How the Storm Hit

To the acute disappointment of Natalie and Ethan (who spent the entire night recording a song about the arrival of Richard), Richard indeed passed us by untouched. Only a mild amount of rain came in the night, and even that was not extraordinary. So all of our preparations, which included pulling out flashlights, charging electronic devices, and closing windows were in vain. And we were left without any plans for Sunday, which turned out quite nice despite the forecast. We spent our free time well, id say. 5 hours strait in Wendy's eating frosty's and fries. That's almost an accomplishment to stay in a fast food restaurant for so long. I feel like I should check it off on my bucket list or something like that. Don't worry though, there was greater purpose to us being there for so long. One word; Wifi. So all of the pictures, blogs, etc that you are seeing are complements of our great effort. It is quite inconvenient that we don't have wifi , because you will be reading this perhaps several days after it is written, but so it is.

Even though Richard passed us by, a different type of storm still hit us. Natalie first, and me soon to follow. Natalie's ailment was a case of Monetezuma's revenge. On Thursday after our first taste of balleadas, she began having certain stomach issues. Ethan did as well, but by the next morning Ethan was cured, while Natalie's stuck with her. She stuck it out, hoping that it would soon disappear, but by Sunday we decided that 4 days is enough to be cramping up in pain. Cristy chided her for not taking it sooner, but her resolve broke and she took the pill. Ciproproxin, the pill that flushes your entire system clear of all bacteria, to take in only the most dire cases. Well she did, and the pain got worse, but this morning upon waking she did feel slightly better! She still is not 100 percent, but at least she isn't clutching a pillow in the fetal position any longer. We have, unfortunately, decided to blame the balleadas, because although they are some of the most delicious creations, I can't vouch for the sanitation in the road side shops. It was either that or the lack of us washing our hands before eating (after touching children and all manner of things at the school) that caused it... we shall blame the balleadas. My case is slightly different. I have a case of 'gripe' also known as the common cold. Playing with the little one's all day certainly takes it's toll. My weakened defenses couldn't handle it, and so I contracted this terrible illness, which comes with a constant headache, swollen lymph nodes and a sore throat, as well as a stuffy nose. Thank goodness for modern day medicine, because my pill popping has kept me feeling relatively okay.

Today I stayed in bed until nine, while the other two toughed it out and got up at five. I vaguely remember asking Ethan when the alarm went off what I should do, but was only able to speak in a tiny squeak, because my voice was compromised. He told me later that I sounded absolutely awful, so he said go back to bed. Two volunteers from Spain arrived yesterday so David picked them up at 10 30 and I went with them to the school, just in time for my English class. As soon as I got to the school I was so glad I went. The little kinder kids came up and hugged me and I carefully attempted to avoid passing on my virus. I missed them already after only one day of not seeing them. Just as I got to the top of the stairs the bell rang for English. I went to my second level class and attempted to call order. Key word attempt. My voice was so weak and frail, the poor kids could hardly hear me for the day. But they listened well enough to my scratchy voice, as we went over how to say the date, as well as the months, calendar etc. Once we were done, I went out to wait for the bus. Little Paola is the sweetest thing. Every day one of the kids says something that sends me spinning. Today Paoloa was asking me when Kylee was coming. I repeated "Abril" to her several times. Then she asked me when I was leaving, and again I said "Abril". So a confused look came over her face and she said (translated), "I wish April would hurry up because I want Kylee to come, but then I don't want April to come at all because I don't want you to leave". These kids have stolen my heart.