dropping like flies...

Since we got to cusco, a number of people have fallen ill. Out of a group of 16, so far 6 people are sick. Two out of the six landed in the hospital. Mainly with diarrhea as a result of salmonella and parasites. Scary!!! We are so careful with our food and water. We cook everything...no fresh salad or any uncooked stuff. I even wash my apples with boiling water! Sometimes it feels like we are just waiting for it to happen (others have taken the same precaution and fallen sick). The doctor told us that the salmonella strain in Peru is more potent than anywhere else. That doesn't help! He also said that in most cases, you are already carrying the salmonella and once your immunity is down, the bug takes over!

Other factors probably contribute to the reason why so many got sick so quickly. It's so freezing cold in Cusco! And it rains a lot too!! Wet and cold...not a pleasant feeling. Seldom do you feel 100% comfortable as you are either trying to keep warm or dry or not sun burnt. The UV over in Peru is potent! You get sun burnt even when you have sunscreen on a cloudy/rainy day. Night time is the worst as the house is terrible at keeping the heat plus it usually rains in the afternoon or at night. I miss having long, hot and powerful shower! The shower is tricky to operate. Provided you don't electrocute yourself in the first place, you may get a small stream of warm water. Not guarantee for the whole duration of the shower...the water gets cut off fairly often (usually at night) and warm water might just turn to a stream of freezing cold water too.

The Volunteer House is actually quite comfortable and well decked out compared to the people in the community. At least we have electricity, tap water, television, DVD player, heater, cooking gas, a well furnished house with most necessities. Furthermore the people who organised this program look after us so well. There are so many things we take for granted in our lives!!!