I hate being sick.

My nose drips. My sinuses are stuffed. My throat feels raw. Air cuts like a hundred little daggers ripping down my esophagus into my lungs. My head pounds. My neck aches with the weight of my head. Every muscle in my body aches like I was pounded by a hundred meat tenderizers. My head burns with fever. My teeth and gums ache, throbbing when I breathe, pounding when I close my mouth. I can't sleep. I'm too hot.

Okay, so I might be a baby when I get sick, but I am miserable and this cold/flu/whatever it is started Thursday and each day following new and exciting symptoms show up.

Before my trip, I began taking immune boosters: Vitamin C, Rieshi mushroom supreme tablets, Airborne, etc. Since being here, I've conquered two illnesses with those meds and the addition of Sovereign Silver drops. Despite the meds, despite getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night, despite drinking plenty of water, I keep getting sick. There's something about El Salvador that just makes my body sick. Could it be the thick pollutant smog in the air? Could it be that maybe not all my foods are washed in purified water? Could it be that the water purifier here doesn't work as great as I thought? Are there simply new germs and bacteria hanging around that my body is getting acquainted with? Could it be a result of so many (so, so many) varieties of insect bites? So far, I've spent 12 days of my first month here sick and either in bed or in the bathroom. I'm quickly becoming an unhappy camper. I would very much like to go home, where I can breathe properly and without pollutants burning my lungs with every breath. My final six weeks look like an eternity to me right now. Yes, Conny's been very nice about my being sick and she fed me chicken soup and fruit yesterday and put an ozone air purifier in my room. Tonight, she made me lemon-honey tea for my swollen, sore throat. All the same, I am miserable here. It's too hot. My body really hates it here. My brain is trying to convince me to stick it out because I really need the credits and there's so much for me to learn and practice in the schools, but there's still that part of me that's feeling trapped and anxious and is wondering how much it would cost to switch my return ticket for a few weeks earlier. . .

This is sick and tired me talking. Maybe things won't be so bad when (if) I get better in a day or two. Or a week. I don't know what I'm sick with.