Thursday, April 7, 2011

An apple a day keeps the doctor away (maybe). . .


A lot of people have been asking me about the stomach of steel contest so I wanted to give a quick update about that.  I am still in it (wohoo!).  Though there have been several close calls there are only two people who are knocked out which means 6 contenders are still going for the gold.  My head-to-head competition (my roommate) is still in it as well.  It doesn’t affect our friendship (too much anyway).  In all seriousness we never actually want one of us off the bracket but it has changed the way we communicate to one another about our health.  For example someone might be like “How’s Bryanna doing” and the response is “Oh well she’s off the bracket.”  Or someone will ask “How are you feeling” without actually answering they will respond “I’m still in it!”
Underneath the bracket is a chart with various illnesses.  This does not count towards the stomach of steel contest but is just to keep track of how our health may take a dive in Santa Ana.  I have been all over the chart lately (Luckily we live with some medics who work at the clinic here so they help us out too).  First off I seem to be a permanent member of the Mickey Mouse Club (swollen hands and/or swollen feet).  Earlier this year I had a weird skin rash on my hand.  I’m just getting over an infected toe.  And last week I took a moto to the clinic in Santa Ana because I was having chest pains and blurry vision.  To top it all off, almost immediately after getting back from the clinic a wasp bit me on my chest and finger and my finger puffed up to twice its size.  I am happy to say I am now healthy as ever.  I am still not exactly sure how to categorize all those health issues and put them into tally form.  Fortunately the one category on the chart that I have stayed away from so far is the “Brink of insanity” column.  I feel very grateful to be here.  I live and work with truly incredible people.  If there is one thing people can say about Santa Ana is it has heart; the people are puro corazon, all heart.  Though there are some classes where that is more apparent than others, at the end of the day I just have to sit back, count my blessings, and appreciate that I am still in the Stomach of Steel contest (and parasite free!).

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