Africa: Day 1: 6-24-95: Off To Egypt In A (Legal) Drug-Induced State of Anxiety And Paranoia

As my Egypt Air plane begins to taxi down the runway, an ambiguous, uninvited feeling begins to tingle in my stomach. At first, I think it's a gastro-intestinal revolt against the Lariam tablet (anti-malaria medication) I took earlier in the week. An upset stomach is just one of the drug's many entertaining side effects from its veritable laundry list of symptoms (including nausea, uncontrollable shaking, skin rashes, sweating, loss of concentration, headaches and my personal favorite, psycho-emotional instability [supposedly even leading to a handful of suicides/homicides]), none of which the doctor warned me about before I took my first (and quite possibly, last) dose on Monday, and many of which I 've since experienced firsthand.