10/09/06 (Day 27) Vaccines and vicuñas

This morning we received Typhoid vaccinations. Our upper arms have been stuck for Rabies, Hepatitis A and B already. Vaccinations are the word on the street around Santa Eulalia actually. A guy from Lima was bitten by a mosquito and died from Bartonelosis (sp?), la verruga peruana. Until yesterday all the city folks that normally visit Santa Eulalia on the weekends have been too afraid to come. There has been daily media coverage, including interviews of our host aunt and a protest in Lima that our abuela attended (she was on TV, too). This weekend the town had a big celebration in the main plaza where they gave away 2,000 meals of pachamanca. This is a typical dish of potatoes, sweet potatoes, meat, carrots and tamales cooked in underground ovens. They heat rocks and bury the food for awhile. We aren´t positive that they gave away all 2´000 promised dishes, but there were quite a few people in attendance. Libby was interviewed so hopefully our string of television appearances will continue. She assured everyone that the mosquitoes haven´t gotten her and that all the limeños should come back to Santa Eulalia. In fact, the disease is endemic to much of Peru and is less abundant in recent years due to increased awareness. Similar to media attention in the U.S., the story of the gentleman´s death blew everything out of proportion.
We also attended an interesting deconization of two Cameroonian Catholics. There were a bunch of missionaries in attendance from all over the globe. As the Cameroonian music accompanied the service, I reflected on just how global this world has become. I am off to my hour of Spanish class to work on the imperfect subjunctive and Peruvian jerga (slang).

ciao for now, benjacho del sur