She's got it...
Oh baby, she's got it.
A cripplingly painful stomach bug, that is.
Serves me right. After reassuring my nearest and dearest that I really am being careful and that it's safe to eat from street kitchens, I've spent the last 24 hours shivering, vomiting, and sleeping. Not to mention taking a two-hour train journey.
You'll have to ask Helen what the vegetarian breakfast on the Shatabdi Express was like - she ate mine as well as hers, seeing as I was passed out most of the time. I have to say, she's an excellent nurse; got me water, fed me crackers, even humoured me about chaining up our bags when it appeared that it was blatantly unneccessary. I wasn't really making sense at that point, being at the nadir (or as I prefer to think of it, Turning Point, parabola-style) of the bug; cold sweats, prickly skin, dizzy, hot, blah.
The irony is that tracing it back to 6 hours before the symptoms started, it wasn't even Indian food that did me in - it was a vegetable chowmein at a goddamn Israeli cafe. Just another reason to curse the name of Zion forever. I told you you couldn't trust those Israelis!
All of which is to say that while we've been in Agra all day, I really have no idea what it's like. I'm feeling much better, so we'll probably make up for lost time by hitting the Taj at sunrise. It's about a ten minute walk from our hotel, and easily visible from the rooftop, which is a bit surreal. Agra's just like any city we've seen, except that there's this great shimmering marble monument, palaces and the fort forming a background to all the square concrete buildings. As far as city monuments go, it beats the shit out of Federation Square.
The other thing is that as well as the usual cows, there are monkeys everywhere. Helen suspects that they sit on the rooftop cafes and drink tea and play backgammon when we are not around. There are heaps of parakeets as well, and the odd camel - which is to say that all camels are pretty odd. It's a menagerie over here, though the animals are not as interesting as the human zoo, which is made up, from what I've seen, of backpackers, Indian sight-seers, and non-plussed locals.
Helen is currently playing the owner of this internet cafe for free internet - her mad backgammon skillz are standing us in good stead. I'll let her fill you in on Agra, as she's spent most of the day exploring, whereas I've spent it with my head next to a bucket. Looking out the window of this cafe, Agra looks really interesting, and we have most of the day to explore before catching a train to Jaipur, so hopefully the next time I write I'll have something fascinating - and not nauseating - to report. Fingers crossed.
Helen (regretfully) says:
I am struggling to lift my head high enough to see the words I type. I am so crippled by shame. I just lost 184 freaking Rps in a game of backgammon!
Oh, Don't worry! I was as shocked as you are all, no doubt.
As soon as Jess finished writing on the blog I yelled for help and tag-teamed her into the ring.
It all started out so well; I defeated Shahid back-to-back in a way that could only be described as "brutal" or as a "devastating loss" on his behalf. Alas, it all went down-hill from there. As I watched (in utter bewilderment) our money for tonight's dinner... the hotel... a trip to the Taj... mortage on my house - disappear into the pockets of our cheerful friend Sha-hiddle , as we so fondly refer to him..
...so the sun set on Agra.
And it was the end to a magical day, full of vomitting and crushing defeat.
PS. The vegetarian breakfast on the Shatabdi Express is second to none ...NOT
Jess writes a coda:
The tag-teaming was an idea about on par with eating that chowmein. We now owe our firstborn children to this Indian hustler, who has backgammoned us out of house and home. As I slumped down across the counter on which the board was set up, I gave out a muffled scream; "You don't understand how much pain I've already been in today!" This got a laugh - yeah, ha ha, you Indian bastard. With a glimmer of hope, I asked, "Is gambling even legal in India?" Apparently, if he's winning, it is; if he's losing, it's not. Never before has a friendly game of backgammon ended in so many tears.
And I would have had him in the third game, if he hadn't rolled three consecutive high doubles. Now who said anything about loaded dice?
A cripplingly painful stomach bug, that is.
Serves me right. After reassuring my nearest and dearest that I really am being careful and that it's safe to eat from street kitchens, I've spent the last 24 hours shivering, vomiting, and sleeping. Not to mention taking a two-hour train journey.
You'll have to ask Helen what the vegetarian breakfast on the Shatabdi Express was like - she ate mine as well as hers, seeing as I was passed out most of the time. I have to say, she's an excellent nurse; got me water, fed me crackers, even humoured me about chaining up our bags when it appeared that it was blatantly unneccessary. I wasn't really making sense at that point, being at the nadir (or as I prefer to think of it, Turning Point, parabola-style) of the bug; cold sweats, prickly skin, dizzy, hot, blah.
The irony is that tracing it back to 6 hours before the symptoms started, it wasn't even Indian food that did me in - it was a vegetable chowmein at a goddamn Israeli cafe. Just another reason to curse the name of Zion forever. I told you you couldn't trust those Israelis!
All of which is to say that while we've been in Agra all day, I really have no idea what it's like. I'm feeling much better, so we'll probably make up for lost time by hitting the Taj at sunrise. It's about a ten minute walk from our hotel, and easily visible from the rooftop, which is a bit surreal. Agra's just like any city we've seen, except that there's this great shimmering marble monument, palaces and the fort forming a background to all the square concrete buildings. As far as city monuments go, it beats the shit out of Federation Square.
The other thing is that as well as the usual cows, there are monkeys everywhere. Helen suspects that they sit on the rooftop cafes and drink tea and play backgammon when we are not around. There are heaps of parakeets as well, and the odd camel - which is to say that all camels are pretty odd. It's a menagerie over here, though the animals are not as interesting as the human zoo, which is made up, from what I've seen, of backpackers, Indian sight-seers, and non-plussed locals.
Helen is currently playing the owner of this internet cafe for free internet - her mad backgammon skillz are standing us in good stead. I'll let her fill you in on Agra, as she's spent most of the day exploring, whereas I've spent it with my head next to a bucket. Looking out the window of this cafe, Agra looks really interesting, and we have most of the day to explore before catching a train to Jaipur, so hopefully the next time I write I'll have something fascinating - and not nauseating - to report. Fingers crossed.
Helen (regretfully) says:
I am struggling to lift my head high enough to see the words I type. I am so crippled by shame. I just lost 184 freaking Rps in a game of backgammon!
Oh, Don't worry! I was as shocked as you are all, no doubt.
As soon as Jess finished writing on the blog I yelled for help and tag-teamed her into the ring.
It all started out so well; I defeated Shahid back-to-back in a way that could only be described as "brutal" or as a "devastating loss" on his behalf. Alas, it all went down-hill from there. As I watched (in utter bewilderment) our money for tonight's dinner... the hotel... a trip to the Taj... mortage on my house - disappear into the pockets of our cheerful friend Sha-hiddle , as we so fondly refer to him..
...so the sun set on Agra.
And it was the end to a magical day, full of vomitting and crushing defeat.
PS. The vegetarian breakfast on the Shatabdi Express is second to none ...NOT
Jess writes a coda:
The tag-teaming was an idea about on par with eating that chowmein. We now owe our firstborn children to this Indian hustler, who has backgammoned us out of house and home. As I slumped down across the counter on which the board was set up, I gave out a muffled scream; "You don't understand how much pain I've already been in today!" This got a laugh - yeah, ha ha, you Indian bastard. With a glimmer of hope, I asked, "Is gambling even legal in India?" Apparently, if he's winning, it is; if he's losing, it's not. Never before has a friendly game of backgammon ended in so many tears.
And I would have had him in the third game, if he hadn't rolled three consecutive high doubles. Now who said anything about loaded dice?
posted by Jess at 4:58 AM
3 Comments:
Hey beautiful Jess, all I can say is 'gee you were lucky to even have a bucket'! I have memories of vomiting out the window of a fast (for India)moving train and trying not to let the liquid brown stuff that was dribbling down my legs get into my shoes as I squated over a hole, again, on a fast moving train! Hope you're feeling better. I watched 'Monsoon Wedding' on dvd while eating a hot curry last night and thought of you. Have you seen it? It's very cute. Lots of love to you and Helen, xxx Judy
For those who care (and want an update) Federa just won!
Hey Jessberg,
Wow, a stomach bug - that's awful! I actually had one a couple of weeks ago. But it was from Joe's (virus-riddled) Garage in Brunswick Street; not quite as exotic.
Hope everything is going well (otherwise).
The deadlines for Farrago and Alex Hammond's Activities calendar thang were yesterday, so it's good to have that stuff (err, mostly) done! And I'm seeing Franz Ferdinand tonight. Things aren't bad in my neck of the woods.
Oh, and I'm digging on the blog - it's straight outta wittytown!
Cheers,
- jono
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