engrippada

I’ve got the flu. I don’t think I’ve ever had it before in my whole life. I don’t like it, and don’t understand it either. How can I be so cold when it’s so hot? Why are my legs sore if I haven’t been running in a week? How can I possibly drink more tea??

It all started last Friday after my 9 hour cold and rainy bus ride, but when I got to Asuncion I thought it was just the usual misery that accompanies bus rides. And since that afternoon I also got my hands on the last Harry Potter book, I had no problem going back to the hotel and reading in bed for hours. The next day I continued the reading-bed combo, now with a cough and fever. It was disappointing because for the PC anniversary I had been looking forward to spending time with volunteer friends, meeting new people, etc, but I was pretty much antisocial to the few people I did see. Made it out to dinner Saturday night, onion soup and hot tea, tried to go to the PC event Sunday afternoon but went back to the hotel to sleep. Felt great Sunday night, even went to the big PC party for an hour, and on Monday it seemed like I was nearly better. Tuesday’s bus trip back took care of that, however, and while I’ve made a point of going to the Supervision two mornings in a row I’ve come back home to bed immediately after. Fortunately I have a slew of new dvds to entertain me, and I really can’t wait to be feeling better and get back into the community. It’s hot again, finally, which is great, though it feels weird to be sick when it’s hot out – you kinda wanna snuggle up under blankets with hot soup, but you can’t.

This month is flu month, apparently, which is weird because if the flu is a virus you can’t spread it from person to person (nor can you medicate it). But with the windy dusty weather, and rapid change from hot to cold and back again, Paraguayans are almost always sick during this season. For them, however, being sick is party of daily life, and they seem to think I’m a bit of a wimp for staying at home if I’m not feeling well. Those with salaried jobs don’t get “sick days,” and teaches need to pay for substitutes out of their own pockets, so there’s little incentive to stay home if you’re sick. Except for me - with few concrete plans I seem to have little incentive to get out of bed....