First major illness

I had heard that there are some volunteers who never get sick in two years, or at least not sick enough to come into the medical office in the capital. My stomach toughened by Bangladesh, my immune system proving its greatness as everyone around me caught cold and I ran around unscathed, I began to fantasize that I could be one of those volunteers.

But how could I have forgotten? I have this thing for visiting foreign hospitals everywhere (think Spain) or at least getting sick in other countries (Italy, Bangladesh.) So two nights ago, after a week of a bad cold, I woke up with a fever and painful muscle spasms down my right side.

The next day, guess where I was? Yep, in the hospital in San Salvador. Getting there was a 4-hour journey involving two bus rides and a cab trip in sweltering heat. After being loaded up with three different medications, I was sent to a hotel for the night, where I promptly slept for 15 hours.

Today, I'm still running a fever, high blood pressure and an upset stomach. So it looks like a visit to the testing lab for me, plus another night in a San Sal hotel. At least it gets English TV channels and the water is a lukewarm shower instead of a freezing cold bucket bath.

This is meant to make you all feel better about getting sick in America.