If I Have Malaria...

You better hope it kills me.  Otherwise, I will be talking about it nonstop for the rest of my life.  I will find a way to work it into any and every conversation I have.  I can start every sentence with "This one time, when I had malaria..."

On a completely unrelated note, Matt is probably not suffering from allergies, as he has kindly demonstrated by passing his illness on to me, his lovely wife.  Thanks, buddy.  I did find some Allegra at the "Planet Health" store yesterday, so in case it turns out to be allergies, I think we're covered.  However, if it is in fact malaria, we're done for.

 

This is what the sky looks like here every day.  Except yesterday.  Yesterday it was nice.  Today also, but that's beside the point.  All you need to know is it's raining now, as it usually is.  

Most of the crew members here have been sick the past week or are sick at the moment.  I think it has something to do with the monsoon season.  They have no drainage system here, so there are huge pools and puddles of water and trash everywhere.  People use these for peeing and pooping, as well as washing fruit and vegetables.  I think this might have something to do with the spread of bacteria, but I could be mistaken.  Thanks, India.

Nothing else of note is happening.  Oh, but in the interest of keeping positive, I thought I'd list a few things I like about India:
1. The natural vegetable soaps and oils and all around body products.  They smell nice, and they don't have any chemicals.  My soap today is "Fruits of the Himalayas: Basil and Parsley Cleanser".

2.  The people here are friendly, even if they are extremely inefficient and annoying as crap.  They smile a lot, but that might be because I wear inappropriate clothing much of the time.

3.  The toaster at breakfast doesn't get my pop tarts stuck in the morning anymore.  Matt got one stuck last time we were here and smoked up the whole kitchen.

4.  I walked into the Central Mall the other day and found a brand spanking new Body Shop, gleamingly bright and clean, and fresh-smelling.  Also, they carry my favorite chapstick, and it is cheaper here than in the U.S.  Beat that, Finland (in Finland my chapstick was $15.  Needles to say, I didn't partake).

 

The ropes they put up around the pool every night.  From what I understand, they do this because once there was a Japanese guy who went swimming in the pool when it was flooded because of the rains.  Apparently there were frogs and lizards in there with him, but he didn't care.  

That's all I can think of at the moment.  I won't go into the things I don't like about India, because I fear it would be too depressing for us all.  Also, I only got a very minor amount of pity about my room pictures.  Most of you thought it was funny.  Rachael was the only one who felt really sorry.  To quote her: "I just read your blog and I wanted to cry when I saw pictures of your hotel room".  She wanted to cry!  I think you could all learn a little something from Mrs. Winfield.  Cry for me, America.  Weep.