Reganing my zen

Being sick is not fun.  It's making it hard to maintain my zen.  But I think I took some positive steps today!


I'm glad I've been blogging.  Of course, it's a really nice way to share my adventure with everyone.  But it's also a way for me to reflect on the best / most interesting parts of each day and to remember them.  I just checked my last few entries.  Yep, each day has had something fun or interesting in it.  I want to remember that!! Because it also feels like I've been sick for a while and not fully able to do everything I want to.  And that sucks!   But I'm hopeful that I'll feel better very soon and I can be my usual self again.

Basically, my lungs feel congested.  I can't breathe deep without coughing, a mostly dry cough.  And I feel tired.  Likely from not breathing well, and worrying about it.

On Saturday, I tried two things to make myself better.  I went to see a "magnetismo" healer because a few. friends here swear by it, and I felt it was worth a try.  If nothing else, it would be an interesting experience.  Unfortunately, I don't think it helped.  After going, I read more about magnetismo. It's not really supported by science. Maybe I needed to believe a little more to make it effective?  On Saturday, I also bought some anti-histamine and an expectorant, thinking I might be having an allergic reaction to mold and I need to cough out the yucky stuff. It's been very humid here lately.  Nope.  They weren't much help either.

So today, I went to the same hospital that so kindly helped us find Christine's medicine on Friday.  After taking my vital signs, listening to my heart and lungs, and examining the colour of the yuck I coughed up, the doctor concluded that it's just a virus.  Not much different from our flu at home.  So he prescribed buckets of fluid, ibuprofin to reduce the brochial irritation, and medicines to help me stop coughing but cough up the yuck.  Isn't that contradictory???  But he said I don't have any bacterial infection in my lungs because I have no fever and very limited good colour yuck.  Yay!

After seeing the doctor and before class, I took another step to find my zen.  I was super tired, but. really just wanted to be near the ocean.  So I packed up my school things, biked to the water front, found a small patch of sand, and slept.  My sand spot was kinda downtown.  Not in an area where people would do that kind of thing.  So it was a little "hippy" of me do to it.  That felt just fine!!

Photos
#1 - a eucalyptus sucker and small container of Vicks Vapour Rub that Elaina, the caretaker at Casa Mandarina gave to me.  So incredibly sweet of her!  The rub is pronounced "va (like vavoom), po (like police) rub (like room with a b at the end instead of the m)  priceless!
#2 - Elaina.  She frequently over estimates my Spanish, but she's very sweet!
#3 my medicines.  it looks worse than it is...
#4 - my nap space today.  perfect!  in such a hippy way!!!