I've been soooooo unbearably sick for the past week and a half, but I am finally back in my dorm and relaxing. I'm coughing up a storm, but the worst is over now!
Something that really sucks about communal living is the fact that you're pretty much sharing the same airspace with the people you live with all the time. So when one person is sick, it is bound to spread. At least misery loves company.
I was trying to hold out for the week because there was a really awesome lecture in Anthro last Thursday that I dragged myself out of bed to see, and I'm really glad I did because it was awesome. It was by a woman named Tingting, a former student at Rutgers who is hard of hearing. She explained in detail some special aspects of deaf culture, and how sign language is very complex. Even the direction your palm is facing can make a huge difference in meaning.
I felt soooooo horribly dizzy at the end of the lecture though that I just hauled butt back to my dorm and slept for the rest of the day, croaking like a frog because of laryngitis. Being the dedicated person that I am though, I went out to dance rehearsal at night as an attempt to sweat out the fever. It didn't help with the fever, but it was fun to learn new choreography for the Rutgers Performing Dance Company Spring Showcase in April! I woke up on Friday feeling even worse but my fever broke. I felt too terrible to do anything during the day, but I kept pushing because I had paid for tickets to see Stomp! at the State Theatre with my Latin teacher from high school and really close friend Manika, both of whom fell just as sick as I did! I found two other people to go with and enjoyed an AMAZING show--music was made on anything ordinary, like pipes, trashcans, and metal signs. Who knew? Nothing stops the music! I also felt good being in the company of people of old friends. I hear good company can do wonders for recovery!
The weekend was painfully slow. Manika came by with yummy vegetable soup before she left to go home, and because I was too stubborn to go home (let's face it, every time I'm home I just laze around and do nothing) but too sick to crawl outside in the coldness for food from the DCC, I had a steady diet of vegetable soup, poetry, and orange juice. I probably should have surrendered and called home, but I am a true trooper! I decided if I still felt horrible on Monday I'd call home--and lo and behold, my fever came back and my cough was still painful, so I put the white flag up and called home. Before I left for college my mom packed two huge tubs of medication for me, so I thought I was pretty well-equipped for my battle!
My parents were at my dorm within thirty minutes, and soon I got to tuck myself into my comfortable bed at home and eat delicious homemade soup instead of that microwaveable crap I had for a week straight. It was nice to only have to walk downstairs for food and tea instead of braving the elements outside. I was put on antibiotics and better cough syrup and forced myself to translate Catullus while slurping soup. I had to email all my professors and tell them why I was a no-show once again, but they were all more than understanding and accommodating. I missed an exam while I was still feverish and I am making it up next week. Phewwwww. Even though these Professors have super human intelligence and capacities for knowledge, they are still human beings and many of them have accute parental instincts :]
Being on the right medication is making the world of a difference right now!
I'm really grateful right now that Rutgers is so close to my home--it's easy for me to go home if I need to or want to, but just the right distance to be independent living on campus.
It sucks to get sick at school, having to miss class, and take care of yourself when you're just so weak and tired. I just want to say that I loveee my dormmates. We've had an equal exchange of medicine, tea, and meal-swiped food going on for a while. I also want to give a special shout out to my roommate who has had to deal with my illness at its worst and helped me fight the battle with soup and take-out from Neilson. There is no way I would have made it out without their help--thanks!
Wednesdays is one of my freer days, so I'm glad I came back now to ease into things after not being in class for a week.
It's a good night to catch up on homework and listen to the Third Eye Blind station on Pandora Radio before my interview tonight to become a Douglass Red Pine Ambassador--excitement!
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