Well, it's hit. That moment that Uganda stops shaking your hand and gives you a punch in the stomach. Literally.
We all knew it was coming, and that it would probably be within the first month. Our bodies have bravely faced all the new germs and the different climate, water and food. Besides a bit of adjusting, over the past two weeks we have remained medically stable.
But our bodies just realized we're not on a two-week missions trip. Our bodies seem to have declared a mutiny.
Over the past four days teachers have been dropping like flies. My turn came on Friday evening. I felt fine after the first two days of school and a group of us were heading out to a local restaurant to celebrate the end of our first "week." As we began walking, I felt occasional twirls in my stomach but there was no major discomfort until after we had eaten.
By the time we got back, let's just say I was in a hurry to get home. My upset stomach persisted through the night, and I was up at least three or four times. While I wasn't surprised by an upset stomach, I was troubled by the sharp spasms of pain I was having in my middle and upper abdomen. They would only last a few seconds, but they would take my breath away. On Saturday morning, as it wasn't getting any better, I mentioned it to Terri, the school's go-to woman for any teacher troubles. (She's fantastic!)
Terri arranged a drive for me right away to get me to the Surgery. What is the Surgery, you ask? Good question. One of the first days we were here, Isaac and I were shocked to hear Terri say: "And if you get sick, we'll take you straight to the Surgery." A little drastic, we thought. I guess it's a British thing to call it "the Surgery" -- it's simply the name of the medical clinic in the area.
[Warning: next paragraph may be considered oversharing.]
Long story short ... I went to the Surgery, I was told I had to produce a stool sample, I couldn't bring myself to produce a stool sample (despite all my problems in the previous 24 hours, and despite the squats Isaac suggested that I do), I went back the next day with a sample ... Turns out there was a bacterial infection in my guts. When your immune system is depressed, due to stress or jet lag or being overwork, the natural balance of yeast in your intestines can get out of whack. So ... problem identified, problem solved (or so it seems at this point).
Today at school (Monday) I felt fine but a total of six teachers were out. Several of them had almost the exact same experience that I did. Although Heritage has a substitute system (and a very flexible principal who can jump into almost any class), because people were dropping during the day things got a little out of hand.
At one point I was sitting in my room about to enjoy my prep period when a fellow teacher poked her head in on the way to her class: "Hey, do you have a class now?"
"No, why?"
"Uh... the grade eights are sitting in the science lab without a teacher. Do you know who's subbing?"
"No, but I'll go look."
I went and looked. No one to be found. So I taught science :) Good times. One of my high school teachers must have done something right, since so much came back to me. DDT, concentration up the food chain, acid rain ... oh yeah, I was in the zone. (not).
At the end of class one of the students thanked me for the wonderful lesson. (Okay, I have to tell the whole truth -- he's a new student and apparently he thanked all of his teachers after every lesson.) Another student told me I'm a good science teacher. I told her not to tell anyone else that!
Here's hoping that everyone else is on the mend.
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