Day 6-7

 Yesterday I was not writing because I did absolutely NOTHING. 

Well, it's not nothing I did, but we're still weary of going out and etc. (The only times we left our apartments was to buy food and once when we ate at the restaurant, nearby us.)

I had a full-on baking day. Since my endocrinologist highly recommended a gluten-free diet for me, I experimented with some stuff to bake. 

I baked banana bread, and glutenfree flour was doing its job. Yumm! 

However, when I tried out doufukuai's apple bites, it wasn't a full-on success. The taste is great, but gluten free flour breaks so much more!!! Argh... 

Here is the result: 

And here when it all seemed to be perfect still: 

In the evening, I quickly put together the best yoghurt cake (so easy to bake and so smooooth): 

And no, I don't eat it with Pirosarany :-D 

One thing that I can tell for sure, that gluten free flour exceeds the one with gluten, is that if you eat one bite, it would fill you for hours. Unlike normal bread and normal sweets, you just want to eat and eat and eat more. 

The other reason of me not writing was, that there was nothing really interesting happening. Loja is more or less back to normal, of course, I pay attention to my surroundings, but no major problems happened. Some of my friends even travelled on the bus to the nearby town! (Wow, what bravery.) 

Last night however, there were some attacks and breaks-in even in Cuenca, which is known to be a similarly quiet town as Loja. It bothers me because some of the tenants in our apt. complex are sometimes forgetful to lock the gate... But nothing really happened here. (Yet?) 

I have a lot of thoughts and what am I doing, and shall I be more afraid or not. 

Yesterday, we also did some duties around the house. Pop got mad because the washing machine is not operating again, so I handwashed my uniform (yes, I'm a diligent person and I'm even wearing my uniform for the virtual classes, haha.) I asked Pop if he wanted to wash some of his clothes, as well but he said it's better to wait until the washing machine will be good again. His thought of mind is: why to have technology if you don't use it? (Sigh. If only he knew, the last time, I used to live here, I went to the laundry, only 2x. Yes, one occasion was right after the Illinizas tour when I became soaking wet. Other than those 2 occasions, I washed by hand.)

For the rest of the day, I was catching up with my sister, rearranged my tour with my friend who's about to come and visit me (?), and chatted with some long-seen friends, too. It was quite comfortable (and a boring day). 

It's time to go to my endocrinologist check-up as well, as recently, my tyroid autoimmune disease has flared up again. (Since I learnt that my TSH is higher than normal, I feel as if someone was suffocating me. It's most probably only me and my stress though, but the results were so high, I decided to see a doctor here.) She was the best endocrinologist I've ever visited! First of all, she also gave me a thorough diet plan that I strictly have to follow (see: gluten free things), and she told me that I most likely have some level of gluten sensitivity. (Not a full-on intolerance.)

So, today was the first time that I took the local bus as well as went out of the house farther than my workplace. I have an appointment for next week, but this week I had to get my ultrasound (neck doppler?) done.  It was so coincidentally funny because as I opened the gate, there I met my close friend from here and we chatted a bit! It turns out that she moved nearby :) so I hope to catch up with her soon! (Maybe tomorrow? :) )

I left after the morning class, and the whole examination took only 2O or so minutes. The doctor said that my thyroid is mostly normal, but there are some benign (?) cysts on it - the largest one is 3 mm - nothing to worry about. I just should keep taking my medicine and all will be well. Now I have a ton of questions, but I'll wait until I see my doctor (Dra. Michelle), who's the best doctor that I've found. My appointment with her is next Monday and I know I can ask her ANYTHING related to the thyroid and autoimmune diseases. 💖 I also love it that anytime I have a question or concern, I can just message her and she replies within an hour (re: diet, symptoms, etc.). So, I feel like I'm in good hands. 

But it also made me feel a lot of questions. Why am I like this? Is it because of my lifestyle? That I do (or at least try to do) so many things? Do they mess up my hormones? Am I at fault? Is it genetic? Yes, I need to eat seafood (so says the diet, as well), but still... I beat myself up around it and I feel like I'm not doing enough. One thing for sure, I also feel that the current situation (locked up, being cautious, alert, getting alerted at robbings and something) will not help this situation, either. :( 

So I do the only logical thing: I sweep this under the carpet and only take it out when I go and visit the doctor. I treat my diseases as if they were not the part of me, but rather, some annoying mosquitos which are here and bother me a bit. I know that I have to stay active (not only meaning sports, but active, like fill up my life with things and actions). Otherwise I'd overthink this, as well. (Yes, overthinking which is another hobby of mine doesn't help either lol.) I should do meditation and yoga or pilates on a daily basis, but for now, the medicine has sent me to the floor and knocked me out, that I barely did my minimum. I keep hoping that better days are coming. I know that I'm doing everything (following my diet?) to get myself better, so it must work. (Shouldn't it?) 

But yes, I got a small emotional moment at the ultrasound building. Like I just don't understand that 6 months ago I didn't have anything. And now why I have so many problems again with my thyroid? Meh... :/

On the way home, I dropped in to Gramería and bought some ingredients (like Pop's favourite dry fruit, which is date, and the chocobombs). I like to buy gluten free pasta there, as they have a wide variety. I think my favourite one is the "fideos de lenteja" which is made by lentils. It's also homemade so I have a good feeling that I'm supporting some local merchants. As for walking, it went alright. I was not afraid anymore or anything. Yes, there is less traffic on the streets and less pedestrians, but it feels like things are back to normal. 

We're still on virtual classes until this week's Wednesday, so hopefully, after that, we can even go back to the school. It would ease things for my eyes, and also, at home too (as Pop and I often have classes at the same time). 

Back to work now! :-) 

And here are some articles / summaries. The weekend was quiet on the Ecuadorian level, as well - I'm wondering if it's really so or is it just the silence before the storm? (I just link the reddit comment because you can find EVERYTHING under it): 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ecuador/comments/196zriq/summary_relevant_events_context_january_14_2024/