Languishing in an unhealthy clime

I knew it was going to be hot, that the food would be different and that there would, naturally, be some challenges in adjusting. I also had great optimism and a positive outlook that with the right attitude of open-mindedness and acceptance (not to mention great care to drink only clean water and eat only "safe" food) that I would be fine. I was even welcoming all these "differences" and looking at them as a great adventures.

I like spicy Indian food. It is one of my favorites in fact and I've always felt rather good about my digestive system and how unaffected it always has been, even under the most taxing of situations. And I've not found the food here to be killer spicy or been unable to "take it" during meals. I have found, however, that the unrelenting assault of new and spicy food has led to a bit of a system revolt when it comes to the whole digestion thing. Nothing extreme, mind you. I've not been made a prisoner of the bathroom or anything, but I have had some lower tummy cramp-age and trips to the can have been less-than-pleasant. While it tastes good, I've found myself cringing at the thought of more spice and craving something, anything, bland. For breakfast here they have something that somewhat resembles Cream of Wheat. Even that is spicy. Cheerios sound divine. At the hotel in Ramoji Film City I was lured into having "pancakes" for breakfast. I usually don't like pancakes (because they are so starchy and bland and all) but I couldn't resist. Unfortunately the "pancake" wasn't alllll that good. In fact, as I was eating it, it didn't even seem to resemble food so much. And later my stomach (and intestines) has their strongest revolt yet. To counter all this I've been drinking a lot of water and seeking out the blandest food possible and just eating small amounts. I'm hoping to find a balance between pangs of hunger and pangs related to the digestion-issues. (I've given up completely on eating a "balanced" diet.)

I also find that I get exhausted here a lot faster. The heat really has knocked me on my ass as much as I try to say it isn't. I'm getting almost no exercise but the energy it takes to loll around looking at things or going to the office or just sitting around reading leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. And we haven't even started our intense travelling yet! I'm hoping that it is really just the cumulation of jet lag, stomach/intestine challenges, my "montly friend", and all the details of a totally new environment (of which the heat is the most extreme or immediately noticable.)

If my attitude before arriving was "when in Rome..." I'm definitely leaning more towards "why on earth make things any harder than they already are?" Following this new motto I've reverted back to the barbaric practices of using silverwear and toilet paper and gone back to wearing t-shirts and khakis instead of my indian clothes. I'm so exotic here (which is just strange for me as I've always been thoroughly NOT exotic) that I figure I should just go all out with it, give the natives something of interest to look at. This is in addition to sucking up the air conditioning, shunning spicy food and watching West Wing on DVD with abandon.

Lest you think I've given up and been defeated - don't worry. We've plans to go to lunch with Sweet Pea's aunt today, check out local stuff this afternoon, do errands, see sights and even hit up a wedding Wednesday morning (a wedding at which I will be decked out in a Cinderella-goes-Subcontinent bit of vestment - hopefully I'll get the whole photo thing going by then.) I just am trying to pace myself.