"Paulina must have been over 100 years old. No one knew exactly, but her age was measured in terms of the wars that she remembered. We saw Paulina every day for her calcium. On Red Cross day one week, however, she came in with a severe respiratory infection; we treated her with antibiotics and suero, rehydrating solution. Marcela and I saw a number of the abuelos for respiratory infections. Maria del Carmen, an elderly epileptic, stubbornly refused to see the doctor and instead habitually went to the market to eat soup. Others had chronic infections, from years of being exposed to the Lima smog and pollution."