Ew

Warning:  For those of you with weak constitutions you may not want to read any further.  You have been warned.

What an exciting weekend.  The week of translating for the medical team ended for me with an excellent dinner at Chelsea's... the excellent dinner at Chelsea's ended with me barfing up that dinner.  What a waste of a good steak!  Anyway, that meant that Friday I couldn't translate for the team and I was bummed.  I tried to go but was then ordered to go home.  I figured that with a few hours of sleep, some soup, and a movie I would be good as new, and I did start to feel better on Saturday.  That's when I made a huge mistake.  

On our street there is a woman who makes papas rellenas (fried stuffed potatoes) and her own aji (the most amazing spice of all time).  I was craving one Saturday night and as I had only eaten soup and popcorn all day I decided that it was time for a papa, a coke, and some chocolate.  Sunday morning around 5 A.M. I woke up with a burning pain from my stomach to my throat.  It took me and hour or so to get back to sleep but even when I woke up a few hours later the burning hadn't gone away.  I missed church and missionary lunch and for a while thought I had a parasite (I'd heard so many complaints to that effect in the past week that I suppose I was just assuming the worst.)  However, Sunday night, one of our friends from church who is a doctor resident (resident doctor?  what do you call that?) started asking me about my symptoms.  After a few minutes he tells me that it's probably not a parasite but gastritis.  Frankly, I would prefer stomach acid shooting up my throat than worms in my intestins.  Ew.  

Just to be sure, I went to the clinic today and had the doctor check me out.  My friend was right.  Blech.  I can't eat anything good for five days, well, except chocolate.  I have to stay away from aji, cebiche, and anything that is even remotely spicy or rico, as the Peruvians would say.  "And no more happiness!  Away with you!"  I come by it honestly though, my dad's had the same problem.  Think it might have something to do with the fact that we both LOVE spicy foods?  Hmmm.  Hopefully, I'll be all better by the time they get here in March.