Officially a Cyst-er

Oh, so much news....I´ll start with the good stuff...

I went this past weekend to Mucuge, a little city in the interior of the state of Bahia, for the festival of São João. This festival is a huge deal here in the Northeast...kinda like Carnaval is for the Southeast of Brazil. Basically, it´s a redneck festival. People wear straw hats, dress in plaid shirts, jeans and cowboy boots and dance to Brazilian country music (called "forró" here). It is also a festival that includes many different traditional foods and drinks of the Northeast. It´s really my cup of tea-- the whole idea is to eat, drink (and get drunk), be merry and dance all night long. Awesomeness! I went with a tour group so, there were 23 of us in a tour bus. Everyone except myself and two Germans were Brazilians so, it was great to see the dynamic of Brazilian tourists for a change. They were hilarious! Everyone was trading stories, jokes and food. Our tour guide was a riot and very energetic. He was also very into spiritualism so, every time something went wrong (and plenty of things did), he would say, " Ok everyone, let´s just think positive shall we? Let´s take 3 deep breaths now....ok, one for you, one for the group and one for the universe." haha Part of the tour package was a series of small trips to neighboring cities where we went rock climbing, swam in grottoes, got drenched in waterfalls, went hiking in the mountains and then, every night, partied for São João. It was easily the highlight of my time here.

Ok, so now the bad stuff. Having said all the above, the highlight of my trip has surely passed. I spent all day Wednesday in the emergency room of a local hospital. Why, you ask? Well, before leaving for Brazil I noticed a lump on my neck. It was small, right below my jawline and wasn´t causing any problems for me. However, I went to a doctor in TN (who shall remain nameless....the bitch) who told me it was probably nothing....some kind of allergy...and it would pass. So, I came here. As the weeks went by, I noticed that this lump was starting to enlarge. After returning from the trip this weekend, this lump began hurting. My host family got scared and took me to the hospital. After a whole day there, a battery of tests and R$2,000, it was finally determined that I have a branchial cyst (more or less like the one in the photo, except on the left side). I was referred to a specialist, who I met yesterday. He was very nice and explained to me that it´s not cancer, just fluid. However, I will need surgery to remove it; otherwise, there is a very real risk of infection which, around the head and neck area, is serious business. So, as a result, I am in the process of changing my flight to this Sunday. My parents have already called my doctor there and are scheduling things. More bad news-- I didn´t get to finish my research here. In fact, I barely got started. Today was going to be my last day of language classes and then I had interviews and meetings scheduled for the next two weeks, in addition to trips to libraries and museums here. No research, no more fun and no more Brazil.....

So, America, I´m on my way home....but I´m not happy about it.... :(