End of a Two Week Streak

Three days ago, I posted about the gấc, that bright red fruit, which people at the market said would give us stomach aches if we ate it. I was glad for the warning. I had been in Vietnam a week-and-a-half without food illness, and I didn't want to break the streak. But I jinxed it.

I woke up at five in the morning on Saturday. Something wasn't right in the belly. I lay in bed for a second trying to get back to sleep when the pain hit, wham, and the muscles my face contorted. I threw the covers across the room and darted for the toilet. Despite my consternation, I heard Mike mumble almost in a half dream, "you're not going to go work out now, are you?" No. Not today. I wouldn't be doing anything all day except praying for the sweet arms of death to take me away in his loving embrace.

Since then, it's been 28 hours. I spent most of the time in bed, letting the megadophilus dose and ginger tea, which Mike made for me, work their magic. I haven't eaten since Friday night. But I wasn't going to let a little gastronomic disaster cause me to flake out on my lessons. Thanks to Imodium, I made it to both, with no unpleasant distractions.

Food poisoning seems to be pretty common in Vietnam. People I know have gotten it at least four times in six months. This being my first time, I feel I need to step up my game. In a way, I lost a day of my life, and it's my own fault. I don't want this discomfort, inconvenience, distraction to happen again. I'm still not feeling well, and I'm afraid it might keep me from doing some things I need to do today, like write an application to teach at a local music school, and research the tones of the Vietnamese language. For now, all I wanna do is detoxify.

Something I ate on Friday was contaminated. Here's a list of possibly culpable food products:
- lady finger banana
- mango
- dragon fruit
- lime
- lou han guo tea
- fried noodle with oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and sriracha
- rice and omelette