Week In Review Sabbatical Style: Week 1

Now that I'm on the road again, I figured why not revive the Sunday Week In Review? You know you loved it.

• Yesterday I still wasn't feeling great, so I went to the reception desk and extended my stay a couple more days. I feel very good about this decision. 
• Despite it's sickly start, yesterday was one of the most beautiful days I've had in a while. It was finally cooler so I spent the entire afternoon swimming in the ocean, laying on the beach and watching surfers. Sunset was especially gorgeous. (Sadly, I didn't take anything to the beach with me, so no pictures!)
• Biggest decisions of the day: beach or pool?
• It's kind of strange to be so far away without a single hour of time difference from home. 
• It gets dark here at 6 o'clock sharp. I know this happens when you get closer to the equator, but it's almost disorienting that its so hot, yet the day ends so early. Long evenings are one of my favorite parts of summer. Maybe this helps explain why I have been going to sleep before 9 all week!
• I've been pulling 9-13 hours of sleep all week. I don't know if it's because I've been sick (probably) or because I've just been that exhausted, but it has been pretty glorious. 
• Costa Rica is proud of its coffee, and it's pretty tasty too. The flavor is strong, but it's not a dark roast. It's not thick or heavy at all. It's almost like what an agua fresca is to a fruit smoothie. 
• I ended up getting a kindle before I left. I give it a thumbs up!
• After basically nothing but bread and fruit all week and a day at the beach, last night I was hungry for real food. I figured I would regret it, but I found soda (local hole in the wall) and ordered a casado (picture below). It was delicious! And my body didn't reject it! (Hamdula!)
• I ordered the casado to go so I could eat back in my room (mostly so I could drink out of my 6 liter bottle of water I bought and not have to buy a drink! Yes, I am cheap!). Once I got back and unwrapped it I realized I hadn't thought about silverware. Hmm. I popped open my multi-tool and decided to use the pocket knife to (carefully!) eat. Unfortunately it was not doing me a ton of good with the rice and beans (I was actually wishing for even some chopsticks!). Solution? I used the heel of the (bitter!) orange slice as a scoop. Bien hecho Lauren. 
• About half way through I realized that the peel of the orange probably hadn't been washed. But then again, I figured I was already sick, so what is the harm? (Let's hope!)
• I have the beginnings of a Chaco tan. 

OK, so that is the week in review! A few more pictures below!

Feet, meet ocean!

This has been lunch most of the week.  

Finally a proper meal! This is my casado: rice, black beans, a piece of chicken, potatoes, fried plantains (YUM!), and some veggies. And for $4, a good deal to boot!

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Well, things got off to a rough start. I left Tuesday evening for Costa Rica...but woke up Tuesday morning at 5 violently throwing up. Fun. Not one to let a little vomit get me down (OK, I almost did, but it cost way to much to change my ticket so I refused!), I took a cocktail of different drugs, slept most of the day (and had some crazy fever-dreams) then woke up, packed in 30 minutes and was on my way. 

It was a long way, too--2 hours to Denver, a 3.5 hour layover, a 5 hour flight to San Jose, a 4 hour wait at the bus station in San Jose, and then a 5 hour bus ride to Samara. Most all of that was spent dozing so the contrast was even greater when I finally got here. 

In a way the landscape reminds me a bit of Puerto Rico, but it's really different too. The jungle just kind of falls into the beach. And I was just complaining about the cold a couple of days ago, so I won't go too far, but the sun is intense here. (PSA: If you fall asleep in the sun, you will get burned!) 

Once I got here and found my way to my hostel though, things unfortunately didn't start looking up--they had lost my reservations. Ugh. She did help us find a place in a new "hostel" out of the city some. Unfortunately, the place lacked some of the basic amenities that I generally prefer--like a door on the shared bathroom. I was so tired that night that nothing really mattered, and I got a good 13 hours of sleep out of that place, so I won't complain too much. In the end though I walked through town, saw a sign for a place full of Germans (which I figured at least meant it would be clean) and took a room. It's a bit of a splurge, but it has breakfast, AC and a pool that feels like you are right in the middle of the jungle (which...OK, you pretty much are). Also, I realized tonight, considering I'm still not eating hardly anything (I went for my first real meal since Monday yesterday...it did not go over well), I am still more or less making my budget! (Silver lining?)

It's been a rocky start, but soon I'll be feeling better, and in the meantime I've already seen 3 or 4 monkeys, 4 iguanas, a neon green and pink bird, tons of butterflies and 3 sea crabs. As the Ticos say, ¡Pura Vida!

Shots!

Today was shot day. Probably my least favorite part of trip preparation. Thankfully I just had two shots with my name on them. I finished off my Hep A series and then was lucky enough to get my first Yellow Fever vaccination. That one hurt! But it's good for 10 years, so I guess it works out to just a teensy bit of pain per year. The annoying bit is that I don't need the vac for where I am going, but because parts of Panama have Yellow Fever, the Panama stamp in my passport will cause questions throughout my trip without the vaccine. I just rolled up my sleeve and took it. Ouff, she didn't tell me until I was already wincing that it was a stinger. It's all right though, she told me I'm now ready to be a world traveler. 

And I have the shot record to prove it.  

PS. For anyone living in the metroplex, I highly recommend the travel clinic at Harris Methodist HEB! She's great and even got me in at the last minute. 

ER Adventures

So not long ago I ended up on a date with the Syrian Mr. Collins. This week? It was a date with the neurologist.

I should have never mentioned that the culture here reminded me of a Jane Austen novel. First the whole Mr. Collins thing, and then I also unwittingly acted out a scene from Persuasion. In the need of a brief novel to give my brain a break, I picked up Persuasion off of Janee's bookshelf. My mom and I are going to Bath in a couple of weeks, so I thought it would be a nice read. I hadn't realized a large portion of the plot revolved around one of the girls falling and knocking herself unconscious. I might would have avoided the book otherwise.

Anyway, we all know what I then preceded to do--I fell down the stairs and banged the back of my head into the concrete wall. That's nothing new though, I told you about that last week. Everyone kept insisting that I go get my head checked, but I refused. It wasn't that big of a deal. By Sunday though, I was feeling worse instead of better. The headaches were getting stronger, so much so that I thought I might pass out during church on Sunday. My vision was getting a little blurry and I was feeling dizzier than normal.

I started to rethink the idea of going to the doctor. (I've seen way too many medical shows where someone dies of an aneurysm all because they didnt go get their headaches checked out.) The system is a bit different here, so Janee suggested I go to the ER. At this point they were still at the hospital in the next town over, so I hitched a ride there with a couple from our church. After a 10 minute wait (!) I was back in the ER getting checked out, and then got to do one of my least favorite things--a CT scan. Thankfully it came back in the clear but the doctor scheduled me an appointment with the neurologist for an EEG the next day.

Really Lauren? I don't know how I get myself into these things.

The EEG in itself was an odd experience. She started taping probes on my wrists and ears and then pulled out a giant syringe. I panicked--nobody had mentioned injections! Thankfully it was just to squirt gel. She then pulled a cap with about 87 wires attached onto my head and started filling all the little holes in the cap with the gel. (Which I am still trying to wash you of my hair...) Once the test started it was a lot of open your eyes, close them, breathe through your mouth, breathe through your nose, and then a lot of try not to go into a seizure as we blink all kinds of colored lights in your face.

Anyway, I finally got to see the neurologist, who was incredibly nice. After doing a couple dozen little tests (and him squeezing the bruise on my foot!) he showed me my CT and EEG results. All in the clear. (Hamdula) He said since I have had migraines before it is probable that the trauma has triggered them. He said that Post Concussion Syndrome can explain all of my symptoms, and that it could last a week or two or a month or two (lets all pray for weeks not months!).

In the end he prescribed me some good painkillers (which I should probably mention I am taking at the moment...so if none of this makes sense, now we know why), we chatted about healthcare and Belgian and US politics, and he mentioned that if life were like Grey's Anatomy that by that time I "would have been whisked away to the OR for brain surgery with McDreamy." He then followed it up with "or whatever his name is." But it was too late, he was caught.

So in the end, it has been a long, strange week. My head feels like someone is massaging my brain with brass knuckles. But on the upside, they gave me my CT scan on a CD. How cool is that? And while I lament my ability to do the most ridiculous things, I figure everyone who's traveled to Brussels has seen the Grand Place and the Atomium. But how many have seen the inside of the neurology department?

That's right, probably just me.

Go Big or Go Home

Welp, I spent the latter part of the afternoon like this: 

Janee and Hary are off to the hospital for the baby, and apparently I had a strong desire to go to the hospital too. Helping to carry stuff down the spirally stairs my ankle gave out with at least three stairs to go. Because the stairs spiral that means I found a way to whack my head into the concrete wall on the way down. I might have left a dent.

Fantastic, Lauren.

Thankfully, my head is hard and with the help of some unidentified frozen Syrian food to ice it, there doesn't even seem to be much a knot left up there. The foot is turning purple though, but that's nothing new for me. Really, to be honest, my big beef at the moment is that it's just way too cold to be having to use an ice pack!

Ouff, it's hard work being clumsy.