The cold and miserable weather we’ve been having daily through March finally let up yesterday, on the national midweek holiday we all got off from work, so about 20 of us met up at Bamboo Park in Yamakawa, either to play sports (mainly ultimate frisbee, though a football, rugby ball, and softball and catcher’s mitt also turned up) or to just enjoy the weather.
It was a fantastic day. The weather was just perfect, and it was a good group of people having a great time. Even the field was perfect–a bunch of us kicked off our shoes and socks and ran around barefoot, because it was grassy and dry and not at all muddy or prickly. I’ve been wanting to run around outside for a long time now, especially since the last time I played frisbee was last summer, but the weather’s been miserable enough to compulse me to spend as much time inside as possible all these months, and I can still throw and catch a disc as well as ever. Nate warned us that the sun here is stronger than it even is in the desert back in the US, but he said it in the context of providing sunscreen, which I just kind of brushed off because I don’t burn very easily.
A few of us got headaches by mid-afternoon. I figured I’d gotten mine because I didn’t really eat lunch properly–I had some nuts and water with me, and bummed some food and snacks off others till my stomach felt reasonably full, but evidently it wasn’t enough.
We went to an onsen afterwards–well, everyone but Bessie and I did, as we just catnapped on the tatami–and when everyone came out and I woke up, I felt really groggy and not with it at all. After that, we headed to the Sri Lankan restaurant in Yamakawa, where my headache would not go away, and something about the warm and stuffy air inside the restaurant, plus the lingering scent of curry in the air, made me feel truly awful in a way I hadn’t felt in a while–not since December, the day my sick and sleep-deprived self flew back to the US and passed out in the aisle of the plane.
I ducked out a bit early. I was dreading the 45-minute drive home, and with good reason–I did actually have to pull over several times because the motion of the car made me feel even worse, and I did eventually pull over to throw up, which I felt really embarrassed about, as it was in a convenience store parking lot not far from home, and I didn’t/couldn’t go in to alert them to and apologize for the mess I’d made. I got home by 9 PM and just went straight to bed.
I think it was just too much sun, plus not enough food during the day. I’d had plenty of water, though–my liter bottle and then some, and a lot of water at the restaurant, too. And it’s kind of good I got this out of the way before spending three or four days walking around in the sun in Okinawa! At any rate, I’m feeling great today (just really, really sore) and grateful for the concern of my friends last night, and just embarrassed about it. I know some of you read this, so thank you, guys. And have a great spring break if I don’t see you before then!