I've Been Sick

As is common with any large group of students living together, someone invariably brings some form of disease with them to spread to the rest of the community. Of course, this time around, someone brought the flu with them from the states, and of course, I had to catch it. This past week has been my first time sick in a different country, and the way I was taken care of is distincly different from the states. For starters, I saw the officials at FORSPRO for some guidance. They recommended I wait until the morning unless I felt really sick, since the clinics in Spain are more or less packed full after the early morning. Since I didn't feel like waiting that long, I opted to see the clinic in the morning if I still felt horrible. In the meantime, since I had no medicines and many physical issues, we headed to the pharmacy to get some meds. The pharmacies here have a little of everything available, such as pain meds, medical supplies, and even some mild antibiotics available over the counter, if one really needs them. On the reverse side, the grocery stores, unlike the US, have little or no medical supplies. Anyway, I got something akin to Tylenol for the fever, but more of the horsepill sized variety, and two other pills for the issues at either end. As I laid down to rest after walking half a block to the pharmacy and back, La Profe, in her kindness, was willing to go to the store and pick up some water and Aquarius Limòn (Spanish Gatorade) for me. After a few days, I began to feel better, and after a week I was back to my old self again.