Parasites

I enjoy the food here in Venezuela very much.  It's delicious, authentic, and real. One hundred percent food.  No artificial flavors, no food coloring, no high fructose corn syrup.  I love it.  My stomach, however, does not like it. This entire past week has been filled with uncomfortable stomach complaining.  Every time I would eat something, a few hours later I would be squirming in my seat with an upset stomach. I didn't have diarrhea, vomiting, or any type of fever or flu symptoms though, so I wanted to wait and see if it got better before I freaked out and ran to the pharmacy for parasite medication.  Nobody else seemed to be having those problems though, or at least not that they were letting on.  So the week passed, and I did get better.  I'm still not completely fine though, it just isn't as bad and happens far less often. So yay! I don't think I'm infected.

My fellow students don't seem to be having as much luck.  In this weekend alone, I've heard of two confirmed cases of parasites and other rumors of more.  I talked with my host family this morning about it, and they told me not to worry, that is was normal, and was not serious. By serious, I think they mean when you need to go to the emergency room.  They don't seem to understand that parasites are not as common in the U.S. among healthy, sanitary 20-somethings, and therefore the thought of them occurring is outrageous.  You'd have to be doing something as dumb as drinking out of a sewer to really come close to contracting anything.  But apparently everyone gets them here. It's a part of the experience.  I guess I'll keep updating, but as of now I can say I'm parasite-free.