Being Taken Care Of

So, I may or may not have strep throat. I woke up on Monday morning with a killer sore throat and tonsils that looked like they were covered in snow. I slept through our morning worship but made it to the day's lectures. I took a bunch of Tylenol but my throat, ears and body hurt. Later that day I was supposed to wash the lunch and dinner dishes but my partner, Max graciously told me I didn't have to. I spent most of the afternoon sleeping, calling my nurse mom and looking up my condition on web MD. I pretty much laid around for the rest of the day.

The next morning my throat still hurt. I started to get worried it was strep throat, which is contagious. I live with a bunch of people in a small space and some of my fellow students have small kids. I didn't want to get anyone sick so I made a doctor appointment. I was supposed to make dinner that night but my partner, Michelle offered to do it by herself. Luckily there wasn't too much to do. After taking yet another nap, I went to the doctor. She was nice and said I might have strep. She did a throat culture, gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. Unfortunately the whole experience cost me $200. I do feel better that I did see a doctor and got medicine, though. I would have felt really bad if I got anyone else sick. When I got back home, they didn't make me go to our nightly activity. I got to rest more.

One thing I have noticed from my brief illness is that people are a lot nicer here than at my old job. I guess this is to be expected from a bunch of Christians but it's still touching. There were times at my old job when I would be really sick and ask to go home and get denied. Also people didn't really cut you any slack if you were sick. My friends cared but not many other people. Here, people went out of their way to help me, asking if there was anything they could do, getting me orange juice, taking over my responsibilities, etc. I wish everyone was like these people. I think the world would be a much nicer place.