The Africa Mercy is out in the Atlantic, sailing from Togo to the Canary Islands for some much needed maintenance and rest for the crew.  As I am looking at photos of the departure and sail, all I can think about is how badly I want to be there right now.  Soon.  Not soon enough!

Well, that's not entirely true.  I do have quite a bit of work to get done before I can join the ship... Namely, I need to raise about $30k.  Awesome.  That seems like a huge number but at the same time, it seems totally doable.  I've got two weeks left at Disney and then I can dive in fulltime to fundraising.  SO if you are reading this and you have ANY ideas, speaking opportunities, or groups that might be interested, please let me know! Krissyonmercy at gmail dot com is my email address.

This last week was super busy!  Last weekend I visited the West African Market here in Seattle and was like a little kid in a candy store - they had pounded yams, gari, raw palm oil, plantain chips, and alot of other stuff that I got really excited about. The owner was from Guinea so we started talking about making yams and sauce in rapid French, I felt right at home.

The next day I experimented with making the pounded yams and sauce with goat meat - I had no idea how it would turn out - and it turned out FANTASTIC.  Everyone loved it! Yum!

Summer Ultimate Frisbee league has started, with games on Tuesdays/Thursdays.  I played well on Tuesday and then the Thursday night game was by far my best game.  I played extremely well, we won against a much younger team and it was just so much fun.  I love games like that.  Every Friday the crew of the Africa Mercy plays and I just want them all to know that I'm coming back with some serious skills.  Be ready. (smile)

I'm running alot, training for the Disneyland Half Marathon on September 2nd.  My friend from the ship, Emma, is running it with me and I'm SO excited.   I have a couple of smaller races between now and then, part of my training plan.  I never thought I would ever enjoy running the way that I do. 

Okay - guess that's it for this update. Hope all is well in your world - send me an email!

Love to all. Krissy

Check out my other blog at www.krissyonmercy.blogspot.com

If you've ever travelled to a malaria-endemic country, you know you have to take a malaria prophylaxis.  That's just a fancy word for a pill that will prevent malaria, or make it less deadly if you do get it.

When I was in the Peace Corps I was on Doxycycline, a pill you take every day that is actually an antibiotic.  There are very few side effects on a daily basis, as long as you take it with a meal, (it only took one time of taking it on an empty stomach and I learned my lesson on that!) but long-term, like two and a half years, of antibiotic use can slowly damage your liver, kidneys, and other organs.  It also kills off the 'good' bacteria in your intestines and can allow secondary infections alot of growing room. For example, the last three months I was in Africa and my first month home I had four ear infections.

SO, there are only two other options. Malarone is the drug most short-term voyageurs use, but it's not okay for long term.  Mefloquine (Larium) is the drug of choice over doxycyline for Peace Corps and other long-term overseas workers. However, mefloquine has been known to cause a variety of negative side effects, the most notable being anxiety, paranoia, vivid dreams, and hallucinations.  However, it's easier on your body and you only take it once a week, instead of once a day.

So I, along with my doctor, decided to try mefloquine while I was still here in the states and could control all other outside influences.  I mean, if you start taking it and then move to AFRICA, how are you going to know if your sleeplessness or mood swings are medication related or if they're just from moving to AFRICA?  So while I'm here, stable, and surrounded by people who know me well and can tell if I'm a little 'off', I decided to give it a shot.

Fail.

Surprisingly, I didn't have ANY of the psychological side effects (yet...), which were the ones I was most worried about.  No, instead I got hit with just about every single physical side effect.  Total loss of appetite, headache, and mild stomach pain bothered me the first 24 hours, but they weren't too bad.  Not bad enough for me to chose malaria, that's for sure. But yesterday afternoon at the gym I was hit with excruciating stomach pains which left me on the floor in the fetal position, crying.  Very dramatic. The gym staff was great, there were some nurses there, too, who I was able to explain that my appendix had not burst and my liver wasn't failing but rather it was medication related and really, it wasn't necessary to put me in an ambulance. After a bit it calmed down and I was able to drive myself home.

SO, looks like it'll be back to doxycycline for me. It was worth a shot! Today I'm still feeling some stomach pain and haven't gotten my appetite back, but it's nothing like yesterday afternoon and evening. Wow, that was terrible. BUT I'm glad I did it this way, because I knew it had to be the meds, nothing else had changed, I hadn't eaten anything different, etc.  So now I know!

Peace. k

A big reason... well, really, the biggest reason... I came home in December and am still here in the states was to get my teeth fixed. I knew I was going to need quite a bit of work; both  my front teeth were broken and I knew I had cavities.  This was the single biggest reason I decided to come home and get a job, as opposed to just visiting and heading back to Africa where I clearly left my heart.

Enter, job at Disney - it's been awesome! I was super blessed to get a job very quickly upon my return and while the benefits aren't fantastic, they were enough. Wednesday was the big day - two and a half hours under the drill for two restorations (front teeth) and six cavities filled. It was a long time and my mouth and jaw are still pretty sore, but I'm glad I got it all done at once. Now I'm good for another couple of years of service!  Wahoo!!!

And now that it is June 1... Shall I begin a countdown? 15 weeks until Gateway! (Training in Texas) Cheers!