QuaRaNTiNeD

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and even in to Wednesday. Those were the days that Arturo spent sick in bed. All I have to say is that I am oh so very grateful that I have never had Tonsillitis. You know how sometimes being sick isn't so terrible because the illness isn't really that bad, and you may even get to catch up on some much needed rest? Yeah, nothing about that monster of an illness seemed like it was bringing him that kind of relief. He's not a sissy either, and it completely did him in. Here we were in a foreign country that is still in major recovery mode, living under one giant roof with people we'd only met a day and a half ago, and he was so so so so sick. 

Those few days were full of Beth teaching the ways of the oil pull, kalamansi juice shots, noodles, a failed attempt to the doctor, a lot of ibuprofin and finally some perscriptionless antibiotics. Who ever knew there were so many ways to treat the same thing? 

While Arturo was busy trying to fight the Tonsilitis I was at least able to get some logistical things taken care of. Beth and I went downtown one day so that I could get some things that we would need for the next couple weeks, as well as the rest of the summer. Tuesday Arturo and I even made it out of the church in an attempt to get him to the doctor. We didn't think about the fact that maybe the hospital would still be closed from typhoon damage. That led us to an hour or so at Robinsons where we got him some food he could eat, and something a little more comfortable to sleep on. Even that was a little to much though. 

By Wednesday he was beginning to feel better. Not much, but it was something. While we were sitting in the cultural hall eating lunch President Aban came up to us and began telling us about a program the church just set up for the Tacloban Mission. In a nutshell it is an excellerated way for church members in this mission to use the skills they have, and through theis program gain an education of sorts that will make them more marketable in the vocational world. They are given a loan and a stipend for the three months it takes to complete, and after that all they have to pay back is 15% of the loan. We decided to head I. To the chapel where they were holding a huge meeting about it, and afterwards talked to the program managers for quite a while. It was full with good stuff and got us super excited about the possibilities here. 

It wasn't an easy couple of days, and it definitely wasn't expected but like I mentioned before it helped me to appreciate the amazing people surrounding me! Everyone here was so kind, so friendly, and so caring. Having each of them around truly was the biggest blessing!