What It’s Like to be Sick on the World Race; or, How Siri Told Me I had Laryngitis
So we’re going to month one debrief, right, and I wake up with a sore throat and a cough. I think it’s just a cold, and I take the week to rest. A week later, I start throwing up and go to the clinic. One of our awesome ministry hosts, Diego, was translating for me. He told me I was pretty sick, but couldn’t remember the English word for what I had. Throughout the day, he was telling everyone else that I was really, really sick. That night, the leaders asked him to look up what I had. So, Diego pulled up Google Translate. He played the voice out loud. Moment of truth. Siri’s calm, matter-of-fact robot voice said, “laryngitis.” I said, “What??” And Diego just played it again, “laryngitis.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Throughout the following week, I was getting worse, and, on my birthday, went to an emergency room where I got a penicillin shot in the butt to help with my stomach infection. Happy birthday to me!
On Wednesday and Thursday, I went to the hospital. I ended up with a parasite, which is common, but it was a long road to get there. I got a wonderful doctor named Carlos who spoke some English. However, the nurses and I have some stories. Carlos told me it was time for a scan, and a nurse rolls my hospital bed out of the room. He takes me outside of the hospital and into a fancy glass-domed bridge over the highway to a different building. He didn’t prepare me for the surreal moment I had, crossing an Ecuadorian highway in a hospital gown. When I told my squad about it, I forgot to mention the bridge, and they thought he was running across the crosswalk to get me across the street in time.
My last funny story is when a doctor really stressed that it was very, very, VERY important to not drink alcohol on my medication. It’s against policy to drink alcohol on the World Race, so my leaders and I were snickering, which made him more worried. He kept coming back to it and how it was so very important. We told him the rule, but he persisted. Also, he said that there might be a slight problem with my skin turning yellow, but it was all normal and nothing to worry about.
“If we had a dollar for every time he told Kate not to drink alcohol, we would all be fully funded.” -Aly
“So, apparently, if Kate drinks alcohol, she’s going home, or she’s going home to Jesus.” -Stephen
So, here’s the realities.
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Your sleeping bag becomes your favorite item of clothing.
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You watch so many movies.
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You conduct full research on the movies on everyone’s hard drives to figure out who has the best ones.
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You try to text your parents about what’s going on and they just freak out and want to be with you, but you’re just trying to stay positive on a different continent.
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You get fancy hospital gowns that TIE. ON. THE. SIDE. genius.
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Google Translate becomes your new best friend, and the doctor that speaks a little bit of English is an angel.
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You get so much quality time with your squad leaders. After approximately 3,247 games of gin rummy while waiting for a stool sample, Aly, Stephen, and I are pretty close.
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There’s definitely an alternate-reality in there somewhere. You spend $30 at the ER, but $60 at the pharmacy. One hospital visit costs $100 and the next costs $1,000. I think the Matrix is glitching.
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Your mom hates it when you call from the hospital with the greeting, “So, funny story…”
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Your squad loves you so so much and cares for you so well.
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Love,
Kate
