these are my confessions

Admissions of guilt are the order of the day. Before moving to Rwanda, there was frantic information-gathering: what’s the highest SPF sunscreen I can find to bring along? Which bugspray has the highest concentration of DEET? Which anti-malarial will make me less crazy? Where can I find a treated bednet for less than $70? What kind of bugs and snakes are in Rwanda, and which can kill me? Will bottled water be easily accessible so I can brush my teeth and wash fruit and veggies?

Well. I’ve lived in Rwanda for nearly five months. I’ve never used bug spray. I bought a bednet my second week here… and it’s still in its package. Sometimes I forget my Malarone (and it does make you crazy, no matter what they say). I’ve used less than a quarter of one of my three bottles of sunscreen. I stopped buying bottled water a long time ago; I brush my teeth with water from the tap, single-boil water in a kettle to drink, and more often than not, I forget to wash produce. Guess what? I’m still alive. No malaria, no sun-burn, no amoebas.

I’m admittedly much more cavalier about things than I should be with my health and safety, much less cautious than the guidebooks (and CIDA…) suggest. Life is a routine here, and while I know the risks, so far so good. Well, except for the time I did think I had malaria…

Just watch though - the day after I get back in Canada, I'll come down with pneumonia again. Winters in Canada are more likely to kill me than Africa is.