Changing the Conversation

Gulp. Plop. Rumble, rumble. Shake.  Bubble, bubble, bubble.

This is a familiar sound in Delhi.

You know the one.  Its the sound of air bubbles in the water cooler when filling your bottle.  Only this sound is coming from me, from my personal water cooler.  This running dialogue from my midsection has caused me to make some changes.

For the first time in my life, I am trying to make some notes of what I put in my body and from whence it came. It's more complicated than it sounds.

Fruit from home, was it washed properly? Did I wash my hands before handling it? Is there an issue with our drinking water? Should we boil 'filtered' water.  Isn't that just redundant? We had bottled water at dinner. But was the glass we used clean?

Of course, my stomach is not the only one in India that likes to talk about its situation.  It seems as if the status of ones bowels is appropriate conversation...at all times an in all circumstances.

Remember that health class where your teacher made everyone say penis and vagina? It broke the ice, made those words acceptable to use. The word in Delhi is diarrhea. Of course, Becky has jumped all over this.  She has been looking for an excuse to talk about her poop for as long as I have known her. While this may seem like a joke, I assure you it is real.  A typical conversation might start something like this:

"Hi Becky, how are you?"

"I have diarrhea. You?"

This is welcomed as a worthy barometer of ones state and met with a similar recap from those within earshot. The best part is the absolute joy in everyone's face when discussing this most delicate of topics.  We might as well be discussing new movie.

As far as stomach issues go though, we have been pretty fortunate overall. We will do our best to not let the conversation spill into this blog space in the future.