The Plague House – East Timor December 8th 2006

I’ve been pretty healthy throughout my time in East Timor but the humidity leading up to the wet season brought on my eczema again. Luckily I only get eczema on my hands and feet but in a country that is so dusty and flip flops are standard attire, it’s almost impossible to keep your feet clean. Inevitably my feet got infected; so I started a course of antibiotics which here you can buy over the counter. That afternoon I was in the pool with a student and felt really cold. Given that we have an almost constant 30 degrees air temperature and about 28 in the water, that’s a strange feeling. I returned home and donned a t-shirt, long trousers and a fleece (haven’t used that since Heathrow Airport) and curled up in bed with a sheet over me. The electricity then went out, again! This normally makes the bedrooms unbearable for heat as there are no fans moving the air, but I was still cold.

I woke up when Ann and Wayne returned from the Esplanada having got bored with sitting in the dark again. They then quizzed me about my medical state, ‘What’s my temperature?’ ‘Do I have a rash?’ ‘Have I got a headache?’ ‘Do my joints hurt?’ I felt like I’d just gained two parents. I did have a rash and a neck ache, so Ann went into treatment mode, plenty of water; as much as you can get down your throat, panadol, monitor your temperature. Fever, rash and joint ache are classic signs of Dengue Fever which they have both had as well as malaria. Oh shit! I though, that’s all I need. But the next day I was fine, apart from my foot. I think the fever was from the infection and the rash a reaction to the antibiotics.

On the Saturday Wayne was complaining he was getting old but he had just shifted 600 bottles of mineral water. We sponsored the water at the First Lady’s Fun Run. On Sunday we had one of our busiest safaris ever, with 26 people. A tiring day for both of us, but Wayne was absolutely shattered. On the Monday he had a fever. We are lucky at the moment, we have a couple of volunteer doctors working at Dr Dan’s clinic who are also divers. So Killian came round and took a blood sample and the next day confirmed that Wayne had got malaria. The poor guys’ temperature got to just above 40 degrees which is definitely no fun when you are having nightly power cuts of up to three hours and no fan.

Meanwhile, I’m taking my second course of antibiotics and develop a nice chesty cold. Ann was muttering she was the only one in the plague house that wasn’t sick. Wayne has now recovered and I‘m infection free but still coughing well.

The diving is still good, I saw a turtle, cuttlefish and an eagle ray on Tuesday. However we had the first rain of the season yesterday which could affect visibility. The rain had been brewing up for days, and finally the storm broke and the heavens opened with fantastic thunder and lightening. We all stood out in the warm rain and got soaked through, much to the amusement of the stall holders opposite. Some of the local lads were running up and down the beach in the rain but apparently this is very subdued compared to the first rain of previous years where the whole village would be out celebrating.

Trouble kicked off in the IDP camps around Dili, which was to be expected as the rain would make the camps a walking cesspit. The government are hoping the downpours of rain will encourage some of the IDP’s to return home, but all that happened yesterday were that more fights broke out.

Eli is leaving to go back to Norway so we went to her leaving do last night which was teeming with kids, most of whom I know. I presented Ane with her Junior Scuba Diver certificate and she literally squealed with excitement all the way into the house. I managed to certify two Junior Scuba Divers last week, Ane and Angeline, the youngest ever divers in East Timor.

I did a little detour this morning on my way to dive at Dili Rock. There is a lake just behind which has turned completely red due to algae. The locals are quite superstitious about this because apparently the last time it turned red was in 1999 when the Indonesians we ransacking the country. They see this colour change as a bad omen.

Off to Bali on the 12th, a visa run and a few days of R&R, can’t wait. I need new clothes, Joselina, our housekeeper, has managed to beat or bleach mine to death. My white T-shirt with Lycra no longer has Lycra so its now very long with no stretch and almost transparent in places. However, she is the most fantastic ironer, so although your clothes are completely worn out, you are smartly pressed!