I started out with cough syrup and cough drops, which progressed into congestion medicine later in the week, and as if that wasn't enough I quickly developed an ear infection :( I'm kind of stubborn when it comes to going to the doctor because I usually prefer to buy OTC brands and take care of myself, but my host dad, Juan Pablo, kept telling me to go to the doctor. I didn't want to go, so I kept putting it off, but I didn't seem to be getting any better! So today I finally bit the bullet and tried going to a private clinic, but I had to call my health insurance company to see if I was covered, and that was quite confusing to say the least! Back to the drawing boards...
In the end, my roommate and I took our host family's advice, and grabbed a taxi to the emergency room at Hospital Virgen de Rocio, and I am incredibly impressed by that experience! I walked in, showed the receptionist my passport, received a number, and went to the waiting room. I waited for about an hour and a half, and then got to talk to a very nice resident doctor and got my prescriptions filled out. Even better, my visit to the emergency room was FREE and the meds I picked up at the pharmacy only cost €4,50!!! I gave the pharmacist fifty euros and he looked at me like I had three heads! I was kind of shocked that he meant only 50 cents! I'm really digging socialized medicine here in Spain :)
I'm currently happy as a clam with my new medicine, and I am ready to show el gripe who's boss! In other news, the Centro Mundolengua group went on a trip to Itálica on Friday to get up close to Roman ruins just outside Sevilla. Obviously, the ruins were very old and worn down, and in some areas there was barely anything left, but I was in awe of some of the things that were still preserved. Things like hand-made mosaics were still intact, pillars were still standing, paint clung to walls, and the massive amphitheater was still an impressive sight after centuries of wear and tear. To some, Itálica may be a place full of old rocks, but it used to be a thriving city during the Roman Empire, and if you consider the effort and raw man-power it took to build such monumental structures, it's difficult to pass the site off as just a pile of boulders. I had never stood next to such ancient man-made structures! If you ever go to Sevilla, take a day trip to Itálica and soak in the history - you won't be disappointed!