In Case of Emergency...Go to the New Alia International Hospital

The weather has quickly gone from warm, slightly humid and always sunny to very hot, dry and always sunny. I do LOVE this weather, but it’s taking its toll on my body: my face has decided that it will deal with this climate by breaking out…Lovely. As a result, I don’t stop drinking water. I have low energy levels and my desire to be outside has definitely waned. I’m not the only one to feel this way. The streets, which are usually packed with people, are almost deserted. So what is there to do in Kuwait when the weather is like this? Shop or be anywhere air conditioned! Many people are in the midst of preparing to leave for vacation and since Ramadan begins in the beginning of July and lasts until the beginning of August, I can’t imagine that there will be a lot of people in Kuwait during the summer. However, this weather never dampens the spirits for long! Last weekend my roomie and I went to a get together at my good Georgian friend’s place for good food, laughs and catching-up with my old co-workers. It was very nice!

My roomie and I didn’t want to show up to the gathering empty-handed, so we bought a HUGE chocolate cake from Mr. Baker (I like their desserts!). It seemed like A LOT of people shared our sentiments and we ended up with the chocolate cake, donuts, mini cakes and a homemade banana cake. We chatted, but after eating waaay too much and facing a bit of a walk home, my roomie and I excused ourselves and tried to enjoy the walk home. I didn't eat the chocolate cake or donuts, so I can't vouch for them, but the other pastries and banana cake were DELICIOUS! The banana cake was definitely my favourite!!!

 The cakes displayed at Mr. Baker!

 This was just a sample of the food my Georgian friend cooked! The lone dessert in the middle of the top row (the banana cake, which doesn't look like much, was awesome!).

This week has been absolute chaos at work as I have tried to prep lessons, prep quizzes, mark homework and write a reading and writing exam. I tried to squeeze five days of work into four (it’s a three-day weekend), quite unsuccessfully. Instead of leaving work at work, I ended up taking piles of it home and became irritable as a result. The Irish chef braved coming over for a visit while I was in my moody state and suggested I go to the doctor because he noticed I hadn’t been feeling well for the last week and a half. I honestly should have gone as soon as I felt sick, but I’m stubborn AND lack medical insurance. WHAT??? Yeah, don’t even get me started! Returning home permanently is VERY attractive on days like these.

I hauled my sad and sorry butt out of bed this morning at 4:30am when I couldn’t handle the discomfort anymore. While I had to pay a whomping FIFTY-SIX kwd to have tests done, I was in and out in less than 35 minutes. Say what?!? Yes. I swear, the hospital's parking lot is virtually empty on weekends and holidays, but on weekdays it's packed. Coincidence? Anyway, I paid through the nose (56kwd=200+CAD), but I had to go. As someone who has NEVER had to pay for healthcare I'm sure it's easy to understand why it was so unappealing to pay to go to emerg...The Irish chef coaxed me into going, especially since I know there’s something wrong with me. I have been losing weight rapidly and I haven’t been feeling like myself (crampy, no energy, no appetite, not happy in general). The female doctor was great and I didn’t have to argue my case to have her listen to me about what I think is wrong with me. Don’t get me wrong, my doctor in Canada is AMAZING! I love her to pieces and the idea of seeing another doctor is very undesirable, but I have heard horror stories of Canadian doctors not listening to their patients and, as a result, misdiagnosing them (I was a patient of such care as a child and almost died as a result. My doctor at that time and the hospital were never charged or even verbally reprimanded. Canada, I have mixed feelings about you sometimes.).

The doctor made me do some tests and, of course, it was just my luck: I had to do blood work. WTF??? Ugh, I didn’t know why I would have to do blood work and asked her why I should do this. She told me that because I have had the symptoms for over a week the severity of my problem could be quite high. Uh, what? I’ve had the same problem in Canada and NEVER heard this before…There wasn’t another doctor around to give a second opinion, so I dragged myself to the lab and did some tests. Thank GOD the needle for extracting blood was thin! The poor lab technician! She kept reminding me to breathe. WHO needs to be reminded to breathe?!? The test results will be back soon. In the meantime, I’m already taking meds…This is sooo NOT the way things would be done in Canada. Anyhow, I feel a bit better (I mean I’m blogging, aren’t I?), but my tummy is NOT a happy camper. So much for an awesome long weekend L  I guess for now I’ll keep reading (I finished all of my work on Wednesday after work). I may go next door to Toot&Mish (what kind of name is that????) for some juice. People love their juice here!

I apologize for not blogging much lately, but I really haven’t been feeling well and so I haven’t even been on my laptop much at all. Hopefully this health issue will all be sorted out soon!