Well, I have slacked in my writing lately but not on purpose. I have once again come down with some type of illness. I think it is an ear infection. I have been medicating with Amoxicillin hoping it helps. It has stopped the pain but my ear is still plugged up. I think all the altitude changes has screwed it up as well. Thanks to my father I was able to get some money from Western Union to pay back the French couple who actually ended up helping me out a lot. If it wasn’t for their assistance it could be quite possible that I would be stuck here. I feel that they were guardian angels to help me when I really needed it most. The night before leaving Rurrenabaque I had no choice but to set up my tent and camp. It was actually a brilliant place to camp as it was right on a river bank. I didn’t get much sleep and that was also when my ear really started to bother me as it was causing me pain. I am now currently in Arequipa, Peru. I have 4 more days until I fly back home. I will be happy to be back home. This trip has helped to open my eyes to many things. Most importantly, it has proved to me what I have always needed. The fact that people actually notice I’m not around, the fact that people other than my family truly care about me and love me. There are no words to describe how wonderful it makes me feel to finally truly have that knowledge and not doubt it. Traveling alone on this trip has been great at times and obviously lonely at times. Despite how great the pampas tour was I couldn’t help but imagine how much better it would have felt enjoying it with someone I loved and who was also in love with me. It would have been an even more sacred moment in life. Someday I will enjoy a trip with a lover. I don’t doubt it a bit.
After lugging the thing almost my whole trip without use, I finally used the tent I brought with me. I for some reason had thought I would tent a lot more than that but I had much grander plans in the beginning of my trip. I thought I was going to do a loop around the whole continent. We all know that clearly didn’t happen. As it is, the damn thing served its purpose finally. I remember prior to putting it up there was another person that had a tent not too far from where I put mine up. I had no idea if it was ok to do it but I asked the guy after looking in my Spanish English dictionary for the word tent. “Tienda?” While pointing to where I wanted to put it up. He replied emphatically and with a smile “Si.” I wasn’t going to implore further and set up my tent. It was an interesting experience that night. I’ve camped on many occasions but this was my first in a foreign land like this. While in my tent a bunch of stray dogs had come out and all I could hear was them growling and fighting each other most of the night. They weren’t too far off either as I could see their silhouettes through the wall of my tent. It was a bit nerve racking and I was just hoping none of them would fuck with my tent. The noise from the dogs and along with the eventual pain I started to experience in my ear led for a long night with very little sleep. The next morning I packed up my tent. Thankfully, there was a Western Union I could access in Rurrenabaque and my father thankfully loves me and helped me out enough so I could pay back the French couple as well as what I had told him I thought would be enough to finish off the rest of this trip to get me home. The French couple also assisted me in going to the store so I could get amoxicillin. The great thing about down there is you don’t need a prescription for it down there you just need to ask for it. The French couple broke the language divide and were able to help me to get amoxicillin. Now, to be honest in hindsight I don’t think it was an ear infection because despite taking amoxicillin it didn’t stop me from drinking alcohol which I believe counteracts it. Either way, whether it was placebo or not it seemed to help at that time. I think it was more of the altitudes that really screwed it up. My ear remained plugged up for at least a couple of months even after I had gotten back home. Speaking of home, I make myself sound like a beat dog that no one loved when I stated that I finally realized other people truly cared about me. I certainly feel confident people do now, back then I think it was a combination of naivete and the fact I did recently have my heart shattered. I’m happy knowing I’m in the place that I’m in now and that I don’t feel like I need some grand adventure to try to find or realize something. That being said, I still wouldn’t take back this trip as it will forever be a staple in my life.
Basket of Thoughts 