It's nice to be back in my house after living out of a small backpack for a week. Nice to have clean clothes, space and relative privacy!
So Zach, his parents and I went to Maputo on Wednesday to go for my physical and to tour Maputo a bit. We went out to the fish market, which is notable as a) before arriving in Mozambique, I ate approximately two fish in my life, and b) Not so long ago I was a vegetarian. More notable is that it was a great parent experience - seeing some borrowed but well-adapted culture in action.
The fish market is bustling, relatively speaking. There were dozens of banks, most of them empty at any given moment of the day, featuring shrimp, crabs, cod, sardines, clams and various others with attending women shouting in English and Portguese. The shrimp, from what I'm told, are very large and belie the name "shrimp". So we bought a kilogram for about $4 (approximately $2 a pound) and paid a bartender $2 to cook it and serve it with fries. All told, an excellent meal.
All in all, it seems that Zach's parents had a great time and enjoyed the new perspectives on African culture and Peace Corps culture that everyone gave them. Nothing radically surprising, and a great vacation.
On Friday after we had seen them off, I went back to Peace Corps for my follow-up physical. (Note: I usually don't like to talk about internal PC issues here, but I feel this is necessary and relevant to some current movements underway.) I had refused to sign an acknowledgement statement saying that I had read a warning about the anti-malarial medication, Lariam, that many of us take. We had been previously warned of its hallucinogenic and mood-depressing properties, but not as strongly as in this warning. Simply stated, the manufacturers knew that people taking Lariam had committed suicide, but did NOT know if Lariam had played any part. So I asked our medical officer about this, and he said that nobody with psychiatric histories is taking Lariam. I piped up that I do have a history (mild depression) and that I'm taking it. He reacted sharply, saying that I shouldn't be taking it. Apparently only people with a history of mental illness have committed suicide while taking Lariam. Suddenly, after a year, I was in a very high-risk category.
Well, I knew before that it wasn't helping, but I didn't know it could be THAT bad. I'll find out in about a month when it works itself out of my system and I'm regularly on another drug. I'm pretty sure, however, that it contributed to how difficult my first year was, or seemed to be.
And now I can't wait to teach again. I'm hoping it's 10th grade. I don't know what I'll do if it isn't, honestly, and I have fewer students, so that I can get to know them better. I remember meeting some of my own students last year who didn't even know, after classes were over. How can I evaluate them if I can't get to know them?
Peace
John
