Janice Coyle:
CLASS OF 1974
Churchill High SchoolClass of 1974
Potomac, MD
Wheeling High SchoolClass of 1974
Wheeling, IL
Jack London Junior High SchoolClass of 1970
Wheeling, IL
Stacey Middle SchoolClass of 1969
Huntington beach, CA
Janice's Story
Here are a couple stories from my travels around the world.
TRAVELING BY TRAIN IN AFRICA
After staying in the beautiful Bahari Beach Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for a few days, my sister, Betty, and I headed to the train station for the overnight trip to Mbeya, where we were to continue on a 5-week journey through western Tanzania. We had first class tickets for the train (which is a story in itself!) and after we got settled in our cabin, I felt nature call. With toilet paper in hand (each first class passenger received their own personal roll from the train conductor) I walked down the hall to the one lavatory that the entire first class car was to share.
As I entered the loo, I was pleasantly pleased to see that it was clean and contained a Western-style stainless steel toilet. Upon further inspection, however, I discovered that it was seatless and flushless. After balancing myself over the toilet bowl - which is quite a feat in a moving train - I did my business and "flushed" it away with a cupful of water from the bucket that was conveniently placed next to the toilet.
As darkness fell, I again had to "go." Because the train was traveling through many small villages and towns, I thought it best to close the lavatory window, which had frosted glass panes, before I dropped my drawers. Well, forget that idea; the window wouldn't budge. That was okay, because I would just turn out the light. Except for one little problem: there was no light switch. I quickly lost my modesty.
As the night wore on, I had to go again and hastily slipped on my tennis shoes without tying them. As I stepped into the lavatory, the smell of urine was overpowering! I heard "squish-squish," and looked down to see that I was standing on a urine-soaked floor (it could have been worse!), and I was disgusted to see that my shoelaces were drenched pee - and not my own. Next door, there was a washroom with a couple sinks, so I thought I would try to rinse my shoelaces. However, the stench in the washroom was worse than in the lavatory. There was no running water and, worse that that, train passengers had been using the sinks as toilets! Upon returning to my cabin, I removed my shoelaces and sealed them in a zip-lock baggie. I decided that I would NOT have to use the toilet again the rest of that train ride.
We arrived in Mbeya the next morning, and with my bladder about ready to burst, I made my way out of my cabin to depart the train. As I walked past the wretched lavatory, now reeking of stale urine, I couldn't resist glancing in. To my surprise (well, not really), the small room was piled high with sacks of potatoes!
TRAVELING BY CAMEL IN INDIA
I was on the last leg of my incredible five-week journey through India. In Pushkar - camel capital of Asia and home of the famous annual Pushkar Camel Fair - I was going on my very first camel "safari," and this was to be the highlight of my trip.
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon when the camels arrived at my hotel to pick up their human cargo: me, my traveling companions, and our guide, Chandra. However, my camel-riding excitement quickly turned to apprehension when I saw the monstrous size of those beasts. I decided on the smallest camel, a dark, chocolate brown "cutie" with a colorful...Expand for more
pompom through her nose. After a quick show-and-tell lesson on how to get on and get off of a camel, which looked quite terrifying in itself, it was time for me to board this formidable creature.
On command, Cutie lowered herself onto all fours, with her front legs tucked under her and her backside resting on her knees. Even in this position, her hump, onto which I was to sit, was chest-high. I grabbed onto the saddle - a term I use loosely since it consisted mostly of a heap of blankets secured with a couple straps - and swung my right leg over Cutie's hump. As I attempted to hoist myself onto Cutie, she unexpectedly stood up! First lifting her back side, then her front, I tried desperately to hold on. With only one leg over Cutie and the rest of me clinging onto her side for dear life, I was completely off balance six feet in the air.
I could hold on no longer. On the way down, I could only say a quick prayer for fear that death by trampling camel hoofs was imminent. I landed on my back, and despite instantaneous intense pain and getting the wind knocked out of me, I attempted to scramble to safety as a bunch of camel drivers jostled to drag me out from underneath the looming belly of that camel. As I gasped for breath, Chandra, in his sing-song Indian accent urged me, "Try again. Just like when one falls off a horse, you must get right back on." Well, there was no way I was going to attempt to get on that she-devil again. I resigned myself to ride in the camel cart, an excruciatingly bumpy ride behind a foul-smelling dromedary with a severe case of gas. Meanwhile, Chandra got out the first-aid kit for some pain relief cream. He presented me with calamine lotion, an anti-itch remedy for poison ivy! Lo, there was nothing in that first-aid kit to treat the aches and pains from a camel fall. So I just "grinned and bared it" for the rest of my much-anticipated camel safari.
The next day, feeling extremely sore but wanting to do some exploring, I set out on a walk through Pushkar. As I swung my daypack over my shoulder, I heard "CRACK" and then felt searing pain in my chest like I had never before experienced. I knew right then that I had broken a rib in my fall off of that dang camel. It was amazing that right at that exact moment I also happened to be standing next to an open door with a sign that read "HOSPITAL." After peering through the open door into what Pushkar calls a "hospital" - another term I use loosely here - I decided that I would put up with the pain and wait until I got back to the United States in 4 days to visit a real hospital.
After an overnight train ride from Pushkar to Delhi, two days in Delhi and a 16-hour plane ride back to America, I went immediately to the hospital for an x-ray. It was confirmed: I did have a broken rib. But, that's not the end of the story. Having made it through 5 weeks in India without even a symptom of tummy trouble - unheard of for Westerners - on my second day home I got a severe case of Delhi-Belly and ended up being diagnosed with a wicked E. coli bacterial infection.
I am now completely recovered and can laugh at the misfortune that befell me at the end of my trip. However, I would recommend to anyone going to India to stay away from camels; take the bus instead!
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