I want to go back to St. Louis so badly right now. I'm having problems applying the life lessons I learned on the trip to life in Athens. Now I just start randomly crying and I feel crappy all the time. Apparently this is happening to a few people from my trip, and we all want to go back. We're talking about going back on our own in May, which would mean the world to me, but is not today. Thankfully everyone on my trip gets along and we've all become a great support network. One of the girls is going to Panera with me tonight just so I don't go alone twice this week.

I've been sick this whole week and I'm not getting better. The Health Center thinks I have a virus and so they can't prescribe anything for me. "Just take Mucinex D and cough syrup and continue drinking lots of liquids." Lies. Nothing is getting better. I'm supposed to make another appointment if it doesn't get better but I've never had something where Day 4 was just as crappy as Day 2.

Fitz has been so loveable. My horrendous coughing does not scare him nor wake him from his blissful kitty sleep. Fitz is going to have to learn to love the car because I am not leaving him behind any time soon.

I guess it really bothers me that I can't maintain a positive spirit here. I miss this one resident, Bruce, who made us feel welcome from day one at Doorways. Bruce has been HIV positive for almost twenty years and when we were there he went to a doctor's visit where he found out he has cancer. But Bruce didn't let that break his smile or stop him from telling us stories and listening to ours. His hugs are so tight, like you've known each other for years, and it's shocking afterward, to realize that a man who's that physically weak can give an embrace that strong. He gave us really good advice which now seems almost hard to put in use here. Right now I'm struggling most with, "If something bothers you, don't let it."