whine

I still have a cough, which gets really bad at night. Going to make taking a night bus to Beograd reaaaaally fun. Not. Apparently there is no such thing as good cough syrup in Eastern Europe. I havetried two different ones and niether does anything to either help me sleep or stop coughing. I really miss the stuff wth codine I got at the student health center. I would even settle for some Robitussin.

I do not cough for my own amusement

Today I went to the hospital. I know that sounds rather drastic but when I asked the lady at the hotel desk about a doctor she sent me there. I was pretty nervous about going to urgent care because it was always a disaster when i went there with mom, but it wasn't bad at all. Mostly just a few old ladies with nosebleeds. There were very kind and saw me right away, shuffling me back and forth listening to me and taking x-rays to make sure I didn't have pneumonia, then the doctor wrote out pages long list of prescriptions. It cost about $60 to get them all but one that the pharmacy didn't have, but I can't really complain because the visit didn't cost anything. I suppose I might get sent a bill later, a Brit told me that happened to him once after a hospital stay in France ( he never paid it) but it seems unlikely, they didn't take my address or anything, just where was I from and did I have insurance. When I expressed concern about this to the hotel lady she said it was free of charge. I know that most EU countries have reciprocal health care agreements but I explained I wasn't from an EU country. "So what?" she said. "It's urgent care." As easy as that, even in one of the poorest countries in Europe. I didn't even have to bribe the doctor with coffee like Susie did. The hospital was old-fashioned, with a few concessions to modernity, but not too many. The x-ray machine was almost like an amusement park ride. I had to stand on it and it moved around. I kept thinking it was what one of my war hospitals might look like, minus all the casualties of course.

I have read a ton of books. I finished a chick lit and The Professor, and today devoured the whole of The History of Love, which was great. But I am tired of laying in bed reading and I am ready to be better! I am going to Sighisoara tomorrow if it kills me!

10 points to the first person to place the title quote. No cheating.

Bitten by a vampire?

Anyone who has been feeling jealous of me can stop now and start feeling pity! I'm come down with an awful bug and I am stuck in Bucharest paying my daily budget for a cheap hotel room so I can rest in peace and quiet and not spend my germs to a hostel full of people. Plus Bucharest is surprisingly overbooked, go figure. I'll tell the whole story (its not very exciting but it does involve getting a ride from policemen) some other time when I am not feeling so sick from spending half an hour in an internet cafe trying to sort out my bank accounts. Who know so many things could go wrong at once! Probably my own fault for being so unprepared.

It is no fun being sick on holiday. There are no such things as make being sick bearable and even somewhat pleasant: no big comfy bed, no kitties, no new Nora Roberts books, no friends to coerce into bringing me jamba juice--in face, no jamba juice. True, Ben did bring me juice and water and crackers last night, but he's gone on to Brasov today, sick of expensive Bucharest and no place to stay anyway. I'm hoping to feel well enough to join him there tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath. I suppose its my own fault for not eating enough veggies, drinking enough water, taking my vitamins more regularly. No one could eve accuse me of not sleeping enough but I have had my share of long nights. It looks like I'll be taking it pretty easy for the rest of my trip. So much for a frantic vampire hunt!