It has now been a week since my injury, and while I can walk and have been gradually getting better, I feel like I'm not healing fast enough, and then today it started hurting pretty badly again, so tomorrow I'm going to the doctor. This entails taking time out of work and getting someone to drive me to town, which is an hour away, and paying out-of-pocket to be seen by a doctor (I'll be getting reimbursed eventually, but this means I'll have no spending money this weekend, and I was planning on actually getting off-campus this time). They'll probably tell me I'm fine, keep off it, wrap it, take painkillers, and you should've come sooner just to be sure. That's what I'm hoping anyway. You have no idea how upset I'll be if I lose full use of one of my limbs. I'm probably just being paranoid, but I just want to be sure.
This past weekend I was going to go to town on a little souvenir-shopping spree, but there was a problem with accounting and nobody got paid until Tuesday, so the people who were going to town this weekend and were going to take me with them didn't go, and that, coupled with my injury, made me restless and annoyed all weekend. I slept and read and got a little bit of cleaning done when I could stand long enough. I couldn't even enjoy the scenery because that involved walking around, which I couldn't really do for any extended period of time. And I was not feeling creative at all either. It would've been okay if I'd felt inspired to draw or write or something, but I wasn't. Believe me, I tried, and nothing really happened. All I wanted to do this weekend was get out and be able to walk, run, climb. Or dance, because I've been listening to tango music lately and it's kind of made me want to get back into ballroom dance upon my return to the States. But clearly that wasn't happening.
I was kind of glad when Monday came. I'd only taken Thursday out of work, and Friday I couldn't do much, but by Monday I was feeling better. At the library, I've been printing and binding the manuals that the students use for their coursework, which is rather tedious, but it must be done. I've also been cataloging, covering, and shelving new materials, re-cataloging some old materials that were done poorly, and it's going to be a semester-long project to catalog a collection of reports which have been hanging around for a while, on top of my other responsibilities.
Speaking of, none of the books promised to us by neighboring public libraries have come in yet (meaning they're not ready to be picked up yet, because we're the ones who have to arrange transportation). I'm rather anxious to get started on these so that they can be in the collection for the majority of the time that the students will be here.
Another thing which I'm in charge of is displays. There are four altogether: a case, a table, and two bulletin boards. The display case is for the whole semester, the table changes to suit the unit topic that the students are working on that week, and the bulletin boards change whenever there's new stuff to share, which is approximately once a month. The students haven't actually arrived yet, so all I've had to do so far is take down last year's crap on the bulletin boards. Sunel is in charge of the college's newsletter, and when that's done I will put it up on the bulletin boards, but since there's not a lot happening here without students, those will remain bare for another couple of weeks. Next week I'll put together a unit-themed display for the table, because thus far I haven't been told what topic they'll be studying first. I did, however, figure out what I wanted to do for the year-long display, and it's actually nearly finished.
The only thing I've been able to put up on the bulletin boards so far is 2010's environmental calendar, which, just like it sounds, has all the dates in the year which have environmental significance, such as arbor day and earth hour and such. For community outreach/environmental education, I'm working with the community outreach director to pick a couple of important environmental days and come up with some activities to do with people in the community related to those days which will foster support for environmentally friendly living. God, I've turned into such a tree-hugger.
Anyway, the United Nations has declared 2010 the year of biodiversity, so that's what I'm doing my semi-permanent display case on. I've collected resources on the topic of biodiversity from the library's collection as well as from environmental organizations in the region and put together a display encompassing what biodiversity is, what the initiative means globally, and what is being done locally to support biodiversity (and ways in which everyone personally can help). I'm almost done with this one. I've got a couple of really pertinent reports from local organizations to print, bind, catalog, and add to the display, but I've more or less got this one under control.
So, other stuff...Tuesday I went to town in the morning with Sunel and Gawie, because, as I mentioned, that's when everyone got paid, so we took a half-day in order get some grocery shopping done as well as pick up some things for the resource center. I made sure to get a ton of chocolate. I'm serious. I was dying without it. I mean, I had some, but it was precious little, and with the last two weekends not being able to go to town meant that what I had needed to be stretched. Chocolate is not a non-essential item to me. I mean it. So, anyway, after the town trip I was happy. I also think that walking around as much as I did is what made my knee start hurting again. But, I was able to procure most of the correct ingredients to make a 7-minute microwave chocolate cake, which isn't half bad, considering. Not what I'd call a masterpiece of dessert dining, but when it's what you've got, it works.
Also, I've mentioned this to a couple of people personally already, but I just wanted to share that there's a fruit here called marula. It kind of tastes like a mild cross of a plum and a kiwi. You bite a hole in the skin, squeeze the innards into your mouth, and suck the fruit/juice off the pit and then spit it out. It's really good. Apparently it makes good liquor too, because that's what amarula is made from, although I've never had it.
Aside from the injury, I'm doing pretty well down here. I'm getting used to the heat and the bugs, the scenery is beautiful, the animals are great, and I like my job. I do miss people back home, and having a reliable/convenient internet connection, and the ability to consume seafood on a regular basis (we're pretty far inland and it's really expensive so I haven't had it since I got here almost a month ago...which is tough on someone who grew up in the Ocean State). Once I am fully healed, I'll be able to go on weekend excursions like the cheetah rehabilitation center or the shangaani village or whitewater rafting or horseback riding or hiking through the bush. I'm sure I'll like it here a lot better when I'm able to do those things instead of sitting at home like a cripple.
And tomorrow I go to the doctor, which I'm not precisely looking forward to the experience of, but I do want to know what the Hell is going on inside my knee.
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