Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but I finally got sick. But the ever-discussed “Tajik Tummy,” the fear of which has been struck into us for over a month now as one by one each of us has fallen, is quite an adventure to behold here in the global capital of gastrointestinal illness.

I had intended to write a post about Tajik food and how much I loved it, but hadn’t quite gotten around to dealing with the more current topics as I wound my way through classes and excursions. Tajik food is, in short, quite good. The true highlight is perhaps the biggest spin of the proverbial Russian Roulette – the fruit. You’ve never tasted fruit this juicy before; I guarantee it. You need to eat with a napkin nearby because whether it is tomato, melon, or apricot, it will dribble all over. It truly gives new meaning to watermelon.

I, however, fell to my old foe who hast slain me once before: eggs. A few years ago, my first major bout of food poisoning came in China after eating a few thousand-year-old-eggs. For the uninitiated, they are not worth trying except for the most iron clad of stomachs. I ended up spending the afternoon with very upset innards and a mild fever. All was better by the next day.

This monster, though, was another matter entirely. After a breakfast of eggs, I started to feel hazy in the morning, which gradually worsened over lunch until I made the executive decision that I should be near a washroom, at which point I made use of said washroom. I quickly made my way home before requiring its use again, and climbed into bed, where I remained in a feverish, dehydrated haze as I continued to require the facilities many times. I climbed into bed at 2 in the afternoon on Monday, and apart from four or five facility visits, I remained in bed with a high fever, unable to sleep, for 25 hours, until I finally managed to sit up at about 3 in the afternoon on Tuesday. I had been attempting to drink water the whole time, but it was often a lost cause. It was only Tuesday that finally allowed me to retain enough fluid for my powerful migraine to recede and for my clarity to return.

Today, Wednesday, I still have a touchy stomach, more out of fear and lack of appetite than actual ability. As I realized, I still experience hunger, however very little food seems appetizing at the moment. Even the upscale Indian restaurant that I feel is doubly safe because it is clean and the food is extremely spicy doesn’t go down without fear. Maybe this was the world telling me that if I’m going to eat the best fruit in the world, that I better be ready to have a little bit of, ahem, blowback. It’s the sickest I’ve ever felt in my life, but given that illness here is all but inevitable, I think I’ll enjoy my apricot and eat it too. At least until the next bout of Tajik Tummy rolls around.