Of parasites and The Beatles

North Americans visiting Ecuador often have problems with bacterial infections or parasites because their immune systems don't have the same defenses as native Ecuadorians. Teo spent his third day in the country hugging a toilet seat, and three weeks ago Elise discovered she was hosting a population of amoebas who had been stealing the nourishment she intended to use herself. Looks like one of those populations is hanging out in my body, too.

Mélida said it must be amoebas. That's what Sóledad said, and Sóledad had a cousin who had them once. I called up Equivida and asked them to make me an appointment at the Clínica Pichincha. Sarah graciously offered to accompany me to the emergency room, so I picked her up from the FLACSO library in a cab and we headed down to the Foch. Our cab driver looked like an Ecuadorian John Lennon. Had anyone ever told him that he looked like John Lennon of los Beatle? No. Must be the glasses.

We had a pretty fun time at the hospital, spying on other peoples' x-ray consultations that were going on right outside my little cubicle (a nun had a twisted knee and we think that fat dude had a broken rib) and learning vocabulary words like "despocisión," "moco," "descartar," "masa," and "heces." The doctor who treated me was very nice and very patient, and I like her because she had trouble asking if I had ever visited a third world country before. She thought for a minute, and then ended up saying "had you ever been to a country in the process of development before Ecuador?" Sarah and I complemented her on her smoothness. ¡Suave!

The tests they did yesterday came out negative, but they said that not every departing vessel carries the little critters, so they ordered un examen seriado that takes place over three days. I just gave my second test to the lab this morning, and hopefully by tomorrow afternoon I'll have a diagnosis of parasites and medication in hand to expell the dudes that are having such a fun time in my digestive system. Until them, I'm imagining them as little blue martians who form Beatles cover bands and rock out to pass the time.