Karma

They say what goes around, comes around.  So when Alex got sick, I guess it was only a matter of time for me to get sick.  We've been in Copenhagen for a day now, and we've already had our little adventure to the Emergency Room.  I hate to jump back and forth between places (because I have yet to write about Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Hamburg) but I feel that this was a monumental moment in our trip, and it needs to be shared ASAP.  

It all started in Hamburg, Germany.  Some girl from Switzerland was coughing/puking in our hostel room the night we arrived.  This should've been the closest form of contact with this girl.  But I was an idiot and helped her pack the next morning when she asked me to.  Even closer contact.  I don't know if these are the exact reasons why I got sick, but I can't think of any other reasons.  So it started with a sore throat.  I had some Japanese gargling medicine with me which I gargled like crazy.  Then the sore throat turned into a really painful sore throat and chest.  I started coughing.  I lost my voice at one point.  I couldn't swallow my own spit without going through extreme pain.  We left Hamburg that day for Copenhagen.  To make all matters worse, I got my monthly that day.  I know that's a bit too much information for some people, but I need to let you know how miserable I was.  I was in pain.

The 5 hour scenic train ride to Copenhagen did make me feel a bit better.  We arrived at the apartment of the friends we were staying with in Copenhagen, dropped off our stuff and made our way to the hospital.  We arrived to the hospital and were told there was about a 3-4 hour wait, and that there was a general practitioner that we could go see instead.  We would receive free treatment at the hospital, but not at the doctor's office.  Since we had no Danish money and I didn't have the energy to walk around looking for a cash machine and the doctor's office, we opted for the long wait.  We sat down to wait around 9~10pm ish.  I finally saw the doctor at 4am.  According to my stopwatch, we waited more than 6 and half hours.  I saw the doctor for maybe 10 minutes.  She prescribed me with penicillin, as well as giving me one free dose to put me out of my misery.  We walked back to our friend's apartment as the sun was coming up in Copenhagen.  I took the penicillin and went to sleep, and woke up feeling a lot better.  Penicillin is a hell of a drug.  The prescription came out to about 65 Danish krone, or about $10.  Pretty sweet.  The waiting 6.5 hours part sucked, but feeling less miserable and not paying for the exam was sweet.  I've waited longer at emergency rooms in the US.