Day 78: Still No Sign of the Sun

Day 77: Contrast

Only in Oxford with the City Center be this sunny and back down Alexandra road, it's foggy and dark.

Day 76: A Misty Day in Oxford.

Day 75: Strategy Essay Sunday

Because this day is a Sunday, I think you guys who actually read this blog have figured out what I did today.

Yep, that's right. I wrote an essay until 2 pm. If I wasn't as sick as I was (I'm starting to recover. I'm way better than I was last Thursday), I would have volunteered at the Gatehouse. However, I cancelled that one too for this Sunday because of the cough and the cold.

I went to mass at 5:45 and then headed back home. The picture above is taken from my window. I needed a picture and I think that describes my Sunday. Mostly nothing but paper writing.

Day 74: Vow of Silence and More Reading

Still keeping the vow of silence today. I gargled salt water that morning and left for the Bod after I had lunch. I stayed there until around 3:30 (they close at 4:00 on Saturdays). I passed by Tesco on my way home and got myself some 2 2L bottles of water. I was almost done with the one I had at home.

On my way home, I saw that sight as pictured above. I remembered smiling to myself when I saw it. Oxford is so gorgeous, even if you are coughing your lungs out and blowing your nose like you want to pull it off.

Day 73: Recovery Day

It's a Friday and I don't feel any better from yesterday. In fact, I feel worst. My head is heavy and my whole body feels like a brick. So today, I decided I was going to stay inside and read. I let go of my shift at the Rainbow House because there is no way I'm handling food when I'm blowing my nose like there's no tomorrow and I'm coughing my lungs out.

Pictured above is my survival kit: Water, Vitamin C, Kleenex, ginger, tea and cough drops. I need to get better. I spent the whole day keeping a vow of silence and reading stuff for my Strategy tutorial. I can't quite afford to just sleep. I have work to do and an essay due on Sunday. I gargled warm water with salt the night before. My voice kind of came back. Will gonna do that some more tomorrow.

Sleeping at 10:00 tonight (yep, you know I'm sick).

Day 72: “Happy Birthday to You”-<3 Laryngitis

November 11 is the day of my birth. My birthday rituals include going to mass, talking to the family, eating some form of long noodles, having cake with my friends and eating a slice of cheesecake with a latte.

Granted that I was losing my voice the night before, I woke up this morning with me being able to talk with a decibel of a whisper. Yep, laryngitis had officially taken over my whole body. I was lucky that my Marketing tutorial cancelled because if not, I wouldn't have been able to carry a conversation during our tutorial.

My day officially begun when I went to mass at 1:05 pm. There is a funny story behind mass but I'll save that for face to face conversation. Nonetheless, if you have laryngitis and the cold bug, I suggest you lug a bottle of water around. Fr. Simon gave me a birthday blessing afterwards.

I was walking towards the Bod when I saw the Thai kitchen in the Old Tom open on St. Aldate's. I don't really have an appetite. But I figure, if I can eat something from my usual birthday ritual (I can't have anything sweet or dairy because my throat is already killing me), I can eat the long noodles. Filipino tradition calls to have long noodles such as spaghetti or what we Filipinos call "pancit" for long life. I grew up with it and I've lived it every since so I walked into the place and ate Pad si eew and had some ginger/lemon tea.

I force fed myself. I was done after 2 bites. That's how sick I was. I was feeling a bit more sick by the minute. I needed to go home but I had to read for my essay due on Sunday and I also had the Adviser drinks party that night.

I headed to the Bod afterwards. When my coughing fit begun at around 5:45, I left the Bod, headed to Tesco and stocked up on ginger and cough drops.

I went to the Adviser drinks and was barely able to socialize. I can't talk and I felt bad for being a virus-carrying individual at that party. I left and headed home. I really didn't feel like celebrating. I wanted to curl up in bed and drink some ginger tea. I headed home, made myself some soup dinner and then boiled ginger tea (or, as we Filipinos call it, Salabat). I put my stuff upstairs as the ginger tea was boiling and I saw my door as pictured above, decorated by Suzanna with messages from my flatmates.

Thanks so much Suzanna, Joanne and Debra. Even if I didn't actually get to enjoy my birthday (nor was I up for it anyways) I was very happy inside. For everyone who greeted me as well. Thanks so much. Those who matter remembered and I'm so very thankful that you guys did, even if I'm way across the pond with laryngitis. :]