Back in germany - and about to head off again!
So what's happened...?
Ah, yeah, I actually made it home after a rather shitty trip of 30 hours. Fucking pisstake, really. Everything worked out fine with the luggage, I checked it in at Cape Town and it went all the way through to London Heathrow without me having to get it on my stop-over in Jo'burg.
The flights weren't great ( I actually watched Brokeback Mountain instead of Ice Age 2 and I am soooo disapointed! What a boring movie!!!) and since my health wasn't exactly tops either I couldn't sleep at all. After I got checked about 4 (!!) times for drugs ( and that had nothing to do with the medication...must be the dreads...!)I got to Heathrow around 7.00am and because my flight from Luton to germany didn't leave until the evening and I was just tired and didn't feel like sightseeing I just went straight to the bus station to chill and wait for the coach to take me to the airport. There I had some nice brekki consisting of milk shake and muffin (which I paid a bloody fortune for - I'm still used to South African prices !) and then decided to get comfortable outside the station to catch some sun and maybe a bit of sleep. But no, I'm about to doze off again (it's around noon by now),there comes a garbage guy, screaming at me to fuck off and why I had been hanging around for hours. whether I had no home to go to or something. Ok, dreads and scruffy clothes, probably not smelling my best since it's bloody hot and I had been traveling for about 24 hours....but I didn't look homeless! I mean, I'm sitting in front of the Central Bus Station with a trolley and three bags....what the hell did he think I was doing...?! well, that's exactly what I told him. Hey, my normally calm and patient nature got a wee bit effected after all the travelling plus I just caught a London sunburn...;)
So when I finally got ot Luton ( nice - a coupla hours on the crowded coach without air con...you're not sure whether the sweat running down your arms is your neighbour's or yours...) it had started to rain and the airport flooded - which delayed our departure for another 3 hours. Then, I actually got home and Italy had kicked out Germany out of the world cup....argh!!!
Ok, I'll stop whinging now..;)
The first few days I spent seeing family and friends, getting used to European life and standards again ( I really had to adapt to this kinda luxury...a fridge full of tasty food, hot water 24/7...etc. And so many white people everywhere.), then I had a clinic appointment with the start of my IV treatment. My doc (and everyone else) was a bit surprised to see me in not that bad of a shape, considering how sick I was just 6 weeks before. And I have to say, I have never recovered from a health low that quickly but when I had the lung function the FEV1 result of 43% showed that it all did take its toll on my lungs.
Tomorrow is the last day of my IV, for the past two weeks I haven't done much execpt for trying to get better, get all kinds of test and x-rays done, sleep a whole lot (on the balcony - it's way too warm inside!) cos the antibiotic always knocks me out.
So in the arvo I'll have another clinic appointment (the IV tube has actually lasted for all of the two weeks which is a record since it normally gets infected or clogged up so I need at least 3 or 4 tubes. So here's a special thanks to my doc!!) where we'll look at another lung function, x-rays of the lung, results of the diabetis test, etc....
After all that I'm gonna catch the train to Freiburg, South Germany and afterwards Zurich, Switzerland to see some of my best friends. Really looking forward to seeing these guys since they mean a hell of a lot to me and it's been a year since we last met.
One thing I definitely realised while travelling is how important some of my friends are to me. I mean, you always meet loads of people on the trips, some of them you even keep in touch with...put there are only a few best friends, the ones who really know you and you totally trust...so yeah, I'm really happy to see some of them very soon!
In about a week's time I'll be back here in Bremen, to wash some of my clothes and properly pack for my next trip - which will be to the UK.
Yeah, "boooring...!" I hear you all scream...I see I've spoiled you all with nerve-racking stories from South Africa...
I'm planning to say in Cornwall (maybe Newqauy, a small surfer's town) until Nov/Dec, get a job and spend lots of time outside (surfing?!) exercising to improve my lungs. So one reason for going to the Uk is my health, another one is a group of friends who are from the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy...we met when we all lived in Malaga, Spain and after a year of not seeing each other we will meet at the end of August in Holland and if I already leave Europe now I won't be there.
But at the end of this year, if all goes well, I wanna head back to Australia for about three months - seeing some friends (Jaanie &Co...? that would be great!), working and escaping the European winter. I also wanna go back to South Africa and I definitely wanna see some of South America so I'll have to sort all that out later. I'm also gonna do some voluntary work again for sure!
For now I guess I'll have to take it one step at a time and at the moment I have to put my health first (Ah..I know...I sound so grown up...! haha)
So yeah, that's it for now...plan on posting after I come back from Switzerland before heading off to the UK.
xxx
Ah, yeah, I actually made it home after a rather shitty trip of 30 hours. Fucking pisstake, really. Everything worked out fine with the luggage, I checked it in at Cape Town and it went all the way through to London Heathrow without me having to get it on my stop-over in Jo'burg.
The flights weren't great ( I actually watched Brokeback Mountain instead of Ice Age 2 and I am soooo disapointed! What a boring movie!!!) and since my health wasn't exactly tops either I couldn't sleep at all. After I got checked about 4 (!!) times for drugs ( and that had nothing to do with the medication...must be the dreads...!)I got to Heathrow around 7.00am and because my flight from Luton to germany didn't leave until the evening and I was just tired and didn't feel like sightseeing I just went straight to the bus station to chill and wait for the coach to take me to the airport. There I had some nice brekki consisting of milk shake and muffin (which I paid a bloody fortune for - I'm still used to South African prices !) and then decided to get comfortable outside the station to catch some sun and maybe a bit of sleep. But no, I'm about to doze off again (it's around noon by now),there comes a garbage guy, screaming at me to fuck off and why I had been hanging around for hours. whether I had no home to go to or something. Ok, dreads and scruffy clothes, probably not smelling my best since it's bloody hot and I had been traveling for about 24 hours....but I didn't look homeless! I mean, I'm sitting in front of the Central Bus Station with a trolley and three bags....what the hell did he think I was doing...?! well, that's exactly what I told him. Hey, my normally calm and patient nature got a wee bit effected after all the travelling plus I just caught a London sunburn...;)
So when I finally got ot Luton ( nice - a coupla hours on the crowded coach without air con...you're not sure whether the sweat running down your arms is your neighbour's or yours...) it had started to rain and the airport flooded - which delayed our departure for another 3 hours. Then, I actually got home and Italy had kicked out Germany out of the world cup....argh!!!
Ok, I'll stop whinging now..;)
The first few days I spent seeing family and friends, getting used to European life and standards again ( I really had to adapt to this kinda luxury...a fridge full of tasty food, hot water 24/7...etc. And so many white people everywhere.), then I had a clinic appointment with the start of my IV treatment. My doc (and everyone else) was a bit surprised to see me in not that bad of a shape, considering how sick I was just 6 weeks before. And I have to say, I have never recovered from a health low that quickly but when I had the lung function the FEV1 result of 43% showed that it all did take its toll on my lungs.
Tomorrow is the last day of my IV, for the past two weeks I haven't done much execpt for trying to get better, get all kinds of test and x-rays done, sleep a whole lot (on the balcony - it's way too warm inside!) cos the antibiotic always knocks me out.
So in the arvo I'll have another clinic appointment (the IV tube has actually lasted for all of the two weeks which is a record since it normally gets infected or clogged up so I need at least 3 or 4 tubes. So here's a special thanks to my doc!!) where we'll look at another lung function, x-rays of the lung, results of the diabetis test, etc....
After all that I'm gonna catch the train to Freiburg, South Germany and afterwards Zurich, Switzerland to see some of my best friends. Really looking forward to seeing these guys since they mean a hell of a lot to me and it's been a year since we last met.
One thing I definitely realised while travelling is how important some of my friends are to me. I mean, you always meet loads of people on the trips, some of them you even keep in touch with...put there are only a few best friends, the ones who really know you and you totally trust...so yeah, I'm really happy to see some of them very soon!
In about a week's time I'll be back here in Bremen, to wash some of my clothes and properly pack for my next trip - which will be to the UK.
Yeah, "boooring...!" I hear you all scream...I see I've spoiled you all with nerve-racking stories from South Africa...
I'm planning to say in Cornwall (maybe Newqauy, a small surfer's town) until Nov/Dec, get a job and spend lots of time outside (surfing?!) exercising to improve my lungs. So one reason for going to the Uk is my health, another one is a group of friends who are from the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy...we met when we all lived in Malaga, Spain and after a year of not seeing each other we will meet at the end of August in Holland and if I already leave Europe now I won't be there.
But at the end of this year, if all goes well, I wanna head back to Australia for about three months - seeing some friends (Jaanie &Co...? that would be great!), working and escaping the European winter. I also wanna go back to South Africa and I definitely wanna see some of South America so I'll have to sort all that out later. I'm also gonna do some voluntary work again for sure!
For now I guess I'll have to take it one step at a time and at the moment I have to put my health first (Ah..I know...I sound so grown up...! haha)
So yeah, that's it for now...plan on posting after I come back from Switzerland before heading off to the UK.
xxx
posted by Janka @ 11:12 PM
5 comments
