New Adventures and Blessings (Or "How I watched Kindergarden Cop and soaked up AC")

Well, the great thing about life is that it is never what you are expecting! Especially here in Africa. In my last post, I was excited about my upcoming move to my "site." But now a day after all my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers [that's right, we aren't trainees anymore!] have headed to site, I'm still in Dar Es Salaam. We all headed here this past Sunday from our training site, all 41 of us and our i'm sure nearly a 1000 bags. After the 5 or 6 hour ride, we finally allowed a little freedom, and a small group of us headed to a MALL. (I'm sure you can guess the gender of this group). After a recharging of a gyro-like meat hamburger, real french fries, and a DIET pepsi, a smaller group of us headed to a MOVIE THEATER to see "breaking dawn." Well, it was probably the most ridiculous thing i've seen, but it was totally worth it, and sitting in the AC-ed room felt like America for two hours. Topped off with a soft serve chocolate cone, Sunday was a very good day in Chelsea's book. The next day, well not so much.

It all started with a pimple. Well, I'm not so sure it was a pimple, but something of that nature got inflammed and was bugging me enough to figure I had better let the PC doc look at it, since we were headed to the Peace Corps office on Monday anyway. He looked, said it was infected, told me to come back to get antibotiocs, and then I came back later and started to look puffy. Well after taking the antibiotics a day and still looking like a bee had stung me under both eyes, he decided I better go to the hospital for IV antibiotics. Please don't pity or stress or worry, this is not pity blog post!

So since Tuesday, I have been in, what I believe one of the nicest hospitals I've ever been in. Seriously fancy.
My room is like a small apartment and I have what I believe to be the nicest bathroom in all of Tanzania. A flat screen tv, AC, and a balconey with a view of the Indian ocean have definetely been nice, but its kind of bittersweet for me. I was preparing myself (and still am), to head to my site, without electricity, alone, and without any real direction. I've been taken care of by the nurses, doctor, PC doctor, had so many texts/words of support/calls/skypes and everything from PC friends, family and friends at home. I'm supposed to be sitting alone at my house now, trying to figure out what the heck i'm doing! Its just adjustment and adventure.

I added blessings to this title because really I have been this week. No, not talking about the amenities. This infection (not sure what it is) started up really quickly, and was actually pretty painful for a while, but I was here in a Dar, taken to I'm sure the best hospital in the country, and taken there and put up by Peace Corps. Now, had this happened after I got to my site, I would have had to figure out how to get on a bus to Dar and to the PC Doctor. The timing, though awful because I had to miss my swearing in ceremony with all the PCVs and the last few days of hanging out an being together for three months (boo), was actually sort of better I was here. So though this is not the ideal situation, and its hard to see the silver lining, I've just been trying because its all in how you look at things. The one thing the Peace Corps mentions for your service is flexibility. Well, I'm starting to stretch now.

So though I might have a gnarly scar (right on my forehead awesome), and I have a small bald spot my Doctor so lovingly called the Sinead O'Connor look, (more like a receding hairline), this experience has actually made me feel more blessed than ever. I have the best support team in the world, and knowing that has excited me to begin my service that much more. I really am getting too spoiled being here, and am excited to meet the people of my village, the people I will be working with and for the next two years.

My hope is I can get to my site soon, but its looks like I'll be in town for at least a few more days. Hopefully Christmas can be spent with my new Region-mates, but now I'm just taking it one day at a time. That's really all you can do with life anyway, right? So thank again for all the love and support and prayers coming my way. I really do appreciate every bit of it. I'm not sure the internet situation again until Christmas, but please know that, I'm thinking of you and wishing you all the Merriest of Christmases! (Or Hanukkah or Kwanza or Solstice, whatever you are celebrating). Eat something bad for you for me, and watch every Christmas special they show (you know i'm a sap like that!). Seasons Greetings from the hot African Sun! :)