School Foundations

Work today in Occoruro was supposed to be spent installing all of the doors on the ecological refrigerators, but the doors ended up not being ready. As a result, we shifted gears and dug the rest of the foundation for the school we are building during our last two weeks. The project is going to be tough, but at least we finished the area for the foundation today. The next couple of days, we will put in the rocks and mud to create a strong support for the adobe bricks which we will lay on top afterwards.

After work, I went home and had lunch before going to El Molino, the black market, yet again. I really liked what I saw there today, and got a great deal on some polos for myself and the family. From here I went directly to Spanish class, and from there to a bakery to talk with the rest of the group about ofur presentation tomorrow on water filters in the community. I had the opportunity to try tres leches, a really tasty pastry with three kinds of milk and a smooth cake. We then all moved to Tacos Mexicanos, the supposed best taco place in Cuzco. The tacos were definitely different from those in the United States, but great nonetheless.

In the evening, the entire group watched Star Trek together, which was a lot of fun. I really love hanging out with the group, and look forward to many great times during out final two weeks in Cuzco.

Recovered and School Teaching

I feel a ton better today, so I think I’m definitely over the parasitic infection. Today we went to the schools and taught a review of the concepts we have covered over the last four weeks. This was done through a Jeopardy game, which the students found really fun. I definitely feel that it was a lot tougher to play the game with the younger kids because they didn’t really understand some of the rules. However, as we went on teaching the classes, the game became easier and we found ways to make the game more fun and easier to understand.

After work, I had Spanish and then went to The Night of Light and Sound at the Plaza de Armas. This was an amazing show of fireworks and lights and a great way to start off this week of celebration in Cuzco. There were images projected on the church in the plaza, adnd there were even some in 3-D that made the church move. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming festivals this week (Corpus Christi on Thursday, Inti Raymi on Friday). It should be a great time and a lot of fun with the family.

I also started my online genetics class today. It will be a little difficult to keep up with some of the assignments and reading with limited internet access, but I’m excited to start learning in a school-related way again.

Almost Better, But Still Resting

Well, today marks the third day after the clinic. I definitely think I am close to better, but the antibiotics are still going. They still make me feel a little funny, so I guess that indicates that I’m not quite 100%. I’ve also started to introduce other foods to my diet in an effort to bring everything back to normal.

Today we will be meeting at the office as a group to talk about our next lesson. Hopefully everything goes well and we come with a lesson plan as engaging as our past few. I’ll also try and book my tickets to Macchu Picchu for next weekend.

As a last point, I’d like to wish all the dads a very happy Father’s Day. Thanks for all you do for us, and I hope you have a great day!

Rest, Day 2

Last night wasn’t the best, but I definitely think that the worst is behind me. I woke up this morning feeling much better, and I feel as though the symptoms I had before are nearly gone. However, each time I take a dose of my antibiotic, I start feeling bad. I guess things will get a bit worse before I am better for the long run.

By the end of the day, I felt a bit better. I guess I’ll wait and see how I feel overnight before officially saying whether I am better.

Resting

Well, today is the day I was supposed to go to Macchu Picchu. However, because of events described earlier, I find myself at home, watching television and reading tour books. It’s not the worst thing in the world; I just wish that I could have enjoyed Peru’s most famous ruins with the company of my friends. I guess I’ll just relax this weekend, and try and book a train for next weekend to Macchu Picchu. Hopefully I make a full recovery within the next week.

The rest of the day was filled with sleeping and occasionally waking up to eat. Once again, I am so thankful to have such a supportive host family. I’m sure that my going to the hospital scared them a lot, and I feel bad for having put them through this. Nevertheless, they keep on supporting me, giving me soups to help keep me hydrated and well fed. I’m definitely feeling a lot better, and I hope that I’ll be close to normal by the end of the day tomorrow.

Uh oh...Salmonella

Today was one of the roughest days ever. I felt fine in the morning, so I went to work in Occoruro. However, by the end of the work day, I felt completely exhausted, and I didn’t know what was wrong. When I got back to the house, I couldn’t really eat a lot, and I immediately fell asleep. In the evening, I started to feel worse, and realized that it would definitely be wise to visit a clinic. This turned out to be the best decision ever, because as I arrived at the clinic, I felt worse than ever. The doctors performed a blood test on me, and concluded that I had Salmonella. That diagnosis finally explained all of the illnesses I have had over the past week, as the Salmonella parasite makes the body really weak. The doctor informed me that I would need to be hospitalized, IV and all.

The first thoughts rushing through my mind at this point were about whether I would be able to go on the Macchu Picchu trip tomorrow. I kept telling myself I could, but realized in due time that it would be foolish to do so, especially immediately after a hospitalization. This really made me sad, since I had been looking forward to this trip since before I got to Peru. I guess I’ll have to plan a different weekend to go to Macchu Picchu now.

Staying the night definitely wasn’t easy. I kept thinking about the trip I would be missing, but most of all, I was worried about how I would react to the medications. This turned out to be a non-issue, but nevertheless it was hard to sleep. The doctors told me that I could be discharged tomorrow morning and still go on the trip, but I feel like I will be a little too weak to enjoy it. Additionally, if something were to go wrong while I was on the trip, there wouldn’t really be anything I could do. As much as it hurt me to skip the trip, it was definitely the right thing to do.