The First Blip in the Trip

I have no idea where to begin with this whopper. At the end: I'm still in NYC. Or at the beginning? Wednesday's orientation went fine. Everyone seems really nice. Then came Thursday: one of the top worst of my life. We went to get yellow fever vaccinations first thing in the morning. Then I thought it was a good idea to drink a big cup of coffee immediately after, as we were going to be traveling for the next 24 hrs. Next we took a bus to NYC because we were flying out of JFK. Towards the end of the bus ride I started to get nauseous. I just thought it was a little car sickness since it was a bumpy bus ride. When we got to the airport, I was feeling really weak so I asked one girl for some water. I still didnt feel right so someone gave me a granola bar. Even though I wasn't feeling too bad, I could tell something was not right. I hoped that the water and granola bar would help, but I few minutes later I felt like I was going to pass out. My heart started beating so hard, it was racing. I told the people in my group and they said I should sit down. My heart raced and raced so fast I thought I was having a heart attack. People gave me more water and I started to feel better. But then the feeling came back a few minutes later. Now I was panicking because I knew I needed to be in good shape to get on a plane. But I felt so weak and my heart wouldnt stop beating so fast. My "group leader" called the Peace Corps medical people and they said I should go to the hospital. So he went to search for some help. A cop came over to talk to us and he went on to say that I didnt want to go to the hospital because it was "a nasty place." Needless to say, that made me feel a whole lot better. After a while, the paramedics got there. They said that even though my blood pressure was pretty high, there was probly nothing wrong and the only thing the hospital would do would give me an IV. We debated for like 20 mins until they were like there's 2 other calls waiting for us....we finally decided I should go because I wasn't feeling like I could get on a plane. So, my group sent me off in an ambulance with all 3 of my bags to Jamaica Hospital. They said hopefully, "we will see you in Cameroon!"

So, we get to Jamaica hospital, which is as good as it sounds. It takes about an hour just to register because everyone that came in was more sick than me so they would take them first. I was starting to feel better. After they finally got me in, the emts tried to hide my luggage (unsuccessfully) behind my hospital bed. My huge backpack couldnt fit, so it was on the bed with me.

I need to mention that this whole time I'M WEARING MY SAFARI HAT.

It took about 2 hours to see a doctor. One cardiac arrest went whizzing by. They took an EKG, blood and urine and everything came back fine, of course. The doctor said that since there was no localized reaction to the vaccination, it was not a bad reaction. He said I had an anxiety attack. It was really weird because I've never had one and I wasn't even nervous. Everyone was on the bus talking and stuff, its not like I was freaking out. Since I spent 5 mins talking to him, I don't think his diagnosis was right. And theres also the fact that now there is a huge red mark where I got the shot. The Peace Corps was great the whole time and called to check on me, etc. The first thing they asked me was, "do you feel safe where you are??". ha. But the best part of the hospital visit was when the nurse came over and our conversation was this:

"I have your pain medication."

"Pain medication??"

"Yeah, the morphine"

"MORPHINE??"

"Oh wrong person, sorry."

That would have been bad. So, 4 hours later I was discharged. By this time, I had missed the flight. All 40+ people in my group were gone. The Peace Corps booked me at a hotel by the airport. I was hoping for a flight on Friday, but alas, my bad luck continued. Not only did I have to get a doctors note from the hospital saying I was medically able to fly (my name was flagged for medical reasons!!!) but the next flight they could get me was for Monday.

So here I am, enjoying as best I can a long weekend in NYC, Queens actually, by myself when I should be in Cameroon. I will be 5 days behind when I get there which isnt so bad because training is 3 months. So Saturday I went to lunch at an Austrian cafe for some bratwurst and the best apple streusel ever!! Then I went to the Frick museum. Today I went to the statue of liberty and ellis island. My underwire set off the metal detector at the entrance. great.

I've got to say, Queens is growing on me ;)

Will update from Africa (hopefully) soon.