The beauty, the beasts...and the black tongue.

She shimmers with the sun rays reflecting, dazzling off her surface. Atitlan's beauty is bold and breathtaking, captivating, it curiously lures your senses. Beyond the magnetic beauty lies another side of the coin. Flipped over uncovers the darker side of the moon. The lurking beasts of poverty and poisonous creatures that call her home, dwell unattended.

Living on Atitlan has its charm...but beneath the surface...a startling reality. Unfortunately the lake most often sits stagnant, as it was created thousands of years ago from a volcanic eruption, leaving it without any water flowing to and from.
Each year water levels rise, but as does the pollution. Alex and I both were sick and found it hard to get well. The little beasts were running ramped in our bodies... the parasitic herbal remedies were not even strong enough to fight them off.

And then a very obscure phenomenon hit us one morning as I brushed my teeth getting ready for work, Alex still half asleep in bed across the room.
After not feeling right for a couple of weeks now I had decided today was the day I should visit the doctor and we had this conversation:
"Hey darling"
(As he barely stirs from beneath the covers) "ya..."
"Do you think you could come into work a little early for me?"
...unimpressed he looks at me.
"Why" he questions.
"I think I need to go to the doctor, my tongue is black." I reply simply.
Alex then shoots up out of bed "WHAT??"

So yes, it was true my tongue had turned black. Like scary black. Not like eat a candy and it colours your tongue...but like death black. Black as night. Black like the fear in your mind that is all consuming because you think you are dying because your tongue is black!

Truthfully I was quite calm about the whole thing, felt somewhat normal, even though it was quite apparent I could have doubled for a creature in a horror film. I was good as far as black tongues go.

Alex in a frantic scurry: "omg let's go, we are going to the hospital right now, we are calling into work sick, hurry up let's go now, we need to get you to a doctor!"
"Are you okay, how do you feel?" He nervously asks me.

Me, now shaking with the adrenalin from his reaction:
"Well, I thought I was okay until you freaked me out!!"

So now we are off down to the doc en route to the doctor.
A boat ride to San Pedro. A poop test. An ultra sound. =
It was Parasites.
A very common occurrence on the lake due to pollution, poor filtration and water systems. But nonetheless...
The little beasts were taking over, my tongue was still black and I couldn't drink coffee or have ice cream anymore.

The doc really never went back into great detail about the black tongue thing...but more or less blamed it on all the vitamins I had been taking the past 5 days when I couldn't poo getting backed up in my system.
(On a side note, the amount of conversations about bowel movements i have had with fellow travelers in the past two months should break some kind of record! Everyone was having some type of popping or stomach issue and sharing it liberally to friends and strangers alike.)

That was our exit. Over worked, underpaid...and now my tongue was black! We had only one mission to remedy the situation.
BEACH.
and of course that was preceded with 10 days of wretched, feels like you are constantly eating pennies, antibiotics.
Then a short vacation in Antigua...where Alex started his meds (of course he had the little beasts too).
We were having a little antibiotic party to get ourselves healthy.

The great silver lining to the Black Tongue incident of 2013...it pushed us to reevaluate our current circumstances, our current contentment levels and our paths to our dreams.
Running away is most often not the answer but I believe firmly in meeting current circumstances with an open mind and heart. We looked at our higher objectives to see what was serving us, what was not and what we should do to continue on our higher paths...
And so we now find ourselves exactly where we need to be...doing what we need to do.
Thank you beauty.
Thank you beast.
Thank you black tongue.

This new chapters story to come.
I am off to go live it. One day at a time. From our new house...on the beach in El Salvador.

Passing trees

Looking out the window of a shuttle...trees, fields...passing by, we pass by. A familiar scene, reminiscent of my up-bring in Ontario...road trips north, trees and farms.
Looking out I catch myself time traveling back to those moments as I set my eyes on this landscape. I look the other direction and see the shanti shacks of reality in this third world nation.
Its such an interesting experience to call this soil home. Vastly differing from all my other travel experiences of simply visiting places, coming and going.
I am not sure if the passing trees remind me of home, or if this home has become that much more familiar.
Probably a bit of both. It really is beautiful here.

I was homesick for the first time yesterday...my body is trying harder than usual to balance itself...as I have a slight sickness at present. I am patient with my body, but I miss the comfort of my mom, her home and a nice bath. :-)
I am grateful for Alex and our wonderful home we have created together...wherever we go we have each other and that's the comfort of home in the best way.

Days and time pass as we continue to live our lives here...but the passing is different. As trees pass in the landscape its as if to say...stay here. Time is slow, life is rich, and trees are trees.