Every morning while I eat breakfast, the radio is on BBC’s African news program. Thursday, they announced that Eritrea has made female circumcision illegal. I am not sure how I feel about this, because it is obviously going to continue to happen, but maybe now it will just go underground and become less safe, as abortion has in some places. On the other hand, I guess it’s good that the government is recognizing it as something that is harming a lot of women.
After writing about not ever having class for more than two hours, today we had it for three! It was my favorite class though (Anthro of Infectious Diseases), so I didn’t mind. I love the class and the professor, but the people in my class are ridiculous sometimes. I have never witnessed so much blatant racism, as well as homophobia and sexism. One girl in class today was saying that the reason Kenya has so many health problems is because Somali refugees are coming in and they are dirty and spread disease. Meanwhile, there is a Somali kid sitting behind me who obviously got very offended. Then the same kid, on a separate subject was saying that women have more diseases because they share everything like clothes and accessories. The professor listened to his long argument, and then she just smiled and said “I don’t think so.” I love her!
Rachel informed me that I got room draw number 47 back at Bryn Mawr, so that is exciting. I have really lucked out with these room draw numbers the past couple years. So hopefully we will get a sweet suite somewhere : ) Speaking of Bryn Mawr, I emailed coach to tell her I can’t really run much while I am here and asked for other ways to get/stay in shape. She gave me a 30-minute workout that I did this afternoon and it kicked my butt. I don’t know if I will be able to walk tomorrow. It feels good to be sore though : ) After that, I played some desperate housewives game with Chipa on his phone, which was pretty fun. Then he showed me some game with gangsters where you can kill anyone and take their money and steal their cars! He liked that a lot, but it kind of scared me and I wasn’t very good at the game (and didn’t fully understand the objective). It made us both laugh though, which was fun.
On the news tonight, there was this baby that was skeletal. Its skin was wrinkly and sagging off and you could see every bone in its body. Its hair was thin and gray. It was so sad. I didn’t understand what the story was because it was in Kiswahili. Monica said that the baby was sick, probably with TB, and got turned away from the hospital. She said the problem with hospitals here is that you can go there and sometimes they don’t even have medicine. She said, “If you don’t have money you can just die”. It was exactly what we had talked about in my class earlier. It was heart breaking to see that baby, and so sad to know that it won’t get help and will most likely die.
This weekend is Easter. Both Friday and Monday are public holidays. I am excited to experience Easter here. It is my favorite Christian holiday.
I'm 47 and it's working for me so far in terms of luckiness! (:
ReplyDeleteAh, I remember 47. Who could forget the time I did that one thing, or went somewhere or saw some stuff or something...
ReplyDeleteHey, Sarah, don't let those other kids in Anthro of Infectious Diseases outspin you, misinformation-wise. Here are some ideas to throw out there:
1. To cure lice, simply set the affected area on fire and then when the lice run out, stab them with an ice pick.
2. The common cold was brought to North America by dirty filthy communists in the 1950s.
3. Scabies is just like rabies, but with prettier scabs.
4. For conjunctivitis, use a white crayon to color in the white of the eye so it's not so gross-looking. Problem solved!
5. Now that female circumcision is illegal in Eritrea, sex-crazed women are raping men by the billions, traveling in packs like she-wolves.
6. The AIDS virus can pass through walls, just like Superman's x-ray vision.
7. Bacterial infections are easily cured by a surge of more bacteria, the same way we're winning the war in Iraq.
8. Malaria isn't caused by mosquitoes, per se. It's caused by ISLAMIC MOSQUITOES.
9. There's a new cure for herpes where they remove the spine of the victim and allow it to dry in the direct sunlight before sticking it back in. (Then you look at one of your more egregious fellow students and say, "Maybe you should try it... oh, sorry, I forgot you're an invertebrate." This will endear you to everyone.)
10. Poison ivy can only be spread by sexual contact between humans and donkeys.
Just say you read this stuff somewhere. You won't be lying.