Incident Report

Subject: Not-so-suspicious rash

Who needs a tattoo when their henna washes off in a week and leaves in its place a raised red rash that perfectly details the intricate swirls of the henna design? That's right. Three weeks ago I ignored the warning of Zanzibar's Kinazi Upepo lodge and had one of the beach ladies do henna on my right hand. (Stephanie: interestingly enough, it was from the black ink not the cow poop that left the orange koolaid stain). So I spent last week coming to the sad realization that I couldn't just call Dr. Max for medical advice, that the dermatologist takes a long time to get into, and that my Mom's house is not equipped with a great medical kit. The upside: prostituting myself on the M1 to get to medical assistance was not necessary. Lessons learned: (1) choose a henna design you really like, (2) the beach ladies should charge more for this special henna that lasts longer, (3) stay in Africa and no one will be concerned about the rash, and (4) most Americans are a little more squemish than the average PCV when the issue of rashes is raised.

Merry Christmas to all! Missing you guys and Malawi like crazy. I have to come up with a new way for my body to operate...living according to the day and sunlight means I would have only been active for a period of less than 20 hours in the past two and a half weeks.

Did anyone else get a kick out of the Red Cross setting up a hot chocolate and blanket aid station for those "stranded New Yorkers" who had to walk across the bridge due to the transit strike?

Love, Merilee