Homeward bound...

I'm packing and figured I'd stop real quick to let you know I'm headed home tonight. It's been a bit rocky the last few days. I flew from Urumqi to Beijing on Wednesday and started to feel a burning and rumbling in my digestive tract that turned into a pretty nasty bout of food poisoning. Fever of 102.5, severe headache, intestinal distress. It was no fun. But that's exactly why I travel with antibiotics, so I was able to get some crackers, a sports drink, take Cipro, and ride it out. I also have to say that I have the best doctor in the world. I emailed him to let him know I was sick and see if he thought it was bad enough to call a doctor here. At least it's Beijing, so I could have seen a trustworthy doctor, but my Doc in Boston said that I was doing everything I could and that I should feel fine in 1-2 days. He even knew that my upset stomach was because of the potassium in the sport drink, and sure enough, when I diluted it by half in water, the nausea went away. By the time I woke up yesterday the fever had broken, and I was a little tired but back to normal. I stayed in to rest which is fine since I've seen enough of Beijing on previous trips. I'm sure it was something I ate. I'm not as careful as maybe I should be, but you can be super super careful and still end up sick. I ate at a dinner theater buffet Tuesday night and had a bit of street food over the last few days, so it could have been any of that. My fellow travelers in Kashgar didn't get sick though, so I don't think it was that round of street food. Perhaps the milk tea for breakfast in Urumqi. Oh well, one can never really tell...

Anyway, I'm going to finish packing and perhaps walk around the zoo for an hour or so before I have to leave for the airport. I hope you're all well, and I'm looking forward to seeing and talking to folks when I get home. I've missed everyone. Best wishes...