A Different Kind of Christmas

I know it's March - but my first time being away from home for the bulk of the holiday season deserves some recognition I figure.

The Christmas season started here in Madagascar around the middle of November. I was happily shocked when I walked in to ShopRite (one of the local grocery stores) and there was a large Christmas Tree lit up and surrounded by toys right in the entry way of the store. Not only that, but there were many new things in the store that I have never seen here; things that we would normally get at home no problem. It was a big day! I of course called Matt hollering about the amazing discovery - he pretended to be as enthusiastic as I was, and agreed that we could buy a tree and put up decorations.

We also then had the wonderful idea to introduce our friends here to our traditions back at home. We had to do a little different, but they turned out to be fantastic. I don't think Matt and I have ever decorated our tree by ourselves. We have always involved friends or family. This year was just us and it felt a little strange. Luckily our friends Alex and Dave came over just as we were finishing and we decided to make angels for it. Matt and I did a great job but unfortunately it died a horrible death in which the glue couldn't hold up to the constant barrage of air conditioning. We put up lights in the all the windows - something Matt won't even do for me in Canada! - and had a great time bringing a little bit of Christmas here.

Taadaa! You'll notice our sad, mostly decapitated angel on the top

Alex, Dave and Miles putting their angel on the tree

Alex and Dave's much more sturdy angel. You can tell because
of all his muscles..obviously

Another amazing (to me) discovery is that Boney M., the creators of my most cherished Christmas album, are very popular here. So I know many of you complain when the radio stations start playing Christmas music right after Remembrance Day and play it through the New Year - quit complaining! At least it varies! I was in my glory, but someone like Matt, who only listens to Boney M. because I love them so much, was not impressed with them only playing Boney M. for two straight months.

2014 would have been our 10th (!!!) annual 'Lisa and Matt Christmas Party'. Can you believe that?! 10 years! I was very upset that we wouldn't be hosting that this year, and then realized that we could still do it, we'd just do it here! So we invited everyone over and I went to town baking all my typical Christmas baking. We had sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, shortbread, gingersnaps (thanks to Kent who brought me back Molasses), rice krispie squares (thanks again to Kent, who brought me back marshmallows), goofballs, and I even ventured into the land of making my own caramel corn. To top it off we had a hot chocolate and latte bar, and as per tradition everyone left with their own little package of baking. We didn't play games this year, instead we all curled up and watched Christmas movies. We started with the classic 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' cartoon, then watched 'Elf' and 'Arthur Christmas'. We were going to then watch 'A Christmas Story' and 'National Lampoons Christmas Vacation', but as per usual there was a bit too much Baileys in the hot chocolate and no one had any more attention to pay to movies. It was a fantastic night!

The stockings I made for Matt and I. 

Merry Christmas from Matt

Look at those pretty lights! We had them on the front window as well. Hooray!

My scrapbooking stuff even made it here! CTMH treat bags

Hot Chocolate Bar

All the baking! 

I promise, Ryan was having a good time. 

Nom Nom Nom

Our youngest guest! 

Several of our friends here were not going to be able to make it home for Christmas, some for the first time in their lives. This made me very sad. So we decided to give them a full blown Canadian Christmas Dinner. I know many of you have seen our sad little turkey that wasn't......thank goodness I also bought some chickens. Again we invited everyone over, I believe we ended up with 18 people! Matt and I worked all day prepping and cooking and we put out quite the feast! Turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted carrots, stuffing, buns, gravy, and then apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. We even found Christmas crackers, and once we got everyone seated around a huge table, we showed everyone how those worked. Matt and I were the only ones that had ever done them - and the few Malagasy friends that joined us thought we were nuts! We even made it a requirement that everyone wear their paper crowns. So much fun!!

After the meal, I was surprised by our very generous friends who bought me a chair that I had wanted since I moved here. It is a lovely bamboo recliner - perfect for sitting in the yard and reading my b...I mean doing my homework. It was so kind and very unexpected.

Matt and then left two days later to start our journey home for the holidays. We had planned a two night layover in London, as it's Matt's favourite city and we'd never seen it at Christmas. I can definitely say it did not disappoint! It's quite a magical city. This visit we stayed just outside of Covent Garden, in the 7 dials in a lovely hotel. We walked Trafalgar Square, St. James park, saw the changing of the guard, went to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, and drank copious amounts of coffee. Well, I did anyway...At the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland there were huts that served hot drinks with alcohol. Hot chocolate and Baileys with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles?? Yes Please! We also tasted chestnuts roasted on an open fire for the first time --- belch! Do not recommend. We also saw The Book of Mormon. That is seriously one of the funniest things I have seen in my entire life. We spent 2 hours laughing so hard that our cheeks and stomach hurt. If you have delicate sensibilities then don't go see it - mostly because the people you go with don't want to deal with you being all offended.....it's seriously amazing and actually has an incredible message.  We walked Trafalgar Square, St. James park, saw the changing of the guard, went to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, and drank copious amounts of coffee. Well, I did anyway. The weather was quite nice - though we were very chilly. It was above zero, but nothing like what we had been experiencing in the middle of summer in Madagascar. Canada was going to be fun....

Trafalgar Square

The London Eye

My tasty Baileys drink

 St. James Park might be my favourite place in London

This is what London looks like a week before Christmas

Regent Street

A lovely fair we found. So beautiful

Ready for a night on the town!

The Book of Mormon! Prince of Wales Theatre

After London it was time to come home. We picked up our rental car at the airport and decided what better way to arrive home then to stop and surprise Matt's sister and her family. We literally drive past their place on the way home from the airport and it seemed almost silly not too. So we pulled up and knocked on the door unannounced at 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday and our nephew Jack, and niece Coralynn come to the door and lift up the blinds to see who it is. It took a minute and then Jack started hollering "AUNTIE LISA'S HERE!!!!". We had to remind them to actually let us in, and the first thing Jack said was "Why are you here??". It was exactly the reaction I had hoped for. We caught them right in the middle of the pre-Christmas purge and thoroughly enjoyed completely distracting the kids from whatever they were supposed to be doing. We got a tour of their newly cleaned rooms and the play room, and then Jack sat in the middle of the stairs asking why we had to leave and why we couldn't sleep over.  With much assurances that'd we see him soon we headed home.

I finally understand what it was like for Matt all those times coming home. The closer you get the harder it is to sit still. I have never been away for that long and I couldn't wait to see the dogs and sit on my couch and just be home. The dogs did not disappoint either, being so excited to see us that Toby just eventually flopped over on his back and wiggled, and Clutch couldn't stop running in circles, being with each of us just long enough to get a small pet on the head.

The next 2 weeks went by in a blur. We were able to see A Christmas Carol at the Citadel with Nikki and Nolan, after a lovely dinner at the Hardware Grill. They even surprised us and picked us up in a limo! So much family time, and as many friends as we could get to see in between all the family commitments that typically accompany Christmas.  We spent New Years with Niels, Amanda and Kevin in Canmore as per usual and had a fantastic time. The dogs weren't huge fans of the fire works but they survived and didn't even hate us in the morning!

Champagne and limos on the way to The Christmas Carol. 

Matching onesies that we found in London.
Aren't we fashionable!

Coralynn and I, Christmas Day

Doesn't Matt look happy to be back in winter?
Sleigh ride at Christmas Reflections at Fort Edmonton Park

My two favourite nieces and I. 

Lunch at the Grizzly Paw - our favourite eatery in Canmore

On our way to a day of shopping (ladies) and beer drinking (gentlemen)

Seriously - can they get any more beautiful? I love the mountains

 Then all of a sudden it was time to head back. It was such a strange feeling. I was sad to be leaving home - very, very sad.....but once we were on that first plane I was looking forward to getting back home, and back to routine. I loved all the time with family and friends, but there is so much guilt when you leave because you know that there are people you didn't get to see, and people you'd have loved to see more of. We put special emphasis on family time, allowing a lot of visits, a lot of time with the kids, and a lot of time with the dogs. This is what we wanted, and it was fantastic though exhausting. I'm hoping I'll be a bit more of a pro at only being home for short periods of time next Christmas - that is if we get to be home for Christmas next year.

And you thought Canada Post was bad....

I realize it's been a very long time since a blog post by either of us. There has been a lot going on, we just haven't had time. I promise I am going to take time in the next week or so to do some serious updating, but for now, I'm going to talk about something new I experienced the past two weeks. 

It recently came to my attention that there is an actual post office here. Of course there are couriers like DHL, UPS and FedEx, but for some reason it never occurred to me that there would be a post office; certainly not one that would ship internationally. A friend had looked in to sending a package with the major couriers to Great Britain and it was going to be a ridiculous $180.00. We were happy when we found out that there was a post office that promised to be at the very least a bit cheaper. 

There are very many people in our lives having baby girls in the next couple weeks - or in the last month. Seriously - so many of you are having babies that I can't keep up! There are some ladies in the market that make amazing hand stitched dresses. Seriously hand stitched, they sit in their booths and you can watch them make them - many of the other booths order shipments from the capital city of dresses that are made in some sort of dress factory. I've long admired them, and decided that I would attempt to send some dresses for the new babies. 

I purchased the dresses and bought padded envelopes, wrapped the dresses in several plastic bags to avoid getting wet, and utilized a rather large amount of packing tape. We don't really have a return address so I had to make something up, knowing full well that if the packages didn't make it to their destination they most certainly weren't going to make it back to me. 

Then it was off to the post office. Thinking I would get all my errands out of the way in the morning, that was my first stop. First we went to the very large postal place that apparently is the regional courier for inland shipments. They told us they only shipped letters. Weird - they sell boxes for parcels. So then we went to the other building - a much more dilapidated building kind of hidden in alleys in the city. We walk in the door and there is a very small amount of space for customers, the entire place is sectioned off and has glass (plastic) from the counter up to the ceiling. The very nice lady gladly mailed my postcards for me - only $0.80 each - isn't that what it costs to send a letter within Canada now? Unfortunately, the packages couldn't be sent because they needed to be opened and inspected by a customs agent that wasn't there. I asked when they would be there so that I could come back and was told "Usually between 3-4 in the afternoon, but sometimes between 2 -3, and sometimes in the morning, it just depends on when and if his bus comes." That was helpful. 

It took two weeks of going every single day and either just missing them, or them having not been there that day. Finally, yesterday, I had success! I arrived at 3:10 and the customs agents were there, hallelujah! I had to fill out 3 forms for each package (luckily I was only sending three this time), and then the woman behind the counter had to fill out 2 additional forms per package. Then I was asked to cut each package open. After that was all done, I was given the forms and the packages back and was asked to sit and wait. I had my driver with me, thank goodness, or I wouldn't have a clue what was going on. We then sat and waited for 40 minutes. A man came to get us and took us through a tiny little door so that we were behind the plastic partition. A woman at a little desk had a notebook in which she was drawing her own columns. Then she had to write down all of the information on the envelopes and all the forms by hand, opening each package and inspecting every single dress to make sure I wasn't sneaking anything else out of the country. Once each package was approved, I was then directed to another desk to retake the package, and then I had to sign on the tap over the cut to prove that it was me that cut it open and not someone else in the shipping process. 

Finally I was given the go ahead to pay for the packages. To send three parcels, each weighing between 3 and 4 lbs, to Canada, cost me $30. They claim that it's going to be 20 days until they reach their destination. I find that highly unlikely. A friend send a package to Dubai and was told 8 days and it took 6 weeks. Honestly I'm just going to be happy if they make it! 

I've decided for the next batch of shipments I had planned - postcards and packages - I'm going to just get them all done at once so we only have to spend one entire afternoon at the post office :) What astounded me the most, which I know shouldn't have astounded me at all, is the amount of paper work that goes in to it and that it's all done by hand. I noticed that one of the stickers put on the packages was a bar code. I have no earthly idea what for since there is no way to do that. Presumably in Antanarivo they will have the capability to scan the item. 

Either way - it was an experience. So there are 5 post cards and 3 parcels on their way to Canada. If you get one, please let me know they've arrived, we'll keep a tally of how long each took! 

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Cake I made for Matt's birthday - along with the delicious icing I just posted. I made two round cakes and layered them together with some icing and raspberry jam in the middle. MMMMM Good!

 

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe (Ever)

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder *

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water *

 

*I have learned that espresso powder or coffee makes an excellent addition to a chocolate anything recipe. It makes the flavor of the chocolate pop and so intense. I did not have espresso powder, and after some research learned that if a chocolate cake recipe calls for boiling water, cut out the espresso powder and in place of the boiling water use fresh brewed strong dark coffee. It accomplishes the same thing. Worked amazingly for me!

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring. (I used parchment paper).

 

2. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.

 

3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batte.

 

4. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.

 

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

 

6. Frost the case with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

 

I put the cake in the fridge for a few hours and topped it with some maraschino cherries. So good!

 

Recipe credit: http://www.addapinch.com

 

Enjoy!

DELICIOUS Buttercream Frosting

I have decided to use this blog to keep track of some of the recipes that I've used here that I really like. This is a recipe for buttercream frosting that was amazingly tasty. When I made it I was short 1.5 cups of icing sugar, so I just used extra white granulated sugar. I also didn't have espresso powder - but I bet that would have made it even more amazing.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

 

 

Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe

 

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 cups butter, softened

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

5 cups confectioner's sugar

0.5 cups milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

0.5 teaspoon espresso powder

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

1. Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.

 

2. Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well combined.

 

3. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.

 

4. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.

 

5. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears too wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner's sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

 

Recipe credit : http://addapinch.com

 

So good on a chocolate cake! The guys raved about it when I made it for Matt's birthday!

Post-Malaria thoughts

I'm knocking on my forehead(you know, knock on wood) as I write this, hoping that the last couple of blood tests confirming I am Malaria free remain correct going forward. What an "adventure" as my dad put it when I called to tell my parents that I had contracted a bout of Malaria. An adventure, sure - if you count cycles of relentless sweats, pressure headaches, bone rattling uncontrollable chills, and oh so much heat on your list of to-do's. :)

Anyhow, as Lisa put it in her post I was the lucky host of P. falciparum (click here for the wiki link) Malaria parasites, contracted as best we can tell at the Tiki bar in camp in the last 21 days. Why me you ask? Because I was lazy with prevention, the blame lies solely with me. Like most expats that do a lot of time here you grow very comfortable with the fact that you have not contracted malaria in your time here. As we are not short term visitors, medically, it is inadvisable to continue taking anti-malarial drugs past 3 months and simply practice prevention through long pants, shoes, and spray during the ~1.5-2 hours a day that you are at risk (6PM-8PM) of bite. So wearing shorts, flip flops, and sitting outside during that time frame at the Tiki bar for the last 20 months on a regular basis it was really just a roll of the dice.

You see, Malaria isn't something that the mosquito acquires naturally as part of it's lifecycle. Mosquitoes actually have to bite someone else infected with Malaria and then bite you in order to infect you. The parasite itself actually lives in the saliva of the mosquito(yum) rather than the blood and is transferred with the initial bite. So to be infected you have to a)be out and about when the particular type of mosquito can be due to temperature/humidity b)be exposed and not wearing spray c)get bitten by the exact type of mosquito that can carry d)said mosquito must have bitten someone who was infected with Malaria within it's short 1 month lifespan e)within 2KM since they are only able to travel that far at a maximum during their lifespan. Add on top of that the fact that there have been no expat infections in the camp in months (I am one of 5 ever to get it from our expat community) and I won the Malaria lottery! Somehow I don't feel so lucky. Is this how the powerball winners feel? Hmm..

Anyway, treatment was pretty simple for those curious, I was admitted, tested, confirmed, and put on the following:

• 2 x daily x 3 days - 4x50mg Coartem (link)
• 2 x daily x 5 days - 1x50mg Doxycycline (link)
• Large amounts of oral & intra-muscular anti-inflammatories/pain killers to treat the symptoms (fever, headache, chills)
• Daily blood tests confirming organ function & parasite levels
• 12 x daily blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen level checks (these are fun at 2AM)
• Copious amounts of complaining to Lisa and milking every bit of sympathy I could (thanks dear)

Coartem is pretty neat, it's a combination of drugs that kills the parasite and the first approved by the FDA for use in the United States in '09. Very effective, quite "light" in terms of it's impact & side effects and actually tastes oddly like a fruit candy rather than the horrible tinny flavour of Doxycycline. Common side effects include Anorexia (SCORE!), death, and something else I didn't read. Kidding about the death bit.

Anyway, last blood test yesterday confirms I have no parasite levels in my blood. Minor symptoms including my current headache and temperature fluctuations are common for the next couple of weeks. Long term I can expect anything from full blown recurrence(low chance of that) to never having an issue again. I am told my immune system will actually actively kill P. Falciparum parasites should I be bitten again in the next ~4 months, but going to do my best to not test that theory.

Thanks to all for the love, support, and messages - they are definitely appreciated. Thanks also to Lisa for being totally awesome and sitting in my wonderful hospital room for 3 days whilst I enjoyed providing the utmost hospitality to Malaria.

Cliff's Notes:

• Had Malaria, it sucked
• Cured (hopefully)
• Am not a walking disease vector (for Malaria anyway)

More reading if you aren't suitably terrified:

1. WHO Malaria Fact Sheet
2. CDC Malaria Fact Sheet
3. Coartem fact sheet

Pineapple Upside Down Cake - make this now, it's amazing!

So being that I now have the time to experiment in the kitchen, and am trying all sorts of new things, I thought  would post the ones that I liked the best on here for the sake of not losing the recipes, and so you could give them a try.

I am not a huge fan of pineapple, but I planted pineapple plants in my garden a few weeks ago. Turns out that to plant those, all you do is chop the top off a pineapple and stick in the ground. This left me with 8 pineapples to do something with. I will share two of the recipes. This one was by far the most popular. Rave reviews from everyone at the potluck as well as people we have had over for dinner. So moist and delicious.

fresh market pineapple

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple (I used 20 ounce fresh chopped pineapple)
10 maraschino cherries, halved
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a 10 inch heavy skillet with a heat resistant handle, melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine over very low heat. Remove from heat, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pan. Arrange pineapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. Distribute cherries around pineapple; set aside.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

4. Separate the eggs into two bowls. In a large bowl, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and yellow. With a wire whisk or rubber scraper, using an over-and-under motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until blended. Fold in 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine and almond extract. Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip. Loosen the edges of the cake with table knife. Cool the cake for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plate.

Not beautiful but I promise it is oh so delicious. Top it with whipped cream and you'll never want another kind of cake again!

*** I do not have a cast iron skillet, or one with a heat resistant handle. I have a pie pan that is large, so I made the cake in it and just melted the butter in a little pot and transferred it. The surface of the cake is brown and mine was cracked a bit when finished. Also, make sure you gently do the loosening with knife so that you don't gouge the sides of your cake, but do not skip this step. It will not come out of the pan when you flip it over otherwise.

Recipe credit from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Old-Fashioned-Pineapple-Upside-Down-Cake/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=old%20fashioned%20pinapple%20upside%20down%20cake&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1

Malaria Sucks...

...a lot.

This past weekend, Matt and I were supposed to be heading out with our friend Ian on a 4 day bike and quad adventure up the coast. Matt hadn't been feeling like himself for the past week or two, but attributed it to work stress and was looking forward to the time off of work and out of camp.

On Tuesday afternoon, he noticed that his knees hurt, which usually means for him that the flu is on it's way. We went to bed and he tossed and turned most of the night. Wednesday morning he got up to get ready for work and said that he had what felt like a migraine. It hurt to have his eyes open. He went to work anyway. By the time he got to work he was sweating uncontrollably. He went to talk to his boss, who took one look at him and told him to go come, he looked gross. It is about a 15 minute walk from his office to our house, and by the time he got here he had completely sweat through his clothes, including his jeans. When he walked in the house my first thought was that he looked like he had stood in someone's sprinkler for a while.

He changed his clothes and laid on the couch, the sweat stopping after about a half hour. He fell asleep for around 40 minutes, and when he woke up he was shivering uncontrollably. I got him a blanket, as we initially thought he was just cold from the air conditioning. The shivering didn't let up and he decided to get in the shower. I got layers of clothes ready for him and a hot towel in the dryer and let him be. I went to check on him about 10 minutes later and even though the shower was almost scalding hot and he wasn't shaking anymore, his lips and under his eyes had turned blue. I immediately told him to get dressed, we were heading to the clinic.

Our vehicle does not have plant access, and the clinic is on plant site, about a 20 minute drive from our door to the clinic door. This is not a distance that Matt could have walked. I called up a friend who's vehicle has access and we borrowed her driver and headed to the clinic. The minute we walked in they noticed the blue tinge to his face and put him in a treatment room. They checked all the standard things - eyes, ears, throat, temperature - and did a malaria test. It almost immediately went positive. Everything was making sense now, as he was experiencing classic symptoms of malaria.

A regimen of anti-malarial medication, as well as pain meds were started, and he was admitted to the clinic for a minimum of 72 hours. The real pain with malaria is that the fevers and chills are cyclical. You feel great for a little while and then you feel a headache coming on, and your fever spikes and you are in a remarkable amount of pain that is hard to do anything about. You just need to get the fever down. I watched Matt go through 4 of these cycles. The one at home on Wednesday morning, and then one on Thursday morning were the absolute worst, though he says over night that first night in the clinic was pretty bad as well. I never want to see anyone go through something like that again. The pain from the fever (it was over 40 degrees), was intense, and it took 2 ibuprofens, a codeine, and eventually an injection of pain meds to give even a little bit of relief.

He finally fell asleep around noon on Thursday and slept until 4:30, and woke up feeling a bit better. Luckily we were now past the first 24 hours and things were looking like they might improve. Although there was the occasional fever, he never spiked over 40 degrees again, and was able to come home on Saturday morning after three miserable days in the tiny little sardine can of a room he was in. 

He continues to improve, though the fevers can still happen for up to 10 days, so he is off work until at least Wednesday. They are sure that the parasite is gone. This was confirmed every single day with blood and urine tests. He needs to keep going on the medication for a little while longer just to make sure, but it looks like he is in the clear.

They told me at the clinic that it was going to be alright because he had non-complicated malaria and it was going to be easy to treat. We got the official name today and I did some research. They are dirty rotten liars. But first:

Malaria Selfie!

A card from the guys when they came to visit - they are hilarious..

:( - the wrist brace is from a quad incident, but that's another story.

Spending three days on a bed that's so small you can't even stretch out flat is pretty miserable. This is the size of the entire room. So small. Though it did have it's own comically tiny bathroom.

So it turns out that Matt had Falciparum Malaria. According to Wikipedia, this is the malaria that causes the highest number of malaria deaths. Great. They did not tell us that at the clinic, assuring us that it was good, we had caught it early, and he would be fine. They are very smart. I would have lost my mind.  Luckily, Malaria is no longer the kind of parasite that continues to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life. Once it is treated and killed with the meds, it is gone. There is no vaccine for it, but it can be killed. Living in a Malaria zone means that you may get it again, but only if you have the unfortunate luck of being bitten by an infected mosquito again. The mosquito only gets infected by biting someone that has malaria and then biting you. They are not carriers of the disease on their own. It is also only certain kinds of mosquitos (females) in a certain period of their lifespan, that can only fly a maximum of 4 feet off the ground. So basically it's those damn ankle biters.

For those that are interested, here is the Wikipedia article on the kind of malaria:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmodium_falciparum

And here is one on malaria in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria

There are anti-malarial drugs that you can take, but they are not recommended for more than three months as they basically tear apart your liver. So the best practice here is to be religious with bug spray that has deet, and to cover up at night. It is far too hot during the day for them. I am going to invest in large amounts of citronella things, and am going to be looking for tiki torch type things that burn citronella oil so that I can put them around our little back yard, as we love to sit on the porch and play cards in the evening.

We are also very lucky to have a lot of support here. Matt's boss immediately made calls to ensure I had a vehicle with access on plant site so that I could be with Matt as often as I wanted, friends gave up their driver to get him there, we had constant phone calls and text messages (from people here and people at home) checking on both of us, on Thursday night a friend made me dinner when I got home late from the clinic, and we had tasty fresh out of the bakery oven chocolate croissants brought to us. Ian doesn't even hate us for cancelling on him a day before we were supposed to leave. People are awesome <3.

Rest assured that Matt is recovering nicely, has no organ damage or lasting effects, and is doing very well. Now lets just hope that I don't get it either - I am much more of a suck :)