The x-ray took no time, but waiting to see the doctor again did. She told me the x-ray looked great, but that Professor Stassen wanted to see me. Professor Stassen is the doctor who runs the clinic and gave it its name. He is a tall, grey-haired man who told me I have scar tissue that’s preventing me from opening my mouth. It could be along my skull where they made the incision, or it could be along my jaw. He told me to lay down on the crinkling, paper-covered bed, then tried to use his fingers like a car jack to force my jaw open. To put it simply, my jaw did not want to cooperate and I ended up with hands clenched and legs curling up of their own accord. The pain seemed to be in the muscles at the hinge of my jaw rather than in my skull. Professor Stassen decided I would need to return on the 23rd of April—good thing we will still be here at that point—that I need to chew gum for five minutes every day, and that I should continue trying to force my jaw as far as it will go. As unexpected as the accident was, so was this experience, and apart from the IV at the hospital, I’d say this was the worst part.
We stopped for a poor-quality meal at an Abra-Kebabra in town before making our way to USIT in order to do some scanning and faxing to the insurance company. The Finance Department at the hospital told me that since I’m as good as an Irish citizen, there would at least be no fee for that day! But as I was catching up with Lisa and telling her about the doctor’s appointment, I accidentally burst into tears. Poor Lisa! I’m not looking forward to going back to the hospital at the end of April.
 |
| A free meal at the Conrad |
We had made a reservation at the Conrad with Heather for dinner that evening. February was Food and Beverage Appreciation Month, so the Conrad gave us a free meal. Since I’m a Hilton Club Member now, Dale’s meal was also 50 percent off. We weren’t able to fax anything at USIT, so I decided to try at the Conrad after dinner. In the meantime, Dale and I waited for our reservation in recently blooming St. Stephen’s Green; at a picnic bench in front of Robert Emmet’s statue. It was nice to get indoors though since it wasn’t quite warm out. Rael led us to one of the couches in the cocktail bar, where there are very low tables that proved as difficult to eat off of as they are to serve. I ordered the Smoked Salmon Sandwich and later had a mocha. Heather had the Club, but unfortunately I didn’t think my jaw would work with the size of that chicken burger. I loved the salmon. Stephen served us free desserts, which we thought weren’t included and was an added bonus; I had the Eaton Mess, and Heather had the Brownie. The Eaton Mess was a mound of cream with meringue and strawberries. It wasn’t as good as it looked. I tried some of Heather’s brownie, but thought the walnuts she enjoyed so much kind of watered it down. In the end Dale’s meal, mocha, dessert, and my mocha cost us about 14 euros, plus the tip.
It was much more relaxed to be eating at work and not rushing around. It was also nice to say hello to coworkers I never see outside of work, and I even ran into the Food and Beverage Manager, who I haven’t seen since before my accident. She had offered to help me if I needed anything via text after my hospital stay, so was happy to let me do my faxing at work. She even got one of the lovely ladies at reception to help me send it all off.
On Thursday I brought my suitcase full of clothes over to Heather and Anne’s. Friday I ran into Eduard when I was waiting for Heather outside of a Eurostar so we could continue our walks home. He had been out sick almost as soon as I went back to work because he needed his appendix removed. We were so close to being hospital-buddies! I invited him to the party Dale and I were hosting that night, but unfortunately he wasn’t feeling up to it yet. The party was for mine and Dale’s three-year anniversary. We decided we were too poor to buy each other gifts, and that a party would make a good alternative! Our guests showed up around 10 at night, mostly from work. Heather and Anne joined us later. Katie and Allison sprawled out on the floor since we used up all our seats and Katie likes to make herself comfortable. It ended up being a decent night, and since everyone headed on to the next place around 1:00 am, I was still able to get five hours of sleep before work.
 |
| Moving day! |
Monday was moving day! No one was home when we arrived, and Sydney was surprised when we let ourselves in on our second trip. Regardless, she graciously offered us her empty luggage to roll our next batch of stuff over. Dale and I took four trips in total, and were quite tired by the end of it. Irena actually saw us pass her window on the last time around—we had a box balanced on the bicycle seat, which I’m sure looked hilarious. As our landlord ran her inspection, she was as awkward as usual right from the get-go. She knocked on our door and then walked away down the hallway when Dale opened it. But she was perfectly happy to give us our 700 euro deposit back, after inspecting the windows which Dale had just cleaned the mould off of, and accidentally collapsing the dresser into pieces (which I tried not to laugh at).
 |
| Bye-bye, House! |
At last we were ready to settle into our new home. Sydney cleared one of her own shelves in the kitchen for us, Anne and Heather had put an end table into the pantry to act as a shelf, and the rest of our things found their own spots in the corners of the living room. Heather and Anne had already rearranged the furniture so that we could put the air mattress down on the floor with a chair blocking it, or lean it up against the wall to have full use of the living room. If it starts to feel too crowded in the house, there’s still the tent outside. When we were decently settled, Dale and I took the bus with Sydney to Fitz. I was tired enough at this point that we just ate and talked about funny words people use here or don’t understand from home with the new, and surprisingly young, USITers before going home again. It might have been short, but it was still a nice night.
 |
| Our new home on a cute street with a grassy park |
 |
| A little crowded with laundry, but otherwise looks workable! |
That evening I fell asleep like a log, and found the air mattress more comfortable and roomy than our old bed, which is saying something. I was woken a few times as everyone’s staggered schedules meant they were rising randomly, but it wasn’t too bad with my ear plugs. Here’s hoping it will continue to be manageable. When I finally got up I struggled a little bit with getting organized in the dark—so much for the light mornings with the clocks going back an hour—and had a hard time getting out the front door and locking it behind me as well. I rushed to work and arrived sweaty, but just early enough to get changed and get on the floor on time. There was a lady doing an inspection at work, with the power to give or take the Conrad’s five stars and caused a little too much tension behind the scenes. But I did enjoy a conversation with some American customers who said, “It sounds like you’re accent comes from somewhere in the States!” To which I replied, “Close. I’m Canadian,” and we all started laughing.
After work I popped into USIT again to print off the tickets to Galway that Dale and I booked this weekend! We’re finally going to go and enjoy the nightlife tomorrow, followed by a day on the Arran Islands. Dale wants to rent bicycles on the island as well, which in theory sounds lovely. I had another chat with Lisa before catching the number nine "home," this time tear-less. Heather, Anne, and I sat in the freshly mown backyard so we could enjoy some sun while Dale took the bike to town to use his Christmas gift-card on books. Before long it got a little too cold to stay outside and I continued sending out emails to helpx hosts. So far there have been some very cool situations we’ve looked at, such as one working with horses, or one at a castle, but the response so far is that no help is needed for the month of May. But we will keep trying! And I’ve kind of failed at the 100 Days of Happiness project. As Dale put it, you need a smart phone with unlimited internet access in order to pull it off. It’s too bad I really liked the idea of it. At least I have my blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment