Christmas Punishment...Houston to Paris on Business First

Christmas Punishment
Never before in my life have I lost my appetite completely, but on the evening of the 19th December 2009, I did.
What a punishment since I was being upgraded to the Business Class on my flight of 9 hr 14 minutes from Houston to Paris. I always look forward to the meals on Business Class, as I have felt that the best meals in America are offerd in the Business Class International flights .
Plus the chance to drink some good wines..
My stomach was in revolt. I am not sure what had happened, I had left Paris with a perfect stomach functioning well. The chemical overload in American food, even though I avoid eating American food while I am in America..a little difficult to do when you are out in the bush ..
Jamaican food in Miami should be alright, freshly cooked. But the dinner at a Pan Asian Restaurant began this downslide to this loss appetite in Business Class.
In the boondocks of Nebraska where the Indians live, my meals were mainly the clinic food, and some food at a local face and three lunches at a Thai Restaurant, the latter being the only one that could be classified safe.
Someone offered a glass of McWilliams Shiraz from Australia on that Thursday and I couldn’t resist it. My poor stomach already under assault from the various chemical ingredients couldn’t take it any more. Starting that Friday morning, my stomach refused much further food and with increasing pain, I could easily diagnose myself as having acquired Gastritis.
Fortunately I had some of the medications necessary to treat Gastritis with me, and being a doctor I was envisaging the worst scenario of a bleeding peptic ulcer while the flight was over the water onwards to Paris..nothing outstanding happened except the lack of sleep.. thank god I was upgraded to Business Class, flying in that state of health on Economy, crowded and every single seat taken, would have been a hell, on top of the gastritis..
Then I realized that, even though this is the first ever time my appetite had completely disappeared, similar scenarios had happened to me before on visits to the USA around this time of the year.
It begins with a change in sleep patterns around late October and then around mid December, some sort of a weakness, and gastritis of some nature.
2005 on exactly the same day ,19th December, I was on Business Class on Continental from Houston to Narita, unable to drink the beverages offered, but still enjoyed a nice Japanese meal..arrived at NRT feeling sick and left NRT feeling sick as well on the 3 January , promising never to return… My companion at that time, left me alone in a roykan near Narita with this warning words: you have not looked after yourself all throughout the year, so you are suffering now, and you are to blame.
She may have been right but at least she could have offered a cup of tea…ah well.
Yet another time, I was on my way to Australia, and was not able to drink or eat much just before Christmas one year, and I remember friends saying, pelase don’t travel. That trip too was out of USA..
The endless travels during the year, perhaps accumulates, and then the final blow is the chemicals in the food in the USA. Someone remarked to me that I looked dehydrated and I drank few cans of a petulant beverage, something I never do. I have the feeling that irrational action also contributed to my sad state of affairs flying back to Paris.
Sleepy and tired, in snowy Paris, took the train from Montparnasse to Auray, sleeping most of the way, drove to Quiberon, after a light meal, I wanted to rest. I noticed that even the bread tasted different. So I had no doubt in my mind that my state of affairs was induced by the chemical load… on top of a heavy work load.
Let this be a warning to those who travel to USA from countries which has such good daily offerings of food.. Japan, Malaysia, India, Most of Europe etc…