Honeymoon

Last week it seemed that my happy-go-lucky, life-is-perfect streak came to an abrupt end.

I definitely came down with malaria and waited a week too long to act on my symptoms. I ended up so sick. More sick than I thought possible in life. I would have shivering chills one second and then the next second a burning fever would spread throughout my entire body. I first thought I had common-cold, which is why I didn't do anything for the first week. After awhile, I think my coworkers became tired of hearing me complain of being ill and told me to go get some malaria medicine and get over it (in nicer terms, of course). I'll never forget miserably waiting in line at the bank to make an unnecessary transaction to save time while on my way to the pharmacy for medicine. Do I really need to multitask everything?? At any rate, I got the medicine I needed but apparently consider myself so indispensable at work that I refused to take a real sick day or two to get over the malaria, thus prolonging the illness even further.

Now, more than a week later I finally feel like my old self again.

But, my Gambian honeymoon has evaporated. I realize that I need to work up the nerve to negotiate my contract at work in just a couple of weeks while fulfilling objectives and targets that at times seem insurmountable. I have to find a way to live within the salary I've been given while saving enough money to finance a visit back to the states in just a few months and sponsor way too many kids in school. I need to clean the house and figure out what we'll eat for dinner every night. And, I'm really missing my family and am starting to be acutely aware of the fact that I don't have any friends in this country except for my boyfriend.

Even though my honeymoon is over, I'm ready to hunker down and do what I came here to do: live. Last time I checked, it was impossible to live without work, home, and life frustrations. They're just a part of what make us human. And, they're what make us really appreciate the honeymoons when they roll around, which they always eventually do.