April 27, 2011

And it happened...

I got the sick stomach. Boo!

Granted, it could be much much worse. I'm mostly dealing with stomach cramps, "washroom issues" and absolutely no desire to eat a real meal. My diet for the last 72 hours consists solely of bottled water, Clif bars, raw almonds, honey Teddy Grahams and cheddar flavor rice snacks - all items from home.

I felt very confident (first mistake!) after my second or third day here - I had tried various cuisines and successfully avoided any sign of an upset stomach. I got adventurous my first day in the office for training (second mistake!) and tried a cheese and mushroom panini with a small iced latte. Whoops! I think that's what set this off. That, or the ravioli from the hotel that had tons of black pepper in it. I'm not sure which is the real culprit.

In any case, I am looking for a straw to sink into my bottle of Pepto Bismol. Everyone is very accommodating and wants to help; constant offers of medicines or "safe" meals are offered, though at this point, I am not sure there is a safe food for my current state. I promised I would try some Domino's pizza tomorrow for lunch so pray I am able to eat by then! I had an Indian-style grilled cheese for lunch today; while it tasted delicious, I think it only irritated my stomach more. For my American friends, try adding diced tomato and onion along with a soft cheese - maybe monterey jack - for a grilled cheese. It's delicious!

Other than my gastro news (you are so lucky for reading, right?), most everything else is going well. The training is coming along nicely, especially after today's session. I gave the class their first glance at a real-life questionnaire and what they will be working with on a daily basis. Whereas the questions about Days 1 and 2 were difficult to pull out from the crowd, now there are a great amount of questions. A general sense of wanting to discover the purpose behind why clients do the things they do for research is bubbling up. I love it!

The rides between the hotel and the office hypnotize me. I sit wide eyed every time! I wish I was brave enough to bring out my camera to share this with you all; I do not want to be rude or being "touristy" though I will likely succumb soon :-) Let me tell you this - the people of India are about the nicest people I have ever encountered. Ever!

Several people have asked about the flight here and my sleep schedule switching over to local time. It's been a real challenge. I would not suggest a 15-hour flight to anyone! Ack! It was difficult for me, I will just say that.

My sleep schedule has not acclimated just yet - it's only been 6 days. This week, I leave my hotel at 7:15am (8:45pm CST) to be at the office before 8am. I get back to the hotel around 3pm (4:30am CST) and most days I sleep right away, missing dinner and waking up again around 11pm or midnight. I then do some training prep for a few hours and sleep for 1-3 hours before waking up around 6am for the new day. Of course, today that schedule worked great, I feel very rested but my training schedule changes next week to 3pm-10pm so I will have to adjust all over again!

I must work on some more materials before 6am comes to soon; it is 3am right now and I am wide awake.

Until next time - cheers!

1 comment:

Mithila said...

Here are some tips. Don't consume anything raw or cold(that contains water). So no raw vegetables of any kind, not even tomato. Everything should be cooked. Your Latte could be the the first cause.
Anything that could have plain or cold water ir milk - stay away from it.
Boil water and strain it and fill your own water bottles. When I say boil, it should be rolling boil for 20 minutes.

Any food - cooked - is all good - except spices can get you acidity or heart burn but not stomach illness.

These work for me when I am visiting India, although born and brought up in India, now my tummy can't handle water, milk and raw foods/salads.
Keep up with the posting. Love to read it.