Yesterday we went on a canopy tour. Ziplining is so fun! The weather was super clear yesterday and from a few of the lines we had a stunning view of the bay islands (cayos cochinos, Roatan, and Utila).
The place we went ziplining also had some hot springs and so after flying through the forest, we got to relax in the springs. It has been super hot lately and at first the thought of getting into hot water was not appealing. The pool where we went was nicely shaded and actually had two sources of water - regular cool creek water and the hot springs. This provided for a perfect combination of hot and cold. To make things even more relaxing we all got mud scrubs (a woman rubbed mud all over our bodies and then we jumped back into the spring after it dried) and fresh aloe on our faces. We spent a solid two hours just chilling in the water. So nice! Oh and something I should add: this was maybe the fourth time any of us had been in warm water the entire trip and was possibly the cleanest I've felt in the past month (even though I was in a hot spring with mud rubbed all over me).
By the time we got back, I was exhausted and hungry. Yesterday's food was kind of lacking: for lunch, we had pork rinds on a bed of yuca (like potatoes) and cabbage. I did not eat the pork and the rest of the lunch was straight up disgusting. For dinner we had grilled white bread with American cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup (according to our host mom, the ketchup in Honduras is super special). Just thinking of yesterday's meals makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Which leads me to my next order of business: I'm sick. I woke up the morning with a fever, aches and pains, and an upset stomach. At first I thought it was just the heat and being out of shape from ziplining so I got up and went to school. I only lasted about 1/2 an hour when I wandered home, turned on my industrial strength fan and passed out for 4 hours. I woke up feeling just as badly and decided I needed to see a doctor. Okay. It was just me who thought this: right now, there's an epidemic of Dengue Fever in Honduras and everyone is obsessed with it. Dengue is transmitted through mosquitoes and the symptoms are basically a bad flu (with some fun additions of retroorbital pain and an occasional rash: I had no eye pain but did have a rash from horseback riding in Copan). So what I'm saying is everyone thought I may have had Dengue so everyone was quick to take me to the hospital.
Rather than going to the public hospital where we had been shadowing for the past couple of weeks, I went to a private hospital, which is specifically for employees of the Standard Fruit Company (Dole). The contrast between the two places was striking. First of all, the private hospital looked like a hotel. We walked into the Emergency department and was seen by a doctor within 5 minutes. Compare this with the crowds of people waiting hours to see a doctor who shares his room with another MD and her patients.
My interview was kind of special since it was in Spanish and things got even more exciting when the nurse pantomimed to me that I needed to provide a sample of "poopoo." I had seen the doctor, given blood and poopoo samples, and got the test results within about an hour. All in all, with meds, it cost me about $75. Oh and it turns out I have a rotavirus (not Dengue!) and possibly some kind of bacterial infection.
In the waiting room at the ER K and S met a cute Honduran couple who gave us some tips of places to go in La Ceiba. We followed their suggestions and went to an awesome cafe right by the public hospital. The cafe was heaven: just the right AC, yummy food (not that I ate any of it) and a full library of books for exchange (I may have taken a little nap in the library at one point). We spent the whole afternoon there which was very relaxing. Now, I'm ready for bed even though it's only 8:30 or so. Big day!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
when you come back can you please show us how one pantomimes poopoo?
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