Cat Allergy vs. Cat Oven

My right leg is officially diseased.

On Saturday I noticed a few exceptionally large bumps on my leg, which I attributed to being some really nasty mosquito bites. The next day, after one particularly large bump smack in the middle of my lower shin began to increase in size and refused to respond to the antihistamine gel I applied to it, my uncle suggested I see a doctor. He was convinced I had some kind of allergic reaction or a virus; he turned out to be right. This morning I visited a doctor who confirmed that I'm not suffering from insect bites; my leg is having some sort of allergic reaction most likely triggered by stray cats or dogs (cats are getting the brunt of the finger pointing from both my doctor and my uncle). I do have a minor allergy to animal hair, but I had no idea my allergy could escalate to this level, even in a foreign country.

Besides the fact I've had no contact with any animals (alive, that is) since I arrived in Jakarta, I don't understand why only one of my legs is reacting so violently to this allergy. Anyway, I'm currently taking two oral medications and using a topical cream to treat my ailment. Because I've previously had bad reactions to foreign medication (once while in Taiwan my entire body broke out in red splotches from taking some foreign cough medicine), I researched all my prescribed medications on WebMD.com; everything check out, thankfully. I guess all the cute skirts I brought along to keep me cool during my trip are now out of the question. It's pants, pants and more pants for this girl.

I've decided to create some sort of photo essay to chronicle the state of my right leg. As soon as I get my camera cord (which is being air-mailed as we speak), the fury of my right leg will soon become public.

That addresses "cat allergy." "Cat oven" is an entirely different story. So I've been seeing these "cat oven" signs around the city and have been slightly grossed out by them. Not that people eating cats is entirely new...But now I've found out that it's not at all some sort of contraption in which to cook cats. In the Indonesian alphabet, "c" is pronounced like "ts," as in "tsi tsi fly". So it's not so much "cat" in the Western sense but "tsat," meaning "paint" in Indonesian. "Oven" is actually meant in the literal English definition. "Cat oven" refers to a service performed by auto body companies where "cat" is applied and then one's car is put in an "oven" to set the paint and give it a glossy finish.

I haven't been able to snap a photo of this phenomena yet, but stay tuned for cat ovens galore.

I'll try to keep things short by ending here. Tomorrow: my observations about Jakarta on the one-week anniversary of my arrival.