anika in mexico

Today I rested for most of the morning, reading “Memories of My Melancholy Whores” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Siggy and Karin came over for lunch, then Sigs and I went to the little area where there are some shops and a Starbucks nearby where I could check my email. I also went to office depot and got some tape and scissors.

I played cards with Sigrid and she complained that I kept “blowing” air on her; she’s concerned that I will get her sick again. But I wasn’t really meaning to do it. I was just breathing, but I couldn’t breathe through my nose, so I guess it was a more directed flow of air that she could feel. As if it made a difference.

They are so superstitious about what causes illness over here. It’s not that you just catch a bug or a parasite, but there are certain foods that will surely make you ill, no matter what you do. If you have Tacos al Pastor, then you’ll get sick. If you have the chicharrones from the vendors in the park, you’ll get sick. If you are outside without a sweater and one cold breeze gives you goosebumps, your throat will definitely hurt the next day. It has to have a concrete, if not far-out reason why you get sick. It couldn’t possibly be because every other person in their family got sick after they all hung out together for a week.

Most recently Siggy got sick with fever and all, and instead of just a flu, it had to be the sinister pork in the tacos that did her wrong. And instead of me catching the virus Siggy had (I pretty much had all the same symptoms), of course I was ill because of the chicharrones I indulged in. When I had a sore throat the second day it was because I don’t bring sweaters with me and I let myself get cold. Sigrid swears this is the case, and even though I actually always do bring a sweater with me, I didn’t want to push the point and instead just nodded and smiled, agreeing with her old-wives tale.

Playing cards with Sigrid is kind of fun because I get to learn some new games which are pretty good ones, both solitaires and multiple player games. It’s funny though because she really has a hard time seeing, and sometimes she’s just so pleased with a moved she’s made, even though it’s actually the wrong card, I let her do it anyway. What difference does it make in the long run?