Some Months are More Challenging Than Others: Part 3

Rachel and Aja arrived Monday morning, as did a head cold. So while I toughed it out on Monday, Tuesday was much more difficult. I set them out working and would disappear to my house for 30-60 min periodically to take naps because I was feeling icky and everyone seemed to be doing alright. The girls left early Wednesday morning and I got the crew started working again, throwing the top foundation on the last of the 5 latrines. They noticed my grogginess and sniffling and sent me home to rest. I was relieved, and I slept until the arrival of Danielle that afternoon.

D had come to visit to help me give an HIV/AIDS seminar to my artisan women. The meeting was scheduled for 4PM. We laid on the floor of my house in the suffocating heat and humidity that afternoon and then went to visit my host brothers for a bit before the meeting. One of my brothers was sick in the hammock with diarrhea and a fever. My host mom was convinced it was malaria. (I am almost certain it was not.) There were already 8 women in the meeting hall when we arrived so we were excited for a good turnout. They were stitching their baskets and plates, and were very engrossed in it so it took us a little bit to encourage them to set their work down.

The meeting got off to an amazing start. They loved having Danielle there and when we started playing the immune system game the women got really competitive. But at 4:15 a massive thunderstorm rolled in. I say all the time, the hotter it is, the bigger the storm will be. This storm was quite possibly the biggest thunderstorm I have ever experienced in my life, and in the Panama rainy season, it storms almost every day.

When we were literally screaming over the roar of the rain and the women less than three feet away could still hear nothing, we gave up and decided to try again the next day. Not wanting to leave our posters in the hall nor carry them all the way home where the rain would destroy them, I borrowed a woman’s umbrella and ran them over to my host mom’s house right next door. Halfway there, the world went white. I saw nothing but white, everywhere. Realizing that I was standing in water holding a metal umbrella, I jumped. Halfhearted and not a very effective gesture, but in the moment it was all I could think to do. (If I threw the umbrella I would ruin the posters!) Danielle said to one woman that she saw the bolt of lightning hit something out in the jungle to the left and catch fire. Other women said they saw the same happen to the right. Yup, we were in the middle of a lightning bolt.

When we made it safely back to my house, it was as wet as we were. The hole in the roof (AGAIN) and the wind had left standing water on my floors. We bathed in the rain, swept the water out, cooked up a quick dinner, then hid on my bed- the only dry place in the house- and spent the evening talking.

Thursday things were dried out so we made French toast for breakfast and tried to have the meeting again, but the school was having a fundraiser and the women were busy. Danielle and I hung out in my house for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. At 4PM I held an ultimate practice with my team and they had an absolute blast playing with Daniela. After practice they swarmed my house to fill out their ultimate camp applications. It was after dark before we finally kicked the last of them out. We made dinner and applesauce cake, then watched 2 episodes of Friends. Both of us were dead tired so we were in bed and asleep about 8pm.

I woke up several times that night sweaty with chills. My stomach was tumultuous when I woke up Friday morning. I sent Danielle off at 7am and then went back to bed. I woke up at 12:30 and had a temp of 101. I made toast and coffee but barely ate anything. I watched a couple episodes of Boy Meets World on my tablet and slept some more. At 3 my temp was at 102 so I called my med officer, who told me to make the trip to Panama the next day. I argued with her and refused- the last time I came in, they told me it was a virus and it went away. Besides, my little brother was sick, I probably got it from him. Also, saying ‘come to Panama’ means a 9 hour exhausting trip on a good day. I didn’t have the energy to get from my bed to my hammock, and they are only 5 feet apart. The med officer made me at least agree to go to the health center in Meteti on Saturday.

Friday night things got worse and my fever hit 104.6, so at 6am I threw some clothes and my ID in my backpack, drug my gas tank to Misa’s house, and paid him in gasoline to take me immediately to the port. The chiva driver felt bad when he saw me and put me in the front seat, then waved down the Panama City bus. When the bus pulled over so I could get on it, my chiva driver told me he’d hold onto my tank for me until I came back and refused to charge me for the ride. He just told me to get better. Sometimes, not all the men in this country suck.

I got to the city Saturday afternoon and went straight to the lab, then went back to the hostel where I hung out sleeping a lot, watching lots of Harry Potter movies (thanks Andrew!) and eating chicken broth until Monday. I was in the med office at 9am on Monday, but the lab didn’t send my results over until 3pm so I spent 6 hours laying on the couch there. Turns out, I had been fighting a bacterial infection in my stomach for 5 weeks. The doctor gave me some strong antibiotics and a bed in the city for a few more nights, and things finally started looking up.

I got back to site on Wednesday the 20^th. I spent 36 hours running around trying to collect GAD Camp and Ultimate Camp applications, artisan goods to sell at Thanksgiving, clean my house, do laundry, check up on how construction was going, and pack for my Thanksgiving vacation. It was 36 hours of madness, with big chunks of time in there for sleeping (I was still in recovery mode) but Friday morning, I was all set and ready to go meet up with friends for pizza in Torti, one of the first real meals I would get to enjoy in quite awhile!