My luck is really not with it lately. Having convinced myself that I can take care of myself and that I don’t get ill easily, over the past week or so my health has rapidly deteriorated. All the fatigure and the stresses from the past few months has boiled over just as Christmas week approached ending me up in the state I find myself today.

First of all it was the sore throat and the concussion-esque symptoms. The following day was the severe stomach pains, which I initially thought was just hunger. Lastly, today I find myself wearing an eye patch.

The stomach pain has been put on the back burner for now – I’m sure it’s still there but there are more pressing matters. I recently started noticing that my eyes were quite sore and that they would occasionally go a bit cloudy. Despite those signs I continued to wear my contact lenses believing that my eyes would push through it and settle each day; I was wrong.

After my driving lesson and the quick stop to buy some ski-wear for the coming season, I decided to pop out my contact lenses as they continued to feel uncomfortable; that decision was the final step in the destruction of my eyes. I half blindly managed to get myself back home, but after dropping off my shopping, I realised that I should visit A&E as it felt pretty bad.

Unfortunately, Japan does not have the NHS, and I soon realised the inefficiencies and inconveniences of a paid health service. Having grabbed a taxi to the nearest hospital, I find out that they were in their end-of-year break and that no doctors were around. The staff there were completely unhelpful and I paced up and down the pavement outside considering my options.

Finally, I ended up at an eye clinic run by one of my mum’s old friends, where I was swiftly told that my eyes were scratched all over. The image they showed me looked worse than sandpaper. Apparently, soft contact lenses soften the feelings of the eyeball being scratched and that once they are removed the pain hits you like a steam train – that was the feeling I had when I decided to remove my contact lenses outside the sports store…. I couldn’t open my left eye and my right eye could barely be opened either.

Seriously, so far, this winter season has totally sucked. I mean, I don’t mind going to work and I really appreciate all the birthday messages, and the drinks, but all the other crap besides that has been pretty awful. The collapsing health, the lack of a turkey dinner, presents, family…. very low key, but more low than key than I would have liked!

Having said that, as I mentioned the other day, I really enjoyed the Christmas drinks I had and I’m truly thankful that our paths crossed. I’m also extremely thankful for the birthday lunch, which was super expensive but top class!

I guess despite the mess I find myself in, I’m thankful for all the small things that have brightened up my week!

I’m back from Peru. Actually, I’ve been back since Sunday morning, and technically I left Peru on Friday. I have so many stories to tell you about my time in Peru but as I don’t really know where to begin, I’ll start somewhere completely different.

The first time I sat in front of my computer when I got back, I felt extremely odd. I basically hadn’t really used it since pre-Vegas, with the few days prior to Peru not really making much impact. It was strange knowing that the only thing that I really needed to do was check my email, and even that wasn’t essential. I’m no longer a student, so all emails from the department aren’t important, and I’m not yet employed so there won’t really be anything there. When I find a spare moment from all the unpacking and packing I’ve been doing, I’ve found that there’s still a massive chunk of time that previously I won’t while away in front of the computer. Now, I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading. Books.

Books are a wonderful thing. I’ve pretty much read 3 novels in the past month, which I probably more than the last year as a whole. I mean, the initial reason was to pass the time on the plane and at the airport – there was a hell a lot of hours spent at airports – but now I seem to read whenever I can’t find something to do on my computer. I’m not sure how long it’ll last, the whole reading thing, but it’s a nice alternative to wasting away the hours watching tv eps on my comp. Hmm.

Another thing I’ve found is that my hair has barely grown since I left for Peru and probably Vegas. My hair grows at a phenomenal rate. Ok, maybe not phenomenal, but pretty quickly so I usually have to get it cut pretty often to keep it neat. Anyway, I did notice the lack of growth during my travels but thinking about it now, I think it’s pretty much down to me being totally stress free. It’s amazing.

Other things I’ve noticed is that tanning really does improve the skin. So smooth and lovely! But yes, even if I haven’t finished my pursuit of happiness, for the time being, I’m content with being free of any major stresses. There are still a couple of things on my mind like this whole moving to Japan thing but it’s fine.

Anyway, Peru? Peru was fantastic. Once you get away from the polluted, busy, stinky, dirty capital of Lima and head out to the hills, it’s just wonderful. Highlights include the Lares Hike, the high-altitude football and the comic moments we had with our tour group. I’m sure I’ll be mentioning these at some point. For now, I’ll leave you to peruse over the photos.

Jab

As many of you know I’m heading off to Peru for a couple of weeks in the summer. I’ve been delaying it for weeks but I finally booked an appointment with the nurse to get some vaccinations.

I was looking forward to being vaccinated against a wide range of scary diseases such as yellow fever and the nurse was slightly confused by my descriptions of where I was going. Anyway, once the confusion had cleared, we figured out that I was not going to the “extreme risk” regions of Jungle Peru and I was only given a single jab. The single jab, I believe, was for typhoid and hepA but having no written record of what my left arm is battling at the moment I can’t be 100% sure.

I’m not complaining that I’ve only one dead arm to deal with and nothing more serious, but having been told by the same nurse minutes earlier that it was recommended that I took a whole list of other vaccinations a single jab seemed somewhat an anti-climax! I believe the other vaccinations included rabies, tetanus, tb and diphtheria. Thinking about it now, I’ve probably had all those vaccinations before.

Anyway, you know how nurses and doctors always start up a conversation to try and distract you before injecting you with poison. I found today that it was more a case of the conversation drawing attention to the fact that I was going to have a needle stuck in me in a few minutes. I was perfectly calm and ready for the vaccination before the nurse started yapping about languages and culture! Also, do they really have to hold the needle upright and flick the needle right in front of your face!

Anyway, despite all it’s shortcomings, the NHS is awesome! I can get my drug fix on demand!

The pharmacist at Boots however is another matter. I needed to buy anti-malarial tablets for my trip and requested a couple of different types. The pharmacist decided that because they appeared to have only the one on the shelf, that that would be enough and persuaded me that it was one of those “combination” things. A second opinion at Superdrug proved her wrong…. meaning I need to find a pharmacy where they stock the other malarial tablets I need. Grr…

The weather seems to be picking up as we roll into the middle of February. Some people have said this winter has been extremely mild, whilst others, particularly myself, thought this was going to be the coldest winter in the past 10 years. Whatever the truth behind it all, this weekend has been pretty mild. With the milder weather comes the joys and evils of Spring.