Physical Discomfort

*Disclaimer: What I am about to write may constitute a little TOO much information for some folks. If you think you don´t want to read about my poop, then maybe skip this blog. If you are ok with reading about poop and additionally you have some background in medicine, a diagnosis would be welcome.


I believe I wrote in another blog post about how great I thought Peace Corps was for teaching people just how to cope with the reality of life in a third world country and how to accept that reality as their own. Well, in the past few days I have learned that maybe I don´t need to be in Peace Corps to learn how to cope with some of the physical discomforts that are a reality for a lot of people here in Ecuador. First and foremost, I have been forced to cope with what is probably the worst diarrhea I have ever encountered. Folks, my stool is in no way solid. In fact, it is the definition of liquid. If you heard it you wouldn´t believe it. Lucky for Molly and Tyler, there is no door on the bathroom at Tyler´s house so they DO get to hear it. To make matters worse, I have little to no control over it... I mean, when it´s time for me to go, it is urgent. Needless to say this made for an uncomfortable weekend at the boy´s camp I helped with this weekend in Muisne where I had to share a bathroom with about 25 teenage boys.

Now, in addition to this diarrhea problem, I have been having fevers on and off lately. I haven´t been taking my temperature constantly or monitoring my temp, but I think over the next few days I am going to try to keep better track of it, just in case the fevers are an indicator of something more serious (which I hope they aren´t). At any rate, these fevers are nearly impossible to handle in this heat. We don´t have air conditioning at Tylers (actually, we often don´t have many modern conveniences at Tylers like electricity or running water), and the temperature here is probably at least 90 every day. The hot, wet, sticky heat of the coast in and of itself is almost impossible to handle, so when my body heats up with a fever... man, it is really uncomfortable. I have been taking Tylenol to lower the fever, and fortunately, I am taking the night bus to Quito tonight, so I´ll be getting back to the Sierra where it´s much cooler, and much more comfortable to have a fever.

Finally, I have been coping lately with the effects of sleeping on a foam matt for the past month... my lower back pain has gotten so bad that I can barely stand up, and it has recently begun to spread to my hips. Its been preventing me from walking long distances... then again, so has the heat and the diarrhea. But again, I am going to Quito tonight and I hope to stay in a nicer hotel this time with a comfortable bed that will be good for my back.

Anyway... amidst all of this extreme physical discomfort, there was a campemento for boys to run, so as I mentioned, I had to hearn to cope with all of this and let life go on. Which I did. I think the camp for the boys was definitely very successful... the boys seemed to really understand the purpose of the activities we were doing with them and take their meanings to heart; they were actively engaged in everything we did, whether it was an activity like the "river cross" (where they had to use teamwork and communication to cross an imaginary river by stepping only on about 25 blocks of wood as we - the counselors - circled and tried to steal their boards) or our sex ed talks. I only hope that it sticks with them... but based on the boys I talked to, I think it will. I had really not been looking forward to being around 25 boys for 4 days but it wasn´t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. The boys were really considerate and kind, and I even connected with a few of them - not in the same way I connected with the girls, but by the end of the weekend I felt like I had definitely made some friends. Oh, and the boys were great for practicing Spanish. Even when I was struggling in a conversation, not understanding and wanting to give up, the boys were really persistent and made me keep talking to them. At the very least my Spanish comprehension skills improved if not both my comprehension and speaking. Now, if only spelling would come so easily...

As I mentioned, I am headed to Quito tonight. My camera is broken AGAIN and I want to take it to get fixed before Molly and I leave for the Galapagos Islands on Wed. I can´t believe it is already time for the Galapagos. That means only 2 weeks left in Ecuador for me, and then it is on to Peru. I have to admit, I am a little nervous about embarking on this trip to Peru alone... it will definitely be a test of not only my travel savvy-ness, but my language skills as well. I think I can do it, though. I am becoming more and more confident every day in my ability to communicate with and understand Spanish-speakers, and at the very least, I will be able to make them understand me. I think if they speak slowly, I will understand them as well. I am actually amazed at how much Spanish I have picked up in just a little over a month. I really believe that 6 months here and I would be totally conversational. Too bad I have to come home in May.

Uh-oh... I think it´s time for another round of liquid poo. Sorry to all for the disgusting details.