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If you think I get diarrhea a lot, then you would be right. Although I don’t have irritable bowel syndrome or some other gastro-intestinal disorder, I do have a very short memory and grandiose bowel ego. In other words, I am quick to forget how discomforting the last bout of diarrhea really was, and I figure that since I have survived so much diarrhea thus far, that a little Sudanese water couldn’t possibly undermine my tried and tested plumbing. Boy was I wrong.
After sweating through three buss rides, I finally managed to reach the road to the US embassy on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan. The sun was relentless, there wasn’t a tree in sight and I still had what appeared to be a mile to walk before I reached the red, white and blue. Though the temperature was only 95 degrees, fairly cool for Khartoum, I grew exhausted and parched in only a few minutes. I needed water and needed it badly.
To my relief, about half way to the embassy, a small tea shack appeared. I staggered over and sat myself on a stool. Pointing to a large orange sports water jug, I asked the tea lady, “Ok to drink? Safe water?” Though she probably did not understand, she motioned for me to drink and drink I did. While nostalgic scenes of devastating diarreah from around the world did enter my conscious, I arrogantly shook them away. I breathed one, two, then three, half litre cups of water into my grateful stomach.
Refreshed, I paid, thanked the lady, and set off towards the embassy once again. As I walked, I thought, “God, I hope I don’t get diarrhea from that water.”
5 hours later and the initial pangs of diarrhea had begun. For the first half hour I tried to convince my self that if I could just ignore it, it would go away. But it did not. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say that at one point I passed out and awoke on the bathroom floor.
So, let my diarrhetic misfortunes be a lesson to you, no matter how strong you think your stomach is, DON’T DRINK THE WATER! It’s just not worth it.
For more disturbing diarrhoea anecdotes, click here, “How To Avoid Travellers Diarrhea.”
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