7-11-10

So this past week has been very interesting haha. One of the last things I talked about in my last blog was about how I was still sick … well of course it didn’t get better it just got worse lol. Before I jump to Thursday when I got really sick I’m going to talk about Wednesday, the day I thought I was getting better.

So Wednesday morning the other two interns and I decided to go to Ensenada for the some shopping and touristy things. We ventured out to the bus stop around 8:15 the only problem was we weren’t really sure what the bus looked like or even if we were at the right bus stop lol. The video I posted is of us waiting for the bus wondering where are bus was because we were there on time and the bus wasn’t but of course its Mexico and nothing is on time. We made it on the bus and in my head I was thinking is this bus ride going to be as bad as the one I took when I was in Africa last year. Good news it wasn’t. we were the first to be picked up on the route so we got some good seats and were all ready to set out on this awesome adventure. The drive to Ensenada is only about 40 minutes but since we were riding the bus it took about an hour and thirty minutes. After numerous stops through the different towns we made it to the final stop. We got off at the bus stop -which was a little different than what I expected haha- and headed towards the giant Mexico flag. A piece of advice that we were told was that if you are ever lost just look for the giant flag in the sky and walk towards it. on our way to the flag we were also looking for starbucks because you have to take advantage of a starbucks if its there. After living in Porvenir for 7 weeks whenever something like that is offered one thing I learned is always take advantage. We couldn’t find it so we decided to ask someone if they knew where it was. We went into a grocery and asked one of the ladies that worked there but it was definitely a bad idea because she had no clue what a starbucks was and when we said coffee she started taking us back to the coffee section in their store. After trying to explain that it was a coffee restaurant we decided to just leave and find it on our own. We made it to the touristy section of Ensenada and no joke we turned the corner and everyone spoke English, probably the funniest thing of the day by far. At that moment we were ambushed by Mexicans trying to sell us things and all we wanted was some starbucks haha. After walking a little more through the different touristy streets we finally found it and we were so happy. We got ourselves some awesome coffee and then headed out to do some shopping and get ambushed by more Mexicans trying to sell us things. It was really funny because a cruise ship had stopped there for the day so there were a bunch of Americans there and they all thought we were a part of the cruise and kept offering us cruise bracelets and stuff. We then started speaking in Spanish to some of the workers and they went crazy, they were so excited to hear us speak Spanish. Now yes we don’t speak it very well but compared to all the people on the cruise we did pretty well. After too much money was spent on jewelry, blankets, and other stuff we decided to get some lunch. We walked a little bit out of the way of the touristy area and found a little taco place and best part about the restaurant was that it had a world cup game playing so I was all for eating there. The tacos were awesome of course but I knew I needed to be careful on what I ate because my stomach was still hurting and I wasn’t feeling 100% better yet so I couldn’t try anything new like the two other girls could. After we ate Melissa and Elizabeth really wanted to go see the movie eclipse so having no other choice I went to haha but it wasn’t that bad, a little weird but it was only $3 so I can’t really complain and who know I may even watch the two first movies when I get back to the states in August. After the movie we needed to get some groceries so once again we ventured out to find a grocery store. We knew there wouldn’t be one by the tourist section because what person on a cruise needs to buy groceries lol. Elizabeth and I decided that if we came here without Melissa we probably would not have made it off the bus so we gotta give a lot of the credit to Melissa for getting us around everywhere. The sad part was I had been to Ensenada twice and Melissa had never been there before. We got our groceries stopped off at a local bakery and then were headed home. We got a lot of stares on the ride home. There were a bunch of young guys behind us talking about us lol we could only make out a couple of words so weren’t really sure what they were saying but they couldn’t stop staring lol. About thirty minutes into the bus ride I started to feel really sick again yikes and then to top it off the bus got so full all three of us had to squeeze into one seat. Gosh by the time we got home I was feeling so nauseous and dizzy it was awful. The walk back to the house was awful and it wasn’t even that long but every step I took my stomach ached more and more. I had VBS that night to and I had taken work off to be able to go to Ensenada with the girls so I didn’t want to miss that too so I decided to toughen up and go to it. Probably not the brightest idea I have ever had because it seemed to have only made things worse. By the time I got home all I wanted to do was go to sleep but my stomach had other ideas.

Im pretty sure I was in the bathroom more than I was in my bed. After a long night of fevers, trips to the bathroom and no sleep I was absolutely exhausted. I knew something was really wrong with me so I went to talk to Alison. She took me to the local Doctor to see what she could do. We got there, she asked a few questions about my symptoms told me she was going to give me a shot to stop the vomiting the prescribed me some prescriptions and then I was off. The interesting thing to me was that she didn’t touch me once other than to give me the shot, she didn’t examine me or anything so pretty much I could have made up all those symptoms and it wouldn’t have mattered if I was really sick because she would have given it to me anyway. So we went back to the house and I tried to sleep, tried is the key word. I could not sleep worth my life so I ended up just laying in bed and watching One Tree Hill all day. For those of you who don’t know what One Tree Hill is, it is my favorite TV show so I was definitely glad to have that with me. Four disks later I finally fell asleep but only to be woken up 30 minutes later to Melissa and Elizabeth telling me that Danna and Joshua were being adopted and leaving in 45 minutes. I immediately started to freak out because I didn’t know how to handle what they just told me. Danna was my favorite little girl there. The week before I had to say goodbye to Isabel and that hurt a lot but I never thought I would have to say bye to Danna this soon and to top it off I was too sick to leave my house to say goodbye. I was an emotional wreck and I couldn’t even cry because it hurt my stomach too much. I was very thankful that Danna got a home but also so sad to know that she won’t be there when I return to work. I don’t understand DIF at all. It takes months maybe even years to be able to adopt a child but they only give the orphanage maybe a days notice that the kid is leaving and in this case only 45 minutes. How can you give a child 45 minutes to say goodbye to all her friends and pack up her stuff. I feel like that is just screwed up. So yeah especially after that news I was feeling even worse for the rest of the day. I woke up the next morning well I shouldn’t really say I woke up because I really didn’t sleep but anyway I still not feeling any better and still not getting any sleep or food in my body. We decided that it would probably be a good idea if I went to the states to see a doctor. We set out that morning for the states and man was that a bad car ride. Not all the roads to the border are paved so the roads that aren’t paved are bumpy and really bad for my stomach haha. I think it’s about a 2 hour trip to the border so with all the bumps and the windey roads I somehow made it without getting sick. We dropped our things off at the condo then headed to the emergency room and wow that was an experience for sure.

Oh the emergency room where do I start lol. So Alison dropped me off at the door since it really hurt to walk so she went to park the car while I registered for what I thought was going to be a long wait. As I was putting my name on the list the guy asked me the main questions like “what’s wrong” “where were you” and so on. I told him my symptoms then told him I was working at an orphanage in Mexico for the summer. He looked up at me with a puzzled look and asked me what I do in the orphanage. I told him that I just work with the kids and just love on them. At first he just stared at me then he told me how awesome that was and how impressed he was and so on then he told me that he was going to see what he could do about getting me in faster. I said thanks not really thinking he was really going to do anything until surprise surprise not even two minutes later they called my name. I headed back to the room and they asked me a few question did a couple of examinations then right away hooked me up to some saline. Evidently my heart rate was really fast meaning I was really dehydrated lol looks like you learn something new every day. So the question that I got the most was not “what are your symptoms” or “how are you feeling now” but “you work in Mexico? How old are you?” I guess everyone thought I was sixteen years old haha. One Doctor asked me if my mom came with me and when I said no I work at an orphanage in Mexico and that my mom is back in Illinois he asked me if I am old enough to work in an orphanage and live by myself. I looked at him and just laughed and said I am a sophomore in college I would hope I can handle myself. A little bit later Alison came in to be my mom for the rest of the night. I was glad that she was there it was nice having company. Six hours later, two bags of saline, a bunch of meds and a bunch of tests later I was finally released. It went by pretty fast for me but I felt bad for Alison, it takes an amazing person to sit in an emergency room for six hours when it’s not even your child. By the time we got home it was about 9:30 and with all the meds in my body I was sooo tired. I was so excited to wake up and see the sun. I pretty much made it through the whole night with no problem and that was the best feeling in the world. I still didn’t feel too great but I did feel better. Phil and Alison have a condo here in San Diego so Alison and I have been relaxing here for the weekend. It’s a really great place to relax because right outside the back door is a beautiful lake so all I have been doing is laying around and waiting to get better. Alison has been so amazing and has taken care of me so well I owe her so much. She told me she was glad that I had another appointment that way we could stay here till Monday and have time to relax haha. So yeah I have had an interesting week but even though it has been awful and painful there has been a couple of blessings that I have gotten while being here. I have gotten to talk to my family and friends since I have phone service, I have gotten to sleep in an amazing comfy bed and get some good needed sleep, I got to watch the final game of the world cup soccer game and I got to hang out with Alison and get to know her even more. So yeah I have my hopefully last doctor appointment tomorrow and then I should be on my way back to Porvenir!