The worst advice I have ever been given was from a work friend who told me that it was important to build up a resistance to Indian water. The reality is, that water may or may not contain living parasites, and if it does... your life may change forever like mine did! There is no "building up a resistance" to giardia, the parasite that claimed my body as home for almost 2 years.
Armed with this awful piece of advice, we moved to India one week after our wedding. Before moving to Pune, for me to start my job their as a dance teacher, we decided to have a honeymoon in Palolem, Goa. We had a fantastic time, especially once we made friends with a couple from Catalonia, Pol and Martha.
We bonded over our desire for our countries to be independent, as well as our love for the beach dogs; this one in particular ⬇
Among the good advice I was given before moving to India was to never take ice in my drinks incase it was made from tap water. Since arriving in Goa we found that every restaurant/bar we went to was using pre packaged "clean" ice.
One night we all went for a meal together, when my drink came it was room temperature so I asked if they had clean ice. I later learnt that many Indians have a bad habit of giving you the answer they think you'd like to hear, rather than the truth. I remember looking at the rugged shap of the ice when it arrived in my drink and doubting just how clean it was.
However, I stupidly drank it, not wanting to make a fuss and believing that it was tap water ir would help ease my body into India.
I spent the next 5 days violently ill, barely able to leave our room, and unable to stomach anything except plain rice for weeks after.
This was me on the most miserable train journey of my life during this time. The "12hr journey" was infact 16hrs, I almost missed our stop because I was throwing up!
When we did arrive in Pune, Michael turned on the news to find out that our hopes and dreams had been squashed. Scotland had voted to stay in the UK. Our two Yes votes by proxy had helped make up a pretty huge minority of 45%, but sadly it just wasn't enough.
My body seemed to recoil at this news, I became as ill as I had been a week previous. We both grieved for months, somehow Scotland didn't seem like home to us at that point, and Pune definitely did not feel like home.
Broken and still ill, we found our home in the form of two small street puppies, Bella and Sulley. We saved them, but more so, they saved us!
Soon after Christmas we packed up and moved back to Goa, this time to Arambol. There we discovered the joy of vegan food, in particular raw, organic vegan food.
I stayed in India for 8 months before leaving 
Little did I know I had unintentionally brought home a whole host of little creatures back inside my body! I became so ill once back in Scotland, medical tests revealed that I had been living with parasites called Giardia, almost certainly for 9 months.
Unlike the wonderful baby that I grew inside me this past year, these parasites brought no jou and took almost a year of monthly trips to the hospital only to be told each time that the Giardia was still present and I would have to go onto another dose on antibiotics.
I soon discovered that they had caused so much damage to my intestines that I had become extremely lactose intolerant. So to had my immune system been put under so much stress that I had also developed M.E. (chronic fatigue).
At the time I was pescatarian. Giving up dairy was hard at first but after accidentally consuming lactose a couple of times I learnt very quickly that dairy was not worth the pain and I had already began to feel and see all the benefits of a dairy free diet. No more blocked synuses, the best skin I had ever had, and healthy weight loss without even trying!
Michael went from eating meat to being completely vegan over night. Inspired by this I vowed to cut out eggs and now have decided to go all the way too by cutting out fish.
I was so pleased at how supportive all midwifes were with my choice to stay vegan while pregnant. The more we learn about what eating animal products can do to you, the more I am grateful for what happened to me. I think I would still only be considering veganism now if it weren't for my lactose intolerance.
Goa ingrained a love of animals in me, I'm so proud to say that my life no longer needlessly harms any animal. The way things are going it looks like it will be very easy for our baby, Oban, to live a life free from animal abuse and death too should he choose.
This was the first dog I ever truly loved, we named her Maisie after Michael's Granny. She was bably hurt after falling off a roof trying to drink water. We fed her and helped get a vet out to see her. She would sleep outside our room and wait for us. I wish we could have saved all the dogs in need!
If steemit makes us rich we will definitely open an animal sanctuary! 🐶🐄🐑🐤🐷