My hosts, Olga and Humberto, live in an older part of Puebla, a short bus ride from the Centro (Downtown). Their house is in a mixed-use area, and is in what I think of as a classic Mexican/Spanish style -- a high wall enclosing a patio and garden areas, high-ceilinged rooms, stucco walls, tile roof, etc. Inside, the floors are mostly of patterned tiles in designs reminiscent of Oriental rugs. The walls in the kitchen and dining room are tiled in white, with accents of patterned tiles. The house is about 75-80 years old, and has been lovingly restored and updated without harming its charm.
About half an hour's drive away live their daughter, Olga Elisa, her husband, Roberto, and their two darling children, Ximena (hee-MAY-nah), 2.5, and Jose Emilio, 8 weeks. Ximena is very bright, and is a little charmer, and Jose Emilio is adorable. Their home is in the modern Mexican style, with a high-walled, grassy patio at the back and sides -- with a rectangular fountain -- and much use of stone and tile. It was night, so I didn't see much of the exterior, but the inside makes it obvious that Olga Elisa shares her mother's sense of design, though they prefer different styles. The decor is sleek, with light-colored floors of large tiles, white walls, and comfortable seating in pale shades. The living room tables and the dining table and kitchen cabinets are of dark, warm-hued wood. The kitchen counters are of white stone flecked with warm browns. What makes it special is that the accessories are so well chosen and placed, but the home isn't stuffy, it's lively, just like her parents' home. She and Roberto are very charming and hospitable, and it was a special treat to get to visit with them in their home.
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Wednesday, I gave in to the inevitable and scheduled a visit from the doctor recommended by the school. I wrote out my list of medications and my symptoms in Spanish, and had my teacher review them, before he arrived. A good thing, since he speaks only Spanish. But he was very thorough, taking my blood pressure, asking questions, checking my heart, eyes, ears and skin, and finally making an exam table out of three chairs in the conference room so he could poke and prod my belly. He seemed unsurprised to learn that I had not eaten or drunk anything obviously unsafe, but surprised that I cook foods at home that are much spicier than anything I've encountered here without problems. With nothing concrete to attribute my misery to, he blamed it on the stress of changes in food, altitude, environment, etc. (Or, in other words, _ _it happens.)
He prescribed Cipro, another antibiotic and lactobacillis acidophilis tablets, along with the dullest diet this side of bread and water: Bread, white rice, potatoes and pasta; carrots, zucchini and chayote (a pear-shaped Mexican veggie with a taste and texture similar to plain zucchini); chicken or beef; apples, pears and bananas; Gatorade, herb tea or water. All steamed or boiled or grilled. No condiments. Like the medicines, the diet is to last for a week.
Luckily, the expense hasn't been too great -- M$300 (about $28) for the "house call" at the school, and M$360 ($34) for the medications. My travel medical insurance should cover some or all of it, but if not, well, it's about the same as my Medicare copays would have been, because at least one of the medications is non-formulary. And with luck, I'll lose a pound or two.
The best news is that I've been symptom-free since Wednesday, and am looking forward to an all-day field trip Sunday. Our homestay families provide our lunches, and Olga and I have figured out what I can take in a 6-pack-size cooler so I can stay on my diet safely.
I'm loving it here, and thinking seriously of coming back in a year or so, but at a different season/holiday, or of going to the sister school in Merida, Mexico.
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