I've been getting a number of texts, emails, and Facebook messages asking how things are going over here in Casablanca. I apologize for not responding or blogging this week; on top of the jet lag and a very busy GWA schedule, I managed to catch a stomach bug/food poisoning which basically lasted for 5 days! Unfortunately, I had to miss a bunch of orientation, but I'm happy to report that I am feeling a lot better and my outlook on life in Africa has improved 100-fold.
I decided that my first post might as well be about dealing with being ill over here, since that is what has been on my mind this week. First of all, we have a really great nurse on campus named Hannah Hair. She was super helpful in her advice about how to survive feeling so lousy. She also provided the staff a list of health care clinics and doctors for future use; we hope to to find a general practitioner ASAP.
So, back to my experience last week . . . You should know that a "Pharmacie" here is not exactly the same as pharmacy in the U.S. You can still get the usual pain killers, etc. but, amazingly enough, you can get antibiotics and other drugs without a prescription. Nurse Hair advised that we don't do this unless truly necessary. Well, she finally deemed it essential for me, and Richard went on a journey on Thursday to find Ciprofloxacine (an antibiotic for travelers diarrhea.)
We had previously noticed many pharmacies in the area where we live and assumed this would be no problem. Come to find out, a good number are closed for the month of August as many folks take vacations at this time. Yes, they just close up shop for the month, something pretty much unheard of in the states. Anyway, quite a bit of walking later my hero found an open pharmacie and got the drug.
I should be as good as new by Monday. I promise my blogs will get more interesting (and less gross) as I go!
Take care,
Judy
P.S. Richard pointed out that the French word for fish is "poisson" . . . take out one "s" and you get "POISON!" I'm fairly sure it was some fish I ate that made me sick. Richard ate the beef; figures! Ain't life grand?
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