Mexican bacteria 1, me 0

Felt ok Monday morning after I got up, besides being extremely sore from the rock climbing. Had breakfast plans with Profesor Eutiquio Cruz, a retired teacher who I had met on Thursday morning while having breakfast. He took me to a place that he liked which served chilaquiles, fried corn tortillas cooked in a red or green chile salsa served with sour cream. As he had promised, they were tasty. And despite my protests, he paid for my breakfast. We exchanged contact info, and I told him next time I made it to the city, I would get in touch with him.

From there, it was a short walk to the Biblioteca Manuel Lerdo de Tejada, where I had been doing research much of last week. I requested materials after catching up with emails, etc. However, after about an hour, something didn’t seem quite right. I was freezing. I had never remembered the library as being very cold. Fairly soon thereafter, my stomach just didn’t seem settled. By about 1:30pm, I decided it might be best to call it a day early. And I definitely made the right decision. Stopped by the grocery store on the way home to buy some bread and toilet paper, two essentials for what I knew was about to happen. (For those of you with weak stomachs, you may want to stop here)

Made it back to the apartment and spent the rest of the day writhing around in bed and on the toilet. Had a high fever, chills, cramping, etc., etc. It was pretty awful. The Let’s Go guide describes it aptly: “Scientifically speaking, turista is a temporary reaction to bacteria in new food ingredients. In plain speak, turista will blow your bowels inside out.” I can only remember ever being that sick on a road trip for soccer during college.

I seem to be doing much better today, thanks in part to Nancy and Sonia (who lives in the building and is in charge of the upkeep). Nancy went out and bought me a sack full of food and drink items to help ease the pain and keep my energy up. Sonia stopped by last night to deliver them. She also brought me the equivalent of Aleve to help hold my fever down. It finally broke around 9pm last night. I didn’t sleep really well last night, but I do think the worst has passed. I have been able to eat some today and continue trying to stay as hydrated as possible. Will definitely be eating bland foods for the next several days though. Pasta, bread, etc. No more spicy, food stand or vendor items.

Although I remain unsure as to the exact cause of the sickness, I have a hunch it was Sunday morning’s breakfast to go. Certainly tasted good, but I never saw where it came from or how it was prepared. Bad idea… Nancy swears it must have been the chilaquiles on Monday morning. I will probably never know, but I will have to stay away from spicy food for the next several days. More cooking in the apartment.

Needless to say, research has been put on hold at least until tomorrow…

No pics on this post...for your sake.