Yo estoy enfermo

Hoy esta hace fresco y yo estoy enfermo. Today it is cool, and I am sick. I think my Spanish is close to saying that anyway. At least my family understood when I said, "Yo estoy enfermo." at church. I did not even have to use a dictionary to get my point across! So, I guess I am making some progress.

It seems Tecún Umán's revenge (Mayan version of Montezuma's revenge) finally caught up with me. My talisman against diarrhea could not hold out against the stronger powers of the Maya. But, it worked for two and a half weeks! Maybe I should have kept 3 packets of pills in my pocket instead of one.

Around 5:00 this morning I got awake with mild diarrhea. I thought it would go away and had my usual eggs and beans for breakfast. About halfway through the church service my stomach became upset, I felt light-headed, I developed a splitting headache and my diarrhea continued. After church I talked with two nurses (recent Goshen College grads) who are at CASAS. Kerri gave me some Ibuprofen and told me not to take my diarrhea pills unless things got really bad. She suggested getting some CIPRO, a broad spectum antibiotic, in case things got really bad. It seems as if few medicines require a prescription here - you just go into a pharmacy and buy whatever you want. The prices are really cheap.

On the way home from church we stopped and got some Pepto-Bismol and CIPRO. I took the Pepto-Bismol when we got home, but will not take the antibiotics unless I get really bad. Claudia made me some special soup that is good for upset stomachs.

I'm not certain what caused the diarrhea. Yesterday Olga's mother came for lunch (she is 87) and brought some really hot salsa. Of course, it was necessary for me to put that in my soup. It was so hot tears streamed down my face. Everyone was laughing. I felt better when Jorge also got out a napkin to dab his eyes. So, it may have been the chili in the salsa. I'm quite careful about what I drink and usually drink bottled water (agua pura). However for lunch we had lemonade made with filtered water from the spring that the family uses. The chili was so hot I drank a lot of lemonade. That also may have contributed to my sickness. Then last Friday evening we stopped and got tortillas from a road vendor at a gas station. I ate one that was mildly warm and toasted another. So, it may have been a combination of many things.

Right now (3:30p) I'm going to bed. Hopefully some rest, the soup and the Pepto-Bismol will have me in good shape by tomorrow morning. No pictures with this post. I could take one of me sitting on the toilet, but will spare you and me the embarrassment.