Saturday, May 20, 2006
Water politics... a dispatch from Geoff
Geoff’s blog entry #1
May 18, 2006
4:35 a.m.
I am lying in bed right now, anticipating my alarm in 2 hours. Maybe it’s the jet lag, or maybe it’s some mystical aura surrounding being in India, but I am not at all tired. I fell asleep around 12:30 and awoke pleasantly after a dream about Ween’s “Here there Fancypants” being strummed (or rather plucked) on a violin at an ECU Orchestra concert. I have not yet gotten sick in India although I feel it is inevitable. I am not the most careful of people when it comes to hygiene in the United States, often drinking tap water from outdoor spigots, swimming in the Tar and Neuse Rivers with impunity, and eating food fallen to the floor. I can only hope that my lack of hygiene in the U.S. will support my health in India, my body already being resistant to monera and protists in the food and water. It’s either that or the pool water I’ve been drinking here, the odor and flavor of which I’ve become incredibly appreciative. Though strong at first, the scent reminiscent of my days as a youth swimming in lightly chlorinated outdoor pools reassures me that the water is good to drink. I have not yet even used Bret’s ‘holy filter’ instead relying only on my decontamination tablets. The tablets are great. Each package contains a warning label urging the user to not touch the pill, that it’s corrosive, harmful if swallowed, if in eyes, if on skin, etc. One is also supposed to wait 4 hours after inserting a tablet into a liter of water. Either this is the reaction time for Cl to neutralize organisms or this is the half-life of the chemical. If the latter, then the 4 hours is to ensure that the pill won’t kill you as well as Pete the Paramecium and Allen the Amoeba.
Showering at night is a good idea. I smelled terrible a few hours ago. I suppose this is all for now.
May 18, 2006
4:35 a.m.
I am lying in bed right now, anticipating my alarm in 2 hours. Maybe it’s the jet lag, or maybe it’s some mystical aura surrounding being in India, but I am not at all tired. I fell asleep around 12:30 and awoke pleasantly after a dream about Ween’s “Here there Fancypants” being strummed (or rather plucked) on a violin at an ECU Orchestra concert. I have not yet gotten sick in India although I feel it is inevitable. I am not the most careful of people when it comes to hygiene in the United States, often drinking tap water from outdoor spigots, swimming in the Tar and Neuse Rivers with impunity, and eating food fallen to the floor. I can only hope that my lack of hygiene in the U.S. will support my health in India, my body already being resistant to monera and protists in the food and water. It’s either that or the pool water I’ve been drinking here, the odor and flavor of which I’ve become incredibly appreciative. Though strong at first, the scent reminiscent of my days as a youth swimming in lightly chlorinated outdoor pools reassures me that the water is good to drink. I have not yet even used Bret’s ‘holy filter’ instead relying only on my decontamination tablets. The tablets are great. Each package contains a warning label urging the user to not touch the pill, that it’s corrosive, harmful if swallowed, if in eyes, if on skin, etc. One is also supposed to wait 4 hours after inserting a tablet into a liter of water. Either this is the reaction time for Cl to neutralize organisms or this is the half-life of the chemical. If the latter, then the 4 hours is to ensure that the pill won’t kill you as well as Pete the Paramecium and Allen the Amoeba.
Showering at night is a good idea. I smelled terrible a few hours ago. I suppose this is all for now.
Comments:
<< Home
Hey Geoff, I took an environmental health class once and the professor said that food off the floor (in some locales) is safer than eating off the plate in some restaurants in Greenville. For what it's worth.
And perhaps you are right. Perhaps you have inoculated yourself against that Delhi belly. I hope so!
Post a Comment
And perhaps you are right. Perhaps you have inoculated yourself against that Delhi belly. I hope so!
# posted by 
: 5/21/2006 8:08 AM
: 5/21/2006 8:08 AM << Home
