Being sick in Cairo sucks!

That sandwich tasted horrible but I just chewed and swallowed. Not the best meal I’ve ever had, but whatever.

And while eating I was bragging with my friends saying “yay, in 3 months I was never sick, and I eat everything and even drink tap water! Yaaay. So cool” – So cool I went home and felt sick like hell.

I just recovered from 3 days of sorry, sorry state – so bad I promised myself “no more street food” but OF COURSE I already disobeyed (well this is another story).

And since I always think that a good sleep will fix everything – and I don’t like medicines – I tried to sleep on it, with a poor result, and ended up the morning after in an even worse way.

Being sick in Cairo sucks. And here are a couple of reasons why:

1. When you’re sick and you have to stay in bed all day long, you need a comfy bed. My bed is so uncomfortable I have bruises on my hips. Draw your own conclusions!
2. When you’re sick and every single tiny noise rumbles in your head like a thunder, you don’t want to live in Downtown Cairo. And you don’t want to live in front of a school, where they sing the national anthem every morning at 8, followed by a parade with drums and all. You dream about immense peaceful valleys and all you get is kids screaming, cars honking and a neighbor will decide to finally hang a couple of paintings.
3. When you’re sick and any smell, even the most delicate just makes you want to throw up, you don’t want to have a broiled fish shop downstairs. With a loud, long queue. And a strong pungent disgusting smell. (no, it’s not disgusting but that’s what it looks like when you just want air to be odorless and you find yourself in the smoke of a fish barbecue)
4. When you’re sick and you have to run to the toilet, you don’t want to have just one bathroom and 3 more flatmates. You want an immaculate private bathroom, full-optional. With a nice pine scent. But guess what? We have 1 bathroom, we are 4 girls (=hours in the bathroom for makeup and all), and… THE WC DIDN’T FLUSH. They fixed it this morning, when I was fine. Just in time huh?
5. When you’re sick and you don’t eat for 3 days, and you start feeling very weak and crave some (dry) food, you just want to call your mom and ask her to bring, say, some breadsticks home. But no-one is going to do that and you certainly don’t feel like going out on your own, all the way to the supermarket just to buy breadsticks and end up more sick than before.
6. When you’re sick and you just want to call your doctor, call your mom or just suck your thumb, but you are far from home, yes you’ll certainly feel lonely and abandoned. But guess what, I have good news!

Good news:

1. Medicines in Cairo are super cheap (and you can buy a single tablet or a single blister if you don’t need the whole box – which is super duper cool).
2. Friends in Cairo are super good (but I knew this before), and they will take care of you. I’m not the kind of person who asks for help. My flatmates didn’t even realize I was sick. I was just staying in my room and made short appearances just to use the toilet. But a very good friend of mine didn’t hear from me for 2 days and got worried. He called to check up on me. He found out I was sick and even if I told him I didn’t need anything, he showed up with some tablets and fruit juice. And I suddenly felt better. He saved me… Thanks Mohammed (aka Mido) : )

What can I say… A new experience, yay! I keep adding experiences to my life! Joyful joyful!