Don't get me wrong, I love pupusas. And Kolashanpan. And Reina's tamales? I can't put into words. But after a while, even the most random stuff that we don't realize is amazing is what we start to miss. Dr. Pepper is pretty high up there. And everyday seasonings/cooking supplies, cake that doesn't taste like chocolate scrambled eggs with sugar sprinkles, and cheese burgers. Well, we got to fix one of those this week! Today was, totally unexpectedly and somewhat bittersweetly, amazing. We drove a couple hours away to a big city called Apopa, and there was a BURGER KING. Um... yeah, I was nervously giggling like crazy when I was looking at that cheeseburger on the table. With real fries? And coke that wasn't in a glass bottle or dirty can? (No, there was sadly no Dr. Pepper lol.) But maybe I should explain why were even out of town to begin with... Tuesday morning Dad left with Jose to do a bunch of home visits. We stayed home and did some work, did some shopping later, and not much else during the day. That night, he and Mom had to go to the clinic because there was some problem with his leg. When they came home, all that the clinic in La Palma had said was that he needed to keep it elevated and keep off of it for a while. Wednesday afternoon I got to hang out downstairs with Teresa and watch a "life changing" movie :). And when I came back upstairs, guess who got another taste of Webb City? The school percussion group was out practicing. From our house in Webb, we were close enough to the high school that I could always hear the band practicing out on the field. Granted, this was not even close to the same quality as Webb City was. I was kind of missing marching band right then, actually lol.

During dinner, though, the nurse from the clinic came to check up on Dad's leg. We almost had to leave for Nueve Concepcion or somewhere right then, but we decided that it would be too dark and not safe for us to be out that late. So this morning, we all got up and packed bags just in case we had to go on to the San Salvador overnight. Mom and Dad went down the street to the local clinic one more time, and they said he needed to go on somewhere. So we loaded up and headed to Nueva Concepcion, which is a city about an hour away from La Palma. It has a hospital, but it was kind of sad to see. The guards (yes, guards outside the hospital's tall, iron gate) only let one person even go in with him. But after the rest of us waited under a tree outside, they came out, with some semi good news. No, we would not have to go on to spend the night in San Salvador. It wasn't very bad right now, as long as he does what they tell him to. Basically, the high altitude had somehow made his red blood cells swell and clot in his leg. I don't understand all of it, but it's better explained on his blog if you want to click the link on the side. He had to get a few different medicines, and he has to keep his leg elevated and resting for the next couple weeks. One of the medicines wasn't available in that hospital, though, so we had to drive to Apopa to a better pharmacy. Sound familiar? Apopa has a Burger King!


I was so stoked... Just look at that :D Haha, I was so happy. Estoy muy contento. (I was very content/happy/satisfied, in English lol) But everything turned out alright. Anyway... A shout out to say Happy Birthday, Grandma! :) I'm pretty tired from a long day. We were so tired there wasn't even a movie night tonight! Haha, I'm going to bed, so...
More to be posted later!
su amiga,
Ruth Erin