Oh the nausea!

Soo, (Mr. Dan Fry I hope you're reading this because you were definitely right!) while I have not experienced "diarrhea days" like some people do when traveling to other countries, I have already experienced my "puking days." Ironically, right after writing the last blog where I proudly declared having not gotten sick yet, immediately after leaving the internet place my stomach began to feel ... different. It didn't hurt but it was definitely doing some sort of somersault. So I got home and started to complete my readings when my stomach slowly but surely started hurting SO bad! It was the weirdest pain I've ever felt, like someone had reached their hands inside me and was literally squeezing me stomach as hard as they could. So, with a little less than half of my reading left, I decided to go to bed early because the pain was too distracting to read. No more than an hour later I woke up in even more pain not realizing it could be possible. I didn't feel any nausea and I continued to try sleeping in a fetal position hoping this piercing dagger would go away. Finally, with no hope of sleeping I thought, well maybe I should try going to the bathroom. No nausea still. But then, right when I stood up out of bed, it was most definitely apparent. I ran to the bathroom and to summarize the rest, I was puking every hour on the dot the whole night long until I was dry-heaving in the early morning hours. Oh. my. gosh. Fortunately, I was able to keep down tea and a little papaya for breakfast, and after taking some good ol' pepto bismol, I haven't puked since (although the nausea was incredibly intense for the rest of the day and I didn't feel completely normal until two days later). Don't know what exactly I ate or drank and perhaps it was the climate change but man! Hopefully that's all I have to endure for the rest of my time here, and I was lucky enough to have a somewhat immediate recovery.

Besides that, I've been really enjoying my time here so far. Yesterday my classmates and I went to three places, two of which were ruins called Mitla and Yagul, and the third was a town called Teotitlan in which we were able to see how a family of Zapotecos (an indigenous group here) makes their traditional tapestry. It was very cool, and I will definitely be trying to post those pictures up soon with more descriptions!

Also, as I think I've mentioned before, I'm taking a salsa dancing class Monday through Thursday for two hours. It's been sooo fun! The teacher is absolutely hilarious. He only knows Spanish and he's this short, really BUFF man with a teeny, little waist. And he definitely loves dancing with all of us girls (which is good practice for us!) but really funny/awkward we he does "EL FINAL!" and whips us around with much force to the final pose where he then looks deeply into our eyes. Haha! Unfortunately there's no word in Spanish for "awkward" when there most definitely should be one!

And as of right now I'm enjoying myself in a cafe that looks out at this beautiful cathedral called Santo Domingo. My computer's wireless is finally working, and after buying some coffee, I'm able to use the wireless network here. Aaand, I'm supposed to be doing my homework, so I better get on it! Hope everyone is doing well!

Muchos besos y abrazos!