Monday, March 2, 2009

A weak stomach

It seems that my stomach is not prepared for food in Cambodia. To make a very rough (and probably wildly incorrect) estimate, I’d say that I’ve had stomach issues for about half of the days that I’ve been here. The issues have varied a lot, but the end result is that I can’t operate at full capacity. It’d be nice not to have to think about the normal operation of my GI tract, which I guess is just one more thing I take for granted when living in incredibly developed America.

The latest illness involved diarrhea, followed by abdominal pain, followed by a fever in the evening. I decided that I didn’t want it to progress any further, so I let myself take some antibiotics (azithromycin) before going to bed (I learned that it’s OK to take a single dose of an antibiotic when dealing with stomach issues that involve fever. There’s no need to complete the course because the majority of the pathogens are still in the GI tract, and thus are eliminated in one dose). When I woke up in the morning, the fever was gone, and I felt good enough to go on a short run. I tried to eat afterwards, but it still hurts a bit. Hopefully things will get better after this.

Oh yeah, I picked up a bike yesterday for $35. It was a sweet deal. Apparently they import used bikes from Japan, fix them up (usually just involves removing anything that’s broken and then spray painting it so it looks new), and then sell them. My bike is from Saitama, probably from the late 90s. The guy at the bike shop put some sweet decals on it for me, including a rose and something that looks like a computer graphic made around 1989. My housemate Julie also bought a bike, but her brake cable broke about 10 minutes after we left the shop. Fortunately, the guy at the bike shop felt bad and replaced it for free. Other than that, I’ve been trying to study, but it’s tough when it’s hot and dark in the apartment. There’s just not enough light in there.

I also picked up a durian, which cost about 2.5 dollars per kilo. That’s still not a great price (I was offered $2 before), but better than the $3 I got when I bought one a week or two ago. I think the season is coming…

Work is slow because my Kiva coordinator is out today. Apparently he injured himself playing soccer on the weekend. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to put off my visit to borrowers for some later time.

Sorry for the lazy post. I don’t have too much energy today.

I leave you with a video of an interesting snack I bought off the street.

2 comments:

  1. You should have seen me in Ecuador. I almost died.

    Microfinance is a dangerous line of business.

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  2. Durian is the worst fruit. Ever.

    ReplyDelete