Chicken-what?

 “I am surrounded by so many safety systems that I would not be allowed to become truly poor. If I were to become seriously ill, I would be sent back to the United States and given the best possible treatment.  As soon as my life or health were really threatened, I would have any people around me willing to protect me.”  Henri Nouwen, Gracias! (January 20, 1982 p. 115)

While a large part of the world is focused on the Ebola epidemic, those of us in the Caribbean are dealing with a different sickness: Chikunguña.

"What is Chikunguña?" you ask. Good question. I'm not even really sure. I know it is a mosquito spread sickness, similar to dengue. Its symptoms are fever, headache, rash, joint pain, swelling, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea.

When I arrived in Libertad after my vacation, the big news was Chikunguña. Wherever I went, people told me about what symptoms they had when they had Chikunguña, what their children's symptoms were like, how they thought their parents weren't going to survive it (no one in Libertad has died from it, FYI). I only went to one house where they said that Chikunguña had not affected anyone. The next day, that house also was hit.  Literally 100% of the people I talked with had been sick with Chikunguña.

I knew it was just a matter of time until I got it too.

And I did. It started with a little swelling in my left ankle and spots all over my legs. People made fun of me because since I have fair skin, I turned red, a symptom they hadn't seen in anyone else.

See all those little red dots?  Yup. 

Can you tell which ankle swelled?

When my program facilitators found out that I had beginning symptoms, they told me to go to Sincelejo, the largest city nearby. I was upset and frustrated by this; if everyone (no exaggeration there) in the town got sick and got better in town, why should I have to leave? Why should I get to leave? My supportive boyfriend told me, "Probably nothing bad will happen to you, but maybe something bad will happen to you, so you should go." That's paraphrasing, but you can feel the love.

In the end, I understand that they are responsible for me and, in the event that I did get really sick, it is very hard to get out of Libertad to get good medical care. So I went to Sincelejo, where I got the fever and waited for the pain. People spoke of excruciating, unsupportable pain. Also of insatiable itching.

I didn't get either. While I had spots everywhere and turned red, I never felt the urge to scratch. I also never had intolerable pain. I certainly was sore, sort of like after a hard work out, but not in pain.

But even though I didn't feel the pain, for some reason my extremities didn't work. I was very weak and tired, but what's more my feet and hands just didn't cooperate. I spent the day laughing at myself as I tried to walk, open doors, open my toothpaste, and, my personal favorite, wring out my recently washed clothes. I ended up just hanging my clothes up sopping wet because I didn't have the strength to wring them out!

My view all day Wednesday...
I was bored out of my mind,
but I had no energy to do anything!

I almost have all of my energy back now, but for some reason I am still walking around like a new born dinosaur and my hands failed the "open the package of spaghetti by yourself" test. I don't know why! I don't hurt, my hands and feet just don't work right!

However, I am happy because I get to go back to Libertad now and I've survived Chikunguña Lite (that's what I call it since I didn't have it very badly).