Some highs and lows

Well, this hasn't been the best week of Germany so far, but thankfully it seems to be getting better. I started out the week feeling super accomplished because I'd gone running several days in a row, was cooking some fun and healthy dishes, and was getting to know my little town. Unfortunately that went quickly downhill when out of no where I woke up in the middle of the night Monday with hives. No idea where they came from or what I could have been allergic to. I spent the day Tuesday with one of my fellow teachers doing some language exchange and chatting about school. By the end of the day the hives had gotten worse. I tried everything from hydrocortisone cream to taking antihistamine to no avail.

After not sleeping well for the second night in a row, I finally broke down and decided to find a doctor. Unfortunately because it's school holidays at the moment, many doctors are on vacation. Go figure. Thankfully my teaching advisor was super nice and helpful in helping me call around to a ton of doctor's offices to find one that was both open and willing to see me. The doc also had no idea what in the world could be wrong with me, but prescribed me a cream with everything from steroids to anti-fungal stuff. So now I'm doped up on antihistamines and greased up in cream and feeling much better. After much discussion with both my mom and the doc, I think it was most likely my laundry detergent that's at fault here. So I've gone and purchased baby-safe anti-allergen detergent and wash all my clothes on an extra rinse cycle. All in all, aside from feeling like a leper, it could have been worse. I'm hoping this all clears up in a few days. If not, then I probably have the plague...

On the bright side, though, I finally nailed down someone at the International Office of the university in order to register as an official student there. I may or may not visit some seminars. Mostly, I'm in it for the free transportation pass. Fortunately, you don't have to register for specific classes here like you do in the US. You simply register for the semester, pay a very cheap (in comparison) semester fee, and have all the benefits of being a student without actually, technically, having to take classes. So that long-standing problem also has a solution in sight.

School starts back on Monday, and I'm actually looking forward to it. I've missed having a schedule. How sad. I'm such a school nerd.

In other news... I've been mentally planning an eastern European adventure of a trip for early spring: Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade, Zagreb...who knows where else. Anyone interested in tagging along is welcome! Also welcome are other suggestions for travel destinations.

Love and miss you all!