I am embarrassed -- it has been 7 weeks since I last updated this journal.  Sorry for the delay.  I am a complete slacker....  but I do at least have have an excuse.

Steven King wrote:  "The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are intertwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time."  He's lying - or at least he's in denial.  He is an alcoholic and an AA member.  He cannot admit, even to himself, that drugs and alcohol help him write even though he did his best writing when he was out of his head.  I am not an alcoholic, so I feel free to admit that I need booze to write.  I've had ongoing stomach problems which have kept me from drinking, and without my booze I haven't felt motivated to write.

"I am not an alcoholic."  This phrase has been so twisted by AA that denial has become an admission of truth.  "Yes" is yes, and "no" is yes.  How fucked up, scary, and "1984" is that?  Well...  this is diverging onto another topic completely - I'm actually not an alcoholic and I'll leave ranting about AA for some other day. 

Here is the latest theory for the "buddies in my belly", and the reason that I've been unable to get rid of them.  I was taking doxycycline, an antibiotic, to prevent malaria.  It seems that the antibiotic killed all of the good bacteria in my stomach leaving me wide open to attack.  In Nairobi, I was diagnosed with Shigella a standard form of bacterial dysentery.  [You know you've been traveling for too when you begin to refer to types of dysentery as standard].  I managed to kill the Shigella, but my stomach problems continued; now with a new set of symptoms.  The best guess is that what is remaining is a fascinating super-bug called C.  Difficile.

"C-difficile produces spores when attacked by antibiotics.  The spores can live in the open air or in dirt for up to two years.  Normal disinfectants have been shown ineffective against the spores.  This means that even if you kill the C-dif bacteria, spores can still be present.  When the leftover spores detect an attack from conventional antibiotics, it unmasks the spores and causes them to start producing the C-dif bacteria all over again."

-Clostridium Difficile Foundation
http://www.cdiffsupport.com/aboutcdiff.html

One of you is undoubtedly thinking:  "Adam, can't you just drink this bug to death?  It was _you_ that told us that enough Vodka can kill anything."  Well, I was wrong.  I gave it my best shot.  Unfortunately, these bacteria seem to love the booze as much as I do. 

Interestingly, the cure for C.  Diff is to _stop_ taking antibiotics.  I'm now off antibiotics and am taking "probiotic" pills.  Each of these pills is filled with 4 billion good bacteria.  I'm still having minor stomach problems but these might just the wasteland from an epic fight between billions of good bacteria and bad bacteria.  I can't be sure yet, but it seems like my health might finally be improving.

Now, before you have too much sympathy for me, I need to say once again that dysentery isn't necessarily so bad.  Every few days I'd rush to the toilet with loose stool.  Weight loss was the more serious problem - and that is a symptom that most Americans would kill for.  The medications have been worse than the disease, and my biggest complaint is that I've been unable to drink.

Should these probiotic pills do their job, it is possible that I'll be completely healthy in a week or two.  The first thing that I'm going to do is order a double-shot of waragi, the local rock-gut booze, and start seriously catching up on writing.  I have adventures from around Uganda to write about.  I also have a stack of articles that have been outlined and just need to be thrown together.  Unfortunately, for the moment I'm still sober .  I'll just share a bit of news today and more writing will have to wait. 

News

I'm almost famous.  I am top-listed in google, and in this day and age being top-listed in google is like being famous.  Bring up google.  Type in "Adam Katz" and click "I'm feeling lucky."  Pretty neat, huh?  This new-found fame is great, but I'm just excited to have finally overtaken "Adam Katz - Dog Trainer."

One of my photos was selected to be in a multimedia exhibit at an Italian science museum.  I'm not overly flattered though, as they didn't offer to pay me anything.  It is a photo has gotten very little notice on this site, but it is one that I like.  The shot tells a story.  The subway in Milan on a winter morning is exactly as miserable as these people look.  [photo]

Uganda is the 50th country that I've visited!!  Reaching this milestone seemed incredibly cool until I achieved it.  Then it hit me that it's only an arbitrary number.  There is nothing more exciting about having been in 50 countries than there is at having been in 49 countries.  The next goal is one quarter of the countries in the world (65).  Perhaps this goal will be more meaningful, as it is less arbitary.  I possible that I'll get there before the end of this trip. 

I bought a new camera:  A Nikon D70.  It's a huge upgrade, and there should be a corresponding huge upgrade in the quality of photos posted to this site.  This [photo] is a good example of the sharpness and colors that I've been unable to achieve with my old camera. 

I'm signing off for now.  Having a professional grade camera makes me feel like a real photojournalist, and it's time to do some photojournalism.  I'm going to Gulu in the war zone of northern Uganda for a few days.  It should be sad, yet fascinating and amazing.  Other travelers have described it as their favorite place in Uganda.  I expect to come back with interesting stories and amazing photos.