Happiness, redefined

I am out! I am free! I have been liberated!

(I would go do cartwheels right now, but I'd probably hurt myself, and that would be majorly counterproductive).

This afternoon, my host mom and dad came to visit. They said that the nurses told them I was there till Monday, which is what mean doctor was saying. And of course, I do not take this news well (I've already spent pretty much the whole day being a sobbing, emotional, completely and hopelessly depressed mess). But when I mentioned that all the doctors were giving me different stories, we made a bunch of calls between host mother, program director, and doctor, and came to the conclusion that I COULD LEAVE. That right there is quite possibly the new winner of the best moment of my life. It took them forever to get their acts together, and I put a ridiculous amount of money on the credit card (although the insurance should pay that back ... "should" ) but here I am, sitting on a bed in a room I never thought I could be so happy to see. I. AM. THANKFUL. After 5 days of going crazy from being alone in that hospital room, I was beginning to think I'd never be happy again. But here I am -- happy once again!! Yay! Happy!

Here's the other good part: I asked nice doctor what he thought about me going to Panama. He didn't have any problems with it (so long as my bloodwork on Monday still looks good and all). So I don't have to cancel the Panama flight and come home early. I think I'm going to skip Nicaragua, though -- 10 hours on a bus is a lot for me to handle. There was a lot of stuff I really wanted to do there, but at least this way I have a lot of time to hang out here and get caught up with my buddies before I head home. I think I kind of like it this way better. Heck, maybe we can even spend a day or two in Manual Antonio -- a beach I've missed going to twice now because I haven't felt good (we were supposed to go this weekend). Did I mention I'm happy?

I can say one thing, though: You don't know just how good you've got it till you don't got it anymore. (Yes, that was horrible grammar on purpose). I've spent a lot of this experience missing home and wondering about all the things I've missed out on: spending time with my family and friends, riding/fixing mopeds, moped rallies, fall, the first snow, Thanksgiving (I pondered that one a LOOONNNGG time), black Friday, the holiday bustle and cheer .... watching U.S. TV in a hospital room for many many hours brings you back to all the things you're missing kind of the same way a slap in the face catches your attention. I'm not ready to come to a final decision on this experience, but I know better now than ever before that I've got it good. And to repeat: I am thankful.