Mmmm... Malaria.

As part of the preparation for the trip to the Philippines I was given a prescription for Lariam (mefloquine hydrocloride), an anti-malarial drug. Eleven pills, 1 for the week before leaving, one each week while I'm there, and one for each week for four weeks afterwards.

Of course how often and when I have to take them is rather boring. The drugs come with a lovely 6 page packet of information on the them.

So...

What is the most important information I should know about Lariam?
...
2. Lariam can rarely cause serious mental problems in some patients.
The most frequently reported side effects with Lariam, such as nausea, difficulty sleeping, and bad dreams are usually mild and do not cause people to stop taking the medicine. However, people taking Lariam occasionally experience severe anxiety, feelings that people are against them, hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there, for example) [sic], depression, unusual behavior, or feeling disoriented. There have been reports that in some patients these side effects continue after Lariam is stopped. Some patients taking Lariam think about killing themselves, and there have been rare reports of suicides. It is not known whether Lariam was responsible for these suicides.

When I first read through that... I was laughing to myself. I don't have much of a history with prescriptions medicines so it's rather... amusing, for me to see this kind of warning on the side with such dramatic side effects. And notice how that's actually the second thing I should know... the first is telling me to take it as prescribed.

So it begins... sort of.

Well I made a blog today... well yesterday given how it's past midnight here. This is a bit of an introduction to myself and what I'll be doing. Though most of the people who will be reading this already know me so I'm not sure if there's much of a point.

The most obvious thing to start with is my belief that pants are key to happyness. This can't be stressed enough. Wear pants, or at least shorts.

Anyway... I'm a soon-to-be 21 year old George Mason student majoring in Conflict Analysis and Resolution traveling to the Philippines for 6 weeks during the Summer as part of a study abroad program. While my own interests may not be in Southeast Asia, it certainly wouldn't hurt to use this as an opportunity to learn about the region and network with NGOs in the region. Perhaps my time there will create a strong interest in the area? Regardless, the experience from the trip should be useful as it will involve a week staying with a host family, two weeks at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) and various other opportunities to experience the trials and opportunities of living in the Philippines. Besides, I haven't been off the GMU campus for longer than a month at a time in something like 21 months... I need to get away for a bit.

Participating in the trip also comes at the glowing reccommendations by friends of both Al Fuetes, the faculty member running the trip, and their experience in the country. Many of them have worked on issues concerning the Phillipines after returning to the US, including raising approximately $300 that we'll be using to purchase rice for those living on Smoky Mountain... a large landfill with about 1000 families living there without government assistance or services.

This blog is part of a project of mine to document what I experience as, after my 2006 trip to Europe proved, I can't really rely on my memory alone... and that trip was only 10 days. In addition, I'll be keeping a paper personal journal and plenty of pictures (hopefully with records of where and when they were taken). Ideally, this will culminate with a book courtesy of Blurb.com and perhaps a version including entries from my Philippines peers. Hopefully I'll be dedicated enough to regularly update this on the trip as I'll be sending the link to my friends and family in the event they're interested in the going-ons.

Jodi just suggested I mention that I currently have more written in this blog entry than I have for the paper I'm writing... probably.

I'm pretty excited about this trip. It will be the first time in nearly two decades and first real experience outside the Western world and is certainly fairly exotic. From a conflict perspective it offers interesting opportunities. The interaction between religions, of NGOs and governments, the stark contrast of economics, a world of Eastern culture, a place where people who shoot at each other are attending workshops and discussing trauma healing. This should be fun.

Did I mention we're climbing a volcano, tending a rice patty and spending two days on Apo Island diving? The syllabus and itinerary (I think it's slightly dated though) can be found here.

Now to figure out if I'm going to try balut or not... I probably will.

P.S. My trip starts on May 20 and ends July 2.