Off To Mozambique...

Whew! I'm halfway through a huge list of things that I need to do before my Spring Break officially starts, but I'm well on my way to paradise. I was up all night writing two papers and taking care of other administrative things that I'll be missing over the next ten days. It is the bittersweet reality of disconnecting.

And disconnect, I must! From what I understand, most parts of Mozambique are quite remote. From where we are staying, the nearest ATM is something like 25km. Credit cards generally aren't used for payment outside of the major cities, so that will be interesting. It is a very different country, so I'm sure I'll have stories upon returning. My destination is about 1,200 miles away, so it is similar to flying from Milwaukee, WI to Miami, FL or Salt Lake City, UT (to give you a sense of the distance.) I'll actually be flying to Johannesburg, South Africa, then taking a bus to Maputo (the capital city of Moçambique), then headed up to the coast at Tofo. Moz was colonized by Portugal, so I'm hoping my knowledge of Spanish will maybe help me with some of the Portuguese.

My flight is in four hours!

Since I'm traveling to a Malaria endemic zone, though, I'll be taking my malaria medicine and bug sprays. The medicines are generally quite vile, and can really make someone miserable on a trip. Here is my interaction with the three major types of medicines:

• Doxycycline - the cheapest medicine, it also doubles as acne treatment (Bonus!). I bought a stockpile of this in the states for about $20. You start taking it two days before entering the malaria zone, then every day you are there, followed by every day for four weeks after you return. The extra fun part is that it is the most volatile medicine, so it has to be taken with food or else you'll get quite sick. Since it has skin effects, too (acne treatment, remember?), your skin becomes sensitive to light. I'll say that again... photosensitivity in Africa. The result is five weeks of feeling sick, sensitive, and sun-soaked. But you keep a full pocket of money.
• Mephloquine - the next most expensive medication. You take it for the same amount of time, but only weekly. Fun side effects, though, can include night terrors and severe depression. That's right, night terrors, or what medical professionals have termed "vivid dreaming". Sorry, but a night terror is a night terror. It usually only affects people that have a history of depression or panic attacks. Either way, I'm abroad, and don't need that while homesick or anything else that goes along with it. It can even lead to suicidal ideation and blurred vision. You might as well have malaria. It will also react under pressure, so you can't scuba dive with it (blurred vision, you feel like you have decompression illness). So, yea, that one is out.
• Malarone - this is the new kid on the block. More expensive, and you start it two days before, and take it while you're in the zone and for seven days after returning. I understand it also has limited side effects. Given the information above, I've tabled the Doxy and bought malarone instead, two days ago. No need to be puking (which I did in Madison when I was trying Doxy, at my office), sun-sensitive, and taking it for 5 weeks. With Malaria, you're playing for keeps, so I'm taking the correct route, I think.

It is my goal to actually disconnect during this break, so I won't be blogging. While I'm gone, though, I encourage you guys to use the Labels on the sidebar of the blog to catch up on past posts, if you so desire. You can just choose to read posts that are related to stuff that interests you. Like Crime! Otherwise, if you've not been reading everything, there is a list of all post titles on the sidebar as well. Maybe something sounds interesting?

In other news, Kara's parents arrived yesterday and came bearing gifts. As avid readers of this blog, they knew to bring me two big cans of Corned Beef Hash (I'm in heaven), brand-name Hamburger Helper Stroganoff, and well as other nifty gifties. I'm very grateful! While I'm gone, I'm also scheduled to enroll for my Fall semester classes at UW. I don't think I've ever registered for classes on my enrollment date. Luckily, Matthew has volunteered to enroll for me, which I'm also thankful for.

Please note the junk food products. Thank you, guys!

Lastly, I'm realizing that an interesting thing happens with blogging. I put a lot of information about what I'm doing here, so people feel connected to me and informed about my goings-on, but I never know what is going on at home. It is like a one-way familiarity. So, I'd like to pose a question and ask how everyone's Spring Breaks went in the US, since I don't know what most of you did. Even if you've never commented on the blog, and have only lurked until now (as my godmother recently confessed when posting), drop me a comment. Especially if I don't know who you are. And if you didn't have a Spring Break or didn't do anything interesting, I'd love to hear the most interesting thing you've done since I left (that I don't already know about.) Then I'll return from the bush and have things to read from everyone.

And truly lastly, for the people worrying about me in yet another country (read--Mom)... I'll be fine. The precautions have already be taken, we're traveling in a group, this Aukland is pretty tough. See you on April 13th.  Peace!