I had another rough night last night, but not as bad as the first. The Tylenol helped manage the fever and the cough syrup helped with the cough. I got up a few times to pee and changed sides on my bed a few times when the side I was on got too hot. Woke up feeling slightly recovered, but not out of the woods.
I decided I was going to walk to the pharmacy to pick up some Vick's Vapor Rub. I really felt I needed it last night to loosen up things in my chest. I was going to have it delivered with Uber Eats, but figured the pharmacy was close enough. As I got near, I decided to keep walking and see what else I could find, because I also really wanted some chips and something to drink. All a very important part of recovering from any illness.
I enjoyed the walk, even though there was a lot of traffic and Dominicans use their horns rather than their brakes. I was transported to many different countries I've visited, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, all tropical places with remants of colonial architecture (well maybe not Thailand), people on the streets selling things, hanging out, walking, and the smell of diesal scenting the air. It was a pleasant morning, not too hot, and there was a nice breeze.
I arrived at Parque Independencia and El Conde, the pedestrian shopping street that leads to Plaza Colon, site of the first cathedral in the Americas (I believe that claim is disputed by some, as is much of Dominican history/folklore).
I found a nice looking pharmacy and went inside. It was nicely air-conditioned, and I was nicely ignored, which was fine, because I didn't see any Vicks on display, so I left. Walking towards Plaza Colon, I was accosted twice and offered "massage"/chicas. Once by a woman, and once by a guy (offereing me chicas) who was very upset when I ignored him. A few taxi drivers called out "taxi", which I always found odd on a pedestrian street, but mostly the walk was uneventful. I found neither Vicks nor chips.
Plaza Colon was quiet, and pleasant, until a group of French tourists came out of the cathedral and stood under the statue of Christopher Colombus. This one really needs to be torn down. I mean, this is where the crime started. And this statue is particularly offensive because a naked Indian woman is at his feet as he points off into the distance presumably saying, "It IS India, I tell you!" I mean, okay that he got lost and everything, but what was up with the cruelty? The rape, torture, slavery and genocide? Not sure why Dominicans haven't rejected him yet.
I decided to go to Chinatown, which I vaguely remembered being not too far. I had gone before and I ate there, but I didn't remember much about it - like how the food was, or what they had, but I thought I'd find some Tiger balm or something similar.
Eventually I found myself at the gate to the one block of Chinatown, and almost everything was closed. I saw a restaurant that looked familiar, but they were closed. A few restaurants that were open didn't look appealing. I went into a few shops looking for Vicks or some Tiger balm and finally found one that had something called "Wild Tiger" and I also bought one of those inhalers that Thai people have shoved up their noses for most of the day.
I went back to a main street near the gate, and ordered an Uber. I was sweating, maybe from the fever, maybe from walking, maybe from both.
Uber told me Ricki would be arriving in a pink car and showed me his route. Then suddenly, it told me he was at the pick up point, but the pick up point was not where I was standing. I texted him and said I didn't see him. He said he was on "Duarte". I knew I was on Avenida Mella, but didn't know where Duarte was. I told him I was not from here and said I was at the entrance to Chinatown.
He said he'd some around.
Eventually, I figured out that he was on the street that passed under the gate, so I changed position and soon someone in a gray car was beeping at me and motioning out the window.
Ok, pink, gray, very similar.
I sat in the front out of habit from Colombia and we chatted a bit. I told him I thought his car was going to be pink and he said, "it's a pinkish gray" - it was not. It was gray gray. There is no such thing as a pinkish gray.
He also told me I was at the exit to Chinatown, not the entrance.
Doesn't UBER show drivers our location?
Anyway, he got me back to my hotel, I put on my bathing suit and headed out to the pool. I ordered lunch before I sat down and just as I got into my little cubicle, it started pouring. A major, tropical rain.
Most people ran off, leaving the pool all to me, which was nice because the rain stopped in about 10 minutes.
I've been eating healthy - tuna and salmon, but decided today I was going to try a chimi burger, which was some sort of pork sandwich. But they told me they were out of it, so I got a regular burger instead.
That was a mistake.
First of all, it was too big for my mouth (I have a small mouth - my dentist confirmed this), but it also was not good. The bun was burnt, the meat was tasteless, and the fries were not very good either. Tomorrow, back to fish and vegetables.
More people came back to the pool, including two female smokers.
It's been so long since I've seen people smoking. Well, I saw a woman last night in the restaurant, and here were two more, smoking at the pool. They were older women who should know better. I assumed they were French, because who else smokes these days? After drifting off and waking up to the smell of cigarette smoke, I decided to come back to my room and see if the maid had finished. This is one of the things I hate about staying in hotels - I have to plan my day around the maid.
I saw her cart outside of the room next to mine, so either she had just finished my room or I was next. When I opened the door, I could see it was clean. Phew. I could relax.
I had to charge my phone because it was almost dead. I didn't take my usual afternoon nap, but still wanted the chips I didn't get, so I went on to UBER Eats to see what I could find.
I ordered a bag of Doritos, Nacho Cheese, cheese puffs, plaintain chips and some juice and Gatorade (for rehydrating). This time, rather than wait until my driver arrived and then try to figure out what door he was at, I went down early, and watched the app as he headed my way, and then went another way, and then headed my way, and then another direction and then my way again until finally he pulled up to the front of the hotel, where I was waiting.
He had one plastic bag with two enormous bags of chips and another bag with the gatorade.
I had no idea the bags of chips were going to be so big! They are industrial size! I tried to slip past the porters and the front desk without them seeing these two large bags of chips I had, because, I mean, it's kind of embarassing. When I got up to my floor, a maid was knocking on doors. They seem to do this every afternoon when they are done cleaning.
Yesterday I was in my room when she knocked. I was in bed. She knocked, and I said "yes?" thinking she might tell me what she wanted. Instead, she opened the door and peeked inside. She may have asked if everything was ok, but I don't remember.
Today I had the "do not disturb" sign on my door, but I saw her watching me as I walked up to my door. She looked at the enormous bag of Doritos and said something. I thought she might be commenting on the Doritos. When it was clear I didn't understand, she asked, "Todo bien?" and I said yes. So I guess they check to see if we need anything before they leave for the day.
And so now I have enough snacks to last me until the end of the year.
I'm also feeling a little better. This is about the time that fever hits me, but I don't feel feverish and I'm not coughing.I'm sure the chemicals in the Doritos will kill whatever germs have invaded my body and I'll be fresh as a daisy tomorrow.
I think I'm going to order some soup for dinner and just relax the rest of the day.
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