What a Week!

What a week (to miss out on)!  Yes, I'm going to whine...

I was not up to snuff this week, and missed out on a *lot!*
Saturday:  dragged through class, hopefully absorbed something, but I was certainly not a stellar student.
Sunday:  no visiting with friends.
Monday:  missed Juan Santamaría Day in Alajuela; parade, festivities, museum events.
Tuesday:  chores at home, but did not experiment as planned with a hoped-for butcher delivery.
Wednesday:  missed afternoon festivities at UCR, but at least we walked through it on our way to the clinic;  *REALLY* missed the Art City Tour!  Had planned to meet friends and make a real night of it.  Back-up plan was to go to the Alliance Française for a Milonga.  Too tired for even that.
Thursday:  no painting workshop with friends.  At least I can hear some of the music wafting over from UCR while I rest up in my recliner.
Friday:  Semana U will still be going on at UCR.  Maybe...

Phew! Not Dengue!

I do not have Dengue!

We had a little scare here this last week - I got sick on Thursday, and by Saturday morning, I had all the classic symptoms of Dengue Fever.  Fortunately, ALL in miniature, so not a whole lot of pain or life-derangement :-).  I felt well enough to go to class Saturday, although I was not really with it (but no tests, so lucky me!).

By Monday, we had decided that I'd better see a doctor to find out if it really was Dengue.  We had read that not everyone has the severe symptoms, so even though mine were minimal and very short, it was still possible.  The most important reason to know for sure whether or not I had it, is that the second time someone is exposed to the virus, it can be life-threatening.  Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever is a high risk when someone has the dengue antibodies from a previous bout. 

Well, it turns out that the EBAIS is closed on national holidays* (imagine that!), and Monday was Juan SantaMaria Day.  We made our trek to the clinic, not really expecting it to be open, but we didn't know for sure (now we do!).  We couldn't go Tuesday, so that left today.  By the way, each trip to the EBAIS means getting in line somewhere around 6:00 a.m., getting an appointment for later that morning, perhaps returning for tests, etc.  Basically, you get up too darned early, and your day is shot.  But, you get pretty much everything taken care of all in one day.  Today was only slightly different, because dengue is a public health issue, and so the blood test for it is "urgent."  So, after my morning doctor's appointment, we went to the urgent laboratory at UCR, got blood drawn, then went to the cafeteria there for brunch.  We returned to the clinic for the results.  We had a little language mix-up**, and so were two hours late :-| but they fit us in!  And... NO DENGUE!  Turned out it was a bigger relief than I anticipated!  I'll still worry a bit about mosquito bites, but if the bugger is carrying dengue, at least I am back at square one in that progression.  Square one is a *good* thing sometimes!


* In case you didn't know, next week is Semana Santa, and Thursday and Friday are national holidays too.

** language mix-ups are no fun!  And here's an easy one:  12:30 sounds like "dosayeemedia" and 2:30 sounds like "doseemedia"  - say that fast and see what happens...  The fix is this - write down the numbers and confirm those with the person giving you the appointment.  It's a bit harder to *remember* to do this...

January 21, 2008 – Feelin´ Human (I mean groovy)

I guess I have to admit it – parents can give good advice, even when you are a full-fledged adult (sigh). A few weeks ago, we used our kitchen to poison ourselves (not recommended) – we were over the worst in a couple of days, but it seemed like we would *never* get back to a real life. Well, when we got our phones (yay! – still excited about *that*!), we phoned home. There is nothing like talking to family, especially when you are feeling under the weather. That is when the parental advice kicked in – ¨you gotta replace those good bacteria – eat some yogurt!¨ So we did! And it worked!

We had spent a couple of weeks dragging around, barely getting through the necessary chores of getting groceries and so on. We were planning to go to the Palmares tope last Thursday, but that fell through – I am admitting now (and frankly admitted it half way through that day), I am relieved. I can´t imagine lasting in the heat, with the crowds, given how weak we were feeling just walking to the corner!

Well, the very next day, we started the yogurt cure – had some for every meal for a couple of days, and felt better immediately.

Saturday, we ran into some friends, and felt well enough to go to a dinner party that night – we took the guitar and played and sang a bit. We met some new people – always a fun thing, especially when they are on an adventure themselves. :)

Then Sunday! We really took this day as it came. We went with a friend to Escazú, to the Café de Artistas – there we had brunch while listening to a jazz combo (our new friend Joe Anello was playing drums). (RC folks – guess what I got to have – Eggs Benedict! And it wasn´t even Friday!). After brunch, we went to visit more friends – Jim and Ann-Marie just had their baby! So we got to see her, and get caught up on what everyone was doing and planning. Then, since we were nearby anyway, we stopped at EPA (it´s a lot like Home Depot) and found a water filter – whew! No more lugging bottled water** home! And *then* (I know, I know – don´t overdo it, you´re still recovering) we stopped at the Automercado (this is a high-end supermarket, where you can likely find foods you can´t find anywhere else). Rick was on a mission to find black olives – mission accomplished! (this mission really was accomplished – ok, that is my only tiny contribution to the political discussion)

And now we are – Feelin´ Human… (sung to Feeling Groovy)
Speed up, you´ve been too slow
You get to last the whole day now…
Feelin´ Huuuuuman...

** I know, you are supposed to be able to drink the water in Costa Rica. And most people can! Just not us…

January 9, 2008 - Changing Food Rules

We all get our rules for handling food from somewhere - our parents, grocery store wrapping, trial and error… Well, after a miserable couple of days, we have decided on some *new* rules.

1) Find a butcher you can trust.
2) When you buy meat, rinse it as soon as you get home. Most butchers keep their meat on ice, and you can’t count on what else has been there - rinse it off.
3) Either cook the meat and eat it that day, or freeze it - *that same day*
4) After rinsing the meat, rinse down all surfaces with a bleach solution. Let it stand for at least 3 minutes, then rinse with water.
5) Keep leftover beans or rice for no more than 3 days. Keep any other leftovers for no more than *one* day - make less, eat it the next day, or toss it.
6) Put leftovers in the fridge right away - within half an hour of eating.

For those who were wondering *where* has she been!?!? Now you know. I was sick. Poisoned in my own kitchen. Making up new rules…

June 03, 2007 - Sick in Paradise

That´s Sick IN Paradise, not Sick OF Paradise...

Rick has had a huge head cold for almost a week now. It peaked on Friday, and so Saturday I went to the Farmacia for the good stuff. Up until then, we´d been using the grocery store for Tabcin (pretty good, but not strong enough now), and the market for lots of chicken soup.

Making the chicken soup was actually pretty interesting - I went to the veggie stand on the corner, and started listing items I wanted. At intervals, the owner would say ¨anything else?¨ (ok, really ¨¿algo más?¨). Finally, I asked him if he could recommend anything more for sopa, or olla (soup or stew). He and another customer added a couple of more interesting veggies (I don´t remember the names ) and told me how to cook them (put them in the soup whole, then peel them afterwards). All that help AND the veggies set me back 400 colones (about 75 cents) - and I got called ¨princess¨ while I was at it (that´s a good thing)...

The Farmacia was quite an exhilarating experience. Thankfully I´d had some Spanish. It wasn´t as anxiety-producing as I expected; I made myself understood, the pharmacist asked important questions (and I could answer!), and I left with medicines and instructions.

Rick is a LOT better today - tired of being cooped up, and ready to at least say hello to the world again. And we have plenty of meds to keep him that way :D