Trip to Mexico

On Sunday, I leave for Guanajuato. I have created a travel blog called Experiencing the World and will be writing there for the majority of the next 5 weeks.

I might post some entries here, but there are no guarantees.

Until next time!

Things are Looking Up

Note to self:
Remember that I only have 3 days left.

Although I had made the decision to drop out of my study abroad program on Friday, I started to change my mind over the weekend. I'm pretty sure that I'm still going to go to Guanajuato, Mexico this summer, especially since things are looking up.

I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm going to visit the doctor when I get home to see if I can take some Tamiflu with me. Also, the medical insurance we were required to purchase through this study abroad company will cover any hospital visits or prescriptions that I may need.

The final word: I will be going to Mexico this summer, and the media beefed the swine flu deal up way too much!

Anyways, I'm two days into finals week, and I'll be back home in 3 days! I can't wait. Until then...I have to finish these exams and pack!

Catching up:

Here's the article I wrote for the CW: UA Career Center Hosts Last Career Fair of the Year

Swine Flu

Note to self:
Remember that there will always be more opportunities.

This is going to be a long one. I haven't written in about a week, so I'll give you a brief overview of what I've been doing over the last couple of days:

• Procrastinating
• Spending time at the pool (now I kind of have a slight sunburn and I'm itchy. I've never experienced that before)
• Looking forward to the last day of work (tomorrow)
• Writing my first article for the university's newspaper
  
• Worrying and keeping up with all new information about the swine flu
• Exploring my options for this summer, now that the swine flu has become such a huge concern

I never thought anything would keep me from going to Guanajuato, Mexico this summer. It's funny how things change.

Yesterday, I received an email from ISA around 1:30 p.m., in which they reported that they were offering full refunds until May 11 for students who would like to cancel their trip. Three hours later, they posted another notice explaining that they were urging all students who have been studying in Mexico for the spring semester to return to the United States. None of the students have been sick, but ISA is taking routine preventative measures to protect all of the enrolled students.

For now, I'm going to wait and see what happens with the swine flu, and I'll make my decision to take the refund (or not) closer to May 11. Health officials will have learned more about the virus by then, and everyone will be able to make a well-informed decision about traveling to Mexico and other affected areas.

I'll admit that I was very worried in the beginning when information was being released about the dangers and the spread of the swine flu. The fact that many young, healthy Mexicans have been dying from the flu had been a huge concern for me. Also, when American health officials began to say they believed we would be seeing more severe flu cases and deaths in this country, it scared me.

However, I have been worrying less as the days pass (and as the cases increase in the U.S.--funny, huh?). No one who has caught the flu in any other country has died, and I'm sure it's because they are actually getting treatment as soon as possible. On the other hand, this might not be happening in Mexico. The healthcare system there is not at the level of others around the world. First, Mexico has a shortage of the antiviral medication like Tamiflu and Relenza. Even if Mexicans began to recognize their symptoms as soon as they started, many of them might not have enough money to be seen by the doctor. Misdiagnosis has also been a problem. I read a news article the other day on MSNBC in which the reporter said a man was misdiagnosed. Instead of being diagnosed with and treated for the swine flu, the man was treated for a stomachache. It was already too late by the time they realized he had the swine flu.

I had been thinking about all of these factors as soon as the media was reporting that only people in Mexico were dying. In the beginning, they attributed it to the belief that, although the strains of swine flu from Mexico and the U.S. were identical, perhaps the strain in Mexico was much stronger. Now the media is addressing the possibility that the strain might not be that much stronger, if not at all, and the factors that I have mentioned might have a large effect on the deaths of swine flu victims in Mexico.

The media is getting less sensational as the days go by. Take a look at this article. It talks about the effects of the regular flu season on countries worldwide. Also in the article, the information about the regular flu serves to calm the readers' worries about the swine flu, putting the situation in a different perspective that likens the swine flu to the regular flu and showing that it isn't that abnormal. Whereas the swine flu is more dangerous because vaccines are not available, Tamiflu and Relenza are still able to stop the disease in an individual if taken at the right time.
Regular flu has killed thousands since January

Anyways, I hope everything turns out okay soon. Until then, I'll be washing my hands and using hand sanitizer often...

But I don't think I'll be worrying as much.

List of Things to Do Before I Die

Note to self:
Do these things.

Three of my friends and I made our own lists of things to do before we die. Here's mine (and I'm sure I'll have to add on to it):

1. Become fluent in two languages: Spanish and Tagalog
2. Swim with dolphins
3. Go to Pangasinan to meet my mom's side of the family
4. Learn to ballroom dance
5. Become...(shouldn't say)
6. Travel all over Spain
7. Learn some French and Italian, then travel to Paris, Venice, and Rome
8. Make a significant difference in someone's life
9. Design the interior of my house (after having it built)
10. Climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge and see the Sydney Opera House
11. Travel around Central and South America to see Chichen Itza, El Yunque, Machu Picchu, Buenos Aires, and Santiago
12. Set foot in every American state and see something for which it is known for
13. See Auschwitz and Anne Frank's house
14. See the Great Wall of China
15. Be a keynote speaker at a national conference or convention

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Note to self:
Don't get jealous.

Love is in the air, everywhere I look around...

Unfortunately. Yes, I really mean it. It's unfortunate.

Seeing people in love and seeing couples start forming more intimate relationships makes me happy. Honestly, it does. But I just hate being in the presence of it when I'm away from the person who shares that kind of relationship with me.

One of my friends has been telling me about the time he has been spending with this girl we know. I think they could have ended up in a relationship before if things had been different. It didn't happen, however, and they're spending a good amount of time together now. It seems like they're enjoying each other's company, and if things go the way I think they will, they might end up together. And then I'm not going to feel as comfortable hanging out with them. Why? Because I'd feel like the third wheel all the time. Who wants to be the third wheel?

Another thing: my roommates seem to be gone all the time. Where are they at? With guys, that's where. My first roommate is in a relationship. They're close enough now, considering they made a trip to Atlanta together during Spring Break, and they went out of town together last weekend. My second roommate is in some kind of relationship with a guy, or at least is starting to form one with this guy. I could tell from a conversation we all had one night, about him coming over. She had to get ready for him, and she was definitely stressing out about it. My last roommate has been in her relationship for about a year now. I don't see her much at all--it's like she lives with this guy. They're good for each other though.

Obviously, all of my roommates have places to be, guys to see. Recently, I have been alone in this 4-room suite countless times. I don't mind being alone at all, I just hate that this acts as a constant reminder that all of my roommates are in a relationship with a guy who goes to school here, whereas I'm in a relationship with a guy who goes to another school.

It's just hard for me to see this all the time, to see most of my friends in relationships and being all lovey-dovey in front of me, talking about the time they've spent with these guys. I can do that about once every 5 weeks, when I get a visit from my guy.

It's difficult. I get disappointed, sad, frustrated, and most of all, jealous. I get jealous because I can't have what my friends and roommates have. I can't just call up my guy and say, "Hey, let's hang out. I'm coming over." If I say, "See you later," it doesn't mean that I'll see him in an hour or two. It means I'm going to see him in a month or two. When I say, "I'd like to see you soon," it means that we're going to set up a date via Skype, using our webcams. I can't say, "I want to talk with you" and expect a face-to-face conversation. Instead, I just get a voice coming out of the speaker of my telephone.

It's nothing I (we) can't get through. Like I've already said, it's just hard for me (us). It would be so much easier if we had both gone to the same school.

I have to emphasize though, that we are so much stronger because of this experience. I am somewhat grateful that we have this challenge because our feelings for each other have only grown.