July 2nd, 2009

Ok now that I've led you to believe my day off after Canada Day is a good thing, I guess it's mean of me to say that it has not been at all, one bit, a good thing. I have the dreaded Delhi belly. Haha, 'funny rhyme' you say. Yeah, laugh it up. If you ever get it, I guarantee the humourous aspect of it will soon fade. As you can tell my spirits are up. At this point, it's really the only angle I can look at my predicament and not want to come home right away. Anyways, here is the story.

On the way to the Canada Day BBQ on the Embassy grounds, Andrew asked very frankly, in different terms, how my stomach has taken to Indian food and drink. I said almost every day sucked when it came to having to go to the bathroom, butI told him I knew to expect the Delhi belly. He laughed, which was the first prophetic sign of things to come. He then told me about his experience with adjusting to the bacterial culture of Indian cuisine. 7 days of simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea, terrible cramps and a fever. He told me that experienc ewas the first time he cried in the fetal position since he was a child. I chuckled, hey! I've dodged a bullet then! He said no, in 2 months, I'm bound to get it. I'm very comfortable with food and what I drink, ie using a straw so my mouth isnt on a glass or can, never any ice, I inspect the meat I eat and never eat lettuce or uncooked vegetables or unpeeled fruit. I thought I would avoid it, but.. apparently its unavoidable.

So after the party, I felt fine. Came home, went to bed at a decent time because I had work in the morning. 5AM rolls around and I'm woken up by nausea, and thisis where it begins. For those of you who have a weak stomach, then skip the next paragraph. I'm only going to talk about it in slight detail so that I can take solace in the fact that my friends and family back home may pity me, and that when I read it back home in Canada I can hopefully laugh at it then. 5AM and I crouch in front of the toilet and throw up unexpectantly, most of the stomach acid coming out of my nose. I'm very surprised and thinking what the hell is going on, but my thought process is interrupted by another heave thatcomes from deep inside my gut. I let out a roar, and it's only bile and other acids that come up. One more time, then I wait a few minutes before creeping back into bed, tears in my eyes and thinking phew, I'm glad that's over. Wrong. 1 hour later I wake up again, I repeat the process, feeling the heaving roar coming from deep inside of my gut. I look in the mirror briefly and I'm very pale. I have a fever and I realize I may have to do an acrobatic manoever tos it on the toilet and throw up in the sink at the same time. This process repeats for every hour between 5AM and 1030. Then again at 1. It's now 230 here and I feel better, but still have some waves of nausea and rushes to thebathroom. Actually, I think I'm done throwing up for the day, fingers are crossed.

I contacted the Embassy doctor and she told me to take Gravol, Tylenol and eat starches. Great, I have none and I can't contact my maid to go and fetch me these things. Phones here are absolutely terrible. I'm drinking plenty of water and I've been told not to worry, everyone goes through it and it's a good sign my body is letting itself adapt to the unseen horrors of Indian microbiology. Apparently the culprit was not the food at the BBQ, nor the lunch I had at Club Canada, but was most likely the leftovers Andrew offered me from his fridge his cook had made the night before. He said in the middle of the night the electricity can go off for a couple hours without ever knowing it, and that is how I was outsmarted. In fact, I'm really considering writing a strongly wordedletter to the tourism board of India to inform visitors that their country is not just about scenic rivers, Bollywood, curry and the Taj Mahal, but will make you vomit up demons.

Now, I know my family will probably be worried about me after reading this, ift hey weren't already. I considered not mentioning it, but thought that I am getting through this and I am probably already over it. The worst is behind me and it's completely normal. In fact, I got off really easy, most people get it for a few days. Just think of it as a really bad hangover, tomorrow I will be fine.

Sunday I'm supposed to be going to Agra to see the Taj Mahal with Stephen, the son of an employee at the Embassy. I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures, I know I haven't uploaded any yet, Andrew's laptop won't recognize my camera, grr..
I miss everyone back home, and that includes my ol' reliable fridge. I will hug that thing when I get home, mark my words.