au revoir-o

it’s that time. time for farewell-wishing. fromagie is dusting schweitzerland with white cottony puffs. it’s my favorite tree here (formidable, ancient, cypress-like) and it seems to make wishes the same way we do with dandelions. the voyageurs are waving in the wind as if to say goodbye. the palm-like leaves fan out in great arcs. and i can’t leave out the trees with the hallelujah arms thrust heavenward. it’s like they’re having church in the hills. guess there are some things i’m gonna miss about this place. the nine overnight mosquito bites do not figure in this number. but i will miss my newbabies, sicklers, and regulars. i will also miss the beef brochettes at la reférence, french fries at ahidjo, the omnipresent beignets, the gateau kids, the poisson poisson boys, several new friends, the pineapple, the mangos, the night sky, the early morning light, and fish cooked every way under the sun (and under the sand). that means i’ve had to learn how to eat fish with bones and thick-skinned mangos.
i have not yet mastered the gabonese “o” that is almost indiscriminately attached to the ends of words (e.g. oui-o, j’arrive-o, à la prochaine-o). i love it! actually there is some rhyme and reason to it. it’s usually attached when the words are intended for someone at a distance or to add emphasis. but my favorite is the isolated “o” of accusation and/or disbelief. i’ve also learned at least five ways to say something annoys me. like the expression of grief, this is not a place where feelings are hidden.
i had to chuckle to myself the other day when i heard myself say, “si ça va, ça va, mais si ça ne va pas, il faut revenir.” some kind of nonsense, but essentially, “if it’s okay, it’s okay, but if it’s not okay, you have to come back.” “ça va” is used very frequently in practically every tense. after i said this bit to the patient, i was graced by the presence of one of big pharma’s tentacles. don’t worry. i was nice to him, probably a lot more tolerant than i would have been back home. he didn’t really have any pediatric meds to peddle, but he was interrupting me on one of the recent rare days i was seeing patients independently. my liberation had evolved a lot more quickly in pmi where, yesterday, i was actually the most senior medical staff member on the excursion. the same day i saw the pharmaceutical representative, i was offered some anti-transfusion literature by a jehovah’s witness. he’s giving this to me after i’ve seen three kids with hemoglobins of three in one week. i believe in transfusions. once you start getting these kinds of visits, you know you’ve been in one place long enough.
during my time here, i’ve diagnosed myself with gastroenteritis, lactose intolerance, malaria, scabies, delusional and illusional parasitosis, depression, adjustment disorder, anemia, and viral upper respiratory infection. that’s half right on and half paranoia. although, since i went fishing, i’m waiting for the schistosome-induced terminal hematuria...it’s rough being a medical student. but as they say here, ça va aller (it’s gonna be alright), literally, it’s going to go, and so am i...au revoir-o!