Last week I asked Bishop Delgado where he was going to be on Sunday, hoping that he would take the hint and invite me along. He knew what I was up to and graciously invited me to go to San Pablo in Colonia Satelito and San Marco in Alpulyeca. I still don't have the words to converse properly with the parishioners. At San Pablo I asked the matriarch of the church what I thought was "How many years old is this church?" She looked puzzled and the bishop pointed me to the restroom. "Tiene anos" sounds like "Tiene bano." I should have said, "Cuantos anos."
I had been to San Marcos in Alpulyeca before and loved the people there. This week they were having their monthly "pot luck" supper after church." Victoria, a member of the church ladeled out a lovely sauce on a piece of beautiful chicken white meat. Then she presented it to me with great dignity and respect as she had done to the other members. The parishioners and I shared first names as we ate the food. When we finished I took a group photo of us on the patio in front of the wall.
Alpulyeca is somewaht rural and I suspect that the food sat out during the hour long mass. The thought crossed my mind before eating the chicken that my "gringo" stomach might not take kindly to the delicious food. Sure enough, less than 24 hours later I had a sudden onset of chills and diarrhea. That afternoon I spiked a fever.
I take fevers seriously. Years ago I majored in microbiology and I learned about pathogens that cause fevers. I suspected that I had not only met a marvelous group of new friends that Sunday, I had also met a new pathogen to my system.
So Monday afternoon I wrapped in warm blankets. (Although it was a warm day, I was freezing.) I took a cool shower, put cool, wet cloths on my body and took my first dose of ciprofloxacin that my infectious diseases doctor had prescribed for me "just in case."
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