Sondang Grace Sirait I was sitting in the waiting room of a local hospital lab when I received my not-so-sweet welcome-home surprise. I’d undergone a blood test two hours earlier and was holding tightly the piece of paper containing my results. I unfolded the page and read the information printed on the green-over-white paper. It said typhus.

After spending the last three years in the United States, I’d been back in Indonesia for just three weeks — and this news certainly was not the homecoming gift I’d dreamed of. I was somewhat relieved to find why I had felt so ill for the past few days — but any respite was short-lived. Consider yourself lucky, my doctor said. I’ve had patients who had asthma attacks as soon as they got out of the airport, after returning home from abroad. It took you three weeks before you got sick.

I forced a faint smile. Luck would not let the lucky go through days of high fever, headaches, nausea and stomach problems, would it? What also baffled me was that no-one in my circle of family and friends seemed shocked. Take my brothers, for example, both of whom spent many years in the U.S. before relocating to Indonesia some time ago. Apparently they too were diagnosed with typhus upon their return to Indonesia.

And their illnesses were blamed by their respective doctors — as was my case — on unhygienic food. But their take on my diagnosis was simple. They said, Don’t worry, that’s just Indonesia’s way of welcoming you home . Which is ironic. That the excitement of being home is joined so easily with the reality of becoming very sick. As a food lover, I thoroughly enjoy trying the seemingly endless local delicacies Indonesia can offer — be it on the streets, from malls or five-star hotels.