Sep
24thGinger Tax
Years on the equator. There have been plenty of tribulations involved with living and being in Africa, but one that most others don’t have to concern themselves with is the impacts of the more direct sunlight that hits the equator. Weekends at the coast include others frolicking in the pool at noon, while I hide in the shade until 3pm or 4pm. Mornings at the beach usually include setting a timer for ten minutes to limit the duration of my exposure. When friends wanted to walk along the beach at noon to go and get gelato, I had to decline. My one friend was really pushy, and I had to outline, clearly, what an hour-long walk on the beach meant for me. It was still tough; not only did it leave me alone, but they all sent me photos of eating (very delicious) gelato. I’m the only person on safari in a long-sleeved shirt and hat. When I ran the Lewa Marathon in 2014, I did so in SPF 70, a long-sleeved SPF shirt, and a hat. Careful. Proactive. It’s never enough. In 2010, right before my wedding, I had an irregular mole on the back of my right arm. It was excised, and found to be malignant. There I was, mere months away from my wedding, with cancer. It was terrifying. I remember foolishly checking the internet for my prognosis. They’d told me it was Level 4, but the internet showed me results for Stage 4 Melanoma […]