I'm not sure how much I emphasized it, but basically last winter I was sick from the first week in November until I went home and went to the doctor right before Christmas. Most of spring also involved more respiratory infection fun. I did have health insurance but with a hospital that looked like it should belong in a movie about a war-torn country and good medical care far away in Tbilisi, I decided it was best not to go to the doctor. I ran through the OTC meds I had brought and a friend gave me fairly quickly and after that just learned to suck it up and drink lots of tea. It got old quickly, but I realized that teaching small children in a country where washing your hands and other basics of public health were iffy meant that I was just going to have to get used to being sick. (OK, to be fair, there are cold meds in Georgia, but basically any form of healthcare in Georgia terrified me and seemed worse than simply letting my immune system do its duty.)
Apparently I did. When I got sick earlier this semester, it took 2 weeks and obvious sinus infection symptoms to make me drag myself to the health center, where I needed no appointment and only a $10 co-pay (since, you know, I pay a few hundred dollars a year for the service, but that's another matter). In the meantime, a wonderful friend and neighbor had given me her collection of OTC cold medicine so I didn't have to get my own, because I probably would not have bothered. When those drugs ran out, I bought more, although I was disappointed not to find my favorite Robitussin Cold, Cough and Flu.
I'm sick again. I felt it Friday morning but ignored it, simply drinking even more tea than normal. And doing things like ice skating, because, you know, that's great for sore throats. Yesterday I laid around, drinking more tea and finishing my honey. Only running out of honey (and the fact that I already had to leave the house to go to church) compelled me to go to the grocery store to get more honey, lemon, and cold medicine. Now that it has kicked in, I'm starting to wonder why I didn't do this sooner, like yesterday, or Friday. It would have been a much better form of procrastinating writing my last lit paper EVER than the forms I chose. Regardless, I apparently have decided that sucking it up and drinking tea is a better form of dealing with being sick than getting medicine and feeling better.
It's funny how quickly some experiences can wipe out a lifetime of habits and "common sense".
If only I was back in a culture where little packs of tissue could be bought anywhere for mere pennies, since, you know, I've now used up all my tissues but didn't buy them at the store today. I suppose I'll take being in a culture where the toilet paper is soft and basically the same as a tissue instead of thick, gray crepe paper...
And yes, this is another form of procrastination from finishing that stupid lit paper.
Apparently I did. When I got sick earlier this semester, it took 2 weeks and obvious sinus infection symptoms to make me drag myself to the health center, where I needed no appointment and only a $10 co-pay (since, you know, I pay a few hundred dollars a year for the service, but that's another matter). In the meantime, a wonderful friend and neighbor had given me her collection of OTC cold medicine so I didn't have to get my own, because I probably would not have bothered. When those drugs ran out, I bought more, although I was disappointed not to find my favorite Robitussin Cold, Cough and Flu.
I'm sick again. I felt it Friday morning but ignored it, simply drinking even more tea than normal. And doing things like ice skating, because, you know, that's great for sore throats. Yesterday I laid around, drinking more tea and finishing my honey. Only running out of honey (and the fact that I already had to leave the house to go to church) compelled me to go to the grocery store to get more honey, lemon, and cold medicine. Now that it has kicked in, I'm starting to wonder why I didn't do this sooner, like yesterday, or Friday. It would have been a much better form of procrastinating writing my last lit paper EVER than the forms I chose. Regardless, I apparently have decided that sucking it up and drinking tea is a better form of dealing with being sick than getting medicine and feeling better.
It's funny how quickly some experiences can wipe out a lifetime of habits and "common sense".
If only I was back in a culture where little packs of tissue could be bought anywhere for mere pennies, since, you know, I've now used up all my tissues but didn't buy them at the store today. I suppose I'll take being in a culture where the toilet paper is soft and basically the same as a tissue instead of thick, gray crepe paper...
And yes, this is another form of procrastination from finishing that stupid lit paper.
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