Tales of Gory Woe: France Style

Many of you I'm sure will remember the gruesome Tales of Gory Woe recounted from Haiti. Malheureusement, I am here to report that exactly a week before my departure, I have been struck down, more or less for the first time since being here, with a rather vicious sort of a cold. Heureusement, it hasn't been even close to the tribulation that it certainly was in Haiti. Many who witnessed my weekend activities have been attributing my malady to be directly correlated with three specific events -

1. Being submerged in the recently-melted snow of the river
2. Sleeping outside on the terrace on Saturday night (not the warmest experience, perhaps, but 100% worth every single cold and windy second) and
3. Hiking up the waterfall (twice, once on Saturday, once on Sunday). Plus on Sunday, the cascading coldness was just too tantalizing, and so underneath it went I, once or twice, or perhaps thrice.

Ironically enough, on the way back home from the waterfall yesterday I seem to remember having a conversation with a doctor about the plethora of health benefits of being in cold water. While some may contend that my current condition clearly proves otherwise, I refuse to succumb to popular belief that coldness and wetness can cause sickness. Germs caused my sickness. C'est tout.

It is, to be sure, somewhat disheartening to have to be sick on the last full Monday. I was rather heartbroken to have to miss class and felt more or less as if I wasted a beautiful afternoon away in my bedridden state. Thankfully, however, I had a wonderful caretaker named Sarah who attended to my every need, made sure I stayed hydrated, gave me her beverages and her crackers, and even went to the grocery store to get ice cream to make me a smoothie. Much to our amused consternation, the only kind of ice cream at the store was actually sorbet, and there was only one kind of it, and it was basil flavored. Basil flavored sorbet in a peanut butter cup smoothie? Peanut butter cups are far too precious to waste in such a manner.

On the positive side of life, I had lots of good reading time in between naps, and tonight I'll finish Anne book #5. A kindred spirit such as Anne does much to soothe the afflicted such as myself. My day was also brightened by a visit from a lovely and oh-so-cute Fader girl with her mommy.

Soon I shall go to bed, and after a day of sleep, soup, sun, saltines, sodas, and gummy vitamins, I fully anticipate waking up on the morrow 100% rejuvenated and ready for one more week in Albertville.