Cheese with my Whine

So... instead of being all cured like I should be, my bronchitis has progressed into full-blown pneumonia.  The last several days have not been fun.  But, I have four new meds now, some orange Fanta, and 12 new pocket-packs of tissues.  So we will see.  Candidly, I am quite over this whole affair.  Being sick is no good no matter where you are; being sick in a foreign country where neither the doctor nor the pharmacist speak your language and they keep on asking you to take your shirt off with the goddam door open is another.  I really hope these meds work because I am very ready to be out riding my bike and enjoying Georgia again.

"Do you want Washington?" my host Mom Nana asked, half-jokingly after I returned from my doctor visit this morning.
"No, of course not," I lied.  What the hell was I supposed to say?

Yes, I want Washington.  I miss it like a physical ache that's added onto the very real physical aches I already currently have.  I want my Mother to comfort and fuss over me; I want my Father to tease me and make me laugh, and my dog to fall asleep next to me on the couch.

I want a Costco-sized bottle of Advil, tissues that don't smell like tampons, and diet Sprite.  I want to watch House Hunters International and the National Geographic Channel.  I want Thai food, roads that are paved, and I want to see a movie in a movie theatre.  I want to have more than five t-shirts to choose from.  I want to take a shower without first having to test and see if by chance there is hot water today (and today, there isn't).  I want to read a book with pages; I want a fillet of fish that doesn't include a head, tail, scales, or spine (this is really gross).  I want milk with my coffee, and I don't want that coffee to be instant.  I want to be prescribed medicine that I don't have to look up on wikipedia upon coming home to make sure they haven't given me something with "permanent and serious side effects" (this happened).  I want air conditioning, and I don't want to have one more awkward conversation about how leaving my window open or drinking cold water will make my pneumonia worse.  I want to play Rockband and drink some good Virginia cabernet sauvingon and visit the Monets at the National Gallery of Art.

And yeah, I would like some cheese -- some good Irish cheddar or smoked gouda or havarti with dill -- with all of that.

But especially with that Virgina cab sauv.

Ugh.  Now is when I remind myself that I had a whole lot of fun my first six weeks here in Georgia.  When I am finally healthy again, I think it will be time for a trip.  I have yet to go off on my own for even a day trip.  For all that there is so few of us, we expats hang together.  I love my friends here; it is no question that they have kept me sane(r) these past two months.  But I think I could use some silence.  Whether that takes the shape of a one-night splurge cocooning in Aeetes Palace, or a hike in the mountains remains to be seen.  But it will be nice to have something to look forward to.  Maybe I'll take my bike on a long overnight ride!  I fear no crazy Georgian drivers.  (Well, yeah, I hella do, but as they say here -- "What can I do??")