SEE, WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS...

When you haven't heard from me in awhile, know there is a story.

This story is really not that exciting though.

What happened was this:

Last week, when Denis was visiting Tamale, I began to get a stomach ache (had nothing to do with Denis). A few days later I was feeling a fever. Then, on Saturday night, I was getting sick to my stomach. Sunday I stayed home and rested. Monday morning I went to see the doctor who had returned from a funeral over the weekend. He told me that the malaria parasite was disturbing my system, so I was admitted to the hospital.

I had three meetings that day, and I was only planning to see the doctor before heading to work. It didn't turn out that way. Instead I was in a hospital bed with another intravenous in my arm.

Over the next four days I would get intimately aquainted with the two stations that broadcast in the north, GTV and Metro TV. Some highlights were watching Oprah, the Chelsea match, the Ghana vs Australia match (Ghana was fortunate to get out of that game with a tie), and various news broadcasts.

Of these was the launch of Al Jazeera's international English language debut. This was a suprise to me. I always wondered what they're broadcasts were like, but learning Arabic to find out was not practical.

I think the controversy is really as simple as the angle used to present issues from the Middle East. During the news stories there was a story about surviving day to day life in Zimbabwe which is under heavy sanctions, the potential for violence in the Congo, life in a southern Sudanese refugee camp, Aboriginal suicides among youth in Brazil, and much more. It was really refreshing to get headline stories from all over the globe (note that the main stories from Israel, Palestine, Iran, the UK, Iraq, China, and the US were also a part of the broadcast.

So after a few days of watching TV, writing, thinking, and sleeping, I was feeling much better.

The visitors were also helpful as this particular hospital does not serve food, so people depend on others to bring them meals. On the busiest day I had eleven visitors come to see me. I have made some great friends in Tamale, so I have to shout out Layata, Mr. Fresh, Sister Saphora, Auntie Waki, John (congrats on the baby girl), Vera, Jamima, Yvonne aka Trouble, Samuel and his wife (don't recall the name), Robert and Phidelia.

As for what it really was, I am not sure. Again, no tests showed anything, but if they are right than malaria feels exactly the same as typhoid fever. The key point is that I am feeling much, much better.

This time was definately not as drastic as before, so I don't want anyone worried.

I plan to update a bunch of posts soon. Until then, live love now.