Hello Friends and Family,
First, I made it to Atlanta to visit with my dad, Kim and Josh. We were tired, but it was so great to see each other, eat at the Waffle House and introduce my family to the people I've been traveling with for the past year. Saying goodbye was sad, but I was also happy because I only had a week of defrief in Honduras before heading to Guatemala to see my parents for 4 days of what was supposed to be lots of fun.
And we did have fun. We attended some meetings, helped at a club for local children, and visited the largest garbage dump in all of Central America that is home to 11,000 people who live off of it's trash. We got to chat, catch up… and spend our last day together in the hospital.
I had been sick and in bed for our last week in Ukraine and then spent a lot of time in the bathroom in Atlanta duirng our layover. Once we got to debrief in Honduras, I went right back to bed and stayed there for almost another whole week. After 17ish hours on a bus traveling from Honduras to Guatemala I was super tired and still not feeling well, but wanted to make the most of being with my mom and dad for the few days we had… right up until the last day where we opted out of a coffee plantation tour to get me checked out by a doctor. He came to our hostel and after looking me over decided that I needed to spend the night in the hospital.
Long story short, we spent our last day in the most beautiful hospital I've ever been in, which is amazing because most hospitals in other parts of the world are truly terrible. I received fluids for 24 hours while we waited to find out if I had visitors living inside of me. The verdict? I have a bacterial infection, plus some friendly little cousins of E. Coli with a similar name that I can't remember that have kept me sick for the better part of a month. Basically some how human poop got in my body. Gross.
I am out of the hospital as of this afternoon. Thankgoodness. I said goodbye to Mom and Dad with the IV still in my arm, but all in all we had a wonderful visit. I'll be here in Gautemala until probably Saturday and then make the trip back to Honduras to live in my tent for the rest of the month. And then 11 more weeks and I'm home!
Love to each of you,
Carrie
