Wednesday, July 12, 2006
What's with all the Talk about Intestinal Distress?
A comment pointed out that I mentioned intestinal stress twice already in this blog. It does merit some explanation, as it will probably come up again and again and may be a recurring theme. Since, I also mentioned the filth of the Pionerskaya banya. I thought that this would be an appropriate time to take moment out from the story to talk about the issue of hygiene in Uzbekistan, which is of a pretty low standard.
My intestinal stress likely could be the subject of a whole other blog relating adventures of nearly crapping in my pants, occasional “double-purging,” frequent “spraying the bowl," or "blowing ass.” Most expatriates I knew there constantly battled with diarrhea, loose stools, as well as gastro-intestinal parasites, such as giardia. Giardia has symptoms of sulfur-burps, toxic flatulence, and chronic diarrhea. I didn’t experience it first hand – I’ll leave those people to tell that story. But being next to the afflicted is quite a trying experience, a potpourri for the senses.
Furthermore, frank discussion of our various bowel and gastro-intestinal afflictions and the many embarrassing and/or near-catastrophic situations they put us in was a popular subject of conversation among the expatriates, a topic, which I think is considered gauche or rude in polite society or for those uninitiated with the experience of Uzbekistan, but among us, it was simply therapy necessary for enduring the trauma.
Travelers’ diarrhea is apparently one of the most common ailments plaguing the visitor to Uzbekistan. There are a proliferation of travelogues from Uzbekistan on the Internet, nearly all of which make mention of gastro-intestinal stress. It doesn’t only seem to affect the traveler, but even those who have chosen to settle there in the long term, it is something you simply get used to living with. Rarely have I heard of the case in which it simply goes away. One person I know had chronic giardia over the course of her two years living in Uzbekistan. The only time she had a reprieve from it was when she went on a vacation trip outside of the country.
The reasons for it are several:
• The dry climate leaves the body dehydrated. So does heavy alcohol consumption. And dehydration is a cause for diarrhea.
• The water supply is bad. All water supplies in Uzbekistan are suspect, including municipal tap water, which may be untreated and grossly contaminated. Even if you don’t drink this water (drinking bottled water, boiled water, distilled water), you still may have some contact with it in your food.
• Food, in particular food that you might eat at a restaurant or at the home of an Uzbek host, can often be subject to non-hygienic handling.
I remember once sitting with some colleagues at a restaurant. Everyone ordered the same dish – which happens quite often in Uzbekistan. Everyone ordered airan—a Turkish dairy drink, except for me. I didn’t know what it was, and asked one of my colleagues. He said that it was very tasty and that I shouldn’t worry about drinking it. He actually said, “it won’t give you diarrhea.” It was very sweet of him to say, and I also found it very funny. So I responded, “don’t worry, I’m not worried about diarrhea – I already have it.” ¶ 5:01 PM
A comment pointed out that I mentioned intestinal stress twice already in this blog. It does merit some explanation, as it will probably come up again and again and may be a recurring theme. Since, I also mentioned the filth of the Pionerskaya banya. I thought that this would be an appropriate time to take moment out from the story to talk about the issue of hygiene in Uzbekistan, which is of a pretty low standard.
My intestinal stress likely could be the subject of a whole other blog relating adventures of nearly crapping in my pants, occasional “double-purging,” frequent “spraying the bowl," or "blowing ass.” Most expatriates I knew there constantly battled with diarrhea, loose stools, as well as gastro-intestinal parasites, such as giardia. Giardia has symptoms of sulfur-burps, toxic flatulence, and chronic diarrhea. I didn’t experience it first hand – I’ll leave those people to tell that story. But being next to the afflicted is quite a trying experience, a potpourri for the senses.
Furthermore, frank discussion of our various bowel and gastro-intestinal afflictions and the many embarrassing and/or near-catastrophic situations they put us in was a popular subject of conversation among the expatriates, a topic, which I think is considered gauche or rude in polite society or for those uninitiated with the experience of Uzbekistan, but among us, it was simply therapy necessary for enduring the trauma.
Travelers’ diarrhea is apparently one of the most common ailments plaguing the visitor to Uzbekistan. There are a proliferation of travelogues from Uzbekistan on the Internet, nearly all of which make mention of gastro-intestinal stress. It doesn’t only seem to affect the traveler, but even those who have chosen to settle there in the long term, it is something you simply get used to living with. Rarely have I heard of the case in which it simply goes away. One person I know had chronic giardia over the course of her two years living in Uzbekistan. The only time she had a reprieve from it was when she went on a vacation trip outside of the country.
The reasons for it are several:
• The dry climate leaves the body dehydrated. So does heavy alcohol consumption. And dehydration is a cause for diarrhea.
• The water supply is bad. All water supplies in Uzbekistan are suspect, including municipal tap water, which may be untreated and grossly contaminated. Even if you don’t drink this water (drinking bottled water, boiled water, distilled water), you still may have some contact with it in your food.
• Food, in particular food that you might eat at a restaurant or at the home of an Uzbek host, can often be subject to non-hygienic handling.
I remember once sitting with some colleagues at a restaurant. Everyone ordered the same dish – which happens quite often in Uzbekistan. Everyone ordered airan—a Turkish dairy drink, except for me. I didn’t know what it was, and asked one of my colleagues. He said that it was very tasty and that I shouldn’t worry about drinking it. He actually said, “it won’t give you diarrhea.” It was very sweet of him to say, and I also found it very funny. So I responded, “don’t worry, I’m not worried about diarrhea – I already have it.” ¶ 5:01 PM
