Post Morocco: Food Poisoning

^(looks like veggie tajine)

DAY 9

Upon arrival in Madrid after a night on the bus, I woke up and new that I needed to go to the bathroom...like ASAP. I don't know where I got potential food poisoning...potentially from this mango/orange drink that I had on the night we got into Chefchaouen since my stomach started hurting the morning after...it's strange because Brad and I ate the exact same things -- we shared every meal and he was totally fine. So that was a bit of a damper on the end of our trip, as I was bed ridden for the rest of it. We also potentially got bed bugs in Morocco. When this happened, we took action immediately. I had dealt with bedbugs for two summers at Camp Kesem and did not want to take my chances. Thankfully we had already been separating dirty and clean clothes, so we got plastic bags and tightly sealed our clothes in them. Upon arriving home, we stripped in the hallway, not even daring to go further than the foyer, and went straight to the laundromat. However, being in the condition I was, I ended up abandoning Brad at the laundry place in order to stay as close to the bathroom as possible. Thankfully, he was able to figure out the laundry despite the language barrier. We were supposed to go ice skating, but that was put on hold.

DAY 10

The next day after we got back, I was feeling a lot better and got overly ambitious and ate too much solid food...and when you have a stomach bug, that's not a good idea. That night, I actually ended up in the emergency room due to my stomach pain. I'd been trying to push through it, but eventually it got to the point (3 hours in) where Brad insisted we go to the hospital. I am really glad he did.

The Spanish emergency room was not fun. Because I wasn't dying, I was giving a 3/5 urgency to see. However, I was the only person in that waiting room moaning in pain so...questionable. I also had to deal with my insurance. I was supposed to receive my health insurance card 1-2 months previously, however for some reason despite multiple attempts by my coworkers and I, we had not obtained our health insurance card from the government. Thankfully, Erin was able to obtain my health insurance card number (her phone has minutes). However, the hospital was reluctant to accept my health insurance number without the physical card, despite me having my ID and explaining that I didn't have the actual card. Apparently, the hospital I went to is a "private hospital" so they would have to charge me 300 euros minimum to see me. Also thankfully I have a great dad who let me use his credit card for the visit (because I didn't have that much in my bank account after Morocco). After calling the insurance company and having a representative argue with the hospital (this hospital the government also listed as being covered by Generali health insurance, which is why I went there), I was not charged 300 euros and my visit ended up being covered by my insurance.

After hours of waiting in pain, I was finally seen and hooked up to an IV. I was given two rounds of pain medication and fluids. I felt like dying -- which sounds extreme but at the moment. About 15-20 minutes later, I could feel the medicine starting to work. It was like a cooling affect encompassing my pain. After getting there around 8pm, we finally got home and went to sleep by 2am. Brad was such a trooper that whole time, as he'd been left alone in the emergency room and was corresponding with my freaked out sisters over text. We promptly passed out. For the next 3 weeks, I dealt with recovery.

I had tests done and went to the doctor, as my symptoms lasted much longer than they should have. My results came back normal, which is good. The doctor believes it was some sort of food poisoning since I had been in Morocco. It's still hard for me to wrap my head around that since Brad was totally fine, but I suppose all it takes is one bad bite and if I took it...I felt a little silly getting all these tests done just to get normal results. However, it's good that the results are normal because who wants to be sick?! Certainly not me, especially after this.

So, well Morocco was one of the most amazing places I'd ever gone to, once back in Madrid I had to deal with some unexpected things. However, I wouldn't take this trip back for the world. I highly recommend Morocco, although I recommend taking a trip longer than 8-9 days! Food poisoning can happen anywhere. My roommate Erin got food poisoning here in Madrid! The places I saw, friendly people I met, and things I learned so unique and I'm so lucky that I got to experience it all. Without hesitation, I would recommend Morocco to anyone and everyone.