Now for Something Completely Different

I know you are all expecting a new recounting of our Provincial adventures, but I'm afraid that will have to wait. I've been out for the last 36 hours with horrendous food poisoning, the worst stomach sickness I've ever had. As my mother pointed out, I was able to stave it off for 10 weeks, which is great, but it was hard to remember that when at times the night before last I had both ends working simultaneously, if you get my drift. I'm exhausted and, to be honest, a little bit daunted: we were supposed to begin our month-long independent study project today but me, Ashley, and Lisa (who are also sick) stayed an extra night here in Lijiang to recover. Unfortunately, I've had so much to get done that there hasn't been a whole lot of time to rest. Tomorrow I will head to Nujiang Valley (on the 9:30 bus... I really should have opted to go later)-- hopefully there will be internet there, but I'm unsure. I'll be able to give you the full story of our field trip then. Until then, I'll leave you with my newest Argus column.