ET

ET= early termination

Yes, ladies and gentlemen we have officially quit and are now in the U.S. I must admit thus far the whole experience seems pretty surreal... Anyway, there was only so much I could take in terms of being extremely unhealthy. Right before we left, in addition to the kidney stones, I also accrued malaria (again) and then giardia (intestinal parasite). So we were supposed to leave earlier, but the medical office decided it would not be best for me to leave with three different things going on--- not to mention the fact that I was on like 6-7 different meds, which ended up equaling about 15-20 pills per day. It felt like I was a 90 year old trying to hold onto life, when hello---- I am 24.

It took the two of us several months to reach the quitting-conclusion, but I definitely said that if I ever got 'very sick' again that I was going to quit--- and like magic one week later, exactly 2 days before we were supposed to go on vacation with some friends to Ghana, the kidney stones arrived. Let me just say.... kidney stones are probably the most painful thing I have ever encountered--- so basically hope it never happens to you. Funny thing is, the PC medical officers told me that Malian water was most likely the cause of the problem. (the water having many more minerals, and it being impossible to stay adequately hydrated here = malian kidney stones)

So where do we go from here? Who knows? I sure as hell don't. I have some vague 'plans', but nothing really deserving of being called a plan. Right now I am going to try to let me body get back to normal, eventually I'll get a job I suppose, maybe move to CA (lots of family there)... all I know right now is that quitting was the right decision. And as Tim said, sometimes it is more difficult to quit than it is to stay. I would say that I have to agree. It's not like all of my 'plans' thus far have actually been plans anyway. There is this quote in The Dark Tower book 7 (not that I read it, but I live vicariously through Tim sometimes) that says something to the effect of 'people who end up exactly where they thought they would be, end up shooting their faces off.' I never thought I would leave any university with three degrees (it's kind of obnoxious actually); I never thought I would be legally married at 22; I never thought I would actually live in Africa or join the Peace Corps; I never thought I would quit and end up where I am now (Byron, GA).... but I am okay with it all--- or rather I am happy with everything. C'est la vie.