While waiting in Bogota for my flight to Dallas, my left knee swelled up and gave me intense pain. This happens to one or the other knee every couple of months (No, I haven’t had anyone look at it.) As you can imagine, hobbling through the Bogota airport was an ordeal. By God’s grace, the pain went away during the 5 hour flight. I slept well.
It made me think about the times I traveled through Congo Basin Rain Forest with a case of Malaria. For me the symptoms were chills, temperature spikes and total fatigue. 24 hours of bed rest took care of it, but it was not possible when on the road.
Once I traveled with Hap for 4 weeks from Yaounde, Cameroon, through CAR to the Congo. On the way back I had to drive with a case of malaria from Nola to Berberati. It was an ordeal, but there was a silver lining. In that area there are many hassles at the multitude of police check points. That time, immediately after I told the police officers that I had a case of Malaria, they waved me through.
As we entered the church compound where we would stay at Berberati, we got a flat tire. To help me in my weakened state the pastor had his son change the tire. The next day on the way to Gambola, all 5 lug nuts came off along with the tire and wheel. Still suffering from malaria, I had to jack the Hilux off the ground to get the wheel back on. We found all the lug nuts. In my experience, they all fall off at the same time.
When in pain we tend to cancel social engagements and stay home. Once in India I did the opposite. Mohammed invited me to the wedding of his son. The evening I was supposed to go to his house, I had severe knee pain. I wanted to go to the wedding and it came to mind that suffering in my apartment would be worse than suffering at the wedding where there were so many distractions. I attended the wedding and my assumption was 100% correct. I had a great time and forgot about my knee pain.
Adventures in Suburbia 