typhoid mary (subtitled: overused stories #1 & 2)

“typhoid mary” is the first american who acquired typhoid in foreign country x (i don’t know many details here). upon her return to the united states, she changed her name and tried living in anonymity. however, as it was 1907 and the authorities, unsure of how the disease is transmitted, tracked her down and forced her into confinement. she died, in containment, 23 years later.

long story short, i have recently added to my list of afflictions acquired in india. following giardia, amoebic dysentery and good ole’ bacterial infection, typhoid fever is my newest in the list of “traveler’s illnesses” listed in the lp. (persistent illness: overused story #1) i really can't forsee anything else going wrong, at this point.

i haven’t been quarantined, persay. however, i also haven’t left the house in 6 days and feel as if my butt is beginning to meld with the couch. this afternoon, as i was napping, i awoke to monkeys. (monkey anecdotes: overused story #2) i looked outside and found the gigantic langurs had overtaken our yard. assessing the situation, i wandered from room to room, looking out the windows. monkeys were lined on fence and in the trees, playing in the yard, running on the roof (evidently). as i approached the sun room, i glanced a huge, silver body sitting on the edge of the couch.

i bolted the door to the sunroom, locking the monkey in and returned to my room. for a second i felt like i was in that 90’s movie about intruders infiltrating some woman’s home during which she was forced to hide in a panic room. i cased the situation from my bathroom window just in time to witness the monkey poking his head out of the broken window. when the monkey saw me, he bolted out of the window and into the yard.

so, there you have it. the sickness story, which has defined approximately 2 of the last 2½ months and the monkey story, which has colored much longer than the last 2 months. hopefully if i ever get better i can re-expand my life beyond movies, episodes of sex and the city and primates adventures at mt. hermon. here's a picture of the monkey as he jumped out of the house. and the monkey brigade hanging out in the yard.