Day 22: The Worst Day

Today started off lovely enough. We awoke early for our flight to Panama City. Everything went smooth at the airport (minus Christi receiving the incorrect ticket and having to quickly go back to the counter to exchange it). We were able to grab a quick breakfast and much to our surprise (and delight), we had first class tickets on the short flight to Panama City. For the first time in my life, I wish the flight was longer.

After we landed we walked through the duty-free zone and it happened. My nose smelled it first and I nervously glanced over at the scores and scores of perfume stores. The thought went through my head of what could happen, the assualt these scents could have on my head, but I just held my breath and walked quickly.
We grabbed our luggage, went though customs and were received by three Rotarians to take us to lunch.
It started slowly on the beautiful drive into the city and I felt a small pain in my temple. The sun was not welcome on my eyes and I knew what was coming. I could not get my hands on pain reliever quickly enough.
As we arrived at the hotel for lunch, the burn went up my spine into my head. I quickly found Christi who had arrived a few minutes earlier for some type of pain reliever (because mine was buried in luggage). She did not have any but the Rotarian (Niki) who was with her did.
During our lovely lunch, I felt completely overwhelmed and desperate. I chased a couple more pills with a Coke, hoping for any relief. Instead, the pain was worsening as I tried to follow a long with our itinerary. The words were spinning and letters were jumbled. I felt my face grow hot. I was quickly realizing I wasn't going to be able to control it and a full blown migraine was imminent.
Something to know about me is that if I'm sick or don't feel well, I cry. And if people dote on me, I cry harder. I felt tears well in my eyes and excused myself to the bathroom. Christi quickly came in and talked me off my ledge. I didn't know how I was going to my site visit that afternoon. I couldn't formulate words, let alone questions. I was really trying to pull myself together to go but as we returned to the table, I realized this was not possible.
To my relief, Niki so kindly offered to take me to her house to rest. This was so generous. At this point, we did not have host families (nor would our host be ready to receive us). Everyone went to their site visits and I had a date with a cold-compress in a dark room. After about 5 hours, I was able to rejoin society without dying.
I am so sad to make that first impression on our new Rotary family, however, they were all completely understanding. I am also sad to miss my visit to a university today, but I know I have two tomorrow.
From what I have briefly seen, Panama City looks every bit as gorgeous as I pictured. Christi and I are staying with the sister of a Rotarian (and her husband). They are our age, so it's fun to see a city from their perspective.

From what I can tell, everyone had a great day today. Christi went to the US Embassy and met with an agriculture scientist and was eager to tell me all about the eradication of some flesh eating bug that Panama has.
Our hosts took us out to dinner and Christi learned they had a farm (left from family) that they are keeping... but know nothing about agriculture. Cue Christi. I think she might end up managing the farm before we leave.
So... that was day 1 in Panama. I'm not off to a great start with the city. This is the part of the trip I have been looking forward to most, so I'm glad to be feeling better and can't wait to actually have a proper introduction tomorrow.

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