finding housing, packing, and polio

So it’s never fun packing. But, I’ll look on the bright side and see this as an exercise in purging things we hold on to, for whatever reason, in many cases not knowing if you’ll ever use it again. We’re putting most of our stuff in storage and whatever doesn’t go there should find a new home at the salvation army, book recycling places or something. Hopefully we’ll be creative in order to rid ourselves of the guilt that comes with throwing a perfectly good ‘something’…which is how we end up hoarding things in the first place. It’s Thursday. We move out of our apartment in a week

I’ve had a hard time finding the right place in Dakar. When it’s right it’s too expensive, and of course when the price is right there are so many questions, which always leaves you nervous. Apparently, trying to rent a furnished apartment costs 100-150% more (while speaking to my sister I found out this was true of Nairobi as well). Renting an unfurnished means not only not having furniture but no kitchen appliances as well – it’s a big investment purchasing a refrigerator, cooker, etc considering we’re not there to live..decisions, decisions. I finally settled on a place where the landlady and I have agreed that I will take it only for the month of September. If we like it we’ll sign a lease and stay the rest of the time, If not, it gives us a chance to look around comfortably.  Cool. Of course this has been a good exercise, because even though I’ve never been to Dakar, I now have a relatively good understanding of the geography of it including some demographics.  I’ve had to learn through reading and asking (people I know here and bloggers) about neighborhoods, particular urban issues, and so on.

We’ve finally gotten all our immunization shots (all 8 of them) which included a polio shot. Polio??? I know, you’re thinking didn’t they eradicate that? well not really, but I didn’t even know they had adult booster shots. Like, can I get polio? (exact question I posed to my Doctor and she said to play it safe, so we are).  I got all the side effects of the Tetanus shot (which also covered diphtheria and whooping cough); muscle sores, fever etc…I searched online and it turns out a good number of people get affected, definitely wasn’t fun. I loaded up on my ibuprofen and it all lasted 2 days. Oh, well. This of course made me nervous for my yellow fever shot, but that went ok, no stories to report. I should mention however, since I’m a glutton for punishment, I went ahead and had my wisdom tooth removed. My dentist has been trying to get me to do it for over 2 yrs. You don’t need it plus it has cavity, she said. I still don’t buy the first argument, but since I’m going away and wouldn’t want problems, I had it pulled. Wasn’t as painful as anticipated so, yey !

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avoiding malaria…

So, one of the things I’ve had to do is test for a certain enzyme deficiency (G6PD) or Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. What do you know? I tested positive, never even heard of it until now.  Like the sickle cell trait it’s one of those things that a good number of sub-Saharan Africans have (20% maybe and as a result a good number of African Americans as well, about 15%).  The reason I bring up the sickle cell trait is that interestingly they are both genetic and apparently, both assist in resisting malaria — some evolutionary necessity I’m sure.  However, G6PD deficiency makes it difficult to use certain drugs/medication including antimalarial drugs such as those with quinine in them for example. This is just about – and I’m guessing here – 80% of anti-malarial drugs! Although I think we are talking quantity here as well, since I would have to take them all year and its probably more about how much quinine or whatever you are in-taking — my own analysis but I think there’s truth to it. (I was almost beginning to think gin and tonic was out for me ! Yes, apparently tonic water has quinine in it – I didn’t know that. That explain the taste?) Actually, that’s OK, I’m not so big on gin and tonic anyway So, of course the obvious choice of drug for someone with this situation is Lariam (generically referred to as mefloquine).

Well, here’s the catch, the drug I’ve used in the past (and most Americans who travel to malaria zones) has been researched and results show that it causes hallucinations and other side effects that in some cases have been irreversible! And, if that didn’t scare you,  I’ve had to sign a form stating that I’ve been informed of the side effects of Lariam. I get it, they want us to take all this very seriously. So, needless to say I’m up reading my health literature and looking at all antimalarial options out there. Sometimes I wonder, is malaria that serious when you’re in a zone? I mean they’re all tropical doctors over there, they’re up to date on malarial issues, and the real issue is access to health care, is it? isn’t it? Oh, I don’t know…

I’ll be visiting my doctor for a long conversation.

Senegalese cuisine, pre-departure…

So I recently got back from my Fulbright pre-departure orientation in DC. Everything now seems to be in high gear because its getting closer to the time we leave. The ‘TO DO’ lists get longer and more detailed by the day. Of course my sense for everything Senegalese is heightened as I try to familiarize myself with the country information (culture, people, food etc). Yesterday while flipping through channels I suddenly stopped on Iron Chef because they were featuring a Senegalese chef and restaurant owner in New York as the challenger — Pierre Thiam. Later after the show, I found out that he owns a couple of restaurants Yolele (also the title of his cookbook) and Le Grand Dakar both in Brooklyn. I don’t remember ever deliberately watching Iron Chef (my husband watches it every now and then) but of course this was an interesting surprise for me. The iron chef he challenged was Bobby Flay. You can read more about the episode here.  I learned some more about Senegalese cooking which I’m definitely looking forward to (eating yes, but learning to cook as well) including an interesting culinary influence that I didn’t know about — Vietnamese.

Chef Pierre Thiam (source: brooklynpaper.com)

So, these are not the only 2 Senegalese restaurants available in NY (while we’re on NYC), actually far from it. I know this because towards the end of last summer, my husband and I ate at one in Harlem, Africa Kine.  And, we’ve since learned that Brooklyn is home to several. This BBC video on NYC’s ‘Little Senegal’ might explain why…