Oh how I LOVE Western medicine

My fully stocked kitchen. 

     Today I returned to my favorite place...King Faisal Hospital! After being told they couldn't find my file (I had to wait 45 minutes for them to find it) and having to retrieve my test results since the computers were down, I finally got my results. But just as I feared, everything in my stool was normal. I was happy that I had no parasites or infections, but it puts me back at square one.
     I met with a doctor (the same unhelpful one that I met with on Friday) who spoke to me about my results. Here is the progression of fun comments/questions he asked me:
     "There is nothing wrong with you. You are totally okay." 
     "Are you scared you are going to die because you are sick?"
     "You are okay. You are not in pain."
   (After being totally frustrated, I started to cry and then he became more supportive...or at least tried to be)     
     "Do you have both your parents? Siblings?"
     "You have to leave where you are living and move to a new place."
     "I can not help you but you have to call me to tell me how you are doing."
Just a few of my favorite comments/questions from the lovely Dr. Joseph. In the end he prescribed me Immodium and a pain killer, both of which I have. I figured that since I was near the hospital pharmacy, I would check and see how expensive they were, although I did not plan on buying it. After waiting 10 minutes for the woman working at the pharmacy to search the computer to find out how much the prescriptions would cost (of which she knew in her head already), she told me the costs and then proceeded to tell me that they didn't have the prescriptions anyway.
     So all in all, a totally frustrating unhelpful trip to the doctor. But I am really proud of myself for going to the doctor even though I hate all medical things. As soon as I got the hell out of the hospital, my day got better.
     I went to catch a bus back to the Ntunga and while waiting, bought some tasty sambosas and hard-boiled eggs. One of the sambosas even had meat and a hard-boiled egg inside...it was such a wonderful surprise! While waiting at Ntunga for a driver from the Village to pick me up, I went to the Ntunga market which runs on Mondays and Thursdays. The market was incredible! I was shocked at how large and vibrant the market was. The market in Rubona is nice but this market was a totally different experience. It was larger and had more people, but felt more free (I didn't have little kids staring at me and following my every move). And there were more food options. I ended up buying bananas (duh!), tomatoes (2 large bowls of them) and some more sambosas. Everyone was so happy to see a muzungu (white person) in their market. So everyone was smiling and waving at me. It was such a happy sight! I definitely want to go back!
     Once I got back to the Village I quickly showered and made myself a lunch of cabbage/tomato salad and sambosas. Right after I ate I went to the dining hall for a presentation of the different Enrichment Programs that the students were to sign up for. The presentation took over 2 hours, so as you probably guessed, I got really antsy! Luckily I was sitting next to Noella and some of the girls from my family. They were playing with my hair, making jokes, pulling down my shirt to cover any exposed skin, holding my hand; it was very sweet. Noella kept telling me how special I was to her. Before the presentation was over, she asked if I would help her change her Facebook password. I told her I would and asked her why. She whispered "because I want you to be my password." I was so touched that she wanted my name to be her password. And indeed that is now her password. However, the journey to change her password was quite crazy. It took an hour to access Facebook since the computer lab with 15 computers was packed with around 30 students trying to use the Internet. Definitely not a place I want to frequent.

Mmm dinner! I think I'm getting a hang of this cooking thing! 

     After Noella walked me back to my house, I began to cook pasta with fresh tomato sauce (fresh tomatoes, green beans, spicy pepper and curry powder). While I was cooking I got a knock on my door. To my surprise it was Yvette who came to say hello. She looked sad so I asked what was wrong. She told me that she really missed me yesterday and today. She explained that she looks forward to seeing me and that when she doesn't see me or get to spend time with me, she gets sad. I reassured her that I care about her and missed her too and that we would continue to have time together. I hugged her, made her laugh and went back to my cooking (she had to go to dinner too, so I wasn't being rude).
     I really like having visitors, but I will definitely have to figure out how to navigate my personal space. I don't want to feel uncomfortable with the girls recognizing my privilege and ability to have lots of things, like clothing and food. It shouldn't make me uncomfortable having guests in my house, but for now it is. Maybe i'll only let them in my living room and not my personal space or kitchen. I really do want to make myself the most available to them that I can, but I will have to set up boundaries.
     That's it for now. Lest I forget that during the Saturday performance of a Rent/Romeo and Juliet play, one of the grade coordinators, Andrew turned to me and said "I am Romeo, you are Juliet." Lonely here, sometimes, but definitely not in the past few days! Oh, and by the way...as much as I thought I hated Western medicine...I LOVE it! Thanks again for everyones continued support!