Giardia is not fun. First, you have no appetite. Second, if you do have an appetite you won't be able to keep anything down. Third, you get super dehydrated and weak. By the time I got to that point, my friend Humberto was adamant that I go to a clinic. So, away we went late Wednesday night and I ended up staying over with an IV stuck in my arm being pumped with fluids and antibiotics for the next 24 hours. Fun, eh?
Fortunately, it was a travelers' clinic so the place was NICE. My room had a flat-screen TV with cable (many channels in English!), two beds (so I could wake Humberto in the middle of the night to help me not fall over myself when I went to the bathroom) and really good care. Total bill: $361.82. Awesome. Why can't I get care this good for this cheap in the U.S.???
I got out of the clinic just in time to go to mass. Yep. I'm now Catholic. Kidding. But it was the 1-month anniversary of the death of Humberto's aunt so we headed over to one of the beautiful churches here in Cusco for the service and then back to his cousin's house for cake and some hot pink coconut drink (you can bet I wasn't consuming that less than 2 hours after leaving the clinic). We stayed for about an hour and then he brought me home so I could spend the rest of the evening with Elicia, a very old friend who just arrived from the U.S. that morning.
Elicia! Yay, Leesh is here! Laura, another old friend, was visiting the week before I got sick and now Leesh is here. Laura's visit was pretty short (only 5 or so days) and she's an independent traveler so she did a lot of sight seeing on her own (thank goodness b/c there's only so many times I can take a "city tour"). Elicia is here for 5 WEEKS studying Spanish (at my old school) and just enjoying her time here. She's staying at a guest house around the corner which means we won't be in each other's personal space all the time (read: Her visit is going to be wonderful).
We've been taking it slow since she got here, giving her time to acclimate. And other than some headaches, she's doing very well with the altitude. We've cooked matzoh ball soup (thanks to the matzoh meal her mom gave her to bring to me), had juice at the market, napped in the sun and walked around bits of the city (there's still a lot for her to see, but she's got plenty of time to see it). She's getting along just fine and it's great to have someone here who knows me so well.
And now on to Whiskey. Most of you know that I don't drink (some stupid allergy to alcohol) so I'm sure seeing that in the title gave you a little pause. But Whiskey is a puppy -- and a damn cute one at that. He belongs to my friend, Whitney, who teaches at my former school here in Cusco. She decided to bring him in for her "jovenes" class (the 12-15 year olds) as a reward on one of the quite days during the Paro (strikes). But since she teaches 3 more classes after that one she asked me to take him home with me and entertain him for a few hours until after work. And so I did. Happily.
Our walk home was fun. I forgot how much people love dogs and how easy it is to make new friends when you have one. Whiskey is so friggin' cute that we were stopped at least half a dozen times on the way to my house so people could love on him. I live in San Blas, the hilly neighborhood above the main square, so he was pretty damn tired when we got home. Whiskey is a mellow dog, so we just chilled in my room and walked down to our favorite outdoor vegetarian shack/restaurant with Elicia and Gabs later on. It was so nice to have a well-behaved dog around every once in a while.
Whiskey And now for massage. Yes, my studio is up and running and I'm taking clients on a semi-regular basis. I know that building a practice is a slow process and giving mine up in DC was one of the hardest things I ever did. I loved my studio and clients at home, made my own hours and truly embraced the work I was doing. It's the same here -- my studio is beautiful (I got the table custom-made in Lima), my growing client base is humbling and the work is unreal. The energy here makes every session special and since so many people come to Cusco because they've been called here (to find themselves, seek enlightenment, work out their problems, etc.), the work takes on a lot of meaning. My favorite sessions have been the ones in the evening, where I work by candlelight and savor every moment.
My beautiful studio (in my house!)
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