Last night was slightly rougher, but I made it through nonetheless! This
morning I was sporting some severe bedhead; luckily, I had already talked with
Agnes about taking a bath today, and they had warm water set aside for me.
Agnes then asked if I wanted her to wash my hair inside or outside. Not wanting
to be seen by my neighbors on either side, we squeezed into the washroom, where
she had me squat down and bend over so she could rinse my hair. There was even
shampoo involved! Suffice it to say that I am immensely thankful because Agnes
did a far better job than I could have by myself, and she wasn't awkward about
it in the least (I think I made up for both of us in that realm). Once clean,
she put on the music that seems to fill every house in the morning (including
but not limited to Lady Gaga). She then went to bathe herself, and here I am
writing part one!
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Begin Part 2
Skip this part if you don't handle the violent expulsion of bodily fluids well.
Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. I can't really talk about breakfast without gagging. But I had too much. There was archery in the afternoon, and I was dry heaving through that. The smell of the bamboo alcohol/fermented millet drink was adding to the nausea. When we began the hike back up, I had to sit down frequently. What should have been less than a 30 minute hike was easily an hour. I felt so weak. About half way up the rest of the Colby students caught up to me. As Aliza was offering me some pepto bismal, I looked her in the eyes, told her I was going to throw up, turned around and projectiled. 6 times. The rest of the Colby students, also having some form of food poisoning, shuffled by and offered their condolences. Agnes and I then continued the rest of the hike up (I was not moving faster than a turtle at that point).
When we finally reached Agnes's house, I collapsed on my bed. I asked for a bowl and slept for about ten minutes, then awoke to another round of vomit. Half an hour later, Rajiv stopped in to check on me. That is Rajiv, Nathaniel, Mukesh, and many others who I couldn't make out. I sleepily sat up in my bed and tried to answer Rajiv's questions, but I was pretty out of it. Once they left I slept until dinner. Agnes came in to wake me up, propping up pillows behind me. As soon as I was sitting upright, it was round three and all water by that point. Agnes was such a sweetheart about it. She was holding the bowl and stroking my back, telling me how bad her family felt and constantly telling me to "take rest." I tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault, blaming it instead on the samosas we had in town the day before.
For dinner, she brought in a plate of rice with salty beef broth. She fed me three spoonfuls before I could convince her to let me feed myself. I only managed two more spoonfuls before calling it quits. I felt so bad for barely eating, for being sick on our last day together, but there was nothing I could do to help it at that point.
It wasn't the best night’s sleep, but mine went better than a lot of other people's. Rajiv called just before 7am to make sure I was doing okay. My family brought me tea in bed, and I just sat there, staring at it. They then brought me biscuits (cookies) to eat with it and I could only manage to feebly shake my head no. The tea went untouched too. I couldn't eat anything for breakfast that morning; the smell of food on the way to the bathroom was nauseating enough.
I talked with Agnes for awhile, reassuring her that I would miss her, not forget them, add her on Facebook, and keep in touch. Around 9 am we departed. It was much easier downhill, and we made it without breaks to the school. As other students arrived, we learned of the horrors of each. Here isn't the place for their stories, but suffice it to say we all had a therapeutic experience laughing at the loss of our bodily fluids and dignity.
None of us were feeling up to lunch, so the vans came early to take us back to the farm. We all relaxed for the rest of the day, recovering from the toll that food poisoning had taken on our bodies.
-------------------------------------------
Begin Part 2
Skip this part if you don't handle the violent expulsion of bodily fluids well.
Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. I can't really talk about breakfast without gagging. But I had too much. There was archery in the afternoon, and I was dry heaving through that. The smell of the bamboo alcohol/fermented millet drink was adding to the nausea. When we began the hike back up, I had to sit down frequently. What should have been less than a 30 minute hike was easily an hour. I felt so weak. About half way up the rest of the Colby students caught up to me. As Aliza was offering me some pepto bismal, I looked her in the eyes, told her I was going to throw up, turned around and projectiled. 6 times. The rest of the Colby students, also having some form of food poisoning, shuffled by and offered their condolences. Agnes and I then continued the rest of the hike up (I was not moving faster than a turtle at that point).
When we finally reached Agnes's house, I collapsed on my bed. I asked for a bowl and slept for about ten minutes, then awoke to another round of vomit. Half an hour later, Rajiv stopped in to check on me. That is Rajiv, Nathaniel, Mukesh, and many others who I couldn't make out. I sleepily sat up in my bed and tried to answer Rajiv's questions, but I was pretty out of it. Once they left I slept until dinner. Agnes came in to wake me up, propping up pillows behind me. As soon as I was sitting upright, it was round three and all water by that point. Agnes was such a sweetheart about it. She was holding the bowl and stroking my back, telling me how bad her family felt and constantly telling me to "take rest." I tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault, blaming it instead on the samosas we had in town the day before.
For dinner, she brought in a plate of rice with salty beef broth. She fed me three spoonfuls before I could convince her to let me feed myself. I only managed two more spoonfuls before calling it quits. I felt so bad for barely eating, for being sick on our last day together, but there was nothing I could do to help it at that point.
It wasn't the best night’s sleep, but mine went better than a lot of other people's. Rajiv called just before 7am to make sure I was doing okay. My family brought me tea in bed, and I just sat there, staring at it. They then brought me biscuits (cookies) to eat with it and I could only manage to feebly shake my head no. The tea went untouched too. I couldn't eat anything for breakfast that morning; the smell of food on the way to the bathroom was nauseating enough.
I talked with Agnes for awhile, reassuring her that I would miss her, not forget them, add her on Facebook, and keep in touch. Around 9 am we departed. It was much easier downhill, and we made it without breaks to the school. As other students arrived, we learned of the horrors of each. Here isn't the place for their stories, but suffice it to say we all had a therapeutic experience laughing at the loss of our bodily fluids and dignity.
None of us were feeling up to lunch, so the vans came early to take us back to the farm. We all relaxed for the rest of the day, recovering from the toll that food poisoning had taken on our bodies.
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