Week 4 - Sickness

Hello, everyone. I moved again last Saturday to Marta´s house. She has two little girls Mimi, 12, and Joseline, 2. It is very different from Adriana´s house. Joseline is suffering from her terrible two´s stage - one minute an angel, the next a screaming, crying mess. It´s a cross-cultural experience, I guess. On Saturday evening, I went with them to a baby shower of her sister-in-law. They had party games like in the US. One of them was to guess how many sheets of toilet paper it would take to wrap around her belly. That was kind of fun, although I was wrong. That evening I started feeling sick though...this time with a cold.

Sunday I still wasn´t feeling well, but I ended up going with Marta and some friends to the sierra (mountains) outside the city. She said that it would be cooler and that they would come home early. It ended up being a big mess, for me anyway. It was a two-hour drive outside the city and then noone could decide where to stop, so that took another hour probably. Once we did stop, it was soooo hot and humid I was just feeling horrible. They decided to stop in front of someone´s house, which was strange for me, because it seemed like we were camped out in their driveway. I was just glad when we decided to leave.

I have been sick the whole week, so I have slept a lot in the afternoons after work. I even stayed home on Tuesday to try and rest and get better. I have learned something about Mexican beliefs about illness though. First, saying you have a cold doesn´t translate, so they generally say you have the flu. Marta also really wants me to wear socks, because the illness comes up from the feet. I liken it to many American mothers wanting their kids to wear a hat in the winter, but it´s 80+ degrees here. I went to a doctor on Thursday, because I still wasn´t feeling well. He came to the conclusion that it was allegies or viral, but still gave me an antibiotic. He also wanted to give me an allergy shot, but I really didn´t think that was the problem. I decided to take the antibiotic on Saturday, since it had been a week and I was still feeling bad. Maybe if I was at home I wouldn´t have, but I just need to feel better.

Saturday evening I got out of the house again. We went down to the beach and malecón (boardwalk, sort of). There were a lot of vendors on the street and I picked up a necklace made with shells. I also got to watch a night diver (cliff diver), although it was too dark to take a picture. It was nice to get out and about.

I think I will leave off there, as this is already a long post. Hope everyone is doing well.