counterclockwise

So I’m in Asunción for a little unscheduled medical visit. Nothing serious at all, just a convoluted it-could-only-happen-in-Paraguay story. I’d had a bit of the flu up in Tacuatí for several days. A little fever, a rotten migraine, nothing to write home about. But I started getting really woozy and shaky around Tuesday, and the weather was getting messy.

It’s just the flu; we all know the modus operandi. You feel awful for most of a week and live on ibuprofen. Then it gets better on its own and there’s nothing a doctor can do about that. But all the same, I decided to play it safe and get myself within range of medical services before the rain took that option away from me.

Of course, by the time the bus rolls into Asunción, my symptoms have pretty much cleared up, and I feel like a stupid cry baby. But no sooner have I struck off for the office, but a massive allergy attack comes over me, the worst I’ve had in years. In the space of five minutes (and to the complete horror of my fellow city bus passengers) I go from a relatively normal kind of non-Paraguayan freak to some sort of oozing extra from a zombie movie. For some reason, my right lower eyelid swelled up like I was trying to bring a pet caterpillar along for a scenic tour of the country. I’m still kicking myself for not bringing my camera. This kind of thing has to be seen to be believed.

So by the time I get to the Peace Corps office, my appearance puts small children in tears, and I actually do need to see our staff doctor. Nothing like a Cortizone shot in the butt to put some zing in your afternoon. It must have been a self-fulfilling prophecy, that’s all I can figure. I came to Asunción because I was worried something bad would happen in a place where I can’t get much help. And then in the absence of any real complaint, my immune system decided to backfire up one of its own once I got within a needle’s reach.

And now my eye is back to normal, my flu is gone, and I’m heading back to site. If I make it through the ride back without acute appendicitis, I think I’ll be ahead of the game.

The Guaraní word of the day is chivivi. This is a digestive symptom I did not experience this week, although most people in Paraguay do sooner or later, especially in those households where the well is too close to the latrine. Living the fancy life, as I do have running water and a flush toilet, I get off light on those kinds of problems.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Guaraní, Pictures, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.