Hend

My life in India, 2005-2006

 

10/25/2005

 

This past week I got sick (I mean more than just going to the bathroom a lot sick, which has been basically the norm for me so far) for the first time since coming to India. On Friday night I came home late, and during the walk home I got a rice bath which apparently didn’t get along with my stomach. At least that’s my theory. The next day I woke up, ate some breakfast, and hit the books. I felt a little tired, but that was it.

 

An hour later I started to feel cold, so I whipped out the only sweater I had brought to India. I just figured it was one of those cool afternoons, which you do get in Bangalore. Then an hour later my stomach started pestering me for attention. An hour after that I noticed that I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes. That was a first for me, a “hmmm” experience for sure.

 

When I finished studying I was downright freezing, so I got under the covers and took a nap. Unfortunately the antichrist living next door, having taken the form of a four year-old child, was whaling as usual. So I kind of half slept. When I woke up, I was soaked.

 

After a couple hours of unspecified bathroom activities and a bath, I still felt tired and cold. So I took another nap, woke up, and drank some water. When I ran out, I went downstairs to get some more via the filter in the kitchen. The whole family was there eating dinner (it was about 9:15), and Prasad pleasantly asked me, “Studying hard?”, and I replied that I was feeling sick and was just trying to get some rest. Then Prasad realized that the wetness of my hair wasn’t from taking a shower, and that I was in fact sweating like Patrick Ewing at the Gold Club.

 

God bless Prasad. He forced me to go to his family doctor (just a 10 minute walk away) and walked with me through the rain. We arrived at a tiny office, maybe half the size of a college dorm room, and found the doctor alone in the dark (the power was out), with only a battery-powered lamp shedding some light on his face. At that point I didn’t know if he was going to examine me or tell me ghost stories. He eventually looked at my tongue, listened with his stethoscope, and diagnosed me with something that I can’t remember (pathetic, I know). Prasad and I thanked him and we were off to the nearby pharmacy. They dumped my pills in a makeshift paper bag cut and taped together with magazine pages. On one side of the bag was an ad for instant noodles, on the other an ad for lingerie with a photo of a woman from the waist up in just a bra. As you may have guessed I spent much of the next two days parading this bag around and giggling like an eight year-old. Anyway, the total paid for the doctor’s visit and medicine: 146 rupees ($3.40). For the record, that’s about half the price of a sandwich in Downtown Boston.

 

The next day I was feeling better. Now I’m back to normal. What’s the point of the story? Patrick Ewing sweats a lot.

 

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Globalization, I salute you. The highlight of the past week occurred this morning. While waiting in the living room for Prasad before going to work, Radiocity FM was playing a Hindi pop song featuring samples of Lil’ Jon screaming “Yeah!” and “OK!”. Talk about a clash of civilizations. I don’t even like Lil’ Jon, but just imagining a Rastafarian-looking guy with big sunglasses and metal teeth made the day a bit easier.

 

 

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