Night before last I almost did it. I almost said it out loud. "I can't believe we've been in India for two weeks and no stomach issues." I caught myself, knowing that it would completely jinx us. It didn't matter. Three hours later Deb was violently ill. She was in bed for 14 hours. Just as she was starting to recover enough to eat some plain toast, it hit me. The girls, Amy and Laurel are all fine so we've narrowed it down to the mutton korma at a suspect restaurant our driver took us to after spending the morning touring Jaipur - India's "pink city." (No Shawne, we didn't take your excellent advice about staying away from meat). Lucky for David he was rubbing shoulders with the likes of John Ralston Saul and Adrienne Clarkson at the Jaipur Literary Festival. That boy is a sucker for curried mutton and would surely have indulged.
Up until that point Jaipur was delightful. We were upgraded to a lovely suite at a heritage hotel with pictures of Rajasthani Princes everywhere. In addition to the spectacular Amer Fort, we visited Jantar Mantar - a UNESCO World heritage sight containing elaborate outdoor instruments built 400 years ago to observe the celestial universe. I was floored by how accurate, and ingenious these gigantic instruments were. After 400 years, the massive sundials are still telling time accurate to 20 seconds.
Deb was too sick to catch the train to Delhi yesterday so the girls and I caught up on some homework before taking an auto rickshaw to a good Italian restaurant followed by 2 hours of leisurely browsing in a decent bookstore. By the time we made it back to the hotel, Deb was slightly on the mend but I was heading downhill fast. I wonder if this is one of nature's built in mechanisms to make sure two parents are not sick (and fighting each other for the bathroom) at the same time. The girls delighted in nursing us both and felt very responsible going up to the restaurant by themselves for dinner.
I was still feeling pretty rough this morning so we bit the bullet and hired a car and driver to take us to Delhi. I fell in and out of a feverish sleep for the 6 hour drive, regretting that I couldn't enjoy the scenery as India's biggest city approached. Thank God we decided to splurge on a decent hotel in Delhi with comfortable beds, a spa and great showers. David was able to pick up a bottle of scotch, gin and some wine yesterday, but I fear those might have to wait a day or two. We're in Delhi for five days.
I shouldn't let one bad episode taint my view, but all day I was cursing the utter filth and confusion of this country. Some say that India stands for I'll Never Do India Again. I'm not quite there yet, but right now you could not drag me out of this modern, western oasis to shuffle along the garbage strewn, diesel choked, piss soaked sidewalks of Delhi. Time to order a bag of chips and turn on the Discovery Channel. Good thing I don't have a 9 mil on me or I might go all "Elvis in the Jungle Room" at the 500 channels of Bollywood ridiculousness on the TV.
There. I feel better already.