Friday, June 22, 2007

Am I Doomed?

Heat makes one's brain function not quite up to par. In fact, it has been known to even make some delirious or cause hallucinations. In my situation, it made me forgetful. Dying of thirst, and assuming I didn't have a water bottle with me, I searched for a water bottle when we went to the market place, Lajpat Nagar Central Market, after we got out from work early on Wednesday I think it was? (Time passes by very strangely here, I feel so accustomed to everything and feel very comfortable, as if I've been here forever, yet time passes by so quickly and I can't believe a week has already flown by.) I went up to the food court we had eaten at the last time we had come to this market but I couldn't find a place that sold water bottles for a decent price (decent price in India terms... the "expensive" bottle that I was cheap to purchase was 12 rupees for about half a liter vs. the 12 rupees for 1 full liter that I usually find them for - still less than 40 cents for a bottle... but its all relative!) so I was looking at what other drinks were available and I saw iced tea... the photograph looked so good that I bought and started drinking it instantly, raving about the taste... only when the cup was almost empty did I realize that there was ice in the cup. and that the iced tea was probably made from powder and bacteria-filled India water that had not been decontaminated. At first staying calm, but slowly becoming more anxious, I asked Sony if there was anything I could do to try to prevent getting sick. She recommended that I drink a lot of bottled water to dilute the bad water, and so I began to search for water. As I searched I figured I might as well check my bag to make sure there wasn't any water... and of course I opened my bag to find a full liter.

I drank pretty much the entire liter in the matter of about 10 minutes, a big feat for me who rarely drinks one liter in several days... (though I've been much better about it here), and my stomach felt like it was going to explode, but it didn't so I continued to shop. The market place reminds me of a Korean market place. Everything is open air, but there are inlets and underground interiors in tight alleyways filled with kurtis, kurtas, saris, more americanized clothing, bangles, fabrics, spices, toiletries, and more! I bought a beautiful green skirt with gold trimming which I'm not sure if I'll end up ever wearing because its full length and poofs out.... but it was so pretty that I just had to get it! Plus I hadn't brought any long but cool pants or skirts which I need at times here, so at least I will wear it here. :)

A full day passed, and I felt fine, and now I think 2 days have passed and I have not developed jaundice as a far as I know nor have I had any intenstinal problems... in fact the sickness that I had been feeling from food earlier seems to have disappeared too, so I feel very healthy! It seems if there was any bacteria in that iced tea... I diluted it out enough. (knock on wood)

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