Saturday started off like a normal day off on the World Race. The majority of the team headed out early to do some shopping at the local artisan market with plans to camp out at a local café in the afternoon and get in some free wifi time.
Sounds harmless right?
After 5 minutes and not even two shops into the artisan market I started to feel light headed. I passed it off as a cup of coffee on an empty stomach, however, as the souvenir shops continued the dizziness began to grow stronger. Finally we were headed to a delightful little place called Café Paris where I enjoyed a delicious quiche of the day and a banana mocha Frappuccino (all under $5 might I add). We sat there for a couple hours and I was able to regain composure, but as soon as we stood up to leave the dizziness all came rushing back to my head.
We started walking on the sidewalk away from the café. With each local that passé I felt myself unable to walk my own path. My eyes were drawn to the homeless sitting beneath me begging and the tall buildings that were surrounding me. I was overwhelmed and over stimulated. I grabbed onto a teammates arm and continued to push through the crowd.
We finally made it to another coffee shop a few blocks down (although it felt like miles). We grabbed a place to sit and my head hit the table. The spinning would only stop when my eyes were closed.
We sat there talking about what the rest of our day would hold (movie, grocery shopping, pedicure?) Everything in me wanted to “man-up” and enjoy the rest of my day with my team but a sudden urge to vomit brought those thoughts to a quick halt.
I ran to the bathroom trying not to run into chairs, tables and people on the way. The fact that this was a public bathroom in Bolivia was the furthest thing from my mind. I hugged that bowl as if it was my very own at home. (Cue round 1 of public puking).
I exit the bathroom with watery eyes and shaky knees. I tell my team I need to get home. My wonderful friend Meredith offers to accompany me. I opted to pay for a taxi home (40 minutes away) opposed to public transportation (2 different buses and an hour home). As I’m walking out of the coffee shop my other friend Mindy yells, “Wait, here’s a plastic bag…. Just in case”.
Meredith and I start walking towards an area we know to get a cab. We both are laughing at this situation because really there is nothing else to do but laugh. Just as we pass a quaint little restaurant with a garden as its entrance I ask Meredith, “Do you think this place is open? I hope no….. (Cue round 2 of public puking.)
That’s right folks, right in the middle of the street onto a delicate garden in front of a neighborhood restaurant (Thank God closed on Saturdays!)
We quickly found a cab and begin the longest 40 minutes of my life. I sat there with my eyes closed just focusing on not throwing up. We made it about 30 minutes when I asked Meredith to translate to the driver, “Sir, my friend here is going to throw up but she promises she won’t get any on your cab.” The cab driver kindly nodded his head as I reached for the bag Mindy gave me… (Cue round 3 of public puking). The whole last stretch home I had to sit in the cab holding a bag of my own vomit (not my most glamorous moment).
I made it into the house, luckily greeted by two of the medical interns we are rooming with this month. (Friendly reminder: we are serving with Hospitals of Hope this month; not a bad month to get sick right?)
Kristen (one of the interns) asked me what was wrong as we walked to our room. I explained to her the dizziness and the nausea. She quickly said, “It sounds like benign vertigo, I had a similar case like this just weeks before I came to Bolivia”.
(I will spare you all the medical details of benign vertigo; you can Google it if you are that interested)
Long story short, she performed some head tilting techniques on me and told me to rest as long as possible.
3 days later I am still lying in bed. I ended up getting moved into a room on my own to avoid light and noise. I did visit the local doctor for some prescription meds for this condition.
But now it is a waiting and resting game. On I am confident of winning.
To anyone whose known me for 5 minutes you can imagine my frustration with sitting still for more than 48 hours. On top of that, not being able to participate in our last week of ministry here in Bolivia. But God is teaching me a thing or two about resting in Him.
Being in a room by yourself can lead to some very honest, vulnerable private prayer. Prayer for myself, my team, my race, my family, my friends back home, my current situation, etc. You’d think that leaving on an 11-month journey like the race would allow you many opportunities for quite time with God. But you know what? I have found that when you are someone who pre-occupies yourself with non-sense at home its easy to pre-occupy yourself with non-sense while away.
So here I am lying and resting, learning to be still and listening to God’s voice.
Occasional dizziness, but getting better each day.
I am extremely blessed to be surrounded by wonderful ministry hosts (Neco, Rosemary & Elba) and the most loving and selfless team!!
Thanks for reading my adventures of Public Puking and Private Prayer.
Blessed,
Jolene
