Day 52: October 26. Malaria

Alicia woke up in the hospital this morning, and Karla woke up in Ubetu, each acutely lonely for the other. Who would have thought?

Karla took a short walk around the plot after some tea and a bite of PB&J (making sure not to get lost) to shake the nausea out of her body. After gathering some things and laying down for a bit, she was suddenly dragged to possibly church, possibly the hospital. The boys didn't even know. We ended up stopping through both. By the time we had made it there we had about fifteen people walking behind us, curious as to why there was a Muzungu in their village. What a spectacle I made! The church was beautiful. Everyone was dressed up and singing loud and proud. We didn't actually get to go in as it was full, but it was fun as it was.

Alicia finally got tested around 10am, after her 2nd IV, and Hellen's suspicions were confirmed: it was in fact malaria. Alicia spent the day dozing and trying to feel better, while Hellen scurried around, telling people to bring supplies, and setting up a 'kitchen' in the hospital room to pump Alicia full of nutrients. (The best part of malaria is that you have to keep eating and eating!)

Karla walked down to visit with the boys for a little while before walking home and doing laundry by hand in buckets with Apo and Eric. She didn't know what was in store for her later.

Around dinner time, Felicissme brought a chicken with its head freshly cut off into the hospital room and began plucking it over a basin to catch the blood while Alicia watched from her bed. She giggled all the while, and poor Felicissme thought Alicia was laughing at him because he didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the situation. It didn't help that she only speaks English and he only speaks Swahili!

Plagued by their loneliness of the night before, Karla hopped on a motorcycle back to the hospital with her overnight things, and slept in the hospital bed with Alicia. Unfortunately, Karla too became violently ill... It didn't help that the bed was far too small. She spent practically the whole night making trips to the bathroom. By morning she felt drained and very weak.
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