SO I got pretty sick in Honduras and tried to minimize it. I got a parasite and tried to take meds to get rid of it. Well they worked for like 5 hours and then I got really sick. I was lying on a floor telling my squad leader I was gonna die… I know I know I'm a drama queen but after three weeks of pooping and puking I was over it especially since blood was involved. So it was decided that I was to head to the hospital. I HATE hospitals. Ever since my mom was sick I just avoid them like the plague too many bad memories…. So off i went and the adventure that followed was amusing.
Our host told us we could use credit cards at the hospital so i only had enough money for the bus. The bus took like 45 minutes and went through hairpin curves in the mountains and was full. It had like 200 people on a school bus no exaggeration. So the bus plays chicken with a car and loses so we back up like 4 blocks and turn to let the car pass. Finally we arrive at the hospital. We go to pay only to be informed that they do not take credit cards. The closest ATM is up the mountain like 5 miles. We start walking and then decide to pay the 60 limpidas to take a moto taxi to the ATM. Of course there's a carnival going on so we have to weave through the streets and atempt to get to the ATM. We get our money and take the taxi back.
We pay and then sit in the waiting room. And we sit and sit some more. Walter one of our friends in Honduras checks several times and it still isn't our turn. There are only 3 people in front of us yet it takes forever….. I look at magizines from 1997 yep true story. Finally we get taken back only to get weighed and such. Then back to waiting. Finally it's 5:30 and the last bus is leaving to get back to our home for the month. The receptionist looks at us and goes in spanish oh you're still here. How they miss the only Americans in the room is beyond me. I mean I'm white and my friend Joshua who was also sick is African American we kinda stand out. So we finally see the Dr. He speaks some English and with my Spanish we communicate well enough.
The Dr listens to my stomach and hears something in my intenstines. I get a prescription for meds for my parasite and thrush since I had a reaction to the other meds I was on. We go to the hospital pharmacy and they are out of my meds. It's now 6:30 and we've missed our bus home and our host, his wife and the other person at the property are not answering phones. We decided to take a mototaxi back up the mountain to the main road and try to get a bus somewhere near our home.
Moto taxis really only seat 2 people comfortably so the 4 of us squash in and I end up with someone on my lap. The sun has set and it's freezing high up in the mountains and we have no jackets. Throw in the wind of the taxi and you have a frozen Krystyna. As we approach the main road our contact calls and is on his way to get us. We get dropped on the side of the road and wait. We stop and get snacks at the Puperia since we havn't eaten or drank since the morning. The store kicks us out so we move to the side of the road. It's super windy and every attempt to get out of the cold fails. There's an old newstand so we run to get in it only to find a dog chained inside. An 18 wheeler pulls up and we huddle in front of the radiator with arms inside our shirts still freezing. Our host arrives and takes us home. Where I head to my tent and ball my eyes out from being overwelmed of the day. The next day I get my meds from a pharmacy in the mall and am now back to 'normal' which I'm not sure even exists. Yep just another day on the race!
