Don't drink the water!

Have you heard of Giardia Lamblia?
We certainly have.

• Six weeks ago, our water was getting kinda yellow. No reason to worry. It's a new building, all kinds of things have to be adjusted, and I don't think anyone thought much about it.
• Four weeks ago, I had stomach cramps like crazy one night. I blamed the egg I had earlier that day, fried egg, but it was a little... running...
• Three weeks ago, I heard on the radio that some kind of sewer pipe had leaked into the drinking water. But there was no reason to worry, it was just a little bit...
• One week ago, the water started getting even more yellow. The last few days, it looks like we've washed the dishes before we've even put them in the water. One girl had put some water in the fridge, and when she was taking the bottle out a few days later, there were yucky things at the bottom.

Giardia Lamblia is a parasite that causes diahorrea. It's in our water, and it's not supposed to be there. According to public officials, it's coming from the water source in the center of the city. We're recommended not to drink tap water until they know for sure where it's coming from, and they know what to do about it. We should drink other things, like bottled water, or boil the water first.

A lot of people have been going to the doctors with diahorrea and stomach aches, and the first came in four weeks ago. Which, naturally, makes me wonder if that's what I had that night; unlikely because it's natural for humans to link their symptoms to more serious things, I rarely have symptoms of any kind, which is why I don't worry much about it. But, if that was from the water, since eggs can be mixed in like drinks and things raw, then maybe I've had the reaction, and it won't come again?

One of my roomies put up a "Don't drink the water!" post-it above the tap on the kitchen, and I think I'm going to be smart and not experiment and see what can and will happen, like I usually would. Exams are coming up in three weeks, and I don't want to have to run to the toilet every five minutes. Wouldn't be able to anyway. We're like right next to the source for the water with the..what's it called... the parasite, and people around here have been getting sick more than other places. Not gonna completely stop drinking water though, if you cut all kind of contact with anything that isn't completely 'clean', then you'll never be able to manage out in the world.


Oh, and it's raining. Football practice (or soccer as some call it) for the city's team was stopped because of the 'ufyselige regnværet'. Funny word... ufyselig... means something like horrible or yucky, 'regnvær' being 'rain weather', rainy weather. - Beware if someone calls you 'ufyselig'. It's a funny word, but doesn't have a funny meaning.

Rain rain rain... They say today we're having
"The kind of rain you only get in the city between the seven mountains"