the verdict is in:

I've got amoebas and bacteria! Yes! And I'm anemic. Which I knew before from trying to give blood and being tuned away so many times. I was trying to explain to this to Sor. Krim on the way down to the doctor's this morning and she told me that Jesus doesn't want me to give blood, because it's bad for my health. I hung my head in shame.

I am thinking I will still give blood in the future (shhh! don't tell), they send me emails all the time saying they need my blood type (type O+ which is the universal donor), I just have to eat a lot of iron rich foods beforehand. If you don't give blood regularly, I highly encourage you to: it's relatively painless (after the initial prick you just sit there for half an hour reading your favorite book) and you get cookies afterward :) Life saved. Done. What a great way to spend an hour!

So at any rate, I have about two weeks of medication to look forward to: first ten days of these florescent yellow pills for the bacteria, then two days of pills for the amoebas and then two days of vitamins. The doctor also told me I need to eat more sugar because it's cheap carbs and I have lost weight since being sick.

There is this perception here that I don't like sugar. Possibly because I told them something like that at one point, but that's not the point. I do like sugar, just not in the quantity which it is consumed here. There is this pink milk the girls were drinking for awhile in the mornings that literally made me gag. It's supposedly a "health drink" because it's soy milk and they add vitamins and stuff to it, but a quick survey of the nutritional information revealed that it is also 2/3rds sugar. And 'cause that's just not sweet enough, the girl who helps in the kitchen adds about another half a bagful of sugar into the pot.

Shortly after I got here sister asked me to start helping in the kitchen to help them choose to use less oil, sugar and salt and use more leftovers. I think that's when I started making a lot of enemies. Maybe that's why they hate me? Could all of this go back to "less sugar in the milk please and let's not salt our eggs so much that they taste like the ocean (not even an exaggeration-seriously)?" Oh well, at least the little kids like me. With time, Love conquers all.

I never did mention that it was at Sister's request I was saying those things...they probably think I'm some spoiled rich kid from "El Norte" who things I can boss them around and tell them how to do things. Except that supervising their chores is pretty much my job here. And food suggestions I make are certainly not because that's how we do it in America, but because it's healthy and the food is going to waste...sigh.

If you know of any good books online or youtube flics I'd love to hear your suggestions! I think I am going to start reading through the ten commandments in the catechism and hopefully I will emerge from this a better person :)

with Love,
Mary