Happy Holidays!!

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Yesterday was the anniversary of the day that one time in 2007 when I got a terrible case of food poisoning in Dubai. I decided to celebrate by getting food poisoning in China. I guess the Trip Advisor website was right--Jining WILL make me sick.

I returned back to Jining with my Chinese guide after a 13.5 hour train ride AND I'M VERY GLAD I MADE IT HOME. I'd sort of had no appetite for the last 24 hours, but after I walked in the door of my apartment, I really felt like throwing up. Then my intestines (which had been irritated for days) started in on me in a very serious way.

I did not actually throw up, but I did lose a large percentage of my water weight to the toilet bowl. I managed to get the situation under control in just a few hours with a combination of Cipro and peptobismol tablets.

I'm lucky. Today is the May 1st holiday, which means I didn't have to wake up at 6 am to go teach classes (which is good because I didn't get to sleep till 5 am). May 1st is also the reason we made it back home last night rather than go on an extended trip around the south. Everyone travels for the May Holiday, so we were virtually excluded from travelling on the sort notice we were given. We were lucky to get back at all.

I'm going to celebrate the holiday by lying in bed, rehydrating, and listening to the firecrackers. I'm not going to eat anything, though. In fact, I may never eat again.

Have a happy holiday!!

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