25 September 2008, 5:31 pm
First, I never get sick. Never. I also never get bitten by mosquitoes. In July of 2007, I spent the entire month in Morocco. I was mostly in Casablanca, but I spent some time in Marrakesh, Rabat, Essaouira, and Safi. About three weeks in, I woke up one morning feeling fine, but by four that afternoon I had headaches, I was very tired, I was running a fever, and even in the deserts of Casablanca I miraculously found myself feeling cold. I was also feeling very nauseous. When I got home to my host family, they made me lie down in bed and I was force-fed quinine. The following morning, I woke up still feeling a little ill, but very soon I was up and about. About a week before, I had been in Essaouira, and a week before that I had been on the beaches of Casablanca and in Rabat. It occurred to me today that I felt better after taking quinine, so I did some research and found out that Morocco has a malaria risk. I still don't understand how malaria can exist in the Sahara, and I don't understand how the desert has mosquitoes, but that's not what I'm asking. My symptoms check in with those of malaria, as do the times of development for various strains also coincide with times I was in the only areas I could think would have a possible malaria risk. Could I have had malaria? I know very well it wasn't something I ate, as I was very, very sure to make sure that all of my food was clean. I also have a cast-iron stomach and ate vegan, so it's not like there was rotten meat. So what could it have been? I'm intrigued at the possibility of the seeming quinine-cure. I suppose that not everybody bothered to read that all this happened a year ago, now did they? There's no way I have malaria any more, if I ever did.... read more
Share on del.icio.us
Share on digg
Share on Technorati
Share on reddit
Share on Yahoo!
Share on Furl