A Little Too Late to Knock on Wood

So it's Saturday afternoon in Phnom Penh. I'm sitting in an expat cafe with my friend Katherine. I'm watching an older European couple, half amused and half annoyed, as they yell their questions in VERY LOUD english, hoping that the change in volume will instantly improve the recievers English comprehension level.

Whats amusing me is the subject of their conversation. The older man is asking if the water he's just been served is from the tap. There is a huge water cooler just out of his view, that the young server keeps frantically pointing at. Eventually, I try to tell him as well, but he's very upset because he thinks he's just been served, and drank tap water.

I go back to my conversation with Katherine, rolling my eyes a bit. Partly because in all of my time in and out of Asia, I've never gotten sick from the water or the food. In Vietnam, I brushed my teeth with tap water, and drank and ate things with ice, no prob. And I've always been a bit lackadaisical about getting all the proper shots and such. I always intend to but sometimes, it just doesn't happen. Anyway, Katherine kind of gives me a sideways look like, "Are you kidding?." And I'm reminded that her friend Kate is just getting over a nasty case of amoebas.

While I was in Cambodia I never drank the tap water outright, but I often forgot about that whole thing because in Malaysia, you can. I sometimes forget that Malaysia is one of only two countries in SE Asia where water is considered safe for drinking. So I did brush my teeth with the water, and I'm sure I had a few drinks with ice cubes in them.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon. I woke up in the morning feeling a little bit not right. My joints were sore, muscles achy. Like I might've felt if I'd been anywhere near the gym in the last two weeks. But, I haven't. But, sometimes that happens, so I moved on with the day. 11am rolls around. I'm working on schoolwork and supposed to meet a friend for lunch at 1. But my stomachs acting funny and I'm feeling a little tired, so I cancel, and head home, thinking I'll rest for awhile. 2pm. Head starts hurting. 3pm, getting out of bed is getting more tiring. I sleep awhile. I wake up at 5 feeling worse. I tell a friend I'm not feeling so well, but expect it'll pass. 6pm, I'm feeling worse still, and am becoming acutely aware of the part of the world that I've just finished traveling in, where Dengue fever, and various other tropical diseases are still very common. By 6:30 I've called a friend who lives near by to take me to Urgent Care. I can't remember every getting so sick, so quickly. By the time we get to Urgent Care, I'm in worse shape.

So what the heck happened? Best I can tell, I drank some of that water I was talking about. I was down for three days. Luckily a good friend looked after me and another one looked after my cats. :-) Being sick always sucks, but being sick on your own sucks that much more. Today I'm home and on anti-biotics and trying to get back to normal. But in between naps. Moral of the story. Even the most seasoned of travelers can be brought to their knees by the most microscopic of creatures. That and I might think twice before I laugh at the man who is concerned about whats in his water next time. :-)