Illness, boils, gods

Slowly the body began to break down. At first I noticed I could not stay awake when in the presence of the new friends I had made in Brasil. The language was difficult, and the mind and body tired quickly when trying to understand the conversation and friendly banter. Many smoked cigarettes, and most of the time beer and the local fire water, cachaça, was offered to me, perhaps not the best regimen for the body. The tonsils began to swell and the throat became sore. The, the face began to itch. Boils appeared on the face, soon, bursting into an orange crust. The pain was intense on the face and I went to the pharmacy to buy hydrocortisone cream so I could better sleep. After spending 5 days with Rodrigo and his friends, and then 2 days with Eduardo, his family, and his friends, I rode just 50 kilometers to Joinville, a German town. There in the hostel I rested but it was there in the hostel that the face exploded. I had to continue on, though, and even though Rodrigo had told me to start 30km closer to Cortitiba and even though Rodrigo had told me to begin my ride at 7 a.m., I departed at 11, hungover from a night of drinking cachaça (by myself on the street). I rode in the mountains and didn't think I could make it. I ate honey that was given to me as a gift of Eduardo. As it got close to 5 o' clock, I stopped at a gas station and asked an old man with just one tooth in the front of his mouth how far it was to Curitiba. He said 40 kilometers. I asked him how much sunlight I had. He told me I had sunlight until 7. I asked him if it was very mountainous to Curitiba. He said it was not very mountainous. 

It was thus that I decided to continue to Curitiba, violating a rule I had made to never ride in the dark and to always secure a place to sleep by 5. Rolling hills most of the way to Curitiba. The man was correct that there were no mountains, but plenty of rollers. 

20km outside the city I put on my bright yellow vest and my arm warmers. I put on my headlamp and my rear red flashing light. I tried to follow Rodrigo's advice about staying as far to the right as possible, but there was no shoulder and the roads grew into fast and heavily trafficked expressways with large trucks, buses, and commuting automobiles. When there was an opportunity to ride the shoulder, the shoulders presented themselves with deep and dangerous potholes, which, in the dark, were difficult to navigate. I looked for taxis and buses to pick me up and drive me to the hostel, but I continues to ride. Eventually I decided that I was an automobile of strange shape and size and that, visible to the other motorists, I had the right to take the lane and get to where I was going. This worked. Being confident, I convinced the motorists of Curitiba that, I too, was a motorist. As I rode, the palms of my hands began to erupt in the most painful boils I have ever experienced.

I made it to my hostel and the receptionist, Flavio, told me of his 1200km round trip to Foz de
Iguaçu. The next day my hands would erupt in painful boils. It was impossible to bend the fingers. That night I did not sleep until 3 a.m. due to the intense pain of the boils. The next day the boils would grow. Ne boils appeared on the sides of my fingers and backs of the fingers. The hands were swollen and it would have been impossible to change a tire or lubricate a chain due to the intense pain of the hands and especially the intense pain in the finger tips. Turning my key to the room was painful and onerous. Tying my shoes was a chore. The next day the boils shrunk and turned into sores and the painful swelling had subsided significantly. Tomorrow I will ride to Foz de Iguaçu utilizing the precise instructions of Flavio. Now I will mail a birthday present to my sister and explore the city with the unloaded Bike Friday. My face looks horrible and my hands are alarming yet most of the pain has subsided and due to a re-introduction of vitamins into my diet along with rest and space from the intensity of the culture here I believe my health has greatly recovered and I am now of once again to hopefully entertain the gods.