back . . . still no power. 

By the time Monday evening rolled around and the power had not come back, I started to seriously stress out.  I only use electricity for a few things, but they’re vital.

Laptop: At this point, my laptop battery was down to 15% and I still had a ton of emails to write for Peace Corps. 
iPod/Speakers/Kindle: My iPod was dead and my Kindle had 45% left.
Cell phone: Only had one bar left. 
Refrigerator: My fridge was nice and warm now and all of the food I just bought was spoiling. 
Electric kettle: I use it to boil water (for tea/coffee and hot bucket baths), but when the power is out, I boil water on my stove.  However, my gas tank is also running low. 
Lights: During the day there’s no problem with the power out, and at night I have a headlamp and a couple of candles.  Also, Peace Corps issued each of us a solar-powered desk lamp during training.  But I let Amviko borrow it when I was out of town and she has yet to return it.  That was last August.

I was stressing out about the food, but figured it’s a minimal loss.  My computer was a concern and I thought I might be able to bring it to Arua and charge it in a restaurant while I ate some lunch.  But the bigger issue was my cell phone.  I needed it charged right away. 

And then I remembered the solar charger I bought at the last minute before leaving the States.  Since my house has electricity, I never used it.  In fact, I had listed it ‘for sale’ on the Peace Corps website.  I dug it out of my suitcase, unwrapped the shiny new plastic, and plugged my cell phone into it.  Thankfully the solar pack came with a fully-charged battery.  I managed to charge my phone, iPod, and Kindle before for the solar battery wore out.  Thank goodness I bought that!  (*All of the work I do at the nursing school is on computers.  So when the power is out, I have nothing to do.  And my Kindle and iPod become of great importance.)

My neighbor, Jimmy, is very informative and I always go to him to find out the local news.  He told me that another part of the dam broke and they had to order the part from Germany (again).  In the meantime, Kuluva was supposed to get plugged back into the maid power grid with Wenreco, the local electric company.  Unfortunately, Wenreco had a transformer blow, so the blackout lasted longer that expected. 

It would be one thing if I never had electricity at all – I would manage my life differently.  But when I expect to have power and then it goes away, it’s the uncertainty of its return that kills me.

Power finally returned on Thursday morning, sometime around 9 or 10 am.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"

Yesterday evening, I was sitting at my table working on my ‘People’ Crossword Puzzle book (thanks Mom!) when I heard some kind of scratching noise coming from my back door.  There are always chickens and goats wandering by, so I though nothing of it.  (I have screen doors in the front and back and can identify a lot of nature sounds.)  But the noise was constant and did not pass.  I got up to take a look, and as soon as I took two steps towards my kitchen, a mean-looking snake hissed and struck out at me.  I’ve never felt such a pure surge of adrenaline as I did in that moment.  The snake had made its way through my kitchen and was coming into my sitting room.  I grabbed the lid to my trash bucket and my flyswatter to use a shield and sword.  (Picture that!)  I started yelling obscenities at it, “GET OUT!  DAMMIT!  GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!  SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!  (Part of me was hoping that a passerby would hear me and come to assist.  But it didn't happen.)  I had to figure out a way to push the snake back out my kitchen door, but every time I moved towards it, it tried to strike me again.  The thought went through my head that this snake is the one that's going to bite me.  Aaagh!  After my experience with the green mamba last year, I remembered to back away and the snake did the same.  It slithered around the edges of my kitchen, hiding behind tables and jerricans.  At this point I panicked.  It was 6:30pm and getting dark . . . and the power was out . . . and a thunderstorm was quickly moving up over the hill.  I did not want chase a snake through my house in the dark with flashes of lightning around me!  No matter what, I needed to get rid of the snake in the next 5 minutes.  It was hiding in the corner behind my gas tank and the thought occurred to me ‘I’m going to want a picture of it to show everyone.’  Even though my entire body was trembling from the adrenaline, I managed to move the gas tank and take a picture.


(And yes, that is giant freakin’ spider next to the snake.  It was also hiding behind the gas tank.)



The snake wasn’t moving from that corner and I decided I was going to have to antagonize it to get it moving.  I grabbed my broom (the only 'weapon' I had that kept me at a safe distance) and started sweeping the snake across my kitchen and managed to get it out my back door.  Finally, the ordeal was over.

My other snake encounters didn’t bother me very much, but this one was particularly terrifying (this is snake #4, if you’re counting).  It was very aggressive and looked like something in the viper family.  I was pretty shaken up and emotional for the next hour and thought of calling Mom & Dad to tell them I wanted to come home.  But I decided it wasn't a good idea to wake them up with that phone call first thing on a Monday morning.  I took some deep breaths, grabbed my Kindle, and curled up on the couch (not wanting my feet to touch the ground).  By the time I went to bed, the fear had subsided and I felt better.  (Actually managed a good night's sleep too!)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Zanzibar Revisited

I just got back from another vacation in Zanzibar.  The point of this second trip was to do the activities that I missed out on the first time.  In December, my friends and I went on safari in the Serengeti, and then met up with a bunch of other Peace Corps Volunteers for a birthday celebration.  We went snorkeling in the coral reefs but missed a bunch of other tours available on the island.  So I went back.


Day 1 – Ashley, Aditi and I arrived on Monday at around 7:00pm, and by the time we got to our hostel it was dark.  So we just lounged around and went to bed early.  We stayed at St. Monica’s Hostel (the same place I stayed before) because I knew it was cheap, clean, and had a good breakfast.  I also knew how to find my way through the labyrinth of alleys in Stone Town and get back to the hostel.



Day 2 – The first thing on my agenda was to go to Prison Island and see the giant sea turtles.  We didn’t book a tour or anything, instead we just wandered down to the beach and asked around for a boat captain to take us to the island.  (It was much cheaper this way!)  Sure enough, we found a guy, and hopped on his boat.  Prison Island was never actually used a prison, although it was built for punishing slaves.  After it was completed, it turned into a quarantine hospital for people with diseases and plagues, which were spreading through Zanzibar at the time.  There is also a giant sea turtle sanctuary there now.



Ashley, Aditi and I spent a few hours there, then headed back to Stone Town and grabbed some lunch.  After walking around for a couple of hours, we decided it was time to go to Matemwe and begin our beach-side relaxation.  We stayed at Keys Bungalow in Matemwe, which was recommended by another PCV.  When I booked this trip, I didn’t want to go back to Paje beach (even though it was absolutely gorgeous there) – I wanted something different.  Paje is on the south side of the island and the beach was very secluded; Matemwe is on the north side and the beaches are used by the locals for fishing and trading.  There were a lot of local people around everyday.

 
Day 3 – Keys Bungalow offers a snorkeling tour for a decent price, so of course we went.  They took us to yet another smaller island with beautiful coral reefs and fish.  For part of the snorkeling tour, we stopped in the middle of the ocean and jumped off the boat.  This allowed us to see the schools of fish that were at deeper depths.  I can’t even begin to describe the iridescent colors of fish that shimmer in the sunlight under water.  It was stunning.  Unfortunately, swimming out in the deeper waters gave us a few minor jellyfish stings too! 

After about 7 hours in the water/on the boat, the tour was finished and we were exhausted.  Later that evening, we all realized how severely sunburned we were!  Even though we wore tons of sunscreen (SPF 55-70), we still got roasted.


Day 3 – We unanimously agreed to stay out of the sun this day, in order to nurse our burns.  We casually lounged around in the morning, reading our books/Kindles, and then decided to go have lunch the fancy hotel down the beach.  And because we ate lunch there, they allowed us to use their free wi-fi and swim in their fancy pool.  It was a good day spent in the shade.



Day 4 – Ashley and I were ready for another activity in the water.  We had researched a few options and decided on parasailing.  It was a little pricey, but how often do I get go parasailing??  :)  We had to go to a town called Nungwi, on the northern tip of Zanzibar.  Again, more beautiful beaches.  Nungwi seems liked a tourist-friendly town with shopping and lots of activities and hotels.  Maybe that’s where I’ll go next time.  ;)  Anyway, parasailing was awesome.  I love the feeling of soaring – whether it’s parasailing in Zanzibar or zip-lining in Costa Rica, it’s so much fun!  And I had to take my camera with me to capture the views from the parachute.

                     


We returned to Keys Bungalow in time for lunch.  And since it was low tide, we all ventured out to the sandbank that was in the distance.  The staff warned us to wear shoes because of the rocks and coral that covered the sand on the way out to the deeper water.  So with our Teva/Chaco sandals on, we headed out . . . but we quickly realized how much we underestimated this trek.  It was a minefield of rocks, coral, and sea urchins!  Each footstep had to be carefully placed and each move planned ahead to avoid a dead-end path into the coral.  Ashley and Aditi got about halfway to the sandbank and decided they could go no further.  I got about 20 feet away from the sandbank, when my sandal got caught on coral and I tripped and fell.  My knees got scraped up and a sea urchin stung me.  When I stood up, I couldn’t see a clear path to the sandbank, so I turned around.  The walk back was one of defeat and pain (as the saltwater washed away the blood on my legs).  I decided to lift my spirits by going back to the fancy hotel and indulging in some chocolate.

 
Each night we had dinner at Keys Bungalow and watched the moon rise over the Indian Ocean.  The staff at Keys (whose names were Simba and Chips) would drink and speak incoherent Kiswahili mixed with English to us.  Then they would proceed to turn up the music and dance around the restaurant.  It was very entertaining.

 (Simba, me, and Chips)

Day 5 – It was time to leave Keys Bungalow and go back to Stone Town.  We arrived around 9:30am and arranged to go on a Spice Tour.  (This was another activity that I really wanted to do.)  I loved it!  It was so fascinating learn about the spice plants and uses for each one.  At the end of the tour, they offered us fresh coconut, mango, grapefruit, lemongrass tea, and pineapple.  And they made us hats from banana leaves.  Ha ha.



After lunch, we had the remainder of the day to wander around Stone Town and shop at the craft stores.  A lot of the crafts are the same as in Uganda, but if you look hard enough, you can find some unique gifts from Tanzania.


And then, I took Ashley and Aditi to experience the street food market that gets set up every night around 6:00pm.  Every if you don’t eat seafood, there are plenty of other options – and the experience itself is worth it.  :)

 
So that was the end of our vacation in Zanzibar.  Our flight left the next morning at 8:00am, and now we’re back in Uganda.  But I have to say that Zanzibar is probably my favorite place on Earth, and I’m pretty sure I will continue to go back throughout the rest of my life.  It is my ideal vacation spot with beaches, seafood, coffee, history, spices, architecture, Indian food, and such a diverse mix of people and culture.  I love it!