World Tour 2009 - Days 9 and 10

[tbons]

So, the days are beginning to bleed into one another and I'm sort of losing count, but I think that's more to do with me being mostly bed ridden.

Day 9 Highlights:

• Got up with everyone and headed to the Great Wall. I was told that the pollution would be less. It was, but still more than even our worst days in New York or LA. The Wall was beautiful nonetheless. There was still a little snow on the ground, and the mountains are just colossal!
• Even with this ridiculous cold that I cannot shake, I attempted a climb of the wall. I only did about a 1/4 of the way up the first tier of the portion of the wall we were at. Then a tourist, who was on her own, asked me to take a photo of her. I took her photo, and dropped my water bottle down thirty or so steps. I decided as it was rolling further and further away toward tourists that this was a sign that I needed to climb down. Now the steps of the Great Wall are not even by any stretch of the imagination. There are a few really shallow steps, and then some that were about as high as my legs. Were I completely well, I'm not sure I would have made it to the first stop.
• Got back after the Wall, and rather than going to the Silk Market... I went to bed. Didn't get any real sleep.
• Had dinner with Jeremy and Michael at the Italian place here in the hotel.

Most Memorable Highlight of Day 9: Going to the hospital. Yep. You read that right. Some people go around the corner for a box of Robitussin, I take a plane to China. I'm just THAT dedicated. But in all honesty, the cold wasn't getting any better. So, I had planned on taking a friend's spare inhaler before bed to see if that helped me breathe. As it turned out, one of my other classmates ended up with full blown flu, and needed to head over to the hospital that night. So, rather than make our hostess here in China go over to the hospital twice in two days, I just went with them when they took my classmate over. But the doctor seems to believe that the cough is just the end of the cold for me, and he told me to take some Robitussin. He wrote out what appeared to be a very complex prescription to hand over to the hospital pharmacy, and told me that it was an OTC medicine. I handed it over to the pharmacist, and she handed me a box of Robitussin. Same box as it is in the States, but with Mandarin all over it with the exception of the Robitussin name.

Highlights of Day 10:

• Woke up around 10. That was beautiful simply because even though it wasn't completely uninterrupted sleep... I still slept more last night than I have in days.
• Talked to my husband before he went to bed. Well, I guess squeeked at is a better way of describing it as I awoke today with no voice.
• Napped on and off all day, but went downstairs around noon to get some food sent up to my classmate's room, and then got myself some lunch at the hotel.
• Got a phone call from my Bill checking up on me, and then I went to dinner with him and Michael. I bought a ridiculously expensive bottle of water which might have actually cost more than the steak. I didn't care, I was hungry, and figured that if I wanted water with my meal, I didn't have much of a choice. You can't drink the tap water here. Not even in the five star hotel. They provide you with complimentary bottled water in the room. So, I guess they compensate for that by charging ridiculous amounts of money for bottled water in the restaurant.

Most Memorable Highlight of Day 10: Knowing that Jeremy, Michael, and Bill were all concerned about my well being.