Mosquito-borne maladies (and other musings)

the ever-pesky mosquito...this time with a nasty payload

In spite of the fact that I was armed to the teeth with medication from my travel doctor before arriving in the Dominican Republic, I managed to contract a sexy new, cure-less tropical disease: chikungunya (pronounced CHEE-kuhn-GOON-yah). This lovely little illness brought with it aching bones, sore joints, a high fever and a nasty red rash. Needless to say I was bedridden for a couple of days. Thankfully I did not have to cancel classes; my body always seems to "time" its bouts of sickness for when we are on vacation. Many of my students were not so lucky: I saw the attendance numbers greatly reduced this week as the chikungunya virus ran its course through the town. One small bit of good that may be coming on the heels of this epidemic is increased consciousness about Dominican habits with regard to trash. The mosquitoes that carry the virus tend to favor warm, moist locales such as the discarded heaps of rotting garbage that are all-too-common around town. Hopefully the increased public awareness of this fact means that there will be more efficient garbage pick-up in Neyba...although I'm not holding my breath. Admittedly, being sick also has its personal advantages: I was able to make a lot of headway in a lovely little (*) novel called Don Quixote. Reading has always been a great pleasure of mine, and it was nice to have the time to do so without feeling guilty that I wasn't going for a run or writing lesson plans!

In other news: I was fortunate enough to meet three other Americans this week; one is a Peace Corps volunteer in a neighboring town and the others a married couple on medical mission at an orphanage in Neyba. At times I have found being the only "gringa" in town to be a lonely pursuit, so it is nice to know that I am not alone in my humble quest to change lives in this overlooked part of the world.

In other other news: there is a man in my life who makes me happy. That is all I am going to say about that.

Until next time, dear reader, watch out for those mosquitoes!

Saludos,
Kirsten