Emergency

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The journey back to Quito was the longest 10 hours of my life. JC took the same bus as me, and we sat together, but it lasted a lifetime, and my side had been hurting all day, and only seemed to get progressively worse - i thought due to being stuck in a cramped seat. I got to the hostel and was chatting to some nice people when the pain in my side got pretty bad. I decided to call it a night and try to sleep it off. I got into bed and was suddenly in agony, the pain was so intense I couldnt lie still, and started crying from it. I tried ignoring it for as long as possible, but soon i gave in - something was very definitely wrong, and I was worried it was my appendix. I creeped out, doubled over with pain, and took a taxi to the hospital. Craig, a man i met last weekend at the hostel, was kind enough to come with me. I was in so much pain i could only manage lying down in the taxi, having trouble taking deep breaths, because it really did feel like i'd been stabbed. And so it was that i found myself, in an Ecuadorian hospital, crying my eyes out and attached to a drip. They gave me an injection of something that seemed to ease the pain, and wheeled me around taking blood and urine samples, and even doing an ultrasound scan. To say I was a tad worried would be the understatement of the century. Craig stayed with me, though, and I began to feel a bit better. It was the early hours of the morning by the time the doctor came back and told me it was a urinary infection. I was pretty grateful that
a) I hadnt imagined it, thus wasting everyones time, and
b) that it wasnt something more serious.
I was sent home with a bag of anitbiotics and pain relief, and a huge hole in my wallet. What a drama!

The rest of the weekend was pretty damn lazy, with the excuse i was dong nothing on my doctors advice. Monday I went and saw Harry Potter with some people from the hostel, it was soooo good!!! Caught the flight on Tuesday, connected in Peru again for Sao Paulo. I started hearing Portuguese and it hit me that my Spanish speaking days were over for the time being. Got on the plane and was astounded at one woman who carried on a dog in a bag - a small pug it was. Ive definitely seen it all now. Touching down in Sao Paulo, i hadnt been in the country for more than 2 minutes before i was robbed. My jacket, which i had diligently carried all the way from BA despite not needing it, had been stolen. I knew i would need it once i landed back in Europe and its cold weather, so i had it securely strapped onto the outside of my backpack. There was no way it could come off without undoing the straps - indeed the robber had kindly done one of them back up again. I told the guy at luggage reclaim, and he half heartedly tried on the radio, but of course he was told there was ´nothign left on the plane´. I could just imagine the guy on the other end of the radio clutching my coat as he said it. It was 4.30am, i was knackered, and suddenly i couldnt stop the tears welling up. I went to the toilets to compose myself, and was cheered slightly by the sight of the girl and her bag dog, she was feeding it water (designer no doubt) from her water bottle. I caught the flight to Rio no probs, landed, and took a taxi to my hostel. It was such a shock not being able to communicate at all. I felt so helpless, i hated not being able to communicate. But i was in Rio, baby!!!

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