Big City Life

So I came down to Maputo for a week because I had to have minor surgery on my toe. I had an ingrown toenail removed, and the simple 15 minute procedure turned into an almost 2 hour ordeal. Lets start from the beginning...

Late Wednesday night I got a call from our PC doc asking me to be in Maputo the follwing day before 5pm. The trip isn't too difficult, but I first had to let my school know I was leaving for possibly a week, think of something to give my students for work, tell the other English teacher to help explain my situation to my students, and secure a housesitter for baby Lucy. Thankfully my town gets going around 4:30am so I had plenty of time to get things in order before I left. I ended up waiting for a chapa to pass through my town for about 45 mins, and then once I did get on, we turned around and went the opposite direction. Not my fault, everyone seemed confused on what was going on. Finally we head in the correct direction, i get off at my "stop", immediately get a chapa (unheard of!) and take off for the EN1. About 30 mins in we blow a tire. Awesome. But the driver was incredible- he had all 20 of us off the chapa, tire changed, and back driving within 10 minutes. Impressive work. We ended up picking up a tractor so that slowed our speed quite a bit, so now the hour ride to the EN1 took about 2 hours. Once in Macia, I got in a chapa to Maputo but we had to wait to fill the chapa before we could leave. We drove around for at least an hour (probably more, my sense of time was shot by that point) picking up people, yelling for people to get in ("you know you want to go to Maputo...") and buying bananas and cashews. Ok, once on the road it went pretty smoothly. Once in Maputo the chapa driver kicked me out at my stop, and i caught a bus in the right direction toward the Peace Corps office. Up to this point I believe the trip had taken 5 or 6 hours (if you count the waiting in my town for that first chapa). In a private car, the jounrey takes about 2 hours.

So, once in the bus it was smooth sailing- I met another PCV on her way to the PC office as well so i stuck by her side. From the office I went to the clinic to have my surgery. Silly Anna forgot to eat all day (I didn't have money to buy bananas or cashews unfortunately), so when the doc started sticking me with the needle and pumping my toe full of numbing meds I passed out. I woke up in pain with a man in white speaking a funny language standing over me. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was but it came back. I got an IV and oxygen to help bring me back to normal, and then realized I couldn't move my limbs. I could feel my legs and arms yet had no strength to move them at all. Crazy! The doc didn't seem too worried, so he cut into my toe. My mobility did come back, and after about 30 mins I was able to move all limbs. Yay! The doc was pretty nice, let me lay there and enjoy the oxygen and iv fluids for a while before I had to leave. Two PCVs came to the clinic to meet me and help me get to the hotel with my bag.

It was an interesting day, for sure, but ended fabulously with delicious Thai food, 4 PCVs together hanging out and swapping site stories, a king size bed, and thick curtains that let in no light for me to sleep in.

My week in Maputo consisted of a lot of restuarants, CNN, air conditioning, MTV (called TRACE here), ice cream, and daily trips to the doctor to check on my stitches. I did see Anchorage on CNN which made my day and (as previously stated in a blog) received a few boxes which made my month. I'm off to site tomorrow morning- back to the real world! I'm curious what my students have been doing for the last week and if they'll be at all prepared for the presentations they'll be giving on Monday...