Written by Lonny (April 23, 2010)
My choice of dinner turned out to be a very bad one, especially sopping up the liquid. I awoke in the middle of the night with fever and chills. I put on several more layers of clothes and took some medicine. A short time later I raced to the bathroom with a terrible case of diahrea and an upset stomach. After I threw up my stomach calmed down but the diarrhea lasted all night and most of the day, I haven’t felt so sick and so weak in a long time.
I got up at 6:30 to call my family but the network was down so I couldn’t call out. I was very dehydrated so I went to the front desk to get some water. I was so out of it that I paid 7 ETB too much. The waiter probably didn’t know what to think. I went to tell Joe that I would not be able to go with him to Kokosa. It had been raining all night so he decided to cancel the trip altogether. Abera showed up about 8:00 am having arrived in public transportation. Not having phones had fouled up everything as far as the transportation to Kokosa. I told him that I was too sick to do anything so we just cancelled the whole trip.
When I told Celina that we were cancelling the trip and that I was very sick she offered me some Cipro. I had heard that it was very good for solving digestive problems. I spent the day between the bed and the bathroom. I was so weak I could hardly move. I made some soup for myself about noon which gave me a little strength. I cancelled my meeting with the Arsi dairy farmers at 4:00 and went back to bed again. Mekonen came by about 5:00 to check up on me. I had been sleeping but was feeling a little better. By 6:00 I forced myself to get dressed and go get some food. I ordered plain rice and a Pepsi. The rice was cooked in the local water so it smelled like dirt. It was all I could do to get myself to eat it. The waitress asked me what was wrong and then brought me some ginger, lemon and another plant that is supposed to be good for the stomach. I put the lemon on the rice which made it more palatable. The ginger root and the other plant were very strong flavored so I ate them quickly and followed it up with rice and Pepsi.
By the time I left the restaurant I was feeling much better. I now have a lot of my strength back and my digestive system has calmed down. I hope that I can get a good night’s sleep and be fully recovered by tomorrow. We have a big day ahead of us.