Sick in Seville

     Not the best situation. Thousands of miles away from home, searing hot weather, a little homesick, and on top of it all, actually sick. Now, to clear up any confusion, I am still having the experience of my life here in Seville. I just wish this sore throat, headache, and stuffy sinuses would go away.
     There is a concept widely known as culture shock. The idea is that when someone travels abroad for an extended period of time, they go through certain phases. Initially, it is very exciting; the Honeymoon phase. Everything is new, you don't really miss home yet, and you are just a sponge, soaking in new experiences, meeting new people, trying new foods, and rapidly learning a new language.
     The second phase is the negotiation phase. This is a more difficult time. Homesickness begins to set in, and the cultural norms that originally seemed small, (almost adorable), begin to become more difficult to deal with.
     The reason I include this brief overview of culture shock is to explain where this physical sickness falls into place. I mostly moved past the honeymoon phase, and entered negotiation. I was starting to miss home quite a bit, and was even getting really frustrated about small things that normally wouldn't have bothered me. After a short while, I recognized this. In an effort to reverse this thought process and assume a new attitude, I took on the phrase "Once in a lifetime" as a sort of mantra.
     Whenever I would have to walk through the kitchen with a dirty piece of toilet paper (so I could throw it away, as is the custom here), I'd say to myself "once in a lifetime." Whenever I was served a salad covered in vinegar, with tomatoes replacing the lettuce: "once in a lifetime." And every time I thought 'I really need a hug from (Heidi, Taylor, Mom, Dad, Aunt Cathy, Trey...)' I would say "once in a lifetime." Because this experience truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It really started to work. I still want to throw the toilet paper in the toilet, I still want lettuce with ranch dressing, and I would buy a plane ticket for a hug from any of the aforementioned embracers. But it helped put everything into perspective.
   You may have noticed I said, "It really started to work." Then, I got sick. To clarify: I have a sore throat, my head feels about to explode, and my sinuses are draining faster than the waterfalls at La Fortuna.  On top of it all, I have almost no appetite (which, try as I might, I cannot adequately explain to my host family, who continues to serve me 3-course meals), and I have the worst fatigue I have felt in years. For further clarification: The only medications I have with me are ibuprofen and sudafed. Which, I admit, aren't the worst two options for my symptoms, but they are certainly not the best. When the sickness hit, my mantra shriveled up into a little ball, and rolled into a safe hiding place in the suitcase under my bed.
     But, honestly, it's not that bad. I haven't had anything to do all weekend, since almost everyone else went to Portugal, so I have been sleeping about 18 hours each day. Which is helping. The ibuprofen is helping the inflammation in my throat, and the pain in my head, and the sudafed is taming the gush from my sinuses. So, when Monday comes around, hopefully I'll be able to coax that mantra back out from it's little safe haven, and ElCaminoSevillano will go on.