Selling Out

Times of solitude sometimes result in public confession: I bought a microwave.

The situation's complicated. I hadn't bought one when I arrived for several reasons- one, they are expensive. Two, I wondered how long I could go without one. Three, my kitchen is super tiny and I didn't quite see where one would fit. Actually I discovered I didn't really need one- food goes bad quickly here since there are almost no preservatives in anything (and because, as I've ascertained by being home all day, the power often goes out so the fridge doesn't run consistently). Plus there are lots of great fresh foods here; why would I pick something rewarmed over that? And finally, I learned to plan ahead and eat any leftovers for lunchtime at school- the staff room does have a microwave.

So my routine was chugging along, and I was feeling pretty self-righteous about not owning one (I still have lurking suspicions of microwaves borne of my mom's hippy tendencies and our family's long delay in getting one in the first place 15 years ago). The houses on campus are pretty close to each other, and I had ambled the 30 feet into other people's kitchens to chat with them and use their microwaves on occasion. It was minorly inconvenient for all involved, but not compelling enough to do something about.

But with the advent of my isolation, it suddenly became just that compelling. People were asking what they could do for me, and many folks brought over food (well, more like left it outside my door and ran away trying not to inhale), and all the meals were way more than a one-person serving. My appetite was gone for the first 4 days of my sickness, as fits the symptoms, so there was lots of food piling up. And when I was hungry, I had better be able to eat exactly what I was craving right away or my hunger would disappear and it would be another day of consuming nothing but lemon tea. As wonderful as lemon tea is, when that's all I eat I black out each time I sit upright. Not conducive to recovery. So when I came back from the doctor on Monday, I wanted the rice and chicken I had in the fridge, but I didn't want it cold, and I couldn't run over to someone else's house and risk infecting them. Plus, I was near tears at the thought of being isolated for and additional 7 days beyond when I started feeling better and didn't feel like doing much running anyway. So that night I sent money to Nakumatt with some friends to buy the cheapest microwave they could find.

And so now I have it, gleaming white and taking up half my counter space. It's one of the cool oldschool ones with the twisty dial to set the time, and when it runs it sounds like a jet taking off. Hey, I like things that have character. I just don't usually buy them new... And of course, the next day the power was off for pretty much the whole day so I couldn't use it anyway. Naturally. But I did evntually grate some cheese over some tortilla chips and mix in some precious green chile from my care package. All New Mexicans know that green chile "burns out the germs," so I nuked my homemade nachos it as soon as the power came back on at dark and enjoyed my not-so-healthy dinner. Yummy.

And the next day, I started to feel much better. I firmly believe in the healing power of God, at work through prayer and green chile, and I am on #2 of the 7 symptom-free days required before I can go back to work. So basically, I feel fine but am still highly contagious. The feeling fine part makes it hard to stay in my apartment. However, my wonderful principal and her husband have invited me over to their house for the weekend so I can be somewhere else for part of my recovery. That sounds great; these 3 rooms are getting exponentially smaller. They are Baptist missionaries who live across town, so I'll get to ride in a car and see some other rooms for a while. I really appreciate her offer. They'll have to leave me behind when they go to Thanksgiving dinner tonight, but that's OK- at least I'll get to be somewhere new!

As expected, homesickness is setting in more severely. My parents and brother and future sister-in-law are all visiting her family in IL for the holiday. It's a bummer to feel left out, but I'll see my parents in a month and then everyone else 2 months after that for the wedding. I'm hoping the days between here and there go more quickly than these days of quarantine, but I'm sure they will: I have a microwave now, and I heard that makes everything faster.