Christmas - at least Thailand tried.

I miss vegging out to a solid wireless connection.  Surfing the net seems to be a thing of the past, and for someone so dependant on wireless, that’s a sad thing.  I really don’t think I should have to drive 5 minutes and buy a shitty smoothie just to steal someone’s wifi to make a skype call.  There’s so many things I need to do in the next couple days involving the internet (booking rooms, organizing travel plans, etc) and I just can’t be bothered, because the effort it takes to take my laptop down into town, and hope the battery lasts long enough is far too much effort for me to deal with.  Especially now that I’m so sick.  I can’t justify getting food so I can use wifi, if I’m too sick to eat said food.  

So yeah, for those of you who don’t know, I’m dying of the plague.  A few days ago, and I’m not really sure how many – two, three? – I met a Swedish man from Couchsurfing, and he invited me over to his place to bake a gingerbread house, and so I went.  

And it was an awesome gingerbread house!  Once I’m back in Chiang Mai, with the proper internets, I will do a solely photo blog to make up for my lack of photos lately.  I only have two nights left in Thailand, and then I’m off to India.  Anyhow, I went to this man’s house, his name is Janis (think yawn-is, not ‘janis joplin’) and we baked a gingerbread Burmese hut, and I made a little igloo with a Canadian flag, and what a wretched little thing it was!  I tried to spruce it up a bit with tons of icing sugar, but it’s still an ugly little igloo.  I loved it though, in the way that only a Canadian could.  I was so proud of my ugly little igloo.  

While I was there, he bought some tofu and veggies for lunch, and let me cook up a stirfry, although, he threw in a bunch of random spices, which annoyed me, because I don’t like eating things if I don’t know what they are.  Either way, I spent the day doing that, but then I started to not feel well, and I went to bed early at 7PM that night.

At 10PM, I woke up vomiting, and continued to do so until about 4AM, when I finally fell asleep for a few hours.  I’ve been horrendously sick since then.  I also have absolutely no desire to ever eat rice, or drink ‘Miracal 13’ – a sesame based soy drink – ever again after having spent an evening heaving it up.  So, I’m now sick for the third time in Thailand.  I thought it was maybe food poisoning at first, because of how sudden it happened, but when it didn’t go away during the day, and a fever persisted, now I’m not so sure.  

I think it must be a stomach bug of some kind.  I’m not vomiting anymore, and I’m keeping down liquids, but all I can manage to eat is saltine crackers (thank god they exist here in Thailand) and I’m not eating very many of those – though I am munching on a few as I type this in bed.  Crackers in bed, I know, I’m a bad girl.

I don’t want anyone to think that being sick has ruined my time in Thailand at all – right now it’s pretty shitty, because I’m unable to eat and I’m dehydrated, but it’s rather the contrary.  I don’t think of Thailand and think of being sick.  I’ve got a weak immune system, and shit happens sometimes.  I don’t even think of the time I’ve spent sick when I think of Thailand.  I got the flu really bad in Wales in 2008, actually, at the same time of year – Christmas.  I was sick for a week and a half, and I don’t even really think about it when I think about visiting Wales.  If I recall correctly, I was so sick that even going out to see stuff was a chore, but I did it.  And I’m glad for it.  It’s the same here.  I get sick sometimes.  Moreso apparently when the pathogens are foreign, but hey, it happens.  

My fever though.  I have one hell of a fever, and it’s a bit of a worry.  I read somewhere that this is how malaria starts, and I’m almost positive I’m overreacting, but if I still have a fever tomorrow night when I land in Chiang Mai, I’m going to go see a doctor and get tested.  

I’ve felt so horrible in the last 48 hours, I’ve done almost nothing but sleep.  Sleep, and get up to drive into town to make phone calls (I rented a moped) ...and then sleep more.  Drink some fluid, eat a cracker, and sleep more.  I was in town for two hours today sitting down making calls, and it was exhausting.  The only reason I’ve even attempted writing this is because there is something at the night market I want to pick up tonight, and so I know I’ll be back in wifi areas long enough to post this.

So this is my Christmas.  Merry Christmas to me.  I’ve contracted either a stomach flu or malaria, I’m homesick, and I’m in a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas.  My feet haven’t been clean in six weeks, I miss western food, and western weather, and my cat and my friends and my family and my boyfriend and my roommate.  I’m tired of being dirty, tired of showering in cold water, or luke-warm water, or “hot” water that I pay extra for but never get.  I’m tired of being bitten my mosquitoes, and nearly dying in traffic every day, and eating strange but wonderful foods.  I just want to wake up, in my own four-post bed, eat a proper breakfast of oats, or homemade bread, or cereal with soymilk that doesn’t taste of ass, and wear clothes that I haven’t been wearing for six weeks straight.  I want to cuddle my cat.  Go to the cinema.  Go grocery shopping in English.  I want to be western again.

I almost booked a ticket home yesterday, but I feel like I should be giving India at least a chance.  Unless this is actually malaria, in which case, fuck it...I’m coming home.  

But I guess we’ll see.