October 24, 2010
Sickness Overseas
Couch
Could I have some more ibuprofen please?
It started with a sore throat the Saturday before last and has lasted until now. Cough. Cough. It’s actually more like a Hack, Hack with a lot of flem in the background. Maybe it’s because I’ve been sick or maybe it’s my new hatred of traveling to McDonalds just to get on the Internet, or maybe it’s because nothing really exciting has happened since my last post. I know, it’s not an excuse, so here we go.
The Saturday before last, Tad and I decided to go to Salobrena despite the weather. We happened to miss our bus and while we waited at the bus station for another hour I took some pictures (pictures below) while hoping that my sore throat would go away. Once we got to Salobrena we started the hike up the steep roads to the castle at the top of the town. As we were following the signs to the castle we happened to stumble upon a Spanish wedding. It was hard to get a good view, but we got the end of the wedding on video, including the rice being thrown and fireworks, which made me and Tad jump like preteens at a horror flick. Watch the camera jump at the end.
Once we finally got up to the Castle it was just closing for siesta. Go figure. Instead of heading home I convinced Tad to stay until it reopened. Unfortunately the rain got to us first and we made our way home in the cold rain which I’m assuming didn’t help my situation. Actually I’m blaming the cold rain for the last week I have had to endure. Cough. Cough.
Getting sick abroad is like pooping in the woods. Actually I have never pooped in the woods so I don’t know what that’s like but I’m assuming getting sick abroad is a lot like it. It sucks and it’s it makes you miss home. Going to the doctor abroad is challenging all in itself as well. Luckily Mon was a Spanish holiday so I stayed home eating ibuprofen like it was Pez. Tuesday I went to school and with half of a voice I tried to teach English. Wednesday rolled along and surprise-surprise I feel ten times worse and took the day off of work to find a doctor to write me a prescription for an antibiotic.
THE EUROPEAN HELATH CARE!!! That’s all I have to say about that. Without going into the details I finally, after hours of waiting, searching, trying, speaking spanglish, and with the help of my roommate Emily we finally found a doctor (I think that is what she was). She looked at my throat and asked me what my symptoms were and in less than five minutes I had a prescription for three different medicines, one of them being an antibiotic. YAY! Finally, some drugs to make me live forever. Ok maybe they were magical immortal pills, but they sure made me feel better. Cough. Cough. Unfortunately the cough has not subsided.
Because I was taken ill all week long I was unable to join my roommates on Thursday for the weekend trip to Granada. I finally met them on Saturday for Emily’s birthday and I stayed in my first Hostal, which took 3 hours to find. We went out for a few drinks and sadly my tour of Granada was in the dark with a haze caused by fermented beverages but I still had a great time. I’m definitely going to have to make my way back to see the Alhambra which my roommates toured while I was at home still feeling like death.
Despite getting sick and missing out on some fun times, my job here in Spain is wonderful. The school I teach at is great! I have so much fun with all the kids, and the teachers at the school are so helpful and are so patient with me when I’m trying to speak my spanglish. I promise my next post will include pictures of all my classes and a video of them. Till next time.
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