4.305
6 (Wed) November 2013
Sin Cup Ramyeon
2.0
in my hotel room (Intercontinental Cairo Citystars)
-Nasr, Cairo, Egypt-
solo
Conference in Egypt: Day 5 of 7
- Day 1 (4.301 Arabic Spiced Chicken Kofta)
- Day 2 (4.302 Stuffed Pigeon with Rice)
- Day 3 (4.303 Molokheya with Rabbit and Rice)
- Day 4 (4.304 Mixed Grill (Culprit Kofta))
In Cairo. Here to attend the 1st Expert Consultation on Public Health Law in the Eastern Mediterranean, hosted by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO). First time in Egypt, first time in Africa.
Sick, sick, sick. Mid-afternoon, I was slammed by a sudden wave of nausea and lightheadedness. Then fever and muscle aches. Somehow, I managed to survive to the end of the day, though I didn’t contribute much to the discussion. When I got back to the hotel, I took some cold meds and crashed. I awoke at some point shuddering from the chills; because I hadn’t packed anything warm, I wrapped myself in the hotel bathrobe and went back to bed. I awoke several times throughout the night, every few hours, wracked with the runs. When I got up 14 hours later, the fever had subsided, but a lingering pain in my abdomen remained.
A quick investigation would suggest that it had indeed been food poisoning from the kofta. Of the 6 dinner party guests the night before, 3 who’d not eaten the kofta at all turned out fine, 1 who’d had a taste had had a slight stomachache, 1 who’d eaten a full portion had been woozy all day, and 1 (me) who’d eaten a full portion plus another partial portion as a takeout snack back at the hotel had been hit the worst.
Before sleeping, I ate a cup ramyeon that I’d purchased at the airport for an emergency, hoping that it would soothe the sharp pain in my gut. It didn’t, the spicy broth probably exacerbating the pain. The fact that I was forced to settle for ramyeon, as opposed to some local dish, should suggest how sick I really was. All night, through the delirium, I kept dreaming about ordering room service.
(For more details re food, see WHAT)
(For more details re venue, see WHERE IN THE WORLD)
