Being Sick in the Orphanage

I knew before coming to Bangladesh that I would be sick. It was really just a matter of when and how many times. When I woke up this morning, I knew I was in for a bad day… my stomach and head hurt, and I was feeling very weak. But I went to breakfast anyway, thinking that it might go away. Because nothing else seemed appetizing to my already agonized stomach, I chose to have some oatmeal and milk. I thought that since the milk was boiled that it would be ok, but it occurs to me, in hindsight, that of course it was not pasteurized, and god knows what other bacteria had not yet been removed. Yes, yes, I know. I must be more careful. But it’s still not clear to me that milk was the only problem, since I had woken up not feeling well.

When I returned to my room, I thought I might take a nap to rest, but the first of my visitors appeared. Shiraz came to discuss with me my Dhaka departure plans, but once he saw that I was in pain, he told me to lie down. Then came the children, as they do every day, to color in the coloring books I brought; and then the aiyah, who cleans the rooms, and then Shiraz’s wife, Rashida, and then the cook. Hard to rest in such a situation, but they were all worried and uncertain about what to do. One of the boys sweetly rubbed my head for a while. Somewhere in all that the vomiting started.

At around 3 I attempted to eat lunch, but the only thing I could get down was some fresh pineapple, which I promptly threw up once I reached my room again. Sleeping for the next two hours lessened the headache quite a bit. Rashida returned with oil (mustard seed oil) to rub on my head, because she said it was ‘hot.’ I didn’t have a fever, and she knew that; I’ve never been able to understand why Bengalis use oil to ‘cool down’ the head, but it did feel nice. Another hour of sleep, and more kids, more staff, and… well, now I’m awake and feeling better.

When I’m sick, I generally don’t want people around me, but I have little choice here. And I know they’re all just concerned. After a while, I even get used to it.

The most important part of my day: Food

Feeding the guest is very important to Bengalis, and more often than not I have to beg people not to feed me more.  People are generally surprised that I can’t consume the amount of rice that they can, and I simply don’t eat as much here as I do even in the U.S.  Rashida, who does the majority of the cooking for me, is always watching to see what I like and don’t like… and this time I have successfully convinced her that I would prefer to eat more veggies and fruit than meat.

Breakfast can be a variety of things, but the main staple (for me) is ruti, a flat bread that looks, and sort of tastes like, a flour tortilla.  Rashida will often make a hard-boiled egg, or noodles, or aloo bhaji (fried potato slices); she often has papaya from her own tree.

Lunch is always with rice and a few types of veggie dishes, sometimes with chicken, fish, or little shrimp.  The shrimp kind of scare me, because the still have a semi-hard shell, but they’re so small that i can’t imagine taking off the shell of every single one.  Plus, they’re REALLY good in a milk-based curry.  Vegetables vary; they’ve been expensive lately, but usually some combination of spinach, potatoes, pumpkin, and gourd.

Dinner, for me, is small: again with ruti, and usually smaller portions of whatever was for lunch.  Often when I return to my room I take down a few gulps of 7up.  It may not be true that it helps with digestion, but I like to believe it so that I can indulge in that small luxury.  I also have a supply of ‘biscuits’ (semi-sweet crackers, really), peanut butter, and cereal in my room.  The peanut butter and cereal obviously came with me from Dhaka.

Of Rats and Bugs and All my Favorite Things

The first night I was at the orphanage, Leslie, an American volunteer who is also staying at the orphanage, saw a rat in her room.  Now, before anyone gets too excited, i should note that I have never seen a live rat here.  Leslie, unfortunately, has now seen two in her room.  That was the start to my visit here.  She was, understandably, very upset and emotional, but I didn’t know what to do or say.  Since then, though, I’ve felt very wary of any nighttime noises in my room…

Bugs, on the other hand, are a constant nuisance.  There are no screens on the windows, so bugs freely fly and crawl in to my room.  While there are few remedies for ants or flies, there are a number of tools one can use against mosquitos, none of which, in my opinion, work very well, except for the mosquito net.  The coil has a very pungent odor, but I’m not convinced it works… and the gadget I brought from Dhaka requires electricity, which we often do not have from 6 pm to 10 pm.

You can imagine how nice it was last night, when I got food poisoning and began throwing up around 6:45 pm.  No electricity, fumbling around for a bucket to vomit into, then clumbsily trying to put the mosquito net up long after I had been bit multiple times.  At one point, as I searched in my suitcase for some gum to counteract the taste of vomit, I almost found the whole situation humorous. Almost.

Beware of Dogs

I didn’t realize, prior to my pre-departure orientation, that rabies is fatal.. as in, fatal to everyone who gets it.  No big deal, right, you just get the vaccine?  No, apparently not, because the US right now has a shortage, so they will not give the pre-bite vaccine.  Which means, of course, that should I get bitten, I will have to get the notorious ’shots in the stomach,’ which sound terribly ominous.

But let’s be honest, I’m less worried about rabies than I am about poisonous snakes.  In fact, I’m terrified.  Oh, come on Tuphani, you say, that’s so unlikely.  Perhaps.  But remember that, not only will I be going to a tropical country with yearly monsoon floods (that carry snakes! you hear these stories on the BBC every year), but I will be living in a village surrounded by ‘jungle’ and rice paddy.  And LOTS of water.  Did I mention that I’m not only scared of snakes, but I am absolutely terrified by the possibility of snakes in water?   Now is the time when you shake your head and ask me why I’m such an idiot that I chose to do my research in an area filled with water.. and snakes.