I haven't posted on the blog for a few days because I was sick with the dreaded "tourista" or traveller's diarrhea. It is unclear how I became ill with this as I am usually careful of things that I eat and generally wash my hands before dining. It is possible that it was part of a respiratory illness that I contracted several days after arrival, but no matter the cause, the consequence is rapid and profound. One gets a colon prep for an imaginary colonoscopy for about 24 hours. On Sunday, I had shaking chills, abdominal cramps and right lower quadrant pain making me wonder if I was getting a perforated appendix. Next began frequent trips to the bathroom for a colon cleansing experience that some would pay money for in Santa Cruz. :)
On return to language school on Monday, I was anorexic and hadn't eaten anything in 36 hours but was at least hydrating. If that was not possible, one could see how you could get into trouble rapidly with such a problem. Cholera is a bacterial infection that gives a toxing to the water transport cells of the intesting preventing reabsorption of water and salt. The rapid dehydrating effect of this is the reason there are so many deaths in third world countries from this disease. Traveller's diarrhea is most commonly caused by a toxin in E. Coli and resolves within 1-2 days.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/travelersdiarrhea_g.htm#who
Fortunately, life has once again improved and my desire to consume nutrition has returned. Tonight we will even plan to go toa milonga for a few hours. Hopefully, some things of interest will be posted soon.
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