the beds in 3 dollar a night pensions (hotels) are not comfortable.

im wearing the one sweater i own, the one pair of clean pants, socks - two pairs, the second pair hastily pulled up over the first one to fight off the phantom cold feet at what felt like 102 degrees, but i wouldnt have known because i could not find the thermometer which was in my medicine bag, which, as it turns out, was right fucking in front of me -

fever
FEVER

god im happy i im not in a taxi somewhere on the way to baghdad with that annoying little academic turd for a shits and giggles young and idealistic mini tour of a country at war with a fever like -

and then im out again, just coughing a lot just coughing a lot hoping i can get to sleep.

i sleep. with enough sleeping pills to kill mr.T. i sleep for 3 days.

nightmares.
robotically enhanced highschool enemies useing their unlimited array of augmentations to satisfy every woman ive ever desired, on my television.

mysterious canes and crutches which keep appearing, piled on top of me as i wake up, in my dream.

that thin lipped girl i kissed in chiang mai, the one from california with the troubled past, she keeps running out the door of the apartment i got just so i could have another girl over all "im sorry, im sorry, i cant forget"



i wake up every 4-5 hours, look at the clock, feel my forehead, still burning, and pour another glass of apple juice. i eat a cookie. i don't notice until its too late that the box proudly proclaims "made with 100% real ghee!" in arabic. ghee is clarified, meaning "extra fatty" butter. the cookies are about 40% saturated fat. this doesnt speed my recovery.

my friends at my flophouse are trying to take care of me. they run and get medicine, knock on my door. offer hilarious egyptian health advice:
farid: "ya james, you cannot have milk with your tea, is bad for cold, it make you even more sick."
ahmed: "no wanking. save your milk."
farid: "ya james, i can make a tea with a Special milk for you."


a day before this i saw that Mubarak collapsed on TV because of this flu, which is spreading all over the country. (no surprise when you consider that washing dishes with anything other than just plain water is unheard of here, and hundreds of people will drink from the same public glasses) the report then said he was treated with antibiotics, which makes no sense as influenza is a virus.

egyptians.