Montezuma strikes!

I've got some crazy GI issues (that's gastrointestinal for those of you who don't have about twelve family members in medical professions) going on right now.

I'll spare you the gory details, but after three days of being increasingly dehydrated and tired, I sallied forth on mi moto tonight and picked up some Ciprofloxacin - an industrial strength antibiotic - at a pharmacy. This is one of those special medicines that requires a prescription in the States, but is sold over the counter here in Latin America.

If after three days this stuff doesn't do the trick, I've got to step it up to some pills that kill parasites - also over the counter! I'm actually not sure what you can't buy without a prescription down here ... Weed isn't on that list! I think I'm up to 8 offers to sell pot now. You'd think word would eventually get around with these guys that I'm not in the market.

I've got bad news, circus fans. Joe and I went up to Jocotenango to check it out and it was gone! Que triste! (How sad!) My teacher lives in Jocotenango and she said that a couple days before Joe and I tried to visit she saw a bunch of police there. She speculated that one of the lions got loose and attacked someone. Pretty sure she based this on zero actual information, but I kinda wish I had been there to see it. After my experience holding a baby lion, I think I could've helped subdue the beast and avoided any casualties.

About a week later, we found the next best thing - a carnival! It's behind el mercado. Carnies hold a special place in my heart after I picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a carny who had just been released from prison ... But this carnival was kinda disappointing. There was almost no one there - probably cause it had been raining earlier. The Gilmores rode some bumper cars, though!

Also, I bought some churros ... kind of. They weren't churros like I'm used seeing in Mexico. These churros were thick, square, soggy donut like things. And they poured chocolate syrup over them. I had one and Audrey had one. I didn't really care for them and gave the last one to one of the carny's kids.

On Saturday, Tony was nice enough to chauffeur everyone to Guatemala City. We visited Miraflores and Walmart! This Walmart was eerily similar to Walmarts in the States! I bought a bunch of Mountain Dew - people here in Guatemala don't drink it. I haven't seen it for sale anywhere else so I picked up about eight cans to pass out to people at my school.