I Admit I am Sick

My last weekend here I did not feel right. I thought it was the stress and I just napped the weekend away. I still did not feel rested. On my Monday morning I realized my throat hurt but I still went to work. I admitted to the kids that I did not feel well. I was freezing by the afternoon and you know me, I am always warm.

Back at the hotel, I went straight to bed, determined to get a good night sleep. That did not happen. I froze and sweated the whole night and finally admitted I was sick. I called Maria, my boss. I knew the bomb I was dropping on her. I felt bad but I could not go anymore.

The hotel has a clinic and I was able to have a nurse come to my room. She looked at me and asked a few questions and took my temperature. Then she looked in my throat, she put the light down and said she would come back with the doctor.

He came about an hour later but I was waiting for him in my bed and not in a waiting room. He said I had a very high temperature and my throat was bad. He took my blood to find out what kind of infection it was. He gave me a shot to bring done the temperature and he told me to drink lots of water and have a bath. They were both very compassionate.

The nurse came back after awhile and brought me all the medication. The pills were for the fever, pain and the strep infection. They also brought vitamin C and throat lozenges. The fever was still there the second day. The nurses checked on my twice each day.

It is now Friday and I am going home soon. I am still sick. It hurts to swallow and my ear really hurts. I am weak and tired but I am going home!!!

I went into work to finish the last day and say goodbye. The people are great and they made the trip survivable. I am going to the hotel and pack and get ready to go home!!

Out of the Ordinary #3

A person could get used to the way the hotel workers treat their guests. I had problems connecting to the Shell net, I called and the computer butler came and tried to help. He suggested I call my help desk but I doubted they could help either. The ladies at the reception desk know my schedule and my room number by heart. The girls in the restaurant now know my name and room number also. This is special treatment but I miss my family and friends terribly.

The days have been all blending into one another. I go to work and then I sleep. Unfortunately now, I think I might be coming down with a cold. They have it so cold at work we are all shivering in our classroom. Today I put coffee into my water bottle and used it to warm me up. I did not bring warm enough clothes for work. The windows are fogged up because it is so cold inside and warm outside. Strange!

The trainees have come up with some interesting questions. They want to know if it snows every month. I say it could and has but it does not always. They asked me if we all drink wine to stay warm. I said we are not Russians; we can stay warm without alcohol. They wanted a description of the worst winter storm. I kept it down to three. They are fascinated by our cold weather.

I was asked where was the best place to visit in Canada, so I told them about the Stampede. They could not understand what was so interesting about riding a bull or a wagon with four horses pulling it. I told them that Esther and Lowen went camping for the weekend in a national park. No one would sleep outside here. There may be bears at home but a driver told me the rats here are bigger than the cats, and they are mean. I would not want to meet one either.

Out of the Ordinary #2

My driver today told me I looked like a Filipino. He was friendly and talkative. I took it as a compliment. Although I have been here long enough, maybe I am starting to look like everyone else around me.

The security guards at the hotel laugh at me every morning now as I come back from work. They have to search my bags before I can go in but my glasses are all fogged up and I can hardly see. One of the first days I made a joke about it and now they see me and start to laugh. I am glad I can bring some joy into their lives. They also remember that I am done for the day so they say good night to me, even though it is 6 AM. They also always have dogs that work and they smell for drugs and bombs. The dogs seem so nice.

The safety standards are definitely not the same here as it is at home. I saw a worker doing some welding on a joist that was at least 3 stories high. He was not tied to anything; he did not even have shoes on, never mind eye cover. I could not believe what I was seeing.

The building I am working in is just over a year old. I was in the ladies washroom and out of 6 faucets only one worked. It looks like it could be more like 10 years old. The floor is so bumpy you can feel the waves while walking across the carpet.

From here, they told us that we could not go anywhere alone. Now that I am alone, people tell me to go out. It is safe. I have second thoughts though. There was another kidnapping here just this week. I have been encouraged to take a tour, but what kind of tour is available from 9 PM to 6 AM? I do not think I would be interested in it.

I hope no one is expecting gifts! Sorry, I have not been to any stores here. There are a lot of stores but I have not had the time or the opportunity. Perhaps I can pick up some stuff at the airport.

Out of the Ordinary

I saw this sign in the elevator. I did not know that earthquakes were common here but I asked around and found out that they are. Oh well, I am on the 26th floor??

At home my glasses fog up when it is cold and I go from outside to inside. Now, here in Manila, my glasses fog up when I go from inside to outside. That was a surprise.

At the restaurant reception area I was second in line but because I was a foreigner, they ignored the first person and took me. I was shocked. Then at work, the security guard pulled out the people in the elevator so I could ride up on my own. I forget that I stand out here sometimes, but then there are occasions when it is a benefit.

I ordered the beef and broccoli at the cafeteria at work but there was no broccoli only beef. That made me laugh!!

Sunday

I slept in on Sunday. I woke up at 2 AM. It was raining and there was a lot of thunder.

I waited till 8 AM to have breakfast. Afterwards I spent some time at the pool. There were a lot of families there. I had a swim and then I crocheted. Several of the workers came by and commented. They wanted to know what I was making and they said it was pretty.

The people are very friendly and kind to me. I have noticed though, that they are not necessarily very nice to each other.

I came back to my room and got ready for bed. I am trying to keep my same schedule, so I don't have difficulties during the work week. I have booked a pedicure and manicure for Monday morning. So I have something to look forward to.

I work up again at 7PM. I knew I had a long time alone during the night so I rented a DVD player.

I went down for breakfast (dinner). The place was really busy. There were a lot of families celebrating Father's Day. It is a very nice buffet and the food is good but it is the same everyday.

So I am now catching up on my blog and watching DVDs and working on my blanket. I really wanted to get some work done but I cannot log onto the system. So I can't check my emails either. I will have breakfast and then my mani/pedicure and then go to bed again.

Tomorrow I work with just the Allocation team. This is when we start doing some hands on assignments.

Field Trip

Not everyone could go on the field trip. There were ten of us so we all fit into one van. We left around 6 AM. The drive took about 2 hours. We stopped for breakfast at a Shell station. There were a lot of fast food places to choose from. We ate at a place that had fresh bread. It was very good.

Along the way I saw banana and guava trees. There were lots of flowering trees but I do not know what they are called. Also fields of pineapple. Everything is green now. It is rainy season.

We also saw many kinds of homes. There were new suburbs and mansions and squatters. There are a lot of people and they are all very close together.

We stopped at a place where there is a volcano in a lake in a volcano. What an incredible view!! Check out the picture. Usually this place is cool but it was a warm day. It was so nice to be in the sun. I had not seen the sun since leaving home.

Then we went to a small zoo. There was a baby tiger and she reminded me of Cleo. I could see the resemblance. They also had a zip line. The kids wanted me to go on it but I told them to go first and then I would go. They just laughed. They did not want to go either.

We went to lunch at a fancy garden. They had lots of flowers and food was great. By this time everyone was getting really tired.

The trip back was really quiet. I had too much to look at but the others were sound asleep. The driver was good but aggressive. You have to be aggresive to get anywhere. The roads are so narrow and no one obeys the rules, if there are any?

The driver dropped me off at the hotel, so I was able to get to bed right away. I was tired because I had been awake for 20 hours. I had a very good and long sleep.

Work Day 3

These are the Application team and the Allocation team.

I came back to the hotel and was looking forward to good night sleep. My new room is on the 26th floor and has a great view of the skyline. I can even see some hills in the distance.
Finally in bed, then the yelling started. This can’t be happening! I thought someone outside my door was really angry but 15 minutes later they were still yelling. I got up and I realised the yelling was coming from the window. Outside and a few blocks away there was a demonstration about something. At least I knew what was happening! I put on my Ipod to drown out the yelling and I fell asleep.
At work we had the quiz. Then we discussed the answers and went over a few things. Some more chocolate and they were happy.
We divided the groups and continued training. I took one group and the other group was trained by someone back home over the phone.
We were all waiting for the day to be over so we could go on our field trip. It had been a long day but we had something fun to look forward too!!