Aug 22. 2014. Not Itchy but Hurt

“Ouch!”

I almost dropped the dishes. It tingled. I have not felt this kind of smart before. Was it mosquito? No, Africa mosquito bite is hurt, but not that sore. This sharp pain was not relieved for a while. What was it? Some insect rushed at me with a roaring sound at the moment I was bringing empty breakfast dishes. I did not realize that insect stung my arm until I felt sore pain. Was that bee? I looked around and reentered the office. A big insect was madly flying in the office. I switched on a ceiling fan to expel it, but it seemed to deride me and stood close to the window, behind the curtain. I took a look at it to identify what it was; the body had black and yellow stripes. It was a bee. A bee stung me on the left arm. All I knew about bee sting was that bees would die once they use their sting. But it did not seem to being dying; rather, it looked being invigorated. I checked the sting spot, but it had not swollen up. Luckily, I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, so sting power must have been mitigated. And I could not find the bee sting on the cloth (How big it is…?).

I kept standing and staring at this guy. I mulled over ways to eliminate it. Should I go back to my room to bring insect killer spray? Swat it with my hands? Hit it with a note? Whenever I saw a bee, I was busy fleeing at the sight of it. But at this time, it impudently wanted to be with me in the office, but I wanted to be here alone. It was early in the morning, and everyone was having breakfast outside, so nobody was in the office except me and my small friend, bee. I went out to ask anyone for help. I talked to a few people, and Tumaini thankfully accompanied me to the office.

“Where is it?”

“Right there!”

My last breakfast in Mundemu ADP for 3 times

He grinned, dared to reach the window, and simply opened it. A bee flied off to the outside. I showed an embarrassed smile to him because it was too easy for him to say goodbye to a bee. Why have I always thought about killing bee methods? I could have thought how to release a bee. I began to calm down, but I decided to have breakfast again. I already had breakfast twice, using the expression “Niongeze Kidogo!” but I consumed unexpected mental ADPs (adenosine triphosphate) because of that unwelcomed friend. Let’s go to have my third breakfast! On the last day in Mundemu ADP, I was having the last breakfast here for 3 times. I moved to different office room to enjoy breakfast with staff, and just then, a bee flied into this office again. I did not know this bee was the brand new one or the old one that had just saved its life, but anyway, this guy certainly disturbed our breakfast. It slowly gave a searching glace at person to person, and everyone froze with a feeble moan. It almost entered into a cup of tea and wandered around inside of it. Just then, a savior appeared and bravely thrust his hands into a bee. He silently waited until it came out of the cup. A bee started flying into the air, and he smashed it in a flash by chafing his hands. Wow, it got assassinated without any noise. His technique of catching a bee, not clapping but chafing, was absolutely elegant. So I could enjoy my third breakfast.

In the other compound, Community Health Committees (COMMs) meeting was actively going on. They divided into 3 groups, discussed some topics, wrote them on the big white papers, and stuck them on the wall. I wished I could join them and see how community-level surveillance of COMMs actually operates, but Oh… language… All of them were speaking Swahili. I knew that I feel headache if I hear Swahili for hours, so I could not be there for a long time. I took a walk with volunteers, Ruth, Matilda, and Veronica, near to Mundemu ADP compound, and took some pictures. The sun glared down on me, and I felt dizzy. I thought I was strong for the sultry sun, but I felt like falling down. Coming back to the compound, I tried to take a nap. I might have become vulnerable to a hot weather because I kept staying inside for a whole week and Tanzania weather was usually cool.

A pain at the stung spot was faded away, but the broad red mark, looked like an archery target, left behind. When I was bitten by black mosquitoes, it hurt, not itchy in the very beginning, and it began to itch slowly. I know nothing about a bee sting, but I hope my immune system is fighting against a new sting well.

Do you like this long chicken feet?

It was time to go back to town, Dodoma. We were waiting for a vehicle. In the opposite side, Matilda and Rose brought a big dead chicken out of nowhere, and started to pluck its feathers without any mercy. I helped them to pour the hot water to ease plucking all feathers, but I could not stand smell from chicken carcass. There was a Japanese Robin anatomy lecture in my Ornithology class, and I used to pluck the feather and dissected the stomach to see internal organs. It was not that pleasant moment for me to do it, but they were so good at removing all feathers, beheading its head, splitting its stomach, taking out all intestines, and finishing up by wrapping it in the plastic bag. They were super-calm during the whole process. Of course, they also enjoyed my frightened look. What am I? I only enjoyed this handling chicken sightseeing while these women were holding a knife and chicken body dropping the blood on the floor.

'난 너무 곱게 자랐어...' Can I see the chicken food again and eat with pleasure?

I came back to the lodge, the same room. I do not know whether other guests stayed in this RC-10 room during the past week. I brought my entire luggage to the Mundemu ADP to empty this room, and I came back here to unpack things again. Hmm… where is a cockroach? They should be somewhere… They do neither itch nor hurt to me, but it horrifies me. Anyway, I am glad to be back. But at the same time, I feel that I want to go back to the rural area. Anywhere has its pros and cons. Something is itchy, sore, frightened, ugly, skink or bother, but the thing is, there is no perfect place to live our life with full satisfaction. Let’s get used to that something and ignore or take it for granted.