I was right in the thick of it--juggling papers, my work for the Nicaragua Sister Partnership, all the plays and concerts my friends were in--when I started to feel that tell-tale tickle in the back of my throat. "Mind over matter!" I thought. "I will not get sick." Wrong.
Within a few days I was bedridden, battling a fever, a cold, and a terrible sore throat. I couldn't go to class or to any of my other engagements, and I could barely drag myself across the street to Keep Co-op for meals. My housemates were very sweet, bringing me tea and taking my temperature, and I figured, "What the hell, I'll just hold out here until I feel better." Days later, nothing had improved, so I caved and got a ride with a friend to Student Health Services, which isn't far in real-world terms but is just too far for a sick person to walk to.
Secret tip: if no one can drive you, you can call Safety and Security for a *free* ride.
I went during their "drop-in" hours, and was seen almost right away by a nurse (Student Health only has nurses and nurse practitioners. For a real live doctor one must venture to the local hospital, which ironically is closer to campus than Student Health). They swabbed my throat, ran some tests on my germs, diagnosed me with tonsillitis, and gave me antibiotics. The drugs, plus several more days of going to bed at grandma hours, eventually cured me.
The only problem was that I had missed so much class and found myself completely unprepared for my midterm papers. Thankfully, my professors were very understanding and gave me extensions to finish writing my essays over Fall Break. I guess the punishment fits the crime?
Thankfully I was all healed up for a wonderful Friday night just before break started. Although it was a rainy, gloomy day, I was so thrilled to be up and about. I hit up happy hour at the Feve, Oberlin's one and only bar, had dinner there as well (their portobello mushroom sandwich is heavenly), then saw Where the Wild Things Are at the newly refurbished and reopened Apollo theater.
A bit of background: The Apollo is one of the last independent, single-screen theaters in the country, and has been in Oberlin since 1913. Last year, its owners were struggling and needed to sell it, and rather than let it go to some corporation or developer, Oberlin College bought it on up. Now the theater boasts an HD screen and a crazy futuristic concessions stand, and actually shows movies the day they come out (at the old Apollo, you had to wait a good few weeks). The new Apollo costs a couple bucks more ($5 instead of $3), but that's still way less than most movie theaters, and about a third as much as it costs to see a damn movie in my hometown of L.A. I'm excited to see what movies arrive next! Just as long as I don't get sick again...
