the reason for my freckles....

This morning I got to work at 8:10am and the door was locked. I’ve been told that working hours are between 8 and 5, but I’m still getting used to African time (which means adding another half hour (at least!) to any given time). I wait at the door for about 20 minutes and a colleague shows up, lets me in and then buys me breakfast. Froufrou…a deep-fried something-rather that tastes delicious.

When Alima, the secretary arrives, she tells me she’s had a terrible weekend. On Friday night, her 6 year old son became very ill and began to hallucinate. Malaria. She herself is also suffering from a bout of malaria but tells me that she’s forgotten how sick she really feels to look after her son properly. One of the interns here also thinks she’s coming down with malaria. Her body hurts and she feels feverish. I tell her she should go home and she tells me she’ll head to the doctor tomorrow. I ask my colleagues whether they sleep under mosquito nets. “Why bother!” they exclaim. “If the mosquitoes don’t get us at night, they’ll definitely get us during the day.”
I show them the spray I carry around with me in my bag and they laugh and tell me that the reason some white people have freckles is because they use too much insect repellent. I smile and tell them that the good news is that if they use the repellant, the freckles won’t really show on their skin AND they’ll be more protected from the mosquitoes.