I Look Like a Mummy!

I look like a Mummy

Oh man, this past week has really been something else.  Currently sitting in the med-unit of our office, I have mummy-like wraps/bandages on both arms and feet.  In the words of another volunteer, I look “a hot mess.”  How did this happen? I wish I fully knew…  but it is definitely hella embarrassing.

What I remember:

1.     Biking towards our office after dark, my bike made a sound as if something had broken or something had hit me.

2.       Next thing I knew was that I was standing up leaning forward over my handle bar, while my hands were still holding on for dear life.

3.       Of course, as the rules of physics suggest, my bike went into a reverse willie. A maneuver commonly referred to as a “stoppie”; in which a biker is simply riding on their front wheel with the back tire in the air.

4.       Of course me having no sense of balance and being completely taken by surprise, I went into quite an impressive series of front flips.

5.       After rolling around for a while, I flipped up and stood in the middle of the road in shock. My helmet was across the street and my bike was about 10ft behind me. (“Did this really just happen”)

6.       Oh yea, upon further inspection; I was covered in blood and was pretty scratched/bruised up. 

7.       Continuing on to the office I met up with friends already in the med-unit and used the shower there to wash the blood/dirt off.  Yeap, that was the most painful shower I’ve ever taken.  

8.       !@#$%$#@!@#$@!@#$$@%^&*^&*(*&^%

9.       The next day consisted of PSDN training and me feeling horrible. Every bone, piece of skin, and body part hurt. My head was killing me and my neck was definitely too stiff to turn.

10.   After running by the medical officers, they patched me up like a mummy and gave me enough painkillers and antibiotics to cure a village of malaria (yes, they occasionally prescribe this stuff for malaria in village).

11.   THE END! Here I am.

In further news, a recent string of robberies and purse snatchings have PCBF in a state of panic. I think at the last count, there have been around 14 in the past two months.  It seems that PC volunteers have become the newest easy targets in Ouaga. Yours truly got to become a target this past Friday. Luckily I did not lose anything, but the volunteer I was walking with had her bag snatched and she lost a few things.  It all happened too quickly.  We were walking down the street from our transit house when a moto with two guys came up behind us and grabbed her bag. Yea, they sped off and left us there stunned.  It’s amazing how a single small incident can take away all of your confidence and power. I was left feeling useless and powerless.  Although I was not the victim, I definitely lost something.

Besides spending the majority of this week wrapped up like a mummy, I also got to take part in PSDN training with 11 other volunteer (3 from my stage and 8 from the stage before us). I am happy to say that this training may have been the most useful and interesting training that I’ve done in-country. Well organized and actually useful/practical, I am happy to be a part of this group, and am looking forward to our task of supporting the needs of volunteers.

Well, I’m ending this post here, as I am off to dinner. 

FOOOOOD!!!!