Jim and I made it home in one piece from Central America. I only left little chunks of myself in half the bug population. Terrifying!

Coming back to CouchSurfing BaseCamp has been an interesting adjustment. We were only traveling for 6 weeks, but that’s long enough to forget how chaotic life can be around here. Living with 30 roommates is busy enough, but then when you throw in their friends and the unexpected guest it can often double the population here.

The best part about coming back to BaseCamp is our new kitchen manager, Shirley. She is an incredible cook and has run many restaurants in her life. My only fear is that I am going to blow up like a balloon. Last night we had BBQ pork ribs, baked beans, homemade potato salad and coleslaw. Shirley makes almost everything from scratch and it all tastes amazing. I guess I’ll actually have to start working out now.

Which brings me to some not so pleasant news that I came home to. One of my roommates took my bicycle while I was gone and didn’t lock it properly and it was stolen. I am super bummed because biking is a great way to get around our neighborhood and city. The bicycle was a gift that one of my friends gave me right when I moved to the bay area. It was a vintage Raleigh road bike that was in need of repair so I have been taking it to a bicycle coop called the Bike Kitchen where I have been working on it. When I first got it, it wasn’t even rideable, but I have put many hours into it to be able to use it.

Events like this are the most frustrating aspect of living in a communal environment. In this case my roommate thought it was a communal bike when she took it, but there have been many times when people will borrow my things without asking and return them in worse condition. Jim and I are part of a small minority who have cars in the city and when we all ride somewhere together I can’t remember the last time one of our roommates offered us gas money. I hate feeling bitter and jaded about things like this, but I am tired of being taken advantage of by people.

Luckily I don’t have time to dwell on some of the downers because I will be going to Burning Man in a couple days! Jim left yesterday to go help set up our camp, American Steal, and took all of my things with him. I am done packing and have nothing left to do to prepare and feel great! Well, actually, I need to clean my apartment because it looks like a faux fur monster was massacred. We have been crafting up to the last second to make things like fur cuffs, boot covers and the like.

This is my first year at Burning Man and I am not sure what to expect. I have been going to many of Burner city events like decompression and Pink Mammoth fundraisers throughout the year, but I’m sure the real thing is totally different.

This year the theme is Evolution which is interesting because for the first time ever, there will be a cell tower out there. There is a camp specifically designated to helping Burners install an iPhone app that allows them to see a map of the playa, all the camps, and all the different events that are happening. Since I have never been, I’m not sure how this will affect the whole vibe of the playa. In the past it has been a lot about community isolation, random experiences and down right survival. Will being able to use cell phones change the whole dynamic?

I’ll make sure to post lots of pictures when I get back!

A couple weeks ago our lovely neighbors were burning all sorts of horrible things in front of our house and the black acrid smoke came billowing in through the windows. I can only describe the stench as a cross between moldy leaves, plastic forks and carcinogenic chemicals. Jim immediately began hacking and by dinner time he was running a very high fever. Of course I decided this by touching his face because we don’t have a thermometer.

The next day Jim was week and sick and I was popping him full of Tylenol to keep the fever down. It was an odd cycle of sorts. Jim would be sweating with chills and a high fever and I would want to take him to the doctor, but he couldn’t walk into town so I would give him several Tylenol and in an hour his fever would be reduced and he would feel a lot better so we wouldn’t go to the doctor. Yeah, stupid, I know.

It didn’t help that we had a weekend excursion planned to a tiny town called Montezuma. We packed Jim in the back of the van and he slept all the way there. Once we arrived in town he slept almost the whole weekend. Once again I thought it was a good idea to go to the doctor, but there isn’t a doctor in Montezuma. So we stuck to Tylenol and lots of sleep.

By the end of the weekend Jim’s fever was gone and his cough wasn’t as bad as it had been, although it was still pretty bad. We came back to Samara and he seemed to be doing a lot better.

Well, yesterday Jim and I were supposed to leave on the 3PM bus to San Jose and then were going to catch the 9AM bus this morning to Panama. Around noon he had a horrible relapse and was incredibly sick with a cough and fever. It is stressful trying to make travel arrangements and then have a person get very ill. The most stressful part is that we have to be out of our house by Monday, so Jim can’t take the week to lay around and recover.

I knew he needed to go to the doctor immediately, but didn’t know where the office was or if they were even open. Our roommate, Cyril, who is from Costa Rica, was not being very helpful in acquiring information so I did a mental checklist of the resources at hand. I figured that any major hotel has an emergency number for a doctor in case one of their guests gets ill. I called the large resort that is in town and the woman at the front desk was very helpful. She gave me the doctor’s home number and cell number.

I called the doctor and was trying to speak Spanish over the phone, but I was flustered and worried about getting somebody to see Jim. Luckily the doctor speaks perfect English and I was able to convey what was going on. He opened his office for us and said that he was going to send a taxi to pick up Jim since he couldn’t walk and we don’t have a car. We waited for a half hour before an SUV finally pulled up outside our house. Jim and I climbed in the back and were sitting there for a bit before the man driving turned around and said, “I’m not a taxi. I am the doctor.” The doctor couldn’t get a taxi to come get us so he drove over himself!

Doctor Soto took us to his clinic where his wife is his assistant and immediately put Jim on an IV. Jim was extremely dehydrated and sucked up three pints of fluids within two hours. The doctor was so cool. He hung out with us and was watching HBO movies while Jim was on the IV. After Jim had a bag of IV fluid and some other intravenous drugs, the doctor ordered him a bowl of soup from the Italian restaurant next door. Jim had hardly eaten anything all day and it was promising to see that he had his appetite back.

Doctor Soto took me aside at one point to give me all the medication that Jim needs to take this week. It involves five different prescriptions, one being Zithromax, and they all have to be taken at different times in different doses. Once we got back to the house, Jacinta, one of our roommates, had to write it all down for me so I wouldn’t forget which ones at what time.

After we were at the doctor for a few hours Jim was feeling a lot better. His color was back and he was sweating again (before he was too dehydrated). We paid a whopping $214 for the checkup, transportation, medication and soup (anybody in the states knows that this would have been many thousands of dollars in a US emergency room) and we got to hang out with the really cool doctor for a bit. The doctor was sure to give us a receipt so that Jim can send it into his insurance company and drove us back to our house.

Jim has an appointment to see the doctor Monday morning so we are sure that the medication is working. Today Jim is feeling a lot better and we are being careful to feed him warm food and lots of water! Our trip to Panama has been postponed for a couple of days, but we are hoping to make it there Tuesday, instead.