I decided to start taking French today...I took a semester back in college, and I decided to take it up again. This now makes two times in my life that I intended to learn a biblical language only to end up learning French instead. In January I had gotten word that I could audit a New Testament Greek class for free at a local seminary, but then I got sick and after so many weeks have gone by, I have a feeling I would be hopelessly lost if I were to try to start. So, on a whim yesterday, I went in to ask about the classes I saw advertised on a sign. The conversation went well, and I started classes today.
The director of the French school recommended I join a class that has already been meeting for a couple of months. That way I could have the challenge of catching up rather than being bored as they go over things I already know. (She's a woman after my own heart. :-) It was fun. I found myself taking mental notes of what the teacher did that helped me understand since he spoke quite a bit of French and I am nowhere near a conversational level yet. (Having taught so many English Language Learners, it is helpful to throw myself into their shoes once in a while to gain perspective.) The teacher called on me in class and often stood beside me to check my understanding as they went over the activities he had assigned as homework. I even got to take a test. It wasn't for a grade, just for practice for a test the students have the option of taking in May. I gave it my best shot--I'm sure I made some drastic mistakes. There was a moment when I wrote the french word for "mother" and was afraid I might have accidentally written a similar sounding word that means something very different (something you would definitely not want to call your mother to her face :-). It will be interesting to see how I actually did when I get it back.
So I'm taking French in Spanish, and finding I like it. It's a lot of fun.
On another note, I need to go to the doctor tomorrow to get some more tests done about the typhoid...then I get to go to a specialist on Monday to find out why all my symptoms haven't gone away yet. Quite honestly, I am getting to the point where I am praying to God to let me go home in one piece...with no lasting side effects.
sábado, 10 de marzo de 2012
jueves, 8 de marzo de 2012
Update
My apologies for not posting to this blog in so long...
It's five weeks now since I first came down with the typhoid...About halfway through my round of hard-core antibiotics, we had the annual staff retreat. Thankfully, I started getting my energy back the day before we were scheduled to go. I didn't HAVE to go; the school would have understood if I had needed to stay home. However, the staff retreat is at a really nice resort that is (I believe) run by the Guatemalan government...right across the road from the water park/amusement park. We went to the water park in the morning and then went across the street to where the hotels are located. It's a beautiful complex of hotels, restaurants, a spa, swimming pools, and lots of greenery and fancy birds. My favorite were the peacocks. I had never realized until this trip how very loud they are. For some reason, with all their finery, I had always pictured them as being very quiet, letting their feathers speak for themselves. But no, their voice is loud. So loud that when we first got to the hotel and were gathered outside for instructions, the peacock in the branches of the tree above us drowned out the speaker's voice, and she had to wait until the bird finished to continue.
For an example of the peacock's call, you can check out this link: http://youtu.be/QaH0Q42lbGw
Staff retreat was interesting...since I was recovering from typhoid, I didn't really feel up to doing very much. And eating at the restaurant was a little tricky since my diet at that time was still very restricted (no grease, no dairy, no sugar, no beans...). I came prepared with some food of my own, and then had to be very careful at the restaurants. The entire experience gave me a new empathy for people who have to live with food restrictions on a daily basis...having to ask the employees for changes in the menu, having to trust they would indeed make the changes, knowing if they didn't I would end up getting sick...In the morning, when we went to breakfast, we went to a buffet (mostly because I figured it might be safer to be able to look at the food before deciding if it was safe to eat). And I realized after looking at all the options and asking questions that, out of everything being offered, I could literally only eat the bread. I'm not used to making a fuss when I go out to eat. I usually just try to blend in as best I can..,but I decided to ask the man who had taken my ticket if it would be possible to switch my order to something off of the menu. When I explained why, he immediately said it was no problem, he would simply ask the kitchen to make items without the grease, sugar, dairy, etc. It was very sweet, and humbling, to have them going to so much trouble. And I ended up with a massive mound of food...hard-boiled eggs, fresh-cut fruit, papaya juice without added sugar, oatmeal with no milk or sugar, boiled plantains...it was wonderful. He even made small talk while I was waiting.
We had a very nice devotional time led by a couple of the teachers in the evening while we were there, sitting outside, asking God for direction and listening in silence...
A few days after we returned from staff retreat, I finished my antibiotics. Then I had a few days of waiting before getting tested again to see if all the typhoid was gone. It wasn't, but the levels were lower. The doctor said it would probably be okay to just let it be since the levels would continue going down over the course of about a month, but when the school asked another doctor's opinion, that doctor thought I should try another week of antibiotics (the easy kind, wimpy ones without all the side effects) especially since I wasn't feeling 100% normal yet. However, the levels were low enough that the doctor clarified that I no longer actually had typhoid. That was encouraging. So I had a week of more medicine combined with probiotics to get my stomach back to normal after so much sickness and hard-core medicine. I finished that about a week ago. I had a couple of days of still feeling kind of tired, and then I came down with a cold. Which actually doesn't bother me that much because, even though I don't feel awesome, I feel way better than I did before. And I'm back on regular food and have been for almost two weeks now. That is amazing.
We have Spiritual Emphasis Week this week. A team came down from Littleton, Colorado. The principal had mercy and told me I could stay at the school with the elementary kids instead of going along on the retreat with the secondary students, even though they don't have as many female teachers to chaperone. I so appreciate it...after having been sick for almost five weeks straight, the principal said they didn't want to push me too hard since my body hasn't completely bounced back yet. So with the elementary kids I have been in charge of taking pictures at the activities to put together a slide show for the last chapel at the end of the day tomorrow. We've had chapel everyday and then the elementary students have had VBS activities for about an hour every morning and games for a half hour in the afternoon. Half the team stayed here to work with the elementary kids and the other half went on the retreat with the middle school and high schoolers.
I've gotten really good at planning activities for my students around not feeling well. I think that has been a good thing. I do less teacher-centered teaching and have them more actively involved. Overall, I would say it has been going well.
We have the end of the quarter next week. Then just one more quarter to go before the year is over. I already bought my airplane ticket home. And I have been applying for jobs... We go to Mexico in about a week. Then we have parent-teacher conferences (the last ones). Then a few weeks after that will be Holy Week...we get that entire week off of school (along with a big percentage of people in Guatemala).
We had our embassy meeting earlier this week. Every year and a half or so the ambassador and a few other officials from the American embassy in Guatemala City come to our town to touch base with the Americans living here, give us some information and take the time to answer questions. It was surprising how many people in the crowd I recognized...not by name, necessarily, but by sight like I had seen them before. There were the Mennonites who run The Bake Shop (they took up a couple of rows), some business people, some parents from our school, random people I've seen around town...and I met someone who works for an NGO who I realized today might possibly live right around the corner from where I do (near some other teachers from the school)...it's a small world.
Apart from all of that, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future. I've realized I'm really not used to getting sick...normally I am really very healthy. I think because of that, I tend to start thinking of myself as someone who doesn't get sick, like it becomes part of my identity. So, in some strange way, getting sick has in a way gotten me thinking more about my own weakness, my own mortality...not that I was near death, but by seeing myself as weak, I also saw a little more clearly the closeness of death, even though I wasn't standing near the door myself at all. I'm just not as invincible as I thought I was. And I've been realizing I need to take care of myself. My mental clock keeps saying there is a time frame for feeling one hundred percent better. And then I would get frustrated when my body wouldn't follow that clock...I've had to throw up my hands and just deal with it. There is no way to rush getting better. Rest is just that--rest--not a striving and pushing forward. So I'm taking it slow...And I'm seriously thrilled by how much I am able to do now.
I would appreciate any prayers about the future. And for health. A lot of people have colds right now. I think the situation isn't helped by the winds we have been having lately. With it being dry season, there is a lot of dust to blow around. Probably not surprising so many people have sniffling noses and coughs.
I should probably sign off now and go to bed...I intend to post more often in the future. I appreciate all of you who do check in and see how it's going.
It's five weeks now since I first came down with the typhoid...About halfway through my round of hard-core antibiotics, we had the annual staff retreat. Thankfully, I started getting my energy back the day before we were scheduled to go. I didn't HAVE to go; the school would have understood if I had needed to stay home. However, the staff retreat is at a really nice resort that is (I believe) run by the Guatemalan government...right across the road from the water park/amusement park. We went to the water park in the morning and then went across the street to where the hotels are located. It's a beautiful complex of hotels, restaurants, a spa, swimming pools, and lots of greenery and fancy birds. My favorite were the peacocks. I had never realized until this trip how very loud they are. For some reason, with all their finery, I had always pictured them as being very quiet, letting their feathers speak for themselves. But no, their voice is loud. So loud that when we first got to the hotel and were gathered outside for instructions, the peacock in the branches of the tree above us drowned out the speaker's voice, and she had to wait until the bird finished to continue.
For an example of the peacock's call, you can check out this link: http://youtu.be/QaH0Q42lbGw
Staff retreat was interesting...since I was recovering from typhoid, I didn't really feel up to doing very much. And eating at the restaurant was a little tricky since my diet at that time was still very restricted (no grease, no dairy, no sugar, no beans...). I came prepared with some food of my own, and then had to be very careful at the restaurants. The entire experience gave me a new empathy for people who have to live with food restrictions on a daily basis...having to ask the employees for changes in the menu, having to trust they would indeed make the changes, knowing if they didn't I would end up getting sick...In the morning, when we went to breakfast, we went to a buffet (mostly because I figured it might be safer to be able to look at the food before deciding if it was safe to eat). And I realized after looking at all the options and asking questions that, out of everything being offered, I could literally only eat the bread. I'm not used to making a fuss when I go out to eat. I usually just try to blend in as best I can..,but I decided to ask the man who had taken my ticket if it would be possible to switch my order to something off of the menu. When I explained why, he immediately said it was no problem, he would simply ask the kitchen to make items without the grease, sugar, dairy, etc. It was very sweet, and humbling, to have them going to so much trouble. And I ended up with a massive mound of food...hard-boiled eggs, fresh-cut fruit, papaya juice without added sugar, oatmeal with no milk or sugar, boiled plantains...it was wonderful. He even made small talk while I was waiting.
We had a very nice devotional time led by a couple of the teachers in the evening while we were there, sitting outside, asking God for direction and listening in silence...
A few days after we returned from staff retreat, I finished my antibiotics. Then I had a few days of waiting before getting tested again to see if all the typhoid was gone. It wasn't, but the levels were lower. The doctor said it would probably be okay to just let it be since the levels would continue going down over the course of about a month, but when the school asked another doctor's opinion, that doctor thought I should try another week of antibiotics (the easy kind, wimpy ones without all the side effects) especially since I wasn't feeling 100% normal yet. However, the levels were low enough that the doctor clarified that I no longer actually had typhoid. That was encouraging. So I had a week of more medicine combined with probiotics to get my stomach back to normal after so much sickness and hard-core medicine. I finished that about a week ago. I had a couple of days of still feeling kind of tired, and then I came down with a cold. Which actually doesn't bother me that much because, even though I don't feel awesome, I feel way better than I did before. And I'm back on regular food and have been for almost two weeks now. That is amazing.
We have Spiritual Emphasis Week this week. A team came down from Littleton, Colorado. The principal had mercy and told me I could stay at the school with the elementary kids instead of going along on the retreat with the secondary students, even though they don't have as many female teachers to chaperone. I so appreciate it...after having been sick for almost five weeks straight, the principal said they didn't want to push me too hard since my body hasn't completely bounced back yet. So with the elementary kids I have been in charge of taking pictures at the activities to put together a slide show for the last chapel at the end of the day tomorrow. We've had chapel everyday and then the elementary students have had VBS activities for about an hour every morning and games for a half hour in the afternoon. Half the team stayed here to work with the elementary kids and the other half went on the retreat with the middle school and high schoolers.
I've gotten really good at planning activities for my students around not feeling well. I think that has been a good thing. I do less teacher-centered teaching and have them more actively involved. Overall, I would say it has been going well.
We have the end of the quarter next week. Then just one more quarter to go before the year is over. I already bought my airplane ticket home. And I have been applying for jobs... We go to Mexico in about a week. Then we have parent-teacher conferences (the last ones). Then a few weeks after that will be Holy Week...we get that entire week off of school (along with a big percentage of people in Guatemala).
We had our embassy meeting earlier this week. Every year and a half or so the ambassador and a few other officials from the American embassy in Guatemala City come to our town to touch base with the Americans living here, give us some information and take the time to answer questions. It was surprising how many people in the crowd I recognized...not by name, necessarily, but by sight like I had seen them before. There were the Mennonites who run The Bake Shop (they took up a couple of rows), some business people, some parents from our school, random people I've seen around town...and I met someone who works for an NGO who I realized today might possibly live right around the corner from where I do (near some other teachers from the school)...it's a small world.
Apart from all of that, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future. I've realized I'm really not used to getting sick...normally I am really very healthy. I think because of that, I tend to start thinking of myself as someone who doesn't get sick, like it becomes part of my identity. So, in some strange way, getting sick has in a way gotten me thinking more about my own weakness, my own mortality...not that I was near death, but by seeing myself as weak, I also saw a little more clearly the closeness of death, even though I wasn't standing near the door myself at all. I'm just not as invincible as I thought I was. And I've been realizing I need to take care of myself. My mental clock keeps saying there is a time frame for feeling one hundred percent better. And then I would get frustrated when my body wouldn't follow that clock...I've had to throw up my hands and just deal with it. There is no way to rush getting better. Rest is just that--rest--not a striving and pushing forward. So I'm taking it slow...And I'm seriously thrilled by how much I am able to do now.
I would appreciate any prayers about the future. And for health. A lot of people have colds right now. I think the situation isn't helped by the winds we have been having lately. With it being dry season, there is a lot of dust to blow around. Probably not surprising so many people have sniffling noses and coughs.
I should probably sign off now and go to bed...I intend to post more often in the future. I appreciate all of you who do check in and see how it's going.
miércoles, 15 de febrero de 2012
Poco a poco...
Little by little...
Things to be thankful for:
I had more energy today. Enough to break into a happy dance when I realized I had a little energy to spare this morning. Made it through the school day without feeling completely wiped out. Even went for a short walk this afternoon--to the park and back. I took it slow...was a lot more tired walking home than when leaving, but still, I was able to walk to the park at normal speed (well, relatively speaking anyway...)
The light in my room stopped working, but the family loaned me a lamp. (I have a flashlight, too...kind of handy to have setting on the nightstand when you're living in Guatemala...)
It will be two weeks tomorrow since the first day I got sick...I guess I can be thankful I at least now know what it is, have medication for it, and was able to get a shot that kept me from getting the full-blown thing...only one more week until the date when I MIGHT be over it. I might need to circle that date on the calendar, the day when I might receive news of a clean bill of health...
I've realized I've developed a whiny attitude. I may not verbalize it, but I definitely feel it inside. Maybe it's a lesson in patience...I'm not really sure. I definitely get impatient...wondering why it's taking so long for my body to recover. You're on antibiotics, bounce back already... And then wondering why I am having so much trouble over something that is "nothing, really..." Just a minor case of typhoid. Not the real thing... Until I tell people what I have and they freak out on me...like my Guatemalan students who have doctors for parents...
Maybe I need to cut myself some slack and just wait to recover. I think I try to push the process along, thinking there is a certain amount of time in which I should recover.
But I will get better.
As a friend told me recently, it's poco a poco...necesita paciencia.
Oh, and I am thankful I didn't electrocute myself last weekend. Word to the wise: When turning off the switch for the hot water in the shower, be careful to touch only the outer part of the switch; don't allow your thumb to make contact with the base. Perhaps by saying "electrocute" I exaggerate, but there was more electricity there than I am comfortable with. I guess that would explain why someone I know once referred to this kind of shower as the "widow maker."
Things to be thankful for:
I had more energy today. Enough to break into a happy dance when I realized I had a little energy to spare this morning. Made it through the school day without feeling completely wiped out. Even went for a short walk this afternoon--to the park and back. I took it slow...was a lot more tired walking home than when leaving, but still, I was able to walk to the park at normal speed (well, relatively speaking anyway...)
The light in my room stopped working, but the family loaned me a lamp. (I have a flashlight, too...kind of handy to have setting on the nightstand when you're living in Guatemala...)
It will be two weeks tomorrow since the first day I got sick...I guess I can be thankful I at least now know what it is, have medication for it, and was able to get a shot that kept me from getting the full-blown thing...only one more week until the date when I MIGHT be over it. I might need to circle that date on the calendar, the day when I might receive news of a clean bill of health...
I've realized I've developed a whiny attitude. I may not verbalize it, but I definitely feel it inside. Maybe it's a lesson in patience...I'm not really sure. I definitely get impatient...wondering why it's taking so long for my body to recover. You're on antibiotics, bounce back already... And then wondering why I am having so much trouble over something that is "nothing, really..." Just a minor case of typhoid. Not the real thing... Until I tell people what I have and they freak out on me...like my Guatemalan students who have doctors for parents...
Maybe I need to cut myself some slack and just wait to recover. I think I try to push the process along, thinking there is a certain amount of time in which I should recover.
But I will get better.
As a friend told me recently, it's poco a poco...necesita paciencia.
Oh, and I am thankful I didn't electrocute myself last weekend. Word to the wise: When turning off the switch for the hot water in the shower, be careful to touch only the outer part of the switch; don't allow your thumb to make contact with the base. Perhaps by saying "electrocute" I exaggerate, but there was more electricity there than I am comfortable with. I guess that would explain why someone I know once referred to this kind of shower as the "widow maker."
lunes, 13 de febrero de 2012
attitude adjustment...
I have to admit...my attitude needs work.
I came home from school early today, got a substitute to cover my last class. Then, when the fatigue and dizziness I had felt this morning and all weekend suddenly switched to wide awake, headache, no food sounds good, I checked the little paper that came with my antibiotics...
And yep, sure enough, ALL those symptoms are side effects of the medicine.
Which means I'm not just waiting for the medication to kick in; I'm waiting to stop taking the medication.
Which means I'm not just waiting for tomorrow...I'm waiting for seven more days.
Yes, I know, that really isn't that long. I've been reminding myself today of people who have to deal with much worse everyday. I keep telling myself chemotherapy would be a much worse medication, and that taking these pills is essential to getting healthy again...
But still...seven more days.
I definitely need an attitude adjustment. (Maybe it's time to start belting out "I Will Praise You in This Storm" at the top of my lungs until the words start to sink in? Nah...then I might start having problems with other people in the house... :-)
I don't think I ever want to get within a foot of anything even slightly undercooked again...and I don't even know that that's what made me sick.
If anybody wants to pray for me, you can be my guest.
I came home from school early today, got a substitute to cover my last class. Then, when the fatigue and dizziness I had felt this morning and all weekend suddenly switched to wide awake, headache, no food sounds good, I checked the little paper that came with my antibiotics...
And yep, sure enough, ALL those symptoms are side effects of the medicine.
Which means I'm not just waiting for the medication to kick in; I'm waiting to stop taking the medication.
Which means I'm not just waiting for tomorrow...I'm waiting for seven more days.
Yes, I know, that really isn't that long. I've been reminding myself today of people who have to deal with much worse everyday. I keep telling myself chemotherapy would be a much worse medication, and that taking these pills is essential to getting healthy again...
But still...seven more days.
I definitely need an attitude adjustment. (Maybe it's time to start belting out "I Will Praise You in This Storm" at the top of my lungs until the words start to sink in? Nah...then I might start having problems with other people in the house... :-)
I don't think I ever want to get within a foot of anything even slightly undercooked again...and I don't even know that that's what made me sick.
If anybody wants to pray for me, you can be my guest.
sábado, 11 de febrero de 2012
Saturday
All things considered, Saturday was a good day...
We had sunny weather all day. (Although it is dry season, we have been getting rain and thunderstorms every evening for about a week.) I went out to get some fresh air this morning, walking to an internet cafe and then around the park before going back home. Not too bad...I just took it slow, slowing down even more whenever my legs got wobbly. My world has shrunk considerably in the past week or so.
I spent the afternoon napping and reading...letting the medicine kick in and get to to work. My own personal fumigation system...
Antibiotics are awesome...even if they are less than pleasant at the time.
We had sunny weather all day. (Although it is dry season, we have been getting rain and thunderstorms every evening for about a week.) I went out to get some fresh air this morning, walking to an internet cafe and then around the park before going back home. Not too bad...I just took it slow, slowing down even more whenever my legs got wobbly. My world has shrunk considerably in the past week or so.
I spent the afternoon napping and reading...letting the medicine kick in and get to to work. My own personal fumigation system...
Antibiotics are awesome...even if they are less than pleasant at the time.
Sickness and updates...
I found out yesterday I have a partial form of typhoid.
Yeah...
I'm really glad I got the vaccination last summer, otherwise it would be a full-blown case of typhoid. That would not be cool...my sources tell me the full-blown case involves fevers so high it makes your bones hurt...
I have not had ridiculously high fevers, thankfully. Just an upset stomach, achiness, and energy levels that drag and don't get better.
But at least I have a name for it now. And medicine. When the doctor told me about the medicine, she said, "This will make you nauseous, decrease your appetite, and dry out your mouth and make it taste like metal, but it's important that you eat something because if you don't, it could damage your stomach..."
Based on that recommendation, I was expecting the worst, but so far I haven't had any really awful side effects...
My host mom was really sweet this morning when she checked to see how I was doing. She said they prayed for me at the prayer meeting at her church this morning, that with God nothing is impossible...
My energy levels plummeted yesterday, and I started to wonder if I was just being a pain for the other people in the house to deal with...
Antibiotics are wonderful things...makes me wonder what life was like before we had them. That would have been so scary when people would get symptoms with nothing to do about them...
And it also got me thinking about whoever it was who discovered the typhoid vaccine. Whoever it was definitely deserves a plate of cookies or a pat on the back...And if anybody is planning on traveling overseas, I definitely recommend making a stop at the local travel clinic before going on your way. It is well worth it. Even if it doesn't block something in its entirety. It is much better to get the partial version than having to deal with it full force.
On another note, I did talk to the director of the school today about my decision regarding the next school year. He said it was fine to think about it some more and let him know in a few weeks what I have decided. In the meantime, I've started applying for some jobs back home. After giving it a lot more thought, I am still seeing coming home as a distinct possibility. I guess I'll see what happens as I move forward with this...
My mom told me yesterday that she heard the state department had issued a travel warning recommending people not travel along the Guatemala-Mexico border. I checked online, though, and it says the particular state we will be traveling to has no travel warning in effect.
Yeah...
I'm really glad I got the vaccination last summer, otherwise it would be a full-blown case of typhoid. That would not be cool...my sources tell me the full-blown case involves fevers so high it makes your bones hurt...
I have not had ridiculously high fevers, thankfully. Just an upset stomach, achiness, and energy levels that drag and don't get better.
But at least I have a name for it now. And medicine. When the doctor told me about the medicine, she said, "This will make you nauseous, decrease your appetite, and dry out your mouth and make it taste like metal, but it's important that you eat something because if you don't, it could damage your stomach..."
Based on that recommendation, I was expecting the worst, but so far I haven't had any really awful side effects...
My host mom was really sweet this morning when she checked to see how I was doing. She said they prayed for me at the prayer meeting at her church this morning, that with God nothing is impossible...
My energy levels plummeted yesterday, and I started to wonder if I was just being a pain for the other people in the house to deal with...
Antibiotics are wonderful things...makes me wonder what life was like before we had them. That would have been so scary when people would get symptoms with nothing to do about them...
And it also got me thinking about whoever it was who discovered the typhoid vaccine. Whoever it was definitely deserves a plate of cookies or a pat on the back...And if anybody is planning on traveling overseas, I definitely recommend making a stop at the local travel clinic before going on your way. It is well worth it. Even if it doesn't block something in its entirety. It is much better to get the partial version than having to deal with it full force.
On another note, I did talk to the director of the school today about my decision regarding the next school year. He said it was fine to think about it some more and let him know in a few weeks what I have decided. In the meantime, I've started applying for some jobs back home. After giving it a lot more thought, I am still seeing coming home as a distinct possibility. I guess I'll see what happens as I move forward with this...
My mom told me yesterday that she heard the state department had issued a travel warning recommending people not travel along the Guatemala-Mexico border. I checked online, though, and it says the particular state we will be traveling to has no travel warning in effect.
domingo, 5 de febrero de 2012
The past few days...
I thought about labeling this post "contentment", but then I realized I'm not close enough to being there...
It has been kind of a rough few days. Nothing major, but things seeming more serious simply because I don't have the physical energy to deal with them.
I got sick Thurs night and am still recovering. Had a sub cover my classes on Fri. Visited the doctor and the lab, went back to the doctor for some injections...
Little by little I'm getting better (though the walk to the internet cafe made me feel about ready for a nap--but still, it is easier to walk today than it was yesterday, and walking anywhere yesterday was easier than it was the day before). And the family and the school have been wonderful...
But it's getting tiring, not having energy. I am thankful for the time to read--I'm really enjoying that part of it, actually.
But not having energy, even after just three short days, is getting old.
And other things have happened. I started having problems with my computer's power cord (which is why I decided to venture out to the internet cafe) yesterday. Then the water heater on our shower stopped working today. The son at the house knows how to fix it and just has to get a part this afternoon, but I decided to be stubborn and shower with cold water. It wasn't that bad. By late morning it was getting warmer outside, and since we had power this time (since that wasn't the reason for cold water) I could warm up with my hair dryer.
Not a big deal...
But with all the time to think while I'm resting, I've found myself seriously thinking about the next two years...how much do I really want to continue here and how much do I just want to go home...
I think I'll get more clarity when I have more energy to process with. But in the meantime, the question lingers...
I guess for now I'm thankful for the internet cafes so I can maintain my connection home. And thankful for another day that I can sit around and rest. Hopefully by tomorrow getting through a school day won't be too much of a challenge. I'm definitely getting better so I am hoping to be back to normal soon.
It has been kind of a rough few days. Nothing major, but things seeming more serious simply because I don't have the physical energy to deal with them.
I got sick Thurs night and am still recovering. Had a sub cover my classes on Fri. Visited the doctor and the lab, went back to the doctor for some injections...
Little by little I'm getting better (though the walk to the internet cafe made me feel about ready for a nap--but still, it is easier to walk today than it was yesterday, and walking anywhere yesterday was easier than it was the day before). And the family and the school have been wonderful...
But it's getting tiring, not having energy. I am thankful for the time to read--I'm really enjoying that part of it, actually.
But not having energy, even after just three short days, is getting old.
And other things have happened. I started having problems with my computer's power cord (which is why I decided to venture out to the internet cafe) yesterday. Then the water heater on our shower stopped working today. The son at the house knows how to fix it and just has to get a part this afternoon, but I decided to be stubborn and shower with cold water. It wasn't that bad. By late morning it was getting warmer outside, and since we had power this time (since that wasn't the reason for cold water) I could warm up with my hair dryer.
Not a big deal...
But with all the time to think while I'm resting, I've found myself seriously thinking about the next two years...how much do I really want to continue here and how much do I just want to go home...
I think I'll get more clarity when I have more energy to process with. But in the meantime, the question lingers...
I guess for now I'm thankful for the internet cafes so I can maintain my connection home. And thankful for another day that I can sit around and rest. Hopefully by tomorrow getting through a school day won't be too much of a challenge. I'm definitely getting better so I am hoping to be back to normal soon.
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