So it’s official, the unthinkable has happened. Amy totally got malaria. We know, it’s ridiculous. Our last week at language school, Amy came down with a high fever and chills that turned into body tremors. Our host mom, who has been absolutely amazing, insisted that Amy should go see her doctor. Amy definitely was reluctant, thinking it was probably just some quick bug and she’d be fine in the morning. But, when Mama talks, you gotta listen, so we all made our way to the doc. The doctor asked where we were about 15 days ago. Hm….let us think. We were on a day trip to a nearby town called Nueva Almanecer, which happened to be located in the state of San Marcos, which is relatively close to Mexico. When we were there, we noticed a few mosquitos, even though it’s the dry season, and put on bug repellent. However, one little lady (only females bite), made her way up Amy’s pants to an unprotected area of skin. It seems one little bite was just enough! So the doctor said, “Yo creo que tu tienes malaria.” Eek! She called a lab tech right over, took a blood sample and within 20 minutes, we had a “positivo” diagnosis. Holy crap. AND what’s better, is that the strain Amy has is common in Chiapus, Mexico, which we actually had malaria meds for, but we left them in New Mexico because we weren’t going to Mexico anymore. Guess we were close enough! So, Rob had to go all over town trying to find the medication that Amy needed. He and our host mom were absolutely incredible and truly helped save my life! What made matters worse, was that I think my body was freaking out over the malaria, so some other fun bugs sneaked in. I also was diagnosed with strep throat and an ear infection. Talk about an adventure! So, I know that many of you are probably very worried upon hearing this, but I want to assure you that I have received the best care possible and am feeling pretty much back to normal. I am one lucky lady to have a hubby like Rob to take care of me!
So, our last week of Spanish classes was not as productive as the first three, for obvious reasons, but we were very thankful that we stayed in Xela the extra week and Amy feel ill while we were there. It would have been quite a challenge to receive the appropriate care while traveling around, not to mention that we would have been less likely to go to a doctor.
Some people have suggested that I may have gotten malaria in India, and it just has remained dormant until now. I guess we will never know, however, the strain in India typically is chlorophil resistant, in which case, the medication Amy has been taking would not have worked, and she wouldn’t have gotten better. We think that she did get it here, but we’ll never know for sure!
With Amy on the mend, we left Xela and headed out to Flores in the northern part of the state in order to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We found this really hippy hostel in Flores and settled right in. The town is very small and quiet, right on the water with a tropical feel. This was actually the perfect place to chill for a while. Rob got a bout of food poisoning right when we arrived, so we both spent about two days just laying around the hostel, mending our broken bodies. Which was fine, because it was raining most of the day. We now feel healed, relaxed, and ready for the next adventure - Tikal. This place is one of the most amazing sites we’ve ever seen. Check out the pictures!
After a few days in Flores, we headed back to Guatemala City, then to the Xela area for one more week of Spanish school. This time, we’re at their campus in a nearby mountain town. It was a much different experience than our first language school. We got a little taste of the rural life. Unfortunately, we can’t believe it, but our Guatemala time has run out. As always, it was never enough time, but I definitely think we’ll be back. Now, onto our last big adventure – Peru!
So, our last week of Spanish classes was not as productive as the first three, for obvious reasons, but we were very thankful that we stayed in Xela the extra week and Amy feel ill while we were there. It would have been quite a challenge to receive the appropriate care while traveling around, not to mention that we would have been less likely to go to a doctor.
Some people have suggested that I may have gotten malaria in India, and it just has remained dormant until now. I guess we will never know, however, the strain in India typically is chlorophil resistant, in which case, the medication Amy has been taking would not have worked, and she wouldn’t have gotten better. We think that she did get it here, but we’ll never know for sure!
With Amy on the mend, we left Xela and headed out to Flores in the northern part of the state in order to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We found this really hippy hostel in Flores and settled right in. The town is very small and quiet, right on the water with a tropical feel. This was actually the perfect place to chill for a while. Rob got a bout of food poisoning right when we arrived, so we both spent about two days just laying around the hostel, mending our broken bodies. Which was fine, because it was raining most of the day. We now feel healed, relaxed, and ready for the next adventure - Tikal. This place is one of the most amazing sites we’ve ever seen. Check out the pictures!
After a few days in Flores, we headed back to Guatemala City, then to the Xela area for one more week of Spanish school. This time, we’re at their campus in a nearby mountain town. It was a much different experience than our first language school. We got a little taste of the rural life. Unfortunately, we can’t believe it, but our Guatemala time has run out. As always, it was never enough time, but I definitely think we’ll be back. Now, onto our last big adventure – Peru!
