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| My "romantic" dinner setting. Fortunately I enjoy my own company |
As much as it is my intention to blog every day, or close to that, every now and then life just conspires to mess up my best-laid plans...
Firstly, what with being sick, I just haven’t had the energy to write engaging, witty posts (hopefully some of the pictures have made up for the lack of well-written words), and then yesterday evening, while writing a post in my head on my way home I was caught in a huge, violent thunderstorm. I was soaked instantly and arrived at the guesthouse looking something like a drowned lemur. I had a quick shower and then the power went out – on our whole side of the city (as a result of the storm, not me taking a shower). It never returned.
All I could do was have a half-percolated lukewarm cup of coffee and then sit down to a romantic supper by candlelight ... on my own. But it was a pretty good supper – piping hot Moussaka, salad and a home-made pie and ice cream. And with no power, all I could then do was wait for a few tardy guests to arrive, get them safely installed in their rooms and head to bed.
P.S. (This is for the benefit of my mother). I spent much of Monday morning at the local Lutheran Maternity ward, which just happens to have a functioning X-ray machine. I did feel a bit out of place amongst all of the pregnant ladies, and snot-nosed children, but I eventually had my chest x-rayed from a multitude of aspects to see if there was anything worse than just allergies causing all of my coughing. Eventually the doctor called me into his rooms, looking most perplexed. I half expected him to tell me I was in my second trimester.
He asked me if I was a smoker. “No,” I answered. “Never have, and I would never do that to the baby...” (I thought of answering). He then asked if I was a drinker. (I’m not sure of the relevance seeing as he hadn’t x-rayed my liver). “No,” I again answered. He pointed out my lungs on the x-rays, indicating what was normal, and then showed me a band stretching all the way up the lungs, that “was a big big problem,” to use his words.
“What’s the problem,” I asked. “I don’t know!” was his disconcerting answer, “but this is not normal.”
I then spoke to my doctor, the American specialist from the 7th Day Adventist Clinic across town, who still believes that Tana’s pollution and my mouldy house are causing most of my breathing/coughing issues (which could explain why my lungs look like a smoker’s). He’s not around right now, but on Friday morning I’ll head across town once again for him to interpret the “big big problem” for himself... In the meantime I’m breathing much better since using a surgeon’s mask while navigating the traffic on my bike, and since I’ve moved into the guesthouse and out of mould-central at my home (which I have now given notice on, and will be moving out of next month). I have a new home to move into from next month – one where my windows can stay open all day, and I can enjoy breathing fresh air all night long. Ahhhh...
Now if only the electricity would return.
