Its' been at least two weeks since my last entry and there is good reason for that. I've been sick. Yes, I know its a big surprise but it has happened again. This time it's a complete upper and lower respiratory infection that has spread to my ears and stayed in my lungs. One round of antibiotics couldn't knock it out and so they went in big with straight shots to the ass. I haven't been able to hear for about four days now. Everything pretty much sounds like its under water. This can be a problem when your Spanish isn't so great. I'm also having problems walking straight which I'm sure is part of the same problem.
Being this type of sick could not have come at a worse time. My worse night of the sickness just so happened to come the night we swore in and met the president of Panama. It was a big deal to say the least and was held at the Ambassadors residents. All of the national television Stations were there and I was told later that we could all be seen that night. Directly after the event which lasted hours and included speeches by President Martinelli, our country director, and the ambassador whom had terrible Spanish I might add, there were snacks and drinks and we got to talk to the president. He wasn't very intimidating and easy to talk to. I was also very sick and was pretty out of it. After the event everyone went out to eat and to the clubs to celebrate as I hitched a ride with the teaches directly back to the old military base where we had been staying to go back to sleep. My head was in pain and there was no way music was going to make it feel better.
I woke up the next morning feeling a little better and hopped on the bus to the beach with most of the other new volunteers. The beach was fun and sickness was alleviated enough to sing and play guitar on the beach for some locals whom must have thought I was a celebrity due to the amount of pictures and videos they were taking. I even got a chance to have a drink or two which was nice. It was nice to see and hang out with everyone for a couple days before we all parted ways to our sites. Most of us will see each other in three weeks for thanksgiving but other than that we are all on our own now.
It took 12 hours to get to my site from the beach and by the time I arrived my ears had completely closed up and have been that way for three days. I can't hear anything but the movement of my jaw which is a problem when your Spanish is terrible anyways. I went to the doctor yesterday and got a shot of antibiotics in the ass along with drops and other medication that may or may not have to do with the sickness. I'm really hoping that this stuff works soon because I can't really do anything here without being able to hear or being healthy for that matter.
I spent most of today sleeping. This is partly because one of the kids in the house plays music non stop when he is here. Even when he is sleeping. There are no real walls, just boards separating the rooms that are open on top so the stereo feels like it is in my room. Earplugs also do not work when the music is this loud so I might have to ask him to turn it off when sleeping which could make me a cast out of the house. I'm supposed to have a meeting with all of the chocolate farmers tomorrow which is really important considering it will be a big first impression. I will have to explain why I'm here, what I can do, and why I'm different than the volunteer before me and I'm going to have to do it while still sick and unable to hear well. Having a bad nigh of sleep might be a bad contributing factor to that.
My clothes are dirty and I haven't had the energy to go down to the river to wash them. I also don't have the correct soap to wash them. Apparently I need a special type of soap bar for it. It also hadn't rained for two weeks here before today and the river was incredibly small increasing my chances of washing my clothes in dirty water.
Living with this family is not going to be easy and if I can get through this than I can get through anything. Being sick and hot all the time is only going to make things worse so I must find a way to get better and keep as cool as possible. I've got 3 days of service down and 709 days left and counting the days will not make this any better. Being busy and actually doing things in the community will. I've already talked to people and done things in the community that the locals have told me the last volunteer did not so I guess I'm on the right track.
I know this one post is a short one to make up for the last couple weeks but most of that time (including now) I have been sick. I plan on writing this journal more now that I'm actually in my site and I'm also planning on writing the rough draft of a book while I'm here. I know I will have time that is for sure. I hope to keep this journal as true to the real events as possible which unfortunately are more often than not negative when dealing the poor and non-educated. My hope is that people will be able to grasp what it is like here without having to do so, even though many have said that they will come visit and I really hope they can. To get this feeling I will more often than not describe a single event or feeling in detail in place of just recounting how the day was. I hope you enjoy, it has and is going to be bumpy ride....
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