So it’s been a really long time since I wrote, and a lot has happened since then. In june I went home for one of my best friends (from college) wedding. I ended up getting stuck in Chicago overnight, but really was only a 8 hr delay and by the time I got to the hotel (an hr from the airport!) and slept 3 hrs I was headed back. I got to Cincy on one of the early morning business flights, completely exhausted but happy to be home. First we went to get breakfast, and then did the dress fitting, then I picked up another one of my best college friends and sorority sisters from the airport, who flew in from Maine for the wedding. She came a few days early to hang out with me :) When we got back to the house it was naptime, then I set about getting my life organized. Luckily I was able to take 2 weeks of home vacation instead of 1 (since I extended my service an extra 4 months). On Friday, the day before the wedding, we drove up to northern Ohio (roadtrip!) stopping by Wittenberg on the way. There I had Mike & Rosy’s (the restaurant I worked at in college) and met up with a couple college friends that are now working at Witt. From Witt to Norwalk it was all country roads but it was great getting to catch up with Natty on the drive. Two years since we’ve seen each other and so much has changed, but when we are together it’s like old times. When we finally got to the hotel, we dropped our stuff off and met up with another sorority sister who had arrived as well, and we all headed to the reception hall to help decorate and hang out. Then we went to bed to rest up for the big day! Since my hair was really short and I was trying to save money (Peace Corps volunteer = broke) I didn’t get my hair and nails done with the other bridesmaids but instead just met up with them to get dressed. Kelsey looked so beautiful in her dress! When the time finally came we loaded up and headed to the wedding, which was by a lake on a college campus. It was so funny we were trying to hide the bride running around outside ducking behind walls until we found a “safe” place to wait for the wedding to start. When the moment came we all walked to the lake and it was soo beautiful. Since I hadn’t been there the day before for the rehearsal the order got a little messed up up front, but it was okay because everyone was looking at Kelsey and Jack, the bride and groom. It was so picturesque and a beautiful sunny, clear skies day for the wedding. It was over pretty fast and we stuck around for pictures, then we headed to the reception. It was very casual and fun, and I couldn’t believe they were finally married (they had been together since high school and I had never known them when they were single). I was so happy I was able to come home for the wedding and be part of their special day. And it was so exciting to get to see so many people from college! Who knows when the next time we’ll all be together will be – who’s getting married next? Haha

The next day we all pretty much just got up and headed home. Natty and I met up with another sorority sister in Cincy that night for pizza, so they could see each other before she flew out the next morning. I had a dull headache that evening but figured it was from not sleeping much the night before. The next morning I dropped her at the airport then went home and went back to sleep. When I woke up I had a terrible headache and later that night, a fever developed. So I figured I’d picked up something at the wedding, and just rested. Well that whole week the fever and headache continued, and I spent most of the week in bed or laying around the house resting. I was still trying to get ready to leave the next Tuesday, so I did some errands and visiting in that time, but the headache at times was so strong that I couldn’t stand up. On Thursday my dad called a doctor friend and he agreed to see me, so I called the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services and got permission to go see him. They did a flu test which came back negative, but the doc said based on the symptoms it probably was the flu (since the tests are only about 70% accurate) and that they couldn’t give me Tamiflu at that point so I’d just have to wait it out. They offered to do more complete testing but I decided to wait and see if I got better. On Saturday I was worse and decided to get some testing done, so PC office approved and they sent in for a full workup (Malaria, Dengue, flu, blood panels, various stool tests, etc.) and I got that done Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon the doc called and said I was positive for giardia, a protozoa in stool, so I did the treatment for that. Then Sunday he called again and said I was positive for Epstein-Barr virus, aka mononucleosis, which is likely what had been causing the fever, headache, etc. So I checked with Peace Corps and they decided to put me on Medical Hold, which basically means that I’m in the states until further notice (maximum of 45 days) without terminating me status as a Volunteer and without having to use more vacation days. Later that week the doc called again to say I was also positive for E. Coli, and put me on antibiotics for that. Though I originally didn’t present with swollen tonsils or sore throat, by Thursday I hadn’t slept in 2 days, could no longer swallow without excruciating pain, and my tonsils were so swollen and puss-covered it was unbearable to even talk, so I was writing to communicate. Unfortunately I still had to take antibiotics for the E.Coli treatment. But since I wasn’t able to eat anything but small quantities of broth and ice, both of which were painful, the antibiotics were making me very nauseated. So it was a nasty cycle, and by Friday morning I was dehydrated and felt like I couldn’t take the pain and nausea anymore. So we got an appointment with another doctor in the same practice (the other was on vacation) and went to see her. After checking me over, she decided to admit me to the hospital, so we headed over and checked in. They ran the IV for rehydrating and to give me the antibiotics, steroids, and pain meds. I was pretty miserable for the first day but the pain meds helped and allowed me to sleep, which helped my mental health at least. At home I felt bad calling for my mom in the middle of the night for ice or pain meds but at the hospital that’s what the nurses were there for so I didn’t feel guilty. The steroids helped the swelling and not having to take the antibiotics orally made me feel better, and little by little I got better. Once I was doing a little better, a few friends came to visit, as well as a couple of people from church and of course my parents, and I was lucky to have my best friend from high school working nights (she’s a RN) on the floor below mine so I got to see her lots! Then finally 4 days in the hospital (and on July 4th!) the doctor decided to send me home to finish the recovery. I spent a few days in bed recovering, sleeping pretty much 14-16 hrs a day. That was the most tired I have been I think, but then by that weekend I was feeling a little better and got back to sleeping more like 10 hrs. Mom went to Germany for a couple days, though she wanted to stay I made her go :) Then when she got back, I was there a few more days before I got the medical clearance and came back to Ecuador June 21st.

After I got back to site, I ate something bad and was sick with a 104 fever and diarrhea 4 days after arriving in Ecuador. I was worried about my spleen and/or the mono coming back in full force so I called the Peace Corps doctors and had tests done. They put me on antibiotics and the fever and stomach issues went away pretty much right after I started the antibiotics. The next Monday I went to Quito to help the trainees do a World Map project in the training center in tumbaco. We nearly finished the world map the first day (Tuesday) and I was going to be there until Thursday evening, so we used the leftover supplies to do the first Ecuador map, and one of the trainees had an idea for a mural that we started as well. It was a lot of fun getting to paint for 3 days, getting to know the trainees and see staff. On the last day, Thursday, the trainees had a lunch for their host families, and I ate the food there. Turns out they don’t quite know how to prepare foods yet, and by the time I got back to Quito (I was staying in a hotel overnight) I was feeling really sick and had a lot of diarrhea. I tried eating a little, but after eating nd drinking a Sprite I threw up. Then I threw up again, and when I wasn’t throwing up I had diarrhea. The problem with being sick was that I was flying out at 7am to get back to Guayaquil, then had to take a bus to my site, and had a big event Friday that I needed to be feeling ok for. So I got a couple hrs of sleep, ate some pepto, and went to the airport. It was dangerous – I had to go to the bathroom about every 15 mins even though I hadn’t eaten or drunken anything since about 4pm the night before. But I just went to the bathroom a lot, got to Guayaquil, and used the bathroom then got on a bus, hoping I could make it back to my site. Thankfully at that point I had virtually nothing left in me and made it to my site without having to get off the bus.

Friday we had a big youth concert that I’ve been planning with a youth group for the last 4 months, so I went to sleep for 2 hours then got up and had to get to work. I just drank Pedialyte and thankfully it seemed that the food poisoning had all been cleared out so I made it through the event without problems. The event was really fun, and though of course not everything worked out to plan, we had a great turnout and the bands that performed did really well. We had a break-dance/hip-hip group and a theater from Guayaquil, a dance group from Pedro Carbo, a folkloric music group, and a fairly well-known Christian group from Pedro Carbo (my host brother Jair’s group). We also had invited 3 other groups but they didn’t end up performing, but it worked out just fine in the end. I was very happy with the event, especially considering I hadn’t been here to do anything for the last 2 months haha.

Though I had just been home, I ended up going home last Friday for my grandpa’s funeral. He had been sick and doing very poorly for the last few weeks, and passed away August 17th in the morning. It was very hard for me to be here while it was all happening back home, especially when my parents called to tell me that he wasn’t going to recover and likely would be passing within a couple days. I wrote him a letter the day before he died, and thanks to my parents was able to go home for the funeral. The visitation, church service and burial were all packed with friends, family, and loved ones. His sisters all came, some from as far as California, Chicago, and Florida. And though Kevin had just gotten to Texas (for grad school in Austin) he also flew home. Ryan and Jenn and Ang all drove up too, so it was great getting to be all together again. And I know having everyone together made it easier. But these things are never easy, and I know it would have been much harder if I couldn’t have gone home. Grandpa was a great, loving, strong man and he will be missed by all.


Now I’m back in my site again, and have to get work “restarted”. The new volunteer who is replacing me is here now, so after 2 years as the only American, that will be an adjustment for me. And since I’ve basically been gone since June I’m going to have to restart all of my work – boo! Dali was very happy to see me again, and after giving her a bath today I got some pictures of her. She’s so cute :) Ok well I’m gonna sign off – hasta luego!