Hastayım! I'm sick!

It was inevitable - I'm sick.  It seems that the end of the semester stress, the travel exhaustion and visiting several hospitals on my first few days here in Turkey caught up with me.

I have been semi-housebound for the past few days trying to heal and recover from whatever sickness I have that is plaguing me.  At first it was all digestive related, and unfortunately on this trip I didn't bring any of my standard traveling Pepto Bismal tablets.  For a few days I didn't eat much more than soup and crackers, but even that didn't sit well.  Finally I am past that stomach-sickness and I am able to eat, but I can't taste anything! 

After not eating much for days my body was weakened and susceptible to more sickness.  So now with a head cold and my nose plugged, I can eat, but the flavors are lost on my pallet.  It's a shame to not taste the food in Turkey - I'm hoping for a speedy recovery so I can enjoy all the dinners we will be attending next week.

Luckily, I am very well taken care of here.  The minute I started feeling ill I was offered many home remedies to help me feel better, and medicine from the pharmacy as well.

For my stomach we tried Turkish coffee with lemon.  H. made me this special concoction and brought it to me with a smile on his face - as he knew I was avoiding it all morning.  Basically half a Turkish coffee glass full of cold coffee and the other half lemon juice.  This was meant to halt the freeway running through  my body.  The taste was horrible and quite bitter, as I'm sure you can imagine.  I managed to get it down and it seemed to work for a while - but after eating again I felt worse.  Eventually, we had to rely on store bought medicine to do the trick.

Next, for this cold we have been battling on two fronts - with vitamins to strengthen my immune system and with some small doses of medicine to help me breath a little easier.

When I say vitamins I'm referring to vitamin C, of course.  We make mint tea with lemon and honey, soup with lemon, cauliflower with lemon, salad with lemon, tea with lemon….lemon juice - all lemon! 

It feels like it is slowly working it's magic and I'm starting to feel better this evening after lentil soup with lemon. 

There is never a good time to get sick.  The last thing I wanted was to spend my time in Turkey stuck in bed or on the couch.  At least I am surrounded by loving, helping hands doing their best to help me feel better.

I do not have consistent access to internet - so I'm posting a little less than I had hoped (especially with feeling ill).   I have ideas many new posts - both from events before I became sick and the rest that is to come.  So stay tuned, hopefully I'll be back on the blog shortly with lots to report from Turkey!