Malaria? Heat Exhaustion?

During a meeting I started feeling sick and felt ready to pass out by the time I arrived back at branch office. I knew I had a fever and my skin felt like it was on fire. Russel ran to the village market to try and find a doctor but the nearest one was several villages away. Instead he came back with a thermometer and some physician’s samples of various medicines. My temperature stayed around 101 for the rest of the night and I just couldn’t cool down. Although I should note that it is pretty much impossible to cool down anyway when its 90+ degrees outside and the rolling blackouts limit any air circulation that the fans could provide. Finally Russel came up with the plan: Anna must give me a cold water sponge bath in order to cool me down. I must at admit I was pretty miserable at that time but the fact that Anna was going to have to do that did cheer me up! So there I was laying on my back on the concrete floor of a Grameen Bank Branch Office Manager’s bedroom scandalously showing my kneecaps and elbows while Anna doused me in cold water. Luckily for me the combo of random meds and a cold water splashdown got me through until the next morning!