Sickness

I think I'm quite lucky. I've been here a month and a half and this is the first time I've gotten sick. And stop worrying, because by the time I post this I will be fully recovered. The night of Halloween, my stomach felt a little funny… which is not a rare occurrence here. I didn't feel sick, it just didn't feel completely settled. Yesterday, the problem escaladed throughout the day. I vomited a few times early in the afternoon and felt much better afterwards. My stomach just felt like there was something in it that wanted to get out. I hadn't eaten anything unusual either. By last night, I was very very uncomfortable. I never had a fever, but my stomach was very angry for some reason. I didn't eat anything yesterday except for a bit of rice with onions. Just enough to test to see if I could digest it and not throw up, and it was fine. I spent a lot of time on my bed last night. Today, I got up and ate some bread for breakfast, feeling better than last night. But I was incredibly weak, obviously, because I had hardly eaten yesterday. And as time went on this morning, I felt worse and worse. So my host dad told me not to go to class. So, I basically spent the whole day lying on my bed or lying outside in the back of the compound on a mattress (when the power was out and the house was uncomfortably warm). I ate a bit of lunch, and that tasted good. For most of the day, if I was laying on my back I felt fine, but the second I stood up or walked around or even sat up I felt quite sick. But this evening, I feel much better. Not 100%, still a bit weak, but my stomach is no longer extremely angry with me. It’s not pleased in general with me, but it no longer hates me like it did last night. And I don't mind sitting up, and I'm hungry for the first time since Halloween. So I really can't complain. I'm sure after sleeping tonight, I'll be fine tomorrow.

Also. Being sick does not exclude me from eating with the rest of the family. Yep, that's right. Even though I was obviously sick today, I ate lunch and dinner with the other family members… which means eating out of the same dish. Granted, I stayed in my own little section of the dish, but after I was done (because I didn't eat much) they finished off the rest of the plate, including what was left in my section that I had touched with my spoon which had repeatedly been in my mouth. And I remind you that when I say section, I simply mean the area of the plate that is directly in front of me. There's no ridge or wall between the sections, it's just one huge bowl, and by the end of the meal, all the sections have blended.

**Cultural Note: My host dad asked me if I had drank any milk. He told me I should because milk is the best thing to drink when one is sick to their stomach. He told me to be sure to avoid all carbonated beverages, such as Coke, because that would surely make me more sick. When I lived in Switzerland, my host mom was adamant about drinking coke one teaspoon at a time when she was sick, because that helps you feel better. And at home in the States, sips of Sprite are supposed to help settle your stomach.