Wednesday, May 31, 2006

bringing home a bit of india

warning: unpleasant topic.

in the last month, i've had a record number of days of gastrointestinal distress, while my first six months in india were a cakewalk. this runs counter to the conventional wisdom that i should be getting more immune to all of the critters lurking in the fecal matter that ends up in my food.

my theory is that india doesn't want me to leave. like an insanely jealous lover, she'd rather see me dead than with some other country. in fact some of her may well be coming home with me in the form of a parasite.

here's the best article i've read on this problem. you may find this handy the next time you're stuck in a third world city/village/jungle. the example demonstrating why these things happen so often is spot on.

i went to the doctor today because i really do think i have a parasite, but as i suspected, the doc wants to believe it is simply another bacterial problem. she had the same problem american doctors have--she didn't listen, opting to go with the 90% diagnosis to get me out fast and move on to the next patient. of course the whole visit only cost me 50 rupees (just over $1), and they seemed to give me whitey priority (i only had to wait 27 seconds in the crowded waiting room), so the probable mis-diagnosis is at least tolerable.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i think your indian girlfriend drugged you.