So as you may or may not have noticed I haven’t written anything for awhile. My past 2 months can be categorized into 2 distinct categories: #1 World Cup; #2 Hospital.
1. World Cup – It is incredible how much World Cup match times can affect your schedule, social life and health. Matches aired in India beginning at 4:50pm and ending at 2am. During the first week of matches I would jet out of work at around 5:30pm, head to a local bar/restaurant and watch all of the matches while stuffing myself with Kingfisher and Mutton Biryani. The next day I would sleepwalk into work and try to justify my odd behavior to my some of my non-sports loving colleagues. After a week of this, I gave up on the bar/restaurants and decided to watch the matches from the comfort of my own home. The problem with this was that somewhere around 12:50am when it’s 0-0 at halftime, my mind started to tell me that it is okay to go to sleep and watch the highlights in the morning. I would then slink off to bed and wake up with the same guilty feeling as I did when I began watching US National Team matches in corporate suites instead of in the stands with Sam’s Army. Anyway, the rest of the World Cup pretty much went like this for me. Here are my to 5 highlights/observations/insights that I picked up during that exhausting yet incredible month:
1. I was in the Mumbai airport desperately looking for a TV to watch the South Africa v France match. I finally found a small lounge tucked away with one TV and of course it was showing the India v Sri Lanka cricket test series and there were a few viewers in the lounge who seemed to have no clue that the greatest sport in the world was being shown just a few channels away. I took a swig of my whiskey, then a deep breath and did what I thought would take me at least a year in India to do. I walked up to each person watching the match and explained why we should all be watching the World Cup instead of cricket. After a couple of sarcastic remarks I finally got my way. The football match was turned on and all of a sudden I got that nervous feeling I used to get at MLS games that I took my friends to. The one that makes you want a goal to happen so bad because you feel personally responsible for their entertainment.
2. Indians love Brazil and Argentina with an intense passion, however, Bangladeshis take the cake for biggest fans. After Brazil’s loss 15 Bangladeshi’s tried to kill themselves with poison.
3. Indians love whiskey and soda water, that’s it. They just do.
4. Listening to loud Bhangra music while watching the World Cup wasn’t as horrendous as I originally thought it would be.
5. When India do qualify for the World Cup one day, it will be the most unified the country has ever been. Mark my words!
#2 Hospital – After the World Cup, I decided to catch up on all the things on my to do list. The first was to get a colonoscopy to figure out why my stomach has been unsettled for the last 6 months. Little did I know that this simple procedure would lead to a month long nightmare that I’m still living. The Gastrologist accidently tore off some pieces of my intestine when he was poking around up there which caused infections in many of my vital organs. After a trip to the ER in the middle of the night where I was complaining about severe stomach pains, the next thing I know is that I wake up a day later in the ICU with tubes all in my body removing liquids from the infection areas. Apparently I had emergency surgery to save me from permanent damage. Since then I have been in and out of the hospital with various ailments all connected to the botched colonoscopy. However, as I write this I’m feeling much much better and surrounded by the constant love and care of my fiancé and Mother who flew in from the US. Because I love lists here is my list of 5 things I learned from this experience:
1. Don’t eat meat for every meal even though you crave it 24 hours a day
2. Eat slow and enjoy your food
3. I should have listened to the 97 people who told me to be as hygienic as possible while living in India
4. Don’t just pop into the hospital one day to get a colonoscopy just because it’s on your to do list. Really do your research before getting the procedure done
5. Develop a love for reading just in case you have to sit in a hospital bed for multiple days in a row
Love you all and will write interesting news soon. Plus I WILL actually post pictures at some point.
CRAZY. Sorry to hear about the stomach stuff. What hell! x
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