Love Sick: A Modern Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a ginger lassie visited a town in Minas Gerais, Brazil called Viçosa, that is, Youthful. She had a great time when she arrived. She met plenty of new people, tried speaking Portuguese, and enjoyed the perks of being in a foreign country. Those include freedom to travel- as every place you go is new, even the bank; experimenting new things galore- as everyone asks, "Have you tried this yet? Have you heard of this?"; and special treatment from natives- as they want so much that you enjoy your stay in their home.

One day a few weeks into her stay, the ginger lassie got sick very quickly. She had returned from a trip to Rio de Janeiro celebrating Carnaval and had a terrible sore throat, headache, and a tough time breathing. She proceeded to try and nurse herself back to health with tea and liquids and sleep. It didn't seem to cut it. Then, an angel came out of the blue! Aparecida! But her nick name is Cida. 

Cida, my good friend and advisor, knew exactly what I needed- some TLC. She took me to the hospital, got me lunch, got me the medicine I needed, brought me to her house to help mark the dosage of each medicine, let me take a two hour nap, made me soup, had me spend the night just so she could watch over me. We watched episodes of The Big Bang Theory with Portuguese subtitles and I got a kick out of that. Then in the morning, I woke up to fresh coffee, delicious fruit, and a yummy breakfast spread.  She then took me to the grocery store to make sure I had food in my apartment. What a little gift from heaven. I will be forever grateful for her kindness and hope I can pay it forward. These Brazilians are too much!

My kind nurse-angel

Enough medicine for a lifetime