Ho un raffeddore...

I have a cold…and I don’t like it.

Actually it is more like the flu. Valerie has been fighting a runny nose and cough for about a week and I woke up Saturday morning with a mild sore throat, but by the end of the day I felt like a truck had hit me. Sunday I spent most of the day in bed getting up to eat a little and to use the bathroom while trying to keep my temperature in check. Today I feel better but still have that light headed feeling.

Last winter both of us had some nasty colds a couple times and I hope this season is not the same. This is unusual for us because when we lived in New Mexico neither one of us had to deal with colds very often, I was regularly dealing with pollen allergies but that had more to do with all the sage around our house. I rarely missed a day from work and when I did it was usually do to my chronic lower back muscle problems.

When you mention having a cold here the local response is that it is because the weather is changing; yes it has but that is not how you get a raffeddore. The concept of germs and the way they are spread does not seem to be a subject of common knowledge. I have frequently seen people on the street and working in shops that should probably be at home in bed.

I don’t know if there are germs here that our bodies aren’t used to, being much closer to other people in the compact centro storico or some other issue that has caused us to suffer a greater frequency of cold symptoms. I do know that it is not just because the weather has changed.

Sunday morning was also the time change here in Italy and Valerie commented how lucky we were to have an extra hour to feel like crap on that day.

Fortunately the fresh citrus season has started and we will load up on fresh lemoni and clementine for a boost of Vitamin C.