So NOW I'm Alive

Okay so here I am again, finally and alive and well. Let's start from the end of the last blog, where I thought I was on the road to recovery.

So as you know, I had gone to the hospital and been pumped full of some liquid to be told I had a stomach infection. I was sent home with some nice drugs and all was well until the following weekend, when all the pain and cramps associated with this so-called stomach infection came back two-fold. I was fed up and miserable and running out of options, so I called Pedro's mother and asked her to try and get me an appointment with a Gastrointestinal specialist. Luckily, someone she knew was going in on Monday so she was able to get them to ask the doctor to sneak me in. I got an appointment for Tuesday.

Early afternoon Tuesday I arrive at San Fillipe hospital where the doctor takes patients. Dr. Cabello was a short, portly little man who thankfully spoke English. He examined me for about twenty minutes, poking and prodding until I was incredibly uncomfortable. I was told I would need to take some tests as he suspected there was a big more wrong with me than just an infection. I was sent downstairs to do a blood test. Suprisingly, I was okay with it, as I had resigned myself to doing anything necessary to get myself feeling better and normal again. I was not, however, glad about how much blood they took out. I looked at the six vials after she had removed them and wanted to faint but I didn't, if only because Pedro's mom was sitting right outside.

Now the most amazing thing about this whole process was how I found out my results. They give you a code after your blood test to a website called Laborotorio Clinica Roe where they post the entirety of their findings. As it is private medical lab that analyzes your tests, it only took two days for me to see my blood results! Unfortunately this had me paranoid when I tested positive for a parasite, vitamin b12 deficiency and Crohn's disease and I had to wait a couple days until I could see the doctor again. I was officially freaking out.

When I finally saw him, he told me I have a friendly little parasite who had been inhabiting my body for the past two months. Creepy but very solvable through only a week's worth of pills. The Crohn's disease reading is a possible positive but most likely a false reading from the parasite, which I will find out in a couple of months when everything is cleared up. The deficiency of my B12 is actually quite dangerous and unfortunately quite permanent, and for the rest of my life I will have to continue to get booster shots of the vitamin every couple of months. Right now, I have to take super vitamins every morning, eat a ridiculous amount of meat and All-Bran (100% of my B12 for the day!) and get one shot every five days for a total of six shots until I go back and see how it has improved. It sucks but at least it is very manageable. It also explains almost all of the strange things I have been experiencing for the last year: difficulty loosing weight, extreme exhaustion, etc. I'm almost grateful for my little parasite friend, now named Juan, as without him I wouldn't have discovered this problem! Funny how things work themselves out. Also quite an ironic way for me to get over my fear of needles :(

Now onto the good stuff. I got a new job! I am now a Middle Years English Teacher at Casuarinas College, a IB private school in Lima. I love it. On top of making my life much easier (i.e. set schedule, close to Pedro's work for carpooling) I am making 6 times as much as I made at Langrow. I am officially "Peruvian Rich" haha. The school itself is great: the teachers in my department are extremely welcoming and kind, I am currently on a week's paid vacation after only working two weeks, I have from mid-December until March off. The kids, grades 6-8, are hilarious and quite the handful. The facilities are amazing and make me jealous that I didn't have half the things they get to experience in their school when I was in elementary. All in all, I am incredibly happy and finally doing what I came here for. On top of that, the IB program is a world-renowned program and one of the top paid teaching positions in the world. It is extremely hard to become an IB qualified teacher and requires excessive training. Somehow by some sheer luck, I am now one, and will be trained accordingly. This means that wherever I move throughout the globe I am basically set. I can now apply for my master's schooling in a couple of years saying that I have already taught IB. This is huge. It also means I can be paid top dollar from now on in any school I apply to globally. I am excited.

This, however, has caused me a bundle of problems when it comes to my Peruvian residency. I had signed a two-year contract with Langrow in return for my visa being paid for. Now, I had to cover the costs, which are not cheap. On top of that, they were taking too long, and now I have to leave the country to get a new tourist visa.

We've turned this dilemma into an exciting trip! On Thursday we leave for a road trip, where we will stop in three Peruvian cities and visit Chile so I can get my new passport stamp. Pretty excited! I'll post some pictures.

Other than that, everything here is quite normal. It is getting very sunny and very warm. Pedro's family has rented a beach house over the Christmas break so I will be spending Christmas this year on the beach with Pedro's family, some of our friends, and our visiting friend Michael from Britain who will be staying with us until mid-January. New Years is going to be ridiculous. Heather arrives November 29th and I am already planning our weekend trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu, the Incan ruins considered one of the wonders of the world. Lot's of things are starting to happen, and now that I'm alive and well I'll be around much more!

All my love, hugs and kisses :)