Flu, Family, and Joke of the Day

Nantrancasa ak ci dua ay agew! Translation: I had the flu for two days! On Monday, I went to school even though I had a headache all day. I just kept popping Ibuprofen. But Tuesday morning I woke up with chills and I felt like my head was going to explode. I took my temp with one of the little Tempa-DOT thermometer strips in my med kit. It was 102. I called the PC Dr. and was told to take Tylenol every 4 hrs. and watch for any rashes (a sign of denge fever). Luckily, by Wednesday afternoon I was feeling better and was able to get cleaned up and dressed. My host sister wouldn’t let me take a cold bath. She heated water for me on the stove (how wheeet :-). Went back to school today.

Did I mention that I really enjoy this amalgamated host family? Assunta, Benson, Anne Furnee, BinBin, Shareen, and now me. It’s cool, because they seem to be the perfect match for me. Assunta and Benson are both 42. They didn’t marry until they were 35. They didn’t get pregnant so they adopted Anne Furnee (who is now 2 yrs. old). BinBin (who is 12 yrs. old) is from La Trinidad, but his family situation was abusive so he’s come here to live. His younger brother is staying with Benson’s sister. Shareen (who is 15 yrs. old) is from Ifugao, near the Banaue rice terraces. She takes care of Anne Furnee, cleans, and cooks. She and I have really hit it off. I seem to have a soft spot for teenage girls. Last weekend she asked me to pick up a few things for her when I went to Baguio. She gave me money and a list. When I got home she had totally cleaned and organized my room and put fresh flowers on my desk. Today, when I came home for lunch, she had fixed me a fresh flower arrangement and left me a note that said:

:-) To make your day wonderful start your day with a smile :-)
The way to 2 make people smile is like this . . . read my joke baby!!!

“People says that you must to face ur problem but how can you face your problem if ur problem is ur face . . .
Ha! …. Ha! … Ha! … Ha! :-)
funny or not – this is the joke 4 2day”

Needless to say, it worked. I smiled. And I giggled. And I told it to the teachers, who all knew it already, but thought it was funny that I was so amused by it. And still, I laughed some more.

Life just feels better with laughter. (Especially when you’ve been flu-sick and homesick all in the same week.) Hope you are laughing everyday and remembering not to sweat the small stuff. Take care. And grins and giggles to you all!