In the five weeks we have been here I have been hit by TD (traveler's diarrhea) twice now. I have researched it enough being home for most of the week that I have learned to spell it correctly, with two "r's". The source may be from a local dairy containing hot (not very), sauce that I like to pour on papas fritas and chicken. I recall a few years ago a number of Fisher Company employees all got TD at a local NSL burger joint, likely due to the fry sauce that was not refrigerated properly. The source of most TD's is an e-coli bacteria. Generally after a few days you begin to recover. We have a missionary doctor here from Provo. He looks after all of us including the younger elders and sisters in our area. The good doctor recommended a high powered antibiotic called Cipro. It is available over the counter as most things here are. No prescription is required.
We are careful to not order or drink anything with ice cubes and we drink only bottled water. We use Clorox laden water to rinse any raw veggies and fruit that would not be pealed such as apples and tomatoes. Even the temple has a water filtering system with taps in a number of locations we can get drinking water from.
It would not be correct to refer to our local Peruvian brand of TD as Montezuma's revenge since he was the last of the Aztec (Mexico) rulers when the Spanish sacked his civilization. Atahualpa was the last of the Incan rulers in this part of the world. The story is true that he filled an entire room with gold to gain his freedom but Pizaro was a cheat and a liar in addition to being a genocidal murderer and killed him anyway. One of our senior missionary friends has been to this location, I assume in Cusco, and seen the very room. According to some scholars the Europeans brought TD to the New World along with nearly every other transmittable and contagious disease. In the book "1491", the author Charles Mann reports that scholars estimate up to 90% of the indigenous population was destroyed due to these diseases.
If I were suffering from this in Egypt I understand it would be called the "Pharaoh's Revenge." It could also be called the "Cairo two-step." From India it could be the "Bombay belly" or "Delhi belly." If you were a trooper in Afghanistan it can be called "Kabulitis. In Nepal it is referred to as the "Katmandu quickstep." The best I can come up with here in Peru is the "Lima Rapid Transit." I attest to having been moving pretty fast at times for much of this past week. I think the worst of all the colloquialisms would be the "Bombay belly." Of course that city is now more accurately called Mumbai.
If any of you are world travelers and have experiences and other colloquialisms you would like to share please send them to my attention.
Otherwise, we love Peru. I have to say I was so happy to be feeling well and working in the Temple once again on Saturday afternoon and evening, I really did not care about a football game in Utah.
Vaya con cuidado, siempre!
Thank you for keeping us so well informed--the pondering of worldwide names of the same malady. Jonathan said he got it frequently in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteMy friend said the folkway of getting past it fast is to go 18-24 hours without food or water (unless you need to wet your mouth) and by then the intestine can shut down and whatever causes it has nothing to "feed" on. Not recommended for small children as they dehydrate so fast. I tried this in Mexico when I had its local gift and I was great the next day.
Take care! Colleen (Howard's wife not your sister)
Colleen, at my parents home if we were sick and throwing up, it meant a 24 hour fast followed by Jello, which seemed like a real treat after the fast.
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