IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH

We have been healthy for so long I thought we might just luck out and get through the entire year without getting sick. And we got through what we thought were tough spots, Tanzania with its possible bad water, India with its garbage and bad air, Thailand and Laos, with their "Asianess" (a word I made up because I can't think of anything bad to say about either of the two country's sanitation, but know that it's not as clean as at home). So we are now in China and we've all come down with either stomach bugs or intestinal distress. I visited a Dr. Lilli Li, a Chinese medicine doctor and she told me to stay away from greasy foods because my stomach did not have a good "chi". Dr. Lilli also said "stay away from the "fire". I did and didn't. When I did, OK. When I didn't, bad news.

New Years Eve at 11:45PM. Avocet is in bed because she should be. lisa is in Siena's room watching out for her because she has been sick since this afternoon when we were on a long bike ride. She was a real trooper and didn't get really sick until we got home. Thank God for tandems where she could just sit on the back while I pedaled. lisa is not feeling good either. A couple of days ago, Av went through her "rumbly tumbly" (as Pooh Bear would have called it). So have I.

On one of lisa's earlier blog posts, she talked about how yucky the weather was at the beginning of the time here in Yangshuo. Why, oh why couldn't we have been sick while the weather was "sick" too? Well, having to hang in the room does get old but its also a way for our bodies to "slow down, folks". We feel we have been taking it easy, but maybe not easy enough. From our first days in Chiang Mai, Thailand in the middle of November, we have "laid back" and not crammed sightseeing into every single day. Well, nature (the weather) and our own bodies (sickness) have slowed us down even more. Getting sick is a part of life and this trip is about living.e

We had "it" off and on for a week with EVERYONE feeling better on the 5th of January. We sorta stopped eating the "real" (good!!!) Chinese food and went back to
easier items on our digestive tracts. I also stopped the nightly beer for awhile. Don't worry, Australia looms.

So we finally broke down and became real humans. About time.