whack.

January 30, 2011
So, if I could pick any place in the world to be sick it would definitely not be Peru!! I’ve been sick since Friday and it is now Sunday and I still feel miserable. Friday night I had a fever of 102.5, then Sabbath I just felt awful all day. I woke up this morning feeling a bit better but I think I pushed it too much today and now I feel yucky again. I’ve been feeling dizzy, nauseous, and having diarrhea. It’s all just very pleasant. NOT. I want to be home so bad. I don’t have my mommy here to take care of me and I have to live in this gross scum hole and I don’t feel like I’ll ever get better! (side note: I don’t hate Peru, but our backyard right now is pretty much like a swamp scum hole because we’ve had a lot of rain lately.) And so every time I have to do business I have to trek thru the swamp to our oh-so-disgusting outhouse. Ugh, don’t even ask me about it. Haha it’s SOOO gross. Then after I’ve lost all I’ve just eaten/drank then I have to trek back to my bed and try not to slip and fall in the slime. When I get back to my bed I to fight the mosquito net and the slowly lay down because I’m about as strong as a piece of spaghetti. And when I lay down I still feel dizzy and nauseous. Feel sorry for me yet?? Haha
Ok, I’m done with my pitty party. But I’m serious about the whole don’t get sick in Peru thing. IT SUCKS!! So needless to say I don’t have a lot to share with you about the past few days… I mean I figure you probably already know more than you wanted to about my ailments.
Living in Peru has taught me enough things that I think I could fill a book. I can’t even begin to explain it. I was reflecting on my experiences yesterday in order to keep my thoughts occupied with something other than my stomach, and I decided some things. This has been the hardest best year of my life. I would not trade my experiences for anything, but I would not do this again. Nine months is a lot longer than some people think. Every student missionary has a VERY DIFFERENT experience so don’t compare yourself to others or expect your experience to be anything like theirs. IT WON’T BE. Pucallpa, Peru is a lovely place with lovely people, but I do not want to live here. I enjoy delivery babies and starting IV’s. I enjoy learning Spanish and practicing with local people. I don’t like living in dirt all the time and I’m really tired of our DISGUSTING outhouse. (have I mentioned that it’s disgusting?!) Different people bring different elements to a team and when you have to live with the same people for 9 months straight you learn that you need A LOT of patience. You also learn that there are some really great people who were just as crazy as you for doing this for a year, and it’s fun because you bond with them in a way that no one else will understand. I have learned to become flexible, flowing like water, thru every situation. And yes, it’s still hard sometimes. When you do this you learn soooo much about yourself- perhaps some things you wish you hadn’t learned… God is bigger and stronger than anyone or anything. And I’ve learned that I’m a lot strong than I thought I was…
And there are many more that I could put on my list, but I think that will suffice for tonight. Plus it’s about time to visit that wretched outhouse :(