i might be getting sick. blergh!

kirk had an upper respiratory infection two weeks ago, but i sailed through with a hardy immune system and didn't get a lick of it. we traveled on four airplanes and sat in airports on four different occasions over this last week during a very busy season of travel, and i didn't pick up one sick germ. but yesterday, i came back to school and sat next to a girl who was getting over a nasty cold and interfaced with a faculty member who was getting over her own upper respiratory infection, and this morning i woke up with a bad sore throat.

this afternoon, the sore throat was still there. i took a long nap. i woke up with my skin feeling sensitive, my bones feeling achy, and my eyelids feeling very, very heavy. my eyeballs themselves have started to hurt.

i hate getting sick.

so kirk is on high-alert mode. he asked if i was willing to do everything i could to ward off the bad effects getting worse. i said no, knowing this would mean ingesting all sorts of herbs and fruits and medicines. then he asked if i was willing to risk it getting worse and having to go to the yucky walk-in clinic we visited twice for him when he was sick. i said no.

i could see i was stuck between a rock and a hard place. blergh.

so i consented. he brought me a bowl of sliced orange wedges with the peels peeled off and a large garlic clove cut into four chunks. he advised me to chew on a garlic chunk, swallow it, and then immediately eat an orange wedge. 'why?' i wondered. 'because the garlic can be kind of strong,' he said. i wasn't sure i believed him. how bad could garlic be?

well, the answer is that it can feel like it's blowing your brain out your ears. wow, that stuff is strong! but i did as my 'doctor' prescribed, even though it's not in my natural inclination to do so, and already i feel myself a little boosted on the energy front. good juju.

let's get this girl better fast, God. i don't want to be sick.