Katie's Vida Peruana: (home)Sick

September 13, 2011

This week I got sick for the first time since being in Peru. I woke up around 5am throwing up and couldn’t stop until like 5pm. I was literally in bed until 7pm. It was really hard to be sick in such a foreign place. Not only was I not with my mom and dad to comfort my sickness, but other things that I take advantage of in the States were not there to help either: a hot shower, a movie to watch curled up in bed, friends to text when I felt lonely, a grilled cheese with tomato soup, mindless television to get my mind off of how I was feeling… Nope. None of those things. I laid in bed and slept in and out all day. Occasionally I would wake up and run to the bathroom, or snuggle Fidea (who was being a great nurse cat), or take a drink of gatorade and then fall back asleep (gatorade that Kyle bought me before he went to work, along with a packet of saltines and washing out the vomit bucket beside my bed… what a wonderful friend!!)

Not only was this the first time I was physically sick, but it is the first time I have really missed home. I guess that being so vulnerable will make you realize the things you don’t have that you used to cling to for comfort. I kept thinking about my dad’s foot rubs and grilled cheese sandwiches (that are grilled to perfection) and laying on the couch watching DVRed TV series with my mom before bed. Driving in my car with my friends and listening to loud music (in English). My Living Word church community back in The Woodlands who embrace me so strongly every time I go back home. Eating familiar foods. Blow drying and straightening my hair (or really just feeling clean in general). Being able to have a conversation without having to form the sentence in my head before I speak outloud. My pets. My bed in The Woodlands. My bed in St. Louis. My apartment at SLU. My friends from school. Bars and restaurants that we would frequent. Not feeling dust in my sheets when I go to bed at night. Using a washing machine and a dryer. Drinking water with out having to boil it. Going out dancing on the weekends. Going out to eat and having a glass of wine with dinner. Wearing sundresses. Being able to actually flush toilet paper down the toilet. Going to see shows at The Fox or The Hobby Center. Swimming in my pool. Italian food, Tex-Mex, even drinking a glass of milk.…..

But then I snap back to reality. This is where I am now. This is my life now, and it is a beautiful one!! One major challenge for me is staying truly present where my feet are. When I stop daydreaming about my unnecessary comforts of home that I take so much advantage of, and realize the reason I am here and the vocation I am fulfilling, all of that longing subsides. I am here to live simply and intentionally. With out all of those comforts of home, to be in solidarity for just two years with those who never know what those things are like during their entire lives. I hear the vendor outside yelling “Zapatos!! Cuadernos!! Zapatos!!” (did that guy just say he is selling shoes and notebooks??), I see the kids playing on the street with marbles and wooden tops, the little old man I see every morning while walking to work smiles and says, “Hola gringita” in his raspy voice, and I walk into the homes of my hospice patients and I am embraced with such a warm familiarity and love after only being here for one month. I will still get lost in daydreams of my life back in the USA and feel a longing to hug and laugh with my mom, sit by the pool and have a long conversation with my dad, and dance the night away with my best friends, but I know that in two years I will have the chance to do all of that again, and with the people of Chimbote is where God is calling my name now. This is where my feet are.

(Some things that make me less homesick....)