Chile Days 3 & 4

Well Sunday and Monday were mostly uneventful. No photos to post here, but the family will get to see the same shots (of the living room, dining room, and everybody at the house in Chile eating and hanging out) you usually see when we get back.

Last night was probably one of the most miserable nights of my life. I woke up at 2:30 am with stomach acids literally shooting out of my stomach (ala Linda Blair in The Excorcist, sans Father Karras). See, I suffer from acid indegestion issues, and bread usually kills me so I try to stay away from it. Unfortunately, Chileans still practice Tea Time at 5:00pm, and are proud of the fact that they refrain from gorging themselves on a large meal (although around 9:00pm, the local pizzerias are jam packed with take-out orders... because tea time isn't FOOD!). So, tea time usually involves sandwiches (bread), crackers (bread), pastries (bread), baguettes (bread) and other bread by-products. So naturally, around 2:30am, the demon expelled a squirt of acid that scared the living daylights out of me. Then, it was cold. I mean REALLY cold. After cleaning up and getting back in bed, I was shaking (escalo-frio I believe my mom calls it). After warming up a bit I couldn't get back to sleep, started coughing, and got a massive headache. I got out of bed around 4:30 am and started working on some files (my job).

This morning everyone woke up coughing. Ceci, my wife's aunt, went to the hospital and was diagnosed with Influenza. Ximena, my wife's other aunt is going to the hospital tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm getting the hell out of Santiago; away from the smog and pestilence. If all goes well we're going south to the lake region, assuming nobody is hospitalized for coughing up a lung.

Mom, don't worry. Ceci has Influenza type A, which I was told is not contagious. She also brought some extra drugs for everyone in the house.

Good night.