Unpleasant and Highly Dirty (Friday, Oct 27th)

This was a comment on the food of in local street restaurants by one of the university staff... Perhaps that is why I had a bit of bit of a nasty day? The evening before I started feeling less than hot. At 2:00am, I had to get up for a small bout of projectile vomiting (no exageration)… and then again at 4:00am. The rest of the night was spent fighting the urge, although it probably would have been better to get whatever it was out of my system- some kind of virus undoubtedly. As I am not prone to vomiting, the cold sweat and faintness were unsettling. By morning (7:30) I was exhausted and texted S and T to ask to let them know I was ill (so they might help me get to the Korean hospital – apparently the best in the city). G, who actually knows where the hospital is, has no cell phone... and A, who speaks Kurdish, was clearly still sleeping. As it turns out, T was off to meet a friend – a human rights activist and editor of a left-leaning newspaper. I would love to tell you his story, but I am not at liberty in this public space. But S (although possibly disappointed we couldn’t go to the bazaar as planned) took care of me and I didn’t go to the hospital.