Peru Got Me: Traveler's Illness

Sorry for not posting earlier this week but I was quite ill the night of my last post and the next day as well. Then I had nothing to post about so I waited until I had done enough to entertain you all and not feel pitiful for writing one paragraph about how I was sick. So there is lots to read now!

Let's start with the night I last posted, I had mentioned I wasn't feeling well and came in to sleep very early. About an hour after launching that post I fell asleep, then woke up at 11 pm with extreme stomach pains, feeling nauseous, and having terrible gas. I'm sorry, but I'm going to be semi honest with the symptoms of this illness. There is a parasite that has symptoms of frequent and very pungent gas, so I was afraid I had a parasite. I soon realized I had a traveler's illness because of the general nausea, loss of fluids (if you know what I mean), stomach pains, as well as dizziness and the chills. After my initial wake up at 11 I got a bag and put some toilet paper at the bottom to absorb any liquids as I tossed my cookies and sat it next to my bed. I woke up every hour or two until 11 am Wednesday morning, throwing up, running downstairs to the bathroom, or coming very close to passing out. 

When it was late enough and I couldn't stand it anymore, I FaceTimed my mom back in the US just for comfort and to tell someone of my misery. She reminded me that my doctor at FSU gave me antibiotics for these exact symptoms and that my Ayurvedic doctor back home also gave me some holistic remedies for these symptoms. After talking to her about my pain and seeing my dog I started to cry because who wants to be in a cold, foreign environment when they are violently ill? I knew if I was home my dog would have curled up right next to me to make sure I was okay and to comfort me. At that tearful moment I told my mom that the cats here don't do shit when you really need them, that is why I am a dog person! Anyways, I hung up with my mom and tried to sleep because it was too painful to do anything else. When I woke up again around 9 am my mom had texted me asking if I took the Ayurvedic medicine and I said no, but wondered which medicine would work better, the traditional or holistic. She immediately responded holistic and I took that, having faith in alternatives. My mom had also called that doctor and he recommended a half teaspoon of nutmeg with one teaspoon of honey in hot water three times a day until my stomach cleared, even if it was a parasite. 

So for all of Wednesday I slept, stumbled down the stairs, didn't watch the DVDs David gave me because I slept all day, and woke up at 6 to go to a meeting about the children's programs at 7:30, like a trooper. I have never been so uncomfortable in a meeting as I was hunched over the table giving my ideas and trying not to throw up. Alex had come by and brought me Gatorade, bananas, and apples but all I managed was half of a Gatorade by that time because I was so afraid of tossing my cookies or the pain of having food in my belly. That night I went right back to sleep and did nothing productive except try to heal my body. I got lucky though taking my Ayurvedic medicine because I only had the full illness for 24 hours, unlike some people who can have it up to a week.

Thursday I was supposed to go back to Montay to do yoga with the girls, but was still kind of sick and honestly had no sense of balance or ability to walk long distances. So I slept in, took a shower which was difficult because I was very close to passing out, and then planned to go to the handicrafts market with Alex and Selene. We didn't end up going to the craft market because Selene had a class, so instead Alex and I went with Kaki and Sara to check out Corpus Christi in the Plaza de Armas. That was a big hike for me in my current state but I made it and it was so worth it. Thousands of people gathered in the plaza to see churches from the surrounding areas come in with their saints and bands to celebrate the feast. There was cotton candy, ice cream, paper visors, and lots of Catholics throwing confetti. I was raised Catholic but do not practice or follow the faith anymore, but it was cool to see all of those people and feel the awesome vibes from everyone giving gratitude to these saints. 

 We came home and I took a nap until we had movie night and I screened The Breakfast Club. My friend Ash came over to watch with us and that was fun. He is studying abroad from north Georgia and he could definitely appreciate an American movie night. The one bummer was that our Internet tapped out leaving us hanging for the last 8 minutes of the movie, to most essential part where everyone comes together, Brian narrates their essay, and John throws his fist up in the air on the football field, clutching Clair's diamond with such significance as "Don't you forget about me" resonates in the background. What an epic moment and we all missed out because of the crappy Internet in Peru. But it was still an enjoyable night for sure. 


Friday morning I was feeling hungry enough and string enough to make eggs. Normally I scramble three but in my state I made two and prepared toast with jelly and butter for somewhat of an egg sandwich. One bite of bread and butter and I was repulsed, so I just ate the eggs which were completely satisfying. That is one things that I have learned and has be reinforced here: listen to your body and its immediate signs. After breakfast I went with Alex and Selene to the handicraft market and didn't buy anything because I had less than ten soles to my name. Then we went to Mercado San Pedro for ingredients for our pancake extravaganza Saturday morning. On the way home I tried to go to the bank to change my money because I get a better deal changing cash than taking Soles out of my bank account at an ATM. I got to the bank and it was crazy, definitely more than a 30 minute wait which I could not handle on a Friday afternoon. So I went without cash and trudged home. 

I then took a nap and then sat in on a meeting for our Creative Day on Sunday before heading to Jack's, a high end tourist restaurant that was said to have the best brownies and ice cream. Because it is so expensive most of us only go for special occasions, like Alex going back home. The brownie was not amazing, but good for Peru standards and the waiter was quite attractive. It is rare that you find a tall guy here that is buff. He also seemed interested in me so we will see if anything happens with that, I will keep you all updated. After Jack's I was supposed to go with Kaki to meet Ash and his friends to go to a club but she was singing a gig and by the time she was done I was too tired to go out. I looked really good that night too, I had my gold sparkly tank top and my bright rainbow scarf to compliment it. Instead of going out I pinned a ton of food on Pinterest and got really excited to cook when I get back to the states. Shoutout to all of my FSU friends, get ready for football season because I'm planning on making great tailgate food. On a side note it is so dry in Cusco that even my stomach is starting to peel after almost 3 weeks since being in full sun. My stomach never peels...

Saturday was the day that Alex and Selene were moving out of the house and they had their pancake extravaganza as a send off. We had seven different kinds of pancakes; a vegan option, a vegetarian option, a buttery quinoa option, banana, spinach, apple, and something Sara tried to make. Most of them were delicious by Peru standards, which are lower than any other standards I have. I then cut strips of paper to make my Origami dream stars with the kids and got ready for the class in an hour. Alex had to leave at 2 pm, I said goodbye to her, then started the kids program doing yoga with the boys. After yoga we did my dream stars and I had the kids write one of their aspirations on the paper then fold it into the star and put it in a Coke bottle as a decoration. It was sweet having the kids plop into my lap as I showed them how to fold the stars. Next we moved onto music where Daniel taught them a song he wrote in the garden about love and opening their minds. We jammed for a good while and then I went to get a snack at the tienda down the street for the kids. I made the rookie mistake of buying plantains instead of bananas but luckily we had some back at the house for the kids.Before snack we have the kids say gratitude, something they are thankful for or just acknowledging the awesomeness of this program and the people they are surrounded by, it brings you back down to Earth. After snack time we talked about their dreams and what they want to accomplish with their lives and it was really satisfying to see these kids become so engaged. 

There is this one little boy who is seven years old and was so sweet last week; as a snack we had these cookie sandwiches filled with caramel and coconut and he asked if he could give his cookie to his mom! Kids can shock you with how much love they have to give. This week he came a bit late but his mom always comes with him to drop him off and because he is my favorite I gave him his own Origami dream star that he could take home. He put it in his pocket right away and zipped it up. The fact that he cherished what I made him gave me so much happiness. When it was time to go he showed his mom and she was so grateful to me for giving him something special. Its days like those that really remind me that working with kids is something that I want to do for the rest of my life and that it is one of my truest talents.

 After the kids class I went to a tattoo shop with Daniel, Kaki, Sara, and Sylvia to go get Sara a tattoo gun; she is thinking about taking up tattooing as a hobby. We didn't get the tattoo gun in the end. After I went to dinner with Sara and Kaki and our favorite sandwich place was closed and I really wanted pizza so we went out of our way to Kaki's favorite place that is a little more expensive but still delicious. When we got there I ordered the Margherita pizza and a Coke and the older waiter said that my Spanish was great, I assume he meant my accent because that is quite good I have to admit. Then he brought us cheesy garlic bread and I was so happy. This place was a brick oven restaurant and I was thoroughly satisfied. After dinner I looked very pregnant from the pizza and we went to another grocery store here, Mega, to get ingredients for our bake off at Collage, our creative day today. 

Today I was supposed to make No Bake Cookies again but really didn't have the energy to or enough peanut butter. So instead I uploaded all of the pictures from this week that wouldn't upload earlier onto Facebook and just rested a bit in preparation for this exciting day. When noon rolled around I moseyed on over to the main house and helped/participated wherever possible. My favorite part was painting the wall in one of our walkways, I'm learning that I really like painting and am not all that bad at it. We also offered Tarot readings, prayer flag making, an open mic for poetry/singing, and of course the bake off. My favorite was Kaki's chocolate cake but Sara's torte won and she was very excited about it!

I can't begin to describe how it feels when everyone starts singing these great songs in some sort of harmony, while I'm painting, drums are being beat, and everyones energies are vibing. I think that is something between synergy and love, maybe both. Either way it was a great open house and I am so grateful to be surrounded by this community of beautifully spiritual, artistic, and talented people. 

I had door duty from 4 pm until 8 pm and went to the tienda for Amy, who needed potatoes for her soup but was too sick to go out and get them. As a reward I got to eat some of her soup and it was delicious, I was happy. Then I did some of the dishes and came back to my room to let you all know what I've been up to. I have to say there are rough times like Wednesday when I was sick and really wanted to be home, but then there are days like today and yesterday where I can feel the infinite love in the air and am just so grateful for this opportunity to learn more about myself, bettering my life, and bettering life for others around me. It has been two and a half weeks since I have been here and I have less than ten until I go home. Those ten are going to go by so fast but I am mostly excited to go home because I want to share my new knowledge and energy with the people I love. I look forward to cooking more, eating healthier, being more spiritual, and always giving of love to the people around me. I most anticipate inspiring others to live better lives and to open their minds to the possibilities of today, this world, and of their own potential. 

Sorry to go on and on but that is how I feel and I hope that this blog changes some of your lives even through your thought processes. I came to the Healing House in hopes of figuring out if traveling and working with kids was the path for me, and I think that so far it is. Even when I am not traveling though I feel guided to inspire and teach others about the other opportunities out there and alternative lifestyles. I think in my time here I will further develop and receive my life's purpose and there is nothing more that I could ask for to bring me joy and happiness. I love the feeling of being in the right place with the right people and really knowing that I am doing the great things I was called to do. Life is good people, we just need to slow down and separate our minds from the every day to realize that.