I have come to the conclusion that in order to be an effective Peace Corps volunteer mind, body, and spirit must be united: working together as an unstoppable force. Unfortunately lately my power of three has been fighting itself. As I find myself settling down in my site, feeling comfortable to talk with everyone and share my own opinions and really start moving some sustainable development along, my body says to my spirit “I don’t think so, don’t get too excited now.” On Thursday the 12th of January I found myself in the capital, San Salvador, being admitted into the hospital for an excruciating pain in my lower right side. As scared as I was to be in a hospital in a developing country, I have to admit that the attention, care and expertise of the doctors was just as good as the best health care service in the U.S. After seeing many specialists, having many ultra sounds, and an internal sonogram, the doctors concluded that I had had an ovarian cyst that burst in my fallopian tube causing it to fill with blood and result in the pain that I was feeling. While there was nothing that I could really so except take pain medication and wait for it to pass, it was comforting to know that I was in good hands and also to have an idea of what was going on. I thought, “Mind, body, and spirit unite.”

After the couple days that it took in San Sal to figure out the cause of the pain I woke up in the morning to go back to site excited. However, I woke up with a temperature, vomiting and dysentery. I got on a bus anyway. NEVER get on a public bus in a developing country when you are feeling miserable: I do not recommend it. I needed to get back to the community I had left behind days before. During the two hour journey, I puked three times and became very light headed. Well, back to the capital I went. My body is restoring itself, and the power of three seems to be restoring its energy as well. Hopefully the next time I write the force will be stronger.