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CHAT; asking for the bathroom

From:Roger Mills <romilly@...>
Date:Saturday, June 2, 2001, 0:03
Kou wrote:
>When I lived in mainland China (albeit twelve years ago), "nightsoil" >carts were a common sight, carrying waste from downtown into the >surrounding countryside where the crudités were grown. This is also >why most mainlanders recoil in horror at the mere soupçon of a hint >of a suggestion of eating vegetables raw (you can claim you've washed >them thoroughly until the cows come home). "Salad, anyone?" >"Waaaaaaaa~~~~!" "Okay, okay. Come in off the ledge."
The Embassy nannies in Vietnam (1958-9) sternly warned us off the local produce, for the same reason. But there were so many excellent French restaurants, and the tomatoes, lettuce and strawberries were delicious. Most likely as a result, I came down with amoebiasis, which was easily treated, though the pills did not agree with alcohol-- probably a good thing. I suspect Islamic Indonesia would not use nightsoil; at least I had no problems there. But most vegetables were cooked in any case, and all fruits were peelable.