back to life...

Whew...you know, it pays to have your own doctor in the house. Omar is a pharmacist, studying in the hospital as a resident. So when I fell to pieces yesterday morning, he was right there to help me back together.

We had gone out the night before with one of the cousins, Ivan and wife Luz. Before we went out, the guys went down the street and bought 4 chicken dinners. I LOVE the roasted chicken they make here. I recommend it to everyone. If you ever come to Peru, get the chicken.

But DON'T eat the accompanying salad and dressing. Never, never, never. I've done that twice, and gotten sick both times. If the meal comes with salad, just throw the salad away with the box. And pretend it was never there. Don't even THINK about eating it. The the green stuff is loaded with BAD STUFF. I thought I was going to die yesterday. Thankfully, Dr. Omar was right there and fairly flew to the pharmacy to bring back something to bust this gut bug. I wasn't puking yet, but was on the verge, with fever, diarrhea and body aches all over. After a mostly sleepless night for both of us, relief came about 4 am. Finally. He had to go to work, but I am "lucky" enough not to be working yet, so I got to stay in bed. Omar came home about 10 am, having asked for the day to be sure that I was going to be okay. I am so privileged to have this man in my life. He spent the day putzing around the house and looking in every so often just to see if I was still alive.

But anyway, I still have one more tablet to take to kill this bug, and I should be done with it. My joints still ache in places, but it's not the "whole body" effect. And I'm back to life again.

I am almost finished with my dish cloth, which has become more of a towel. I think it was the gut bug that made me feel unmotivated. This afternoon, I used all the leftover yarn from the boho sweater, and moved on to a couple of skeins left from the afghan that I was saving to make flowers out of. Oh well, I need a dish towel more than I need knitted flowers, at the moment. Actually, I could do with several dish towels. When I asked Omar to pick some up last time he was at the grocery store, he came back with Handy Wipes. Remember those? I didn't know they even existed anymore.

I just made myself a cup of tea, and happened to read the box:

Hierba Luisa (aka lemon verbena) comes from selected plantations in the Amazon region, whose climate produces a product of grand flavor and aroma, ideal for relaxing from the day's tensions, and for every moment.

Wow. In my mind's eye, I see Ricardo Montalban saying these words while sitting in his velvet-covered over-stuffed chair, cigar in hand, sultry steam wafting from a tea cup on the coffee table. Two Great Danes lie on the Persian carpet before the fireplace. Oil lamps burn in a softly-lit great room... I look around my tiny apartment. I do have a rug, but my Basset hound is in the states, I hate the smell of cigars, the stuffing in the sofa is flat, the lighting in the living room is provided by a bare bulb in the ceiling, and it's too friggin' hot to even think of a fireplace.

Ooo la la.