The month of September was a little more relaxed as far as "fun" activities go, and I was really able to focus on teaching better. Spring finally came (even though it's still been cold), and since Trujillo is the "City of Eternal Spring," there have been plenty of festivities the last week.
I was going to post pictures of the first celebration in the main plaza, but I was unfortunately robbed that evening. :-( My Peruvian friend and I were outside of my house chatting when the two choros came. Thankfully they only got my Argentine purse, my UGA ID, my key, my American cell phone, 50 Soles (about $20), and other small things. One of the men had a gun, but thankfully the only harm done was psychological and financial. Because they stole my key right in front of my house, I had the fear that they were going to return and possibly enter the house and harm my family. AKA I slept horribly that night. Then, all day Saturday I didn't drink any water because they stole my water bottle and I was too preoccupied to buy another one. Which then turned into me being incredibly dehydrated all day Sunday. (When will the last domino finally fall!?) From there, it was a rough start to the week for my stomach until Friday morning.
Friday the 27th I woke up with a rash from my waste up, swollen eyes, swollen ears, swollen face, and an itchy scalp. When I walked into class, all of my students asked ¿Miss, qué tiene!? (Miss, what do you have?), and then I knew it was bad. I went to the pharmacy and took some sketchy pills that brought my symptoms down, but the rash keeps coming back every few hours if I don't take some sort of pill.
Saturday the 28th, I went to the "parade" and start of the Olympic games for La Universidad de Cesar Vallejo (where I work), and I was the queen of the Language Center.
Following my short-lived and highly embarrassing queen-ship due to having 10 minutes to choreograph a dance to a song I'd never heard, we ate a lot of chicken and then commenced the volleyball tournament. This is my incredibly fierce team! Not sure how we pulled it out, but we won the first game to put us through to the next round next weekend.
Overall, it was a fun morning, but the rash came back shortly after that and I got sunburned, so I had to leave a little early. My family was worried about me, so they took me to a dermatologist. He told me it was one of four factors: a reaction to medication, a reaction to food, a problem with my blood, or a parasite. I find it so odd, because the food and medicine I had taken during the week is all food and medicine I have eaten or taken before. He then gave me a strict diet. No medicine. No citrusy foods. No pork. No eggs. No chocolate. No packaged food. No artificial coloring. No seafood. AKA he cut out about 95% of my diet in the States. Nothing packaged? Really?!
In all honesty, I have never believed in culture shock until this week. Two people prayed for me in English on
Saturday, and I burst into tears both times because that’s the first time
somebody has prayed for me in English in the last four months. My upcoming trip isn't helping my anxiety at all, and I am completely focused on
getting home to get rid of the rash and all the other bad things that have
snowballed the last week and a half. I’ve had a rough time being present in everything I’ve done lately.
I honestly never thought I would miss Lawrenceville so much. Haha.
Amid everything that has gone on, I have realized even more how
important it is to surround yourself with believers. All of my friends from the
church are the ones who took me to the pharmacy to figure out my medicine
situation, didn’t judge me when I started to cry, listened to me gripe and complain about their country without
trying to prove me wrong, gave me hugs when I needed them, and have made me feel at home.
Everything that has happened in the last week has all been a test
of the Enemy, and as much as he has beaten me down, HE HAS NOT WON because my
God is better than him. I think the Lord has given me this time to really make
me appreciate what I have in the States as well as toughen me up a bit. For
that, I am thankful!
On a happier note, this is what I have been up to the last couple of weeks:
1. I put on a movie night at the church with the college-aged group. We watched Despicable Me. :-)
2. A free orchestra concert downtown.
3. Street burgers at El Gitanillo after the show. Nomz.
4. Hanging out with Mariale after my queenship!
5. Dinner with some of my old students at El Gringo Loco which is the best burger shop around!
6. Watching the Spring Festival Parade from the terrace of my friends' house.
I'm really sorry you've had a rough couple of weeks! Praying you are doing better. My guess would be parasites, which unfortunately can be ingested from a variety of sources. We automatically think of the water, but they could also be on fruit or veggies that haven't been cleaned properly, meat that isn't well cooked, etc. It wouldn't hurt to do a cleansing regimen just to be on the safe side :) Trust that things will improve soon!
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