The Good and The Bad (Ron)

I haven't posted in a while partly my own doing and partly because I felt too sick to leave my bed.

So the beginning........

A few weeks ago I was notified by my work that they would be holding a journalist training seminar on how to write effective tobacco control stories. The 2 day conference was to be held in Ha Long which is about a 3.5 hour drive from Ha Noi. So I thought to myself, what a wonderful opportunity to visit Ha Long Bay the weekend before and begin the conference the following Monday. So I booked overnight passage on the SS White Dolphin. Here's a picture of it's little cousin - my boat was another floor bigger.Ha Long Bay was absolutely beautiful. It was simply amazing to see the limestone rock formations sharply extend from the water which is turned a very pretty green due to the dissolved rock. Everything is so calm with the exception of all the other boats touring the bay but when you have some free time it's truly a relaxing place to be.The trip itinerary was a little touristy for my liking but we did explore "Surprise Cave" (ask me why it's a surprise and I'll show you the picture), hike one of the islands and kayak a smaller enclosure.Pretty much the entire time was a relaxing boat cruise on the bay. I ate great seafood and met some really nice people as well.

The conference was likewise a really enjoyable time. Even though I did not understand a word of what was being said without the translator it was successful in that I gained some insight for my work here on Vietnamese media. I met and talked with some newspaper reporters, and TV correspondents - all of these contacts will help in the future when I need some insight into their tobacco control efforts.

Through a work friend I was invited into the home of a local family (the toddler son did not like me), drank beer and ate squid by the bay, and enjoyed pleasant conversation into the evening.

Even the 3.5 hour return bus ride to Ha Noi was enjoyable.

But if the universe is a zero-sum game, I certainly paid for it in the following days.

I made it in to work Wednesday morning noticing that it was hotter than most days (it really was) but that when I made it inside the office I was continuing to sweat. To make matters worse, we had run out of bottled water and a new shipment wasn't due for a few hours. I toughed it out but was feeling pretty bad with some lower back muscle pain. I thought it was due to dehydration, but after 3-4 bottles of water and lunch I decided that I wasn't feeling well enough to work throughout the day. I told the office that I was going home but would likely return tomorrow.

I made it home but by this time I was really burning up. Sure enough the thermometer was beeping with a temperature of 100.5. I monitored it throughout the day and it steadily climbed to 102 before plateauing. Then on came the headaches and diarrhea. Sadly this continued for another 3 days. I literally left my room a total of 3 times in five days all of which to go buy small amounts of food and large amounts of water.

This was the most sick I have felt in a long time.

When I finally recovered, I made it back to work just in time to be the butt of jokes pertaining to H1N1 and the American.