Lesson 1: You can eat a drive-through McDonald's without getting Delhi Belly

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Disclaimer: I haven't slept for more than 2 broken up hours in the last 30 so the below is unlikely to make sense.

Today I broke several rules that are intended to make sure you don't get diarrohea.

1. Do not eat salad unless you know its been washed in clean water

2. Do not have any drink with ice cubes in it

Whilst zonked out in a cab after a 9 hour flight and 2 hours of driving (I use the term loosely), my driver pulled into a drive-through Maccy D's and offered to buy me some food. I tried to politely refuse. The poor guy was clearly concerned that I hadn't eaten anything yet, I held fast on the food but eventually gave in to a coke. I just didn't have the energy to try to explain again that I didn't want any food to the McDonald's worker, and not wanting to make my driver look like a lousy person, ended up agreeing to the full works: chips, chicken burger and a coke. Food arrives and it dawns on me that my nemesis, dirty water, has already worked its way into my diet in at least two forms.



Predicament: Do I risk getting ill in the middle of a car journey when my immune system probably isn't at its best, given the lack of sleep, heat etc, so that I don't seem impolite by not eating my food? Is the risk from not eating/drinking of seeming impolite greater than the risk of spilling my guts in this guys car if I do said/eating drinking?



Lettuce disposable was quick and easy, leaving only a couple of mayo-covered scraps and a wipe with the paper wrapping. But then I was left with a large cup of potential misery and humiliation. Hoping that I could just get away with not drinking it, the kid in the front seat keeps looking at me and is clearly asking his dad why the weird foreign chick asks for a coke then doesn't drink it.

So, one option is to somehow sip from the coke and spit it back into a spare bottle I have. I try this several times when we go through a tunnel but just can't get through it quick enough. (Should remember I have manky coke in my bottle before I use it next). When this clearly isn't working I decide to have a gulp and if I don't feel really dodgy in about 20 minutes, I should probably be ok. After getting through half the cup I was still fine, but growing more concerned that maybe the gestation period of some gut rotting lurgy would be more than 20 minutes.

Thankfully, the day was saved by a penguin shaped bin at a petrol station.

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