For the most part, I have been blissfully free of "Traveler's Tummy." My constitution is strong, my friends look after me well, and I have reasonably good instincts about where one ought to eat. Occasionally, I have had a mild upset stomach, but not often. I am prone to be very self-righteous about sampling all Chinese food offered, consuming it with chopsticks, and asserting it is delicious, whatever my private feelings.
This all changed when I awoke Sunday night very ill, after a meal in a clean and popular restaurant. By Monday, I felt dreadful, and waskeeping up with my duties at the Oxford Academy with difficulty. I wondered how the US handles quarantine. What if I had contracted cholera, eboli, or Avian flu? I am expected back at ETSU by August15th.
My friend Carl found me some medicine, but I still needed Tylenol for aches and pains. Try finding a medicine here when you don't know what it's called in Chinese. Luckily, the mother of one of the kids who is tutored at Oxford had written down its Chinese name--Saridon. It's made by Bayer.
When your belly is aching, the world looks entirely different. I usually love Chinese supermarkets. Now, the unfamiliar items lookedmenacing. I no longer smiled when I saw packets of oatmeal and coffee marketed under the brand name 'Intelligence.' To my horror, there were no Saltine crackers, I wondered why a nation that did not make soda crackers was hosting the Olympics.
Web MD recommended going back on regular diet as soon as possible. Seemed counter-intuitive. Anyway, what's a normal diet when you're surrounded by Chinese food? But I had dinner in KFC. The chicken was much too spicy, and I thought it would make things worse. Wouldn't you know, I'm better. Maybe the Nanjing Nasties just ran their course.
The medicine was quite effective. Fortunately, Carl understood the instructions.
Supermarket shelves in Nanjing. A 5,000 year old civilization ought to have developed the saltine cracker.
3 comments:
Hey Roz,
So glad your feeling better and you have someone watching after you. We all need that at one time or another, no matter how independent we try to be.. :)
Yo Roz
I too am glad you are better. Don't know what to tell you about soda crackers.
BTW, your picture of the hot OJ now proudly appears on the internet site for my 6th grade classes to read. They don't get any real first hand info from places like China. I will use your experiences to point out the differences in cultures to them. I know that they will be amazed by hot OJ and not having soda crackers, for that matter.
YoBo
Roz, I am realizing through reading about your blog how difficult it is to get used to different food. It took me 3 years to try Mexican food and 10 years to try shrimp. And your life can be so miserable when your body protests. I bet it made you so much more homesick.
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