Herzlich Willkommen

Im finally able to blog again.  It has been a very interesting first two months here in Zeitz, and Im debating on whether or not to break up the recap into three or four different blogs or just give a very broad overview of what alls happened and how its been.  Im just gonna write and see how long it gets before I decide.  Im thankful to finally have internet with my laptop, but that story is really getting ahead a little bit, so Im gonna go back to the beginning and start there.

I got to spend the weekend before I left with lots of close friends at the lake, just hanging out and watching football.  It was a really fun weekend but I started feeling kind of sick while I was there.  My throat was hurting and my nose stuffed up and I was really hoping I didn’t have mono again.  I was flying out on Monday so I left the lake early on Sunday afternoon and went home to finish packing and be with my family a little longer.  I didn’t feel like finishing packing though.  I went on to bed pretty early and woke up in time to try and be the first patient at the doc-in-a-box to see if it was anything serious or if he could give me something to knock it out.  Im glad that I went but it was not fun.  We ended up being the 4^th or 5^th patient there so I had to wait a while before I was taken to be seen.  Once I was back there I told them what was wrong and they decided to test my blood and check out everything and then decided to give me two shots to knock out what they diagnosed as a sinus and ear infection.  The only problem was that I don’t really do needles and shots very well.  So of course I told the nurse that came to take my blood that it was very likely I was going to pass out or at least come close, and she acted like I was a wimp and told me Id be fine.  I said Ok, but in a tone that really said “Ok, youre gonna have to catch me in about 20 seconds and Im gonna be happy to tell you I told you so”, and then felt fine… well I didn’t dare move my arm too much or look at it and risk thinking about it again, but I didn’t feel woosy or anything.  Nurse 1  me 0.  Well I suppose I won too, but now they just thought I was a wimp and was a little too worried about passing out.  So, after waiting for a long while they finally came to give me the two shots, one in each butt cheek/upper thigh.  This time I didn’t dare say anything to the nurse about passing out.  Instead I stood up and did like he told me to and prayed for it to be quick and painless.  He gave me the first shot and I immediately started to feel faint.  I thought about sitting down or saying something but he had the other shot ready so I just tried to fight it long enough for him to get both of them over with.  He gave me the second shot and told me I could go as he was walking out.  I told him I thought I needed to stay there for a little while as I basically fell onto the table and rolled over so I was laying on my back.  Im not sure how long I layed there, but at some point he came back to check on me.  By then I was feeling a little better and didn’t think I was gonna black out but thought it was best for me to stay there a little longer before I tried to walk out.  I finally decided I should just go and didn’t want any more of the nurses to come by and see me.  I made it to the car and as I sat there waiting for my mom to come out, was really hoping the tradeoff of having my infections knocked out would be worth the really sore butt I was going to have to use in a couple hours to drive to Atlanta and then fly for 8 or 9 hours.

Before I could do that though, I had to go home and finish packing, then to Granddaddys for his birthday breakfast and to say bye to everyone there.  Saying bye this time around was much harder for me.  I don’t know if it was because I had only been home for a month or what but I didn’t feel quite as adventurous as last time around.  Mom drove me to the airport and I got all checked in and got to eat some Varsity before I left.  On the plane I got stuck between two guys and behind a guy that put his seat alllll the way back.  I really felt cramped.  And my butt was still sore.  I was not able to sleep at all which I was really hoping to be able to do.  I left Atlanta around 6 or 7, I think, and then got to Germany around 8 or 9 in the morning, I think, and knew I was going to have a long Tuesday, too travelling to east Germany and then to a seminar I was supposed to be at on Monday, and lugging around a year’s worth of luggage.  So after everything on Monday and looking forward to Tuesday I was really hoping to sleep some on the plane but it just didn’t happen.  The guy I sat beside probably played against my dad in high school though, so I guess that was interesting.  He played at Mt. Brook with Major Ogilvie.  Anyways, we got to Frankfurt a little bit late so I had to really hurry to catch my next flight to Dresden.  By this time I was needing to take my medicine which I was supposed to take with food and was super tired and just kinda weak.  I got to my gate and saw that my flight had been cancelled so I walked to the nearest Lufthansa customer service desk and realized there was more than just my flight that had been cancelled.  I went to the end of a very long line and as I stood there saw a tv in the airport talking about Lufthansa employees striking in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich.  I waited in this line for over an hour anxious about how I was going to take my medicine, wondering about how late I was going to be since I could not let the people that were supposed to pick me up know I would be later, and hoping I would get my money back or at least not have to pay for another flight.  I did try to use my kindle and email the lady I had been emailing with about all of these plans, but I had no idea if they were being read or not.  I never did get even close to the counter to talk with someone, the line was so long.  They did put out some kind of granola bars and water which was better than nothing at that point and I finally went and talked with a lady that was just fielding random questions towards the end of the line.  She told me I could go to another part of the airport and theyd help me get a train ticket to Dresden instead of flying.  I figured Id go check it out since it was clear Id be in that line for several hours just waiting to try and book another flight.  I spent the next thirty minutes walking across the airport and after being sent to a few different lines, finally found the one I was supposed to wait in.  I asked two or three different Lufthansa employees and they all told me something different, I think they were a bit under pressure too.  I waited in that line for 40 minutes or so, stocking up on water and granola bars for later in the day.  I finally made it to the counter and they gave me a train ticket voucher and told me my luggage would be sent to me in the next few days.  I wasn’t bold enough to really raise a stink and they didn’t offer to give me any money back, so I just took the ticket and left.  I then had to walk to the train station and wait in line there to book a train ticket for where I needed to go.  This part actually worked out for me.  I didn’t have to lug around my huge bag and with the train I was able to just go directly to the train stop where I was supposed to meet the people who were supposed to pick me up at a certain time.  Luckily I was able to sleep some on the trains, but did have to change trains several times and one or two that I was on were late and then I missed the ones I was supposed to take.  After all this I finally made it to the little city where I was supposed to meet the people and no one was there.  I tried several more times to email the lady and even walked to a hotel twice and used their phone to call the only number I had from the people but never got an answer.  I really didn’t know what to do.  I figured they knew I was supposed to be coming that day so maybe they would at least come back later and see if I ever made it since I was later than the time we had agreed on.  I waited 4 hours outside the train station until it was dark and I was starting to freeze.  No one came.  I should have planned for emergencies a little bit better, but I also didn’t have many Euro with me because I was planning on converting my money in a bank when I got there since Id heard Id get a better exchange rate that way.  So, I was really starting to get hungry and tired and decided Id try to figure out a way to get to the little town where I was supposed to be.  I saw a taxi nearby and went and asked the taxi driver if he knew where that little town was.  He was super nice.  He was not sure exactly so he tried calling for me and searched a few maps and then around his office to see if he had another number for the place I was supposed to go.  Another couple came up with money so he drove them to where they needed to go and then came back and helped me out.  He ended up driving me to the town and asking where it was that I needed to be and luckily we were right there by it.  He took 20 American dollars and told me to come back and exchange it when I had Euro, so he was really a blessing that night.  I didn’t want to seem like a jerk when I got to the seminar, so I went by and said hey to everyone for a few minutes and then went and showered and went to bed.  I thought I had survived.

Because my luggage didn’t get there until Thursday, I didn’t have any fresh clothes or winter clothes and it was cold where we were.  I also didn’t have a towel, but luckily had brought the blanket they give you on the airplane and used that.  It wasn’t the first time those airplane blankets had helped me out.. but that’s another story.  I also woke up the next morning and my mouth was hurting pretty bad.  I emailed my mom and asked her if that was normal or what should I do and she thought I had a yeast infection or something caused by the steroids and other shots I had gotten for my sinus infection.  The entire week of our training seminar I felt like crap.  A few times I just stayed in my bed and slept instead of going to “training”.  I was sick and jet lagged and cold.  And I missed everyone already.  It was rough.  We came to Zeitz and I really still am not sure how I did it, but we walked from the train station to our apartment and I was mad that we didn’t take a taxi.  I had not been able to really eat much cause my mouth hurt so bad and also still had a sinus infection and had to carry my backpack and wheel a medium sized bag and then my huge bag that was somewhere around 70 lbs. Sometime during that weekend the pastor here sent a doctor to me and she told me I now had a viral infection in my mouth too and that’s why it hurt so bad and I couldn’t eat.  Anyways, sometime around Tuesday or Wednesday I finally felt well enough to go out and visit the church and all.  It took me another week before I really felt well, but thankfully everything is good now.   I think this is long enough for one blog, so Ill write another one tom about my work and the city and whats been going on since I got here.  I hope this one isn’t too depressing.  It was def a rough first couple of weeks, but Im healthy now and God is good.