Pneumonia

Sorry for the lack of updates this past week… we’ll get to the reason why I haven’t updated shortly (although if you read the title of the blog you probably figured it out already).

Martes el 4 de octubre – día 79

Both of my classes today were canceled, which was good because I really needed to study for my exam, which is literally what I did the entire day. 

Clarisa and I had pasta for dinner then I studied more and went to bed.

I was still feeling a little sick but better than before.

Miercoles el 5 de octubre

Wednesday I got up and studied before heading off to meet Ludi for empanadas, and so I could borrow her camera for my UCA class. 

For class we went on a field trip to this museum with a really cool exhibit.  I can’t really explain it other than to say it was like a giant playground attached to the ceiling, and I felt like I was a little kid again, it was fantastic!  Here are the pictures!

Waiting in line to get in!

Afterward we headed to the ecological reserve here in Buenos Aires.  Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to actually see anything other than a few yards from the entrance, but I plan on going back on my own because it’s not far from UCA.

Group of adorable kids on a field trip

After the ecological reserve we stopped at a statue which our teacher explained was originally supposed to go in la plaza de mayo but it features *gasp* naked women and there were rumors that the sculptor was *gasp* a lesbian, so the powers at be decided to put in this little our of the way corner in the city where pretty much no one would see it.  

This is a complete side note, but I find it so inspiring that Argentina has come such a long way, you know, a hundred or so years ago statues of naked women were banned to the middle of nowhere in the city and now  in 2011 women are stripping down to their birthday suits on national television on "Bailando por un sueno" (the Argentine version of Dancing With The Stars) http://gawker.com/5846473/woman-gets-completely-naked-on-argentinas-dancing-with-the-stars (thanks for the link Brad).  Now yes, this was the first week that someone has gotten completely naked on the show, however this does not mean it was not pornographic in previous weeks.  On any given week (ok, so I've only seen 5 minute clips twice, but believe me, that was enough) the show contains all the women in thongs and all of the dances mimicking sex acts (think the Adam Lambert oral sex fiasco of a few years ago but multiplied by 100).  There is absolutely no way in hell that the show would be allowed to air on basic cable in the US.  My how times have changed (please note this was entirely sarcastic, and I realize Argentina has indeed evolved, female President, minimum requirement for women in congress etc etc).

I headed home to do some more studying before dinner (pastel de papas) with Clarisa and Lu.  Afterward I did some more studying then went to bed.

I still had a cough but was feeling a lot better.

Jueves el 6 de octubre

Today I woke up feeling slightly worse than the previous few days but I had a test to take that evening so I got up and did some last minute studying before heading  to my USAL lit class. 

We got our second essay assignment back, which I (and everyone else in my program) did well on, then discussed Martín Fierro.   I left class during our break so I wouldn’t be late to my exam and so that I had about an hour to look over things.

I got to UBA and I wasn’t feeling the greatest, but I was one of the first people at the classroom so I found a chair that actually had a desk attached (instead of the majority of the chairs where the desks are broken off) and looked over my notes for a little.  When the teachers got there (surprisingly on time) they told us the tests hadn’t been delivered because they weren’t printed yet (why am I not surprised).  After about 15 minutes we got our exams.  The test was only 9 questions, 4 short answer/essay, 4 multiple choice, and 1 fill in the blank.  I wasn’t feeling all that confident after the test, I knew some of the questions, but others I completely blanked on.

I walked to the bus stop and then rode home.  I felt like crap so I went upstairs for a little before dinner.  Clarisa called me down for milanesa and salad.  I ate some but wasn’t very hungry.  After dinner I felt terrible so I went to bed.

Viernes el 7 de octubre

Today I woke up feeling absolutely terrible.  However, it was raining, and since I didn’t want to go out in the rain when I was already sick I decided to wait and see if would clear off before going to the doctor.  As the day progressed I felt worse and the rain kept up.  I decided to get a shower, take a nap, then go to the doctor.

After my shower I was feeling dizzy, Clarisa said I didn’t look good so maybe she should call the doctor to come to the house.  When she called him and told him my symptoms he said I should come to the office so he could do a chest x-ray if necessary.  Clarisa had bronchitis so she didn’t want to leave the house to take me to the doctor, so she called IFSA.

Raquel came over and took me to the doctor in a taxi.  He asked me the usual questions, listened to me breathe, and then told me I needed a chest x-ray to confirm it, but he thought I had pneumonia.  After my x-ray (which he gave me to keep… why I would want it I’m not sure) he told me I definitely had pneumonia.  He prescribed me 2 antibiotics, claritromycin and amoxiclav, or at least that's what google translate and wikipedia tell me the English translations are, (1 of which he had samples of so I didn’t have to buy, yay!) and an inhaler (which I also didn’t have to buy) and told me to get plenty of rest.

We left the doctor’s office, went to a pharmacy to get my pills, and then took a taxi home.  I had a little soup, took my first dose of medicine, and then slept for pretty much the next 18 hours.

Sabado el 8 de octubre

While I was feeling marginally better I laid in bed all day watching TV, only leaving my room to eat (soup for lunch and a potato for dinner).

Domingo el 9 de octubre

Sunday I actually felt somewhat like a human being again, so I got out of bed and straightened my room a little bit then did some homework at my desk.  I still didn’t do much, but was just thankful I felt better.  For dinner Clarisa made me some pumpkin and rice. 

Lunes el 10 de octubre

Today marks exactly 2 months until my flight home… that seems absolutely ridiculous to me, I can’t believe it!

I did some more studying today, but not much else.  For lunch Clarisa made me some chicken and a tomato salad.  Then I caught up on more work.  Clarisa went to the cine tonight with a friend so I had soup for dinner, and now I'm off to bed.

Besos,

Taylor

Random Photo:

Lovely little store a few blocks from my house