A very ill day in India...

Well, it was bound to happen and I must say that 6 weeks in is not to shabby, but I got dreadfully ill yesterday and am just barely recovering today. We woke up and I had a very bad stomach ache...one of those 'you should stay in and sit by the toilet all day' kind of days. However, we don't want to waste one single second here so we decided to buck up our ideas and just get out there. We stopped a one of the few restaurants that is open during monsoon season for a fruit salad and some peanut butter on toast, which they call peanut toast butter. Gurgle, gurgle went my stomach, but push forward said my brain. We rented a scooter and stopped by the local fish ladies to get a bag of fish to bring the the GAWT to feed the cats and kittens. We arrived and Janie was in a state of emotional panic. One of the puppies was dying from distemper, which is a viral infection that ravages puppies. Very sad indeed. Unfortunately, this virus is spread through the air and also when one pets a puppy with distemper and then pet another puppy without washing ones hands. Janie observed another puppy to show signs of this disease and immediately called the vet to take the dying puppy and the other one away for treatment of to euthanize them depending. She has also had to quarantine the other puppies in the facility for about a week to see if there are any signs that they are infected. She was very emotional and it just seemed that everything was happening at one time...one of her assistants left due to a death in the family and in India, you just wait to see if they will come back. There is not annual leave/sick leave/special leave that is taken. Her business partner, Lisa, also had to leave unexpectedly due to a death in her family so Janie is very short handed. I began feeling a bit nauseous when talking with Janie about the drama at the sanctuary and I am sure the fish smell was not helping either. Alex was very good though and took the bag of fish and fed the rest of the cats, despite how scary they can be when meowing and grabbing fish from her hands...she does get a bit scared! We made arrangements to come back throughout the week to paint the facility and fix up the front garden, as well as cuddle the animals. We got on the scooter en route to our favourtie secret beach that we discovered called Galbagiegh Beach. This beach is very large, but secluded and Alex and I can go running and do workouts on the beach and no one bothers us. The waves are very aggressive and the current strong, but we still go in the water and just have a lovely time. We have also "adopted" a few beach dogs there that we feed everyday. Usually, the drive to this beach is a most pleasurable one through the rain forest with so many picturesque views, but yesterday was different. From about 10 minutes in, I was unwell....agonizing stomach ache and nausea so we did eventually stop on the side of the road near a closed shop (lunch time is from 1-3pm each day) and we sat on the ground for about 30 minutes so I could get it together. We got back on the scooter after much self talk and positive affirmations from Al. I truly think I would have made it to the beach had we not seen a random cow walking, well more like hobbling down the street, as its front right hoof broken and dangling to the side and he was using what would be his knee as his foot with the hoof flopping to the side. It was horrific, but in India the animals just get on with it. That pushed me over the edge and we immediately pulled over so I could vomit in some poor woman's garden (she was standing at the door looking at me, and then just went back inside seemingly unbothered by my vomiting). We pushed through to the beach and layed down on the sand for about 45 minutes, until it started all over again. Stomach cramps and cold sweats with hot flashes. Alex decided we had to leave, but as we walked up the sand hill into the forested area, I felt too ill to muster the strength to ride 40 minutes back to the hostel so Alex made me a pallet on the forest floor with our towels and I layed there in a ball for an hour...having intermittent bouts of diarrhea the whole time in the nearby bush. The dogs came and layed with me and Alex...they could sense how unwell I was. I eventually got it together enough to get on the back of the scooter and push through back to the hostel...just as we were riding out of the forest, Alex drove a bit too close to a tree stump on the ground and scraped the flesh from my right foot knuckles off...I cried...it was a very bad day! A lot of moaning and winging later and we made it back to the hotel where I had a night of full fledged fever and stomach upset...It is important to note that Alex and I have both caught the sun a bit and of course being on the beach everyday means bringing sand back to the room and into the bed. Just to paint a picture of what it is like to sleep in the bed here...imagine a sunburn on your skin and then you get to your room with no air conditioning and you lay down on what appears to be sheets made out of sandpaper...then add fever, diarrhea and vomiting to that...blend for 2 minutes and there you have the perfect evening in hell! Needless to say, we made it through and have lived to tell another tale. We have been discussing possible culprits that could have lent themselves to this illness, but as Alex has an immune system of an ox, it is hard to really pinpoint what happened. We had to cancel our day trip to the spice garden feast and working at the GAWT this afternoon, but I know that is for the best. It is now raining and Alex has just begun feeling nauseous herself so we may have part two of 'A very ill day in India' for all our readers so stay tuned.