Raven (Letter to Hedlund's - May 3, 06)

I'm burning up what time I can by making up work to do. Today I hitched a ride to Leo (45 km away) to drop off a piece of paper (quarterly report) and come back. Took a lot longer to do than I planned, but I didn't really mind. I don't have anything pressing here to do. In this letter, I think, I'm going to write about my dog, Raven. She is quite a fixture in my life here so, I suppose, I should write about her.

Raven was the previous volunteer's dog and I have thus inherited her affections. I don't really take care of her, she dines at my neighbor's house, but she frequents my home almost daily. She unabashedly likes white people as proven when the other volunteers came, she almost wagged her tail off in ecstasy. I believe it's because she associates only white people with any source of affection. She is an affection slut when she's near me, be she knowingly expects a kick or punch from any of the locals.

She is a locally concocted breed of domesticated wild dog. Genetically, I find her amazing in her traits. She's tireless, unbelievably quick and unbothered by the heat. She's had a litter or two, but she doesn't have the tired tits of a bitch after too many. She's tireless in the realm of following me for 20 km without water or stopping. Fast in comparison to any animal I've seen, she turns on a hidden gear and she reminds me of a cheetah. This dog is truly built for this climate and environment.

I think sometimes of bringing her back to the States, but I can see how the freedom she has to roam here, despite it's harshness, may be better suited for her than the collared existence of the US.

She is a good companion to have. One of the few relationships, I believe, where she won't ask me for money or a gift. Just a pat on the head or a scratch on the belly.

She's also quite entertaining when she accompanies me on walks around the village. She likes to fuck around with all the different animals around town. She'll chase after goats, chickens, sheep, donkeys, etc. just for kicks. It's pretty funny how she'll upset a herd of goats and seemingly scamper off smiling. I tend to hum "Fuck with the animals" to the tune of "Talk with the animals" as she does her business.

I do prefer her company over the cat's anyday. I would like to spend more time with a dog like that in the States when I get back. Maybe a little one that can ride on the motorcycle with me :)

Needless to say, Raven is a pretty good dog, despite never being put on a leash. She's a constant companion that I'll miss when I have to leave.

That's enough for now. Hope that painted a little more of a picture of my day to day life. Take care and see you soon!
Love,
Laura

sorry so late getting this posted

Hey guys, how's it going? Sorry its taken so long to put a letter in the main to you guys, bu time has a way ofetting away from us. Things are going pretty well here at the moment. My Bike-a-thon is next week and I'm hoping everything goes as planned. If it doesn't, I'll just hide in my house a bit and have a few drinks. How are all the kids doing in school. I'm glad to hear Cameron is active at school. Tell him I thought the art club at school was stupid too.

Anyhoo, I bet all the kids are growing like weeds and its difficult to get clothes that fit. Well, I was walking through my village market the other day, it got me to thinking, This is where all the clothes drives back in the states end up. Here in one of the thousands of markets throughout africa. They get shipped here by some charitable organization and then what? I'm not sure exactly but these clothes aren't handed out for free. There sold like anything else in the market. In the exact condition you gave them away. The unwashed old t-shirt with donald duck on it, the unworn fuscha tank top, the basketball mom sweatshirt all arrive and are displayed in one big pile like ones made as if emptied from a trash bag.

People finger through them and judge the size, color, and wearability as you would in the states, but the basketball-mom shirt will be worn by any man and all the old white collared T's will be used as a 2nd layer of underwear for a woman. Style is completely unawares here. Its rather entertaining to see a male village elder walk around in a fur-necked coat meant for a woman in the states. Little moments like that keep me smiling.

Like today, at the mayors office, his clock was chiming for the 8 o clock hour and it rang out the tune "0 Suzanna". I giggled at that one, and then proceeded with our meeting. A dixieland song on an african day, a little weird. But Remeniscient of the time in December past, where it was blazing hot at a bus station and on a radio was "God rest ye merry gentleman", following "White Christmas" in orchestra. Odd moments seem to follow me like that I think.

I'll wrap this one up. I hope you all are doing well and are healthy. Looking foreward to seeing you all in June. Miss you a bunch. Take Care

love
Laura

Laura's First Weekend Home -

Laura asked that I post this information for those of you who are meeting her in Chicago on 6/18.

The reservations for 2 rooms are at the Chicago O'hare Marriott arriving on 6/18 for 2 nights under Laura Curvey. I have requested 2 double beds in each room. The confirmation number is 82920586.

The hotel information is:

Chicago O'hare Marriott
8525 West Higgins Rd.
Chicago, IL 60631
773-693-4444.

Laura - Let me know if you need anything else:)

Love you

Kathy

April 24, 2006 - Kights Letter

Dear Kathy, Don, Sarah and Kenneth,

Hey guys, how's it going? Hope you guys are doing well this spring. I know you've been pretty busy, but I hope everything is going well despite.

This letter , I'm going to write a bit about Larium. The drug I have to take every week to avoid contracting Malaria. Larium is a powerful drug that really should only be taken every 2 weeks to 20 days, but the Peace Corps wants us to take weekly in order to establish a habit of not forgetting.

The unfortunate side-effects include depression, hallucinations and extremely vivid-dreams. It's hard to tell whether I've experienced depression more than I ought to here, but I'm sure some of my moods have been affected. I've had no hallucinations that can be noted, but I have had some somewhat macabre musings on how to kill cats in most violent manner. The most evident side effect I've experienced is the vivid dreams. They of course range in all subjects from the mundate to the grotesque.

One that I remember vividly, along with the taste was dream sequenceI was a buffet of strawberries and chocolate. That one was delightful. But the dreams, the nightmares really can be very distrubing. Mostly for the reason that they are so vivid it's hard to tell or remember that they are dreams and that I can simply wake up. I won't go into detail, but it's enough to say they are graphic. Thankfully, I don't have distrubing dreams every night, but more than once a week is not uncommon.

Many volunteers cannot take Larium, because their reaction is much more sever than mine. One volunteer had to change medications because he said, "I was seriously planning to kill the children of my village". He knew exactly how he was going to do it. When he realized the extent of his intention and detail of his thoughts, he decided to call the doctors.

Another volunteer had such vivid dreams that they transfered into hallucinations so scary that she became severly paranoid. Such that she found herself in the middle of the night, clutching a knife, standing in the middle of her courtyard, afraid to go back into her house.

Most volunteers negative reactions lead mostly to nauseau, insomnia, or loss of hair. These symtoms are not enough, usually, to be allowed to change medications. Reason being the number of effective medications that prevent Marlaria is only 3. Larium, Deoxycycline and Malarone. Deoxycycline is the alternative medication that volunteers have to take daily if they are not on Larium. It's side effects include sun sensitivity and nauseau. Malarone is only used to combat a full blown case of Malaria and is a last resort and can't be used as a preventative.

Chloroquine, which has been in use for a couple decades now is so overused by the Africans that they've actually helped develop resistant strains to it. It's still taken today, but it's use is so common it's almost pointless. They are about to change their protocal for use in June, though, which is heartening.

So in case your wondering if I've had Malaria yet, the answer is yes. I still do. These medication (Larium and Deoxycycline) only prevent the spread of Malaria in your body, keeping it from attacking all your organs. If I stop taking them, that's when I have to worry. Malarone, the reason it's the last resort, actually gets rid of the microbe and allows you to live Malaria free. However, I still won;t be able to give blood for ten years, due to some chance not all the Malaria is gone. There goes my donor card for the Red Cross. Bummer.

So, now you know all you need to on drugs and Malaria. Good Times.
Hope you learned a lot :) I'll let you go, take care and see you in June.

Love Laura

Still more pics

Here, I'm talking to the youngest of our animateurs who helped with the AIDS activity. He is 14, but can speak 3 languages, including French. I'm telling him how well he did and how all the other volunteers were impressed by him.
Here's a pic of Elizabeth Olsen and my dog Raven, the nasara-affection-slut.
Here's a disturbing photo of me with a wooden dildo, preparing for the condom demonstrations in the villages.....yep, good times. :-)
Here I thought was a cute photo of a couple of my friends

That's it for now. Thanks for all your posting, please keep 'em coming!
L

Hey Guys

Here's a quick and dirty run down of my schedule coming up when i get to the states in June. The reason for it now is so that folks who are interested in meeting up can make plans with me accordingly.

I arrive Friday, June 16th @ 2013(8:13PM) at O'hare airport on DL 5469.
I leave on Monday, July 3rd @ 1320(1:20PM) from O'hare on DL 5465.

The first weekend I'm currently planning to meet with the Williams and Branins, not exclusively, and stay in Chicago through the 18th. The 19th, I'm free until the 23rd on which I'll then probably head up to Wisconsin, stay the night in Oconomowoc with the Hayes, hopefully. Head to Paul's wedding on the 24th, and then the cottages in Waupaca until the 1st of July. I'll go back to Chicago, I think, and meet with anyone who wants to hang until the 3rd.

Not expecting people to come rushing, but here's the general information just as a FYI.

This whole blog is rather a FYI, but it feeds my ego all the same. :-)

Oh, in case you were wondering what kind of foods I'll want to eat once I step off the plane, it's the worst kind. I want Chinese Buffet(all the sweet and sour chicken and eggrolls I can eat, NO RICE), then McD's, then gyroe's, then brats cooked in beer(Not in any particular order).

Let you go for now, I'll post some more pics from the AIDS stuff soon.
L