I have been sick more in these past 9 months than I have ever been probably in my whole life. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but in such a short time, it's true.
I've gotten sick with stomach problems trying to adjust to the food, I've had numerous colds, etc. I even got such a bad cold, maybe it was the flu, because I had body aches and a high fever. After that, I had a lingering cough for two weeks, and at the end of those two weeks, ended up with tonsillitis.
But to be honest, those sicknesses were not as bad as this past Easter Sunday and Monday morning. The Thursday before, Nestor and I had gone to a seafood restaurant to have lunch. I was actually craving fish; I rarely do. So we had lunch and almost immediately after that my stomach wasn't too happy. Without going into details, it passed by evening, and I was thankful. Friday and Saturday passed without anything happening and I thought nothing of Thursday. Sunday came and I actually had breakfast. After that when Nestor and I headed to church, I started to feel nauseous. I just thought it was because sometimes I get nauseous in the morning and it would pass. By the time the service ended, it got a little stronger and my stomach started to hurt a little. I kept thinking that maybe it was in my mind. When they announced that there was cake and a potluck lunch, I felt repulsed by the idea of eating any of that. By the time I got lunch, I could barely eat. I steadily felt worse and worse. And by the time Nestor finished his cake, I told him that I wanted to go so I could lay down. I went to go lay down, and soon after that, the vomiting commenced. I was sick like that all night and couldn't keep anything down, not the electrolyte drink that I got, not the vomiting and pain medicine, nothing. In the morning, I was drained, not having slept all night. Nestor came over in the morning and seeing that I could barely stand insisted that I go to the doctor. The landlady at Nestor's house accompanied me to the doctor since Nestor had to go to work, which was awfully kind of her. Her friend, Arturo, drove us to the doctor and he even paid for part of my medical expenses. I had never even met him before. Such a kind guy. The doctor told me that had an E Coli infection and told me that I needed IV fluids for being so dehydrated and to inject some medicine so that I wouldn't throw that up too. I had to stay in the clinic for 3 more hours with an IV in my arm. I hate needles, and I had IV. So it was not fun. The nurse didn't do a very good job because it hurt a lot and now my arm is bruised. I'm feeling much better now and am just now able to eat almost normal food. I was on a diet of just crackers and gatorade for a couple days. Today I was able to eat bland rice and bland chicken. A little step up. I'm nervous to eat anything more than that.
So it's was an interesting end to Easter. Nestor has been sick too and still trying to get over his illness, poor guy. I hate that it's not easy for me to jump in a car and go see him to make sure he's okay. It really bothers me that I can't do that here. :( He'll be okay. At least his Aunt is taking care of him and he's not alone. I'm thankful for that.
Hopefully neither one of us will get sick anymore. I hope this last one was the last of it for me. I've never had stomach illnesses before. I'd prefer a cold over that any day.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Safety in Peru
Ever since arriving here in Peru, I have never had a problem with thieves nor have any of the other volunteers since I have been here. But over the past four weeks there have been 3 incidents (2 with me!).
First of all, Nestor gave me a new phone. It's called RPM, and it was nicer and cheaper than my other phone, since I could virtually call him for free and send free texts to anyone. So I loved the phone. I was going to use my personal phone that I had bought for work, and the RPM phone for personal use. But I only had the RPM phone two weeks before I lost it. I don't know whether it was from pickpocketing or my phone just fell out of my pocket. But I was leaving an area of Trujillo called Laredo to head back to La Esperanza, and I had to take multiple modes of transportation since I wanted to be cheap and only pay 2 soles home versus 15 soles. I rode one combi (which is like a van), and I'm pretty sure I still had my phone after that. I had to get off that combi at some point, so I got off and got on the micro (bus) to get home. After I got off at my house, Nestor had told me to text him to let him know I got home safely. So I searched for my phone and couldn't find it. I immediately called my phone hoping it would pop up somewhere. Nothing. Then whoever had my phone kept ending my phone call. I called continuously and finally they turned off my phone. So I called Nestor, told him what happened, and apologized profusely. I felt horrible. I was so angry with myself for losing the phone so easily. He suspended the number quickly so the thief couldn't use the phone. I have never lost a phone like that in my life. But I guess there's a first for everything.
And surprise, surprise, I was actually starting to like Sudoku! I hated that game in high school and all throughout college, but I don't know what changed, but I was liking it more. I was actually sad that I wouldn't get to play it anymore.
The second incident with me came just two weeks later. I went to one of my favorite sandwich shops in downtown Trujillo for dinner (it was only 6:30 pm!) with Nestor. The restaurant was called San Augustin Jugueria. It's a small shop and it was crowded. So people are standing close. I had my money in one pocket, and my personal phone in my other pocket. There were two short women who cut in line in front of me, and that annoyed me to begin with. They wouldn't move to let me pass, and I couldn't understand what they were doing. They weren't ordering food, just looking around. I thought maybe they were trying to decide if they wanted to eat there, and then they just up and left. I was happy at first. Once I got closer to the register, I noticed that my pocket felt empty. So I put my hand in my pocket and guess what? They had pick-pocketed me! They took my vera bradley pouch and 200 soles ($70 worth). I was more mad about the pouch because I really liked it. And I was mad that I couldn't even feel it! I couldn't believe it.
The third incident happened a bit closer to home with another one of our volunteers. She was walking to the colegio with two other volunteers in the bright daylight (10:30 AM), and she was putting her camera away. She had been taking pictures along the way because it was her last week here in Horizon. Someone ran right up to her and ripped her camera off her wrist band and ran. She tried running with another volunteer after him, but the other volunteer told them to stop in case he had a gun. Of course she was very upset after this. I would be too! Both of mine were not as dramatic thankfully.
I was just surprised this last incident happened so close to Horizon and in the daylight. I am trying to be more careful with my things now. I thought I was before, but I'm going to be extra careful. I'm just thankful nothing worse has happened to anyone here. I don't feel unsafe, but I just feel the need to be a little more aware of my surroundings.
This is a picture of the street that we walk down to get to the colegio:
First of all, Nestor gave me a new phone. It's called RPM, and it was nicer and cheaper than my other phone, since I could virtually call him for free and send free texts to anyone. So I loved the phone. I was going to use my personal phone that I had bought for work, and the RPM phone for personal use. But I only had the RPM phone two weeks before I lost it. I don't know whether it was from pickpocketing or my phone just fell out of my pocket. But I was leaving an area of Trujillo called Laredo to head back to La Esperanza, and I had to take multiple modes of transportation since I wanted to be cheap and only pay 2 soles home versus 15 soles. I rode one combi (which is like a van), and I'm pretty sure I still had my phone after that. I had to get off that combi at some point, so I got off and got on the micro (bus) to get home. After I got off at my house, Nestor had told me to text him to let him know I got home safely. So I searched for my phone and couldn't find it. I immediately called my phone hoping it would pop up somewhere. Nothing. Then whoever had my phone kept ending my phone call. I called continuously and finally they turned off my phone. So I called Nestor, told him what happened, and apologized profusely. I felt horrible. I was so angry with myself for losing the phone so easily. He suspended the number quickly so the thief couldn't use the phone. I have never lost a phone like that in my life. But I guess there's a first for everything.
And surprise, surprise, I was actually starting to like Sudoku! I hated that game in high school and all throughout college, but I don't know what changed, but I was liking it more. I was actually sad that I wouldn't get to play it anymore.
The second incident with me came just two weeks later. I went to one of my favorite sandwich shops in downtown Trujillo for dinner (it was only 6:30 pm!) with Nestor. The restaurant was called San Augustin Jugueria. It's a small shop and it was crowded. So people are standing close. I had my money in one pocket, and my personal phone in my other pocket. There were two short women who cut in line in front of me, and that annoyed me to begin with. They wouldn't move to let me pass, and I couldn't understand what they were doing. They weren't ordering food, just looking around. I thought maybe they were trying to decide if they wanted to eat there, and then they just up and left. I was happy at first. Once I got closer to the register, I noticed that my pocket felt empty. So I put my hand in my pocket and guess what? They had pick-pocketed me! They took my vera bradley pouch and 200 soles ($70 worth). I was more mad about the pouch because I really liked it. And I was mad that I couldn't even feel it! I couldn't believe it.
The third incident happened a bit closer to home with another one of our volunteers. She was walking to the colegio with two other volunteers in the bright daylight (10:30 AM), and she was putting her camera away. She had been taking pictures along the way because it was her last week here in Horizon. Someone ran right up to her and ripped her camera off her wrist band and ran. She tried running with another volunteer after him, but the other volunteer told them to stop in case he had a gun. Of course she was very upset after this. I would be too! Both of mine were not as dramatic thankfully.
I was just surprised this last incident happened so close to Horizon and in the daylight. I am trying to be more careful with my things now. I thought I was before, but I'm going to be extra careful. I'm just thankful nothing worse has happened to anyone here. I don't feel unsafe, but I just feel the need to be a little more aware of my surroundings.
This is a picture of the street that we walk down to get to the colegio:
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