Welcome/I am officially on malaria prophylaxis

Hey hey. Welcome to my Summer 2009 blog! I decided a blog would be the way to go in order to keep you all updated on my whereabouts in Durban. I know, I know--I am definitely not cool enough/computer savvy enough to have a blog but I figured you may prefer this to emails and it'll be a good way for me to keep track of what I actually did this summer. This way you can read at your own pace, skip some entries, or just look at pictures. 

Today is officially one week before my departure date which means today I took my first Mefloquine (malaria prophylaxis). Here's the deal with Mefloquine: it has mad side effects including stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, hair loss, ringing in the ears, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, insomnia, and strange dreams. Apparently dealing with all of those things is better than getting malaria. Here's hoping. 

Another thing. I hate hate hate health insurance. Get this. You are supposed to take Mefloquine once weekly a week before you leave, every week you're away, and for four weeks when you return. I'm away for 8 weeks, which means I need to take 13 Mefloquine total. However, my health insurance will only give me 8 at a time. Not enough to even get me through my 8 weeks in South Africa. What if someone was going away for 20 weeks? Then what health insurance, huh? 

Thank you for letting me rant. 

Until next time.

dreaming...

Ivy