Friday, March 16, 2007

CRICKET X-RAYS RABIES AND WARM BEER

I walked down into what seemed to be an arboretum of some sort.
It was fenced off from the rest of the city and was a like an enormous bowl.
I gradually climbed up and out of this wildwood, and found myself on the front yard of a church where some boys were playing cricket.
I saw a hose and asked if I could get some water, and did.
Then a boy asked if I wanted to play and I said "No".
I kept walking and the sun was setting.
I saw a large house and for some reason went to it.
I knocked and was invited in.
I explained that I was lost, that a wild dog had bitten me, and was now fearful that I might get rabies.
A woman who seemed to be the owner of the house listened to my story.
I forget what she said.
Another person brought me a plate with popcorn and a hot dog, but this food didn't appeal to my nonexistent appetite.
My journey from this point becomes a blank spot.
The next moment that I remember is when I saw the Peace Corps nurse who was with another man, and with whom I would fly to Washington D.C. after a stopover in London.
They got me some new clothes.
On the flight to London I was given valium, but even it didn't help me sleep.
I still didn't have much of an appetite, and I don't remember what I drank.
I did have a small taste of a warm beer in a pub in London, but didn't like it.

A short digression:
An amazing thing happened.
(I believe this happened right after I was "rescued" by the Peace Corps nurse and her companion.)
I ended up being taken to the very same medical clinic which I had accidentally found on one of my nights of walking around in India!
Inside my room a nun brought me a Gideon Bible which I still have.
The delivery of the Holy Book made me believe that I might be nearer to death than I really believed.
In this small clinic I was X-Rayed by the oldest X-Ray machine on earth.
It wasn't a speedy exposure.
It was noisy, too.
I think it took about 2 or 3 minutes for the X-Ray to stop...after sputtering like an old car when its ignition is turned off.
After this I was given the entire series of Rabies shots.
The shots were given in my abdomen, and man did they sting.
As I started getting pricked by one more needle I started thinking that I shouldn't have been so worried that my biting dog was rabid.

The plane landed in Washington, D.C.
And a new adventure was about to begin.




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