My new ballad...

John Christ '11

Before I left for Argentina I promised many people that I might write a song while on my trip.  The first half of my trip I had little progress toward a top seller but then something amazing happened. I got sick.

At first, I did my best to play it off as food poisoning, but when things got just too bad, I had to give in and see a doctor. 

It is one thing to have doctors talking in ¨doctor talk¨ in front of you in English, but it is a whole different story when it comes to doctors speaking Spanish. 

I was blessed in the sense that all the doctors that I saw that day were friends of Immaculada. The first doctor was in fact, was the principle's son. 

After visiting a second doctor, who happened to be Alumni of the school here in Santa Fe, I was told through rough translations and facial expressions from my host mother that I needed to have my appendix taken out that night.

Wow. Beats food poisoning I guess.

Next thing I knew I was laying on an Argentinean hospital bed waiting for two syringes to be stuck into my behind.  Here in Argentina I have mastered the art of going with the flow, and that is exactly what I had to do that night. 

After the shots I was then told to shower with a special soap before my X-ray.  As the two men giving me an X-ray asked my questions about cuss words in English, I had to tell myself to relax and just go with the flow.

As the clock struck 9:20pm I was laying on the operating table with my left arm strapped to the side and a needle in my forearm.  The anesthesia traveled up my arm with a sensation like no other. The last thing I remember is the doctor turning on the futbol game... then it was all in their hands.

Filled with an odd feeling of anticipation and confusion as I boarded the elevator before the operation.

Blah blah blah blah blah!!! That is all I heard when waking up from the operation.  Still drugged up, I was in a state of raw confusion.  All I could do was make a mean face and hope for an end to loud ringing coming from the room.

Always suspicious of the man who put holes in my stomach.

My host mother Andrea stayed by my side the entire night, sleeping on a cot that just maybe could have been 200 years old. 

When the morning finally came I was still in pain and I had a tube sticking out of my stomach.

As I finally made my way out of the hospital feeling like an old man, I had time to think about my experience.  I thought, wow, I never thought that I would ever go through something like

that...in a foreign country. 

Alittle helado makes all my worries run away!

Then, I thought about my song.  I couldn't think of any high level poetry but I did think of the possible title. 

"I Left My Appendix in Argentina."