After the Fou

My "being tackled by a crazy man" experience has sparked some interesting reactions:

For me:

• Anxiety around Guinean indigent men
• Anxiety in cars
• Started practicing yoga daily (until I came back to the US and felt lazy/ill)

For the US government (not an official statement, of course) :

• The Embassy did a security evaluation of our compounds. Conclusion: They are not very secure. The surrounding houses would enable similar crazy people and need to be fixed. (Hopefully will be done soon)
• The CD and her husband: we were all shell-shocked together, but they were great. They took me to get a pedicure to relax, they brought me with them to a dinner after I had my panic attack, and they still check up on me to see how my mental state is.

For other volunteers, mostly from a text alerting them to the situation which said "Mary got taken down by a fou":

• "Mary,  what the heck?" and other, more expletive filled versions of texts to me
• A lot of curiosity by G21, which meant I got to dramatically retell my story at their IST. And then they had no questions. Whatevs, I like retelling the story. It takes a step towards being funny every time it's just a story and not the most terrifying memory I have. 
• A beer-pong team named in my honor "Mary got taken down" (Beer pong, practiced in moderation by consenting adults, is not an evil activity.)

For the incoming trainees, possibly reading my blog while still in the US:

• What the hell did we get ourselves into??? (pure speculation)

But check it out! I can touch my toes now, thanks to the yoga!