Nasty Flu

Life in Arequipa has been pretty low key. My schedule is somewhat easy and sometimes boring so I am looking forward to volunteering with the kids come Monday. Unfortunately, I woke up with a gross cold 2 days back and have been trying very hard to take care of myself. Apparently something has been going around but I think I can attribute my new found sickness to the climate change. It gets pretty chilly here at night- in fact, I can see my breath right now when I exhale which is a huge change from the heat and humidity of Lima where the average temperature was about 32 celsius. Teo, the flamingly fabulous flamboyant receptionist recommended a medication for me to purchase at the pharmacy and you will laugh your socks off when you read the name; Nastiflu. Ha! How lovely? It's strange to be able to walk to a pharmacy and explain your symptoms to the certified pharmacists who then recommend a remedy. No appointments available 3 days later with the doctor, no waiting rooms, and no cold probes down my throat. I am confident that these professionals know what they're doing and if for some reason I believed I had something serious going on, I would definitely make an appointment to see a doctor. On the bright side, I have learned lots of new vocabulary words in Spanish from being sick like the word for booger and the verb for laying in bed (as opposed to going to sleep). I have been spending my sick time watching a TV show called The Wire which takes place in Baltimore. Seeing street signs and even hearing familiar voices of DJs from the area on stations like wtop and 9.23fm makes me smile! In an episode I watched today, I even saw Camden Yards, the Orioles' baseball stadium! Makes me miss home a little bit and want to see my family, but there are so many places in our world to see and I can't picture myself sitting at a 9-5 watching the time go by like I did in my last job. I need to get out, meet people, and see the world and right now in my life, I will do everything I can to travel as much while I have the opportunity. I'm not even sure if I see myself permanently settling down in the United States (don't worry mom, this might just be a phase). I have less than 2 months left in Peru and on my agenda is seeing the Colca Canyon and then hopping on over to Bolivia since the border is only about a 4 hour bus ride. I want to see La Paz and the Amazon (how could I not? I am SO close)! May 4th is quickly approaching us (holy crap it's March and today is daylight savings!) and I already have visions of me at the airport with my luggage saying goodbye to Peru...