This is your body on travel

I wanted to write a little about health, feeling good, and what goes wrong while traveling. Clearly it's different for everyone, but I haven't even slowed down enough to consider how I've been feeling really ... so I wanted to take note of what's different and what's the same about how I feel while traveling for an extended period.

Several people in our group of OSU students took ill right after we got here, but not in the way I'd expected. I figured someone would get traveler's diarrhea or something, but no, I haven't heard any complaints about that. And all of us drink out of the faucet. No, two of the students have severe colds with a really bad cough. Both of them are my good friends, Hillary and Reddy, but I haven't gotten anything like it from them. Several of us also have severe allergy problems. I've taken an allergy pill almost every single day because sometimes it's hard to catch a breath and I'm always stuffy or sneezing. It's not a big deal overall. What's funny is when my friend Reddy went to the pharmacie here to get something for his cough: we discovered that most drugs are sold over the counter. He asked for something to help his cough and they gave him a cough syrup WITH CODEINE in it. He has it with him at all times now, and says in his Indian accent, "I love eet." Anyway, maybe it's the mold from all of the rain here in Dijon, but many of us cough, sneeze, and hack every day.

Just a few days ago, another few people got bad stomach cramps, which I think was from some food they ate. But overall, no one's been sick enough to stay home from school or miss out on anything due to stomach problems. Today was the first day that I felt nauseous and had to lay down, and we're already two weeks into the program. I already feel much better.

Overall, I've eaten a lot less since I arrived. Mostly it's due to the fact that the free meals are not terrific. I eat them, but I'm not excited about it. Right now, I can tell that I'm a bit hungry but I'm in no rush to go find something to eat. The foods are pretty bland. I eat a few sweet rolls with butter in the morning with some coffee, and then a vegetable and rice with some sort of meat or entree at lunch, and then a nice dinner or nothing. The free food that we can access if we don't use our meal cards at lunch is pretty much the worst thing ever: there were actual FEATHERS on the chicken pieces we got, and it's extremely dingy. So, I only ate there once. We've had some nice dinners, though: I loved eating at the creperie. I miss the following foods: potatoes, chips and salsa, guacamole, cheddar cheese, big breakfasts from First Watch and chicken. Nothing here has chicken in it. I've eaten jambon, or ham, at meals where I have meat. At any rate, I go hungry, but I don't really notice.

Due to the fact that I'm around 20 college students all the time, there is alcohol around constantly. Last night, I wanted to start working on my presentation, but my other partner and someone else had broken open some wine. Thus, I started drinking instead. It's very difficult to get through a day without imbibing whatsoever. Which leads me to dehydration. I've been dehydrated since I left Tulsa. To be perfectly gross, there hasn't been a single time I've peed since I got here that it hasn't been intensely yellow. We sweat all the time, because we're always walking or in the heat, we're always on the go and have to pay for water, and we just can't keep up with how much water our bodies need. I try to drink as much as I can, but it's not even near enough. However, dehydration comes in handy becasue you have to pay for a lot of touristy-area bathrooms. I may go to the bathroom twice a day. Just writing about this reminds me of how thirsty I am. But there are no water fountains ANYWHERE, and I'm at school with no hope of getting some more water until I get home, a 10 block walk.

My two main problems have been sleep deprivation and foot problems. Sleep deprivation for obvious reasons: I'm always on the go and can't say no to doing anything. I love to have fun with everyone and want to see everything and do everything, so I'm always exhausted. I got 45 minutes of sleep on the train home from Venice last Sunday night, then got up, went to school, and went all day long and hung out at night until 1 a.m. By Wednesday, I finally broke down and took a two-hour nap.

My feet are an issue becasue they are my main mode of transport. Now that I have to walk everywhere, I'm very tuned in to their behavior and moods. They are grumpy a lot of the time. After our trip to Switzerland, I had some severe cramps in my feet, which caused shooting pains every time I stepped down. By the time I'd walked to school and back, I'd have tears in my eyes. And I was very upset because I needed to get around and wanted to sightsee but my feet were just torn up. All of our feet are ugly to behold. They have blisters, they are black on the bottoms, and they are rough. But they are well-used. My feet were constantly swollen while we were in Venice, and are better now but not the best.

I've been a lot less anxious than I thought I would be. I've taken a few Xanax, such as for the night train, but overall, less than I thought I'd need. I've been so busy, I don't have time to be nervous ... and even when I do feel some anxiety coming on, I'm usually distracted by someone or something enough for it to pass. I like it this way.

Well, it's getting late and I don't know where anyone else is right now ... we're getting ready to part ways for the weekend. Lyon & Normandy here we come!

Love,
Jennie