I understand illness by proxy much better now, I think, that I felt the side effects of being sick. All of a sudden, all of the attention was on me, everyone worried about me, and listened to me (and brought me flowers). I would never fake an illness (obviously!), but it's a little frightening to return to my normal life on Monday. I didn't realize what I was missing... my brother visited me in the hospital, my mom flew out to visit and folded every piece of clothing that I own, and my grandparents doted on me like they did when I was the youngest grandchild. Once I get back into normal life- which suddenly seems overwhelmingly tedious and lonely- I'm sure I'll feel much better. It just felt so nice to be taken care of, if only for a few days.

I'm excited about my potential summer plans: I found a work program in Ecuador that is a month of working with street children in a day-care-like house. I would love that! I hope I can afford it after my summer courses.