Dreams

The thing about going to tropical foreign countries, aside from the excellent beaches and abundant fruit, is the diseases. Several months ago, we were vaccinated against all that we could be, but malaria is one of those bugs that does not yet have a vaccine. Dr. Wiki will explain more about malaria if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria. To prevent malaria when traveling to an endemic area, people generally use a combination of insect repellent, bednets, avoidance (i.e. don't go outside late at night when the mosquitoes are biting), and chemoprophylaxis (read: antimalarials). Just a few days ago, E and I took our first dose of mefloquine, which is taken once per week. Mefloquine is the drug of choice in many areas now because of the prevalence of chloroquine-resistant malaria. One thing that many travelers will tell you about the antimalarials is the vivid dreams and hallucinations that they cause. A famous story at my school involves a very well-recognized doctor running naked through the halls of an African hospital after he started taking his mefloquine. We prepared ourselves for the worst, but so far, nothing out of the ordinary. However, it does mean that we're leaving for Kenya very soon!