La Paz

Dirty, polluted and loud, I was unimpressed.

I was also sick from a ¨stomach infection¨ (I never received an official diagnosis). I vomited and had diarreah and actually felt pain eating because I knew what the consequences would be, so I finally insisted on going to a hospital.

The hospital (La Paz Hospital) I went to was full of residents and a few doctors, but all extremely nice and all that happened was they gave me a saline solution to rehydrate me and then an injection of something to stop the diarreah...so far so good! They took forever to find a vein (this is normal), and then blood spilled onto my white t-shirt, and one resident took the time to wash it out as best as he could. He also made sure I had a blanket. Just a bunch of sweethearts. =)

And, much to my mother's surprise, it came to a total of 100 bolivianos... Roughly $15. This is why I didn't bother with traveler's insurance.

I also looked like a crack-house resident with 3 cold sores on my lips, and a concerned doctor actually wrote me a prescription for a cream. How sweet. =)