I was planning to go to a wedding party with Lin, hence the tuxedo talk. He never showed up and since he didn’t have my number I figured that was his way of saying it wasn’t going to happen. I had things to do in Miraflores so I hopped on a bus there.
I said goodbye to Juan Carlos… which reminds me I forgot to write about him. For kicks I had dinner in McDonald’s. I was disappointed when my Big Mac, Fanta, and fries tasted just like in the United States. Places like Burger King had some local variations of their hamburgers. After that I hopped on another bus heading back to Jesus Maria. The but mysteriously stopped a few blocks down, much to the disdain of the passengers. I looked towards the front and saw that we had been pulled over by a motorcycle policewoman (!). She told us to all get off the bus and we got our fare back.
Everyone waited for the next bus to arrive. I figured that if eight people hop on the next bus, i’ll be pretty crowded. So I waited for the one after. I sat up near the front on a sideways-facing seat. A forward-facing seat opened up so I moved there. It was the seat reserved for the needy, but I could move if I had to. It also fits two people, and a few stops later a pregnant woman sat next to me.
Then the bus started to fill up. In fact, I’ve never seen so many people on a bus before. I was fairly wedged in and couldn’t really move. The bus went by where I wanted to get off, but I didn’t want to get a pregnant woman and ten other people out of my way so I kept riding. The bus kept going and going full of people. We went through a few of the large plazas in downtown Lima. When some of the people got off the bus, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out myself. I looked out the window and saw a pile of rubble and a burned out husk of a van. I kept riding the bus.
The bus crossed the RÃmac river, and entered a busy intersection. The pregnant woman got out there and I quickly followed her out. On the street I was surrounded by tables selling wine. I kept going and saw some booths selling different food items. Across the street I saw a large outdoor market. I walked a bit but I’d rather get home so I went across the street and took a bus going back the way I came. I sat right next to the door so no matter what I could get out when I wanted. Along the way back I felt the beginnings of a stomach ache and a little bit of nausea. I thought it was from all of the bus travel, though I’m not really known for motion sickness. In fact, the last time I threw up was when I was ten or so, a record I’m quite proud of.
I got back to the Villa Rica with no other problems. I sat on my bed and surfed the web, emailing Bob that I was feeling sick. After another few minutes my stomach completely shifted to a new level of aching. I stumbled towards the toilet. Some instinct told me it was time and I lifted the toilet lid, got on my knees, and blasted a gooey mix of french fries and Fanta into the toilet.
Oh, um sorry if you were eating while reading this.
Amusingly I was mad that my streak was over. I rolled into bed and looked for web information on food poisoning. Then I passed out. At 4AM I woke up with a severe craving for water. I called downstairs for a bottle and went back to sleep after I got it and had a sip.
The next morning Bob had gotten me a lot of supplies for the sick, since he’s had a lot of experience treating sick students. He got me some crackers and three liters of Fanta, among some other things like Cipro. Unfortunatley my stomach didn’t take to the pills and my next streak lasted only 8 hours or so. I spent the rest of today sleeping and surfing the web, with sips of Fanta and water in between.
Update 9:05PM: Feeling better now. I went through a period where I was either moaning, saying the f-word, or raising my arms and roaring softly. While Kristin would tell you that’s within the range of variation for my behavior, it usually doesn’t come out all at once. Now I’m packing up my stuff so I have more time tomorrow. I have a few things to give out, and someone to see.