Bacteria AND parasites?

That's right! These little guys (picture from Google images, not my "estomago" or stomach) have been making my life pretty difficult. Basically I've been really sick for the past week.. and when I went to the doctor on Friday he told me I had a mixed infection of bacteria and parasites-- so the pills I'm taking are GIGANTIC and making me sicker than the actual bugs, but whatever. On the plus side, I've lost approximately ten pounds and I think I drank more Gatorade this week than I did in 23 years in the US.

Any new awareness about cultural differences are mostly medicine/sickness related- so bear with me. Prescriptions here are subsidized, so I've spent approximately $15 on the four different prescriptions I've gotten in the last week. Also- you don't need a prescription to go to the pharmacy-- you just go up to the counter and ask for 8 cipros or 6 fasigyns (those are the antibiotics I'm on in case anyone feels like doing a little detective work). When I was really sick this weekend my host mom just called her cousin, who is a doctor, and told him I was sick, and then called the pharmacy and had them deliver the pills. Talk abut scary! Maybe it's just because my mom would grill us as to the necessity of taking an Advil growing up, but to me, taking 50 milligrams of anything without ever having actually spoken to a doctor a new experience.

Also- I had a job interview in a place called, no joke, Cumbaya-- say it out loud. Cumbaya is this beautiful little suburb of Quito where all the best private schools are. To get there, I had to take a bus, which was a new experience for me.. and when I was having a tough time getting the 25 cents I needed to get off the bus, the driver got tired of waiting and just took off. Luckily, the man who hangs outside the bus and calls the destination kept me from falling off.. so I sat on the steps, found my quarter, and was ready to go. Anyway- the interview was an experience, but I had to do some serious soul searching. The pay at this job is almost twice what I'll get anywhere else- and as I look at having to pay rent in a few weeks that's looking good.. but do I really want to teach rich Ecuadorian kids? Plus, I'd be teaching third grade --all the private schools in Cumbaya only offer instruction in English, so it would be just like teaching the third grade in the US to kids with money and accents. I think not. So I'm really hoping for this job at another high school- Colegio de la Liga.. I think it's private (apparently the public schools here are really really really bad).. but it's for more of the middle class. Plus- it's in Quito- which is preferable.

So- that's an update-- I'll try to write once a week or so... maybe more when I'm healthy and have more to say besides the price of prescriptions-- exciting, I know. Please email me-- let me know what you all are up to!!!

Adios!

Actually- no one says "adios"-- they say ciao! So... CIAO!