Touring my land :D

These November has been a pretty nice month for me! My graduation seems a reality day to day and even though I will have to wait until next year. I can openly say that I can consider myself a Graduate :) !!! My final project has finally been aproved so I just have to do small arrangements on it such as the format, fonts, etc. Other than that, there´s nothing else to do but just wait ultil  the ceremony !!!Wujuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! (= Couldnt be happier jejejeje ... Regarding my health, I am doing better everyday, I feel now strong and healthy! I am back to my triatlon training and It feels good to end up my days exhausted and  anxious to go to bed at 9pm jajajaja

So last Sunday (exactly a week ago), some of my triatlon friends invited me to a hike; we headed up to Santa Ana Volcano or "Ilamatepec" (which is its indigenous name). For the ones who have never been there, I highly recomend to give it a try, It is sooooooooooo worth it once you make it to the summit =) . It was a 12 km hike , the starting point was at Cerro Verde National Park, which is one of the most beautiful spots of El Salvador, then you start walking uphill through very changing trails that take you to the most amazing views of the Salvadoran landscape such as Izalco Volcano, Cerro Verde, Coatepeque Lake and you can even see the ocean shoreline (once you are in the top). I have always been so proud of my country and its beauties; however, I wish i could explore more of its marvels. So If you, all the ones who get to read this, wish to visit this amazing country, just do it so, you wont regret (i promise). Just remember to be careful and have an organised schedule!! It´s so cool that you can do so many stuff in just one day. For example, hike up a volcano, get down to the sea level and do some surf , aaaand party all night in San Salvador !!
Seriously, these trips remind me to all my Montana hikes (minus the snow and the grizzlies of course jejeje), sooooo stunning indeed !!

Finally, I can only say that nothing is really new, things are going smoothly and I just cannot wait for 2012 to end. There are some aims that i have for next year yet i have no clue whether they will work out or not. I will be sharing further experiences later !!!

I hope everybody enjoyed the weekend (= Cheers !!

Here I leave some pictures of my trip, I hope you like them :)

America´s Choice

Last Tuesday i had the great opportunity to follow up closely the Elections in the United States, and i have to admit  that i am quite happy with the final result !!

Congratulations to Mr. Barack Obama again ! (=

A horrible experience !

Hello my dear friends! Here i am writing again :) It`s been a while since i last posted (maybe two months or so). Anyways, i had not been in the mood of blogging, though! If you asked me why, at first glance i`d simply say that nothing exciting has happened to me, therefore, there`s no reason to write, or maybe that I`d been way too busy . However,  i have been experiencing an "ups and downs cycle" during these couple of months, or maybe i should call it an "emotional rollercoster".

I am not going to talk about some of the reasons yet it`s been a tough couple of months for me; nevertheless, i will be sharing what i had been going through the last three weeks, which made everything much worse. I can`t believe it but i had to battle against a sickness called Dengue Hemorragic Fever, something not funny to experience. 

I always had considered myself to be a pretty healthy lady! I had started to train for triathlons in July and I was very  ahead in my internship project (which i already finished in order to graduate in November if the university manages to do all the paperwork by then). Nevertheless, I remember going to the beach the last week of September without knowing that my life was going to turn a martyrdom the following 2 weeks. On Tuesday morning i went swimming and everything seemed normal though that afternoon i started to feel very sick, and sad at the same time. I thought i was about to explode because of everything that had been happening to me. 

 

Out of a sudden, I started to tear down and my parents asked me what was wrong with me, I said that i didnt know but i was feeling tired of everything, i felt really emotional and at the same time, and I had fever. That night I could not sleep at all and the fevers wouldnt stop, my whole body was sored and my eyes were suffering too. I told my dad what was going on and he said that maybe a virus was attacking me but it would go away within 3 days, he suggested me to do a CBC (complete blood count) test though. Even though the results ended up to be on normal levels, more sympthoms started to appear in the following 6 days. For example, sored eyes, swollen glands, massive headache, intense fever, chills, difficulty of orientation whilst driving, sleeplessness and pain in every single bone! 

When my parents saw me suffering like this and realised that the fever wouldnt give in, they started to get worried, they did another CBC test and the results got to lower levels than the last test but it wasnt that serious according to another doctor. Sooooooo i had to put up with all those symptoms two more days until i really hit rock bottom. After more than a week  going through this situation, on Monday night, i felt that my heart was pumping way too fast and i had hard time trying to breath, i also  had sort of sting feeling in my chest and i was cramping so bad that my muscles lost their shape and got deformed. I started to panic and my mum&dad took me to another doctor, she saw me and immediately said that i was being attacked by Dengue, as a result, she ordered another CBC test and the results turned to be very scary. I was seriously feeling so bad that i couldnt even walk because of the cramps, i had high blood pressure and i couldnt breath. The outcome:  4 days in the hospital :( !!

I was taken to emergencies in a wheel chair because the cramps wouldnt let me even stand up!! The dr ordered another blood test and a Dengue test, which would confirm that i was actually suffering from Dengue. The resultts were alarming because my platelets levels were extreamelly low and kept decreasing the following day ( 50, which the normal rate should be 250 ), a body rash in my face and tummy also confirmed it. Worried, the dr. ordered an ultrasound to see whether my organs were functioning; the ultra showed that i had a damaged liver and i was bleeding from the inside. I never thought everything was going to end up this way, it was quite serious and i still couldnt asimilate what whas happening inside my bod,  I`ve never been this sick before, the only think i knew was that i was in total pain! Luckily, the dr. did an excellent job and rescued me from the worst. She said that if i had wait one more day, I would have suffered convulsions and a heart attack, in the worst scenery.  

CBC tests everyday :( 2 times !!

Hemorragic Dengue Fever is common in tropical  countries like mine, where the wet season plus humidity suits up a great enviroment for these deadly mosquitoes. It only takes a BITE and you get infected.The sympthoms start a week later i think, Its called the "breakbone fever", which is a very suitable name!!!

I really have to thank my parents, the dr. and all the ones that were always there for me. Seriously, it means a lot :) 

I also learnt that everybody can be vulnerable to any disease regardless of age, gender or fitness. Anybody could become "Mr. or Ms. Misfortune". It was not easy to recover from it because my body felt really weak and i would feel really  tired from walking 2 blocks. However, it is responding little by little, it`s just a matter of time i guess. 

dormia con mosquitero! :S

Tomorrow will be my first swimming session after this horrible experience but i am happy i got through it. I would really advice everybody who lives in these tropical-like regions to take certain precautions in order to avoid these incidents. Get rid of the puddles, sleep with mosquito nets, and fumigate your house to scare the mosquitoes away. It is so sad that the institutions here in El Salvador don`t move a finger in order to combat this disease, there have been many casualities due to Dengue, so i thing the government should do something and  Dengue can be better controlled next year.  

So here i leave this message to everybody who reads this!!! Cheers !! :D

last day ! yes i was happy!

MAY 2011- MAY 2012!! AN AMAZING YEAR

Hola amigos!! July is already here, and I finally got back to El Salvador ( after being away by myself more than a year). By being laid in my bed after a 4km swimming session, I realised that my American experience was over; however, i  just can´t  still assimilate that a year ago i was in Yellowstone Park taking pictures of the geysers and doing fun stuff such as rock climbing or rafting. Sometimes i think i am still in Bozeman, sometimes i ask myself whether this whole thing was just the coolest dream ever!! The fact that all these amazing moments happened in a blink of an eye still shocks me but its such a bliss that i had this opportunity !! =D It´s so ironic that today i laugh about so many moments that made me panic or look like a fool at some  stage throughout 2011-1012  . Today, I am finding myself more mature,responsible, organised and independent at some point . For example,  I remember how vulnerable i felt when i just got to Bozeman , I could not even go out because the weather would freeze me; the first nights i cried because I was always cold,I missed my mami, papi, and pets, I had no winter clothes, I did not know anybody , aaaand to make it worse, I had no idea of how to regulate the heater !!!!!!!!!!!!!! jajaja . Nevertheless, everything changed quickly   and i had no problems trying to adapt myself to such a different enviroment. It´s so interesting the fact that i got the chance to learn and experience things that i would never practice here in a country like ES.

 Skiing was one of the coolest things in the world, I remember being at Big Sky and getting into my first lift chair;  going up the hill frightened me !!! I had such a rough beginning and spent like 1 hour  trying to get down jajajajajaja... I crashed at every single minute and after so many emergency landingings and look like a fool in the snow, I just told myself "Sonita, just let yourself go, whatever happens happens" , so when i lost my balance i would just throw myself to the snow and get up!!! After 1 attempt or so, i finally got it and i managed to get down whilst doing some turns :D  it felt like glory !! I made it !! and i didnt fall so many times :)
  I also remember how scary i was whilst  water skiing,rafting and kayaking, It was so much fun though. Rock climbing was another Bozeman challenge, but i still made it to the top :D yay!!!
 Besides the happy times, I had to cope with sad moments as well. Trying to handle with difficult situations such as my beloved dog, bunny and a relative´s death was not easy, however, i was never left alone . Traveling within  the 4 cardinal points of the United States was amazing too :)  
How can i forget all the  lovely people who made this trip the best experience ever; every minute, every chat, every dancing, evrery craziness, every tear, every party, every laugh, oh well every moment i spent  with them was so remarkable and i want to thank all of you for that (hopefully  you will get to read this). I really wish to meet with them in the future and personally, by being with all this amazing  people, I have a small part of Europe, Africa, America, Asia and Oceania with me . I am grateful with everybody who supported me whilst being in the US and the ones in ES. Thank you May 2011 - May 2012 I had  a blast!! 

End of fall semester

I cannot believe that we are in February already !! Time just flies by intensely fast that i have lost time notion :O !!! Alright, first of all, I know it has been so long since i last posted; however, many things have happened during these last months. One of the things i  am so happy about is the fact that last semester was a complete success :) ... I did not know what to expect at the beginning of the fall, however, the final outcome was really valuable and possitive. I could not believe getting on MSU honour rolls website and watch my name there !!! I was more than glad. Needless to say, this gave me an extra motivation to push it on harder this semester (without forgetting about the partying moments jajaja ;D ).