Monday, November 3, 2014

Adventures in Barcelona

Yesterday we arrived safe and sound, all in one piece, to the lovely city of Barcelona.  After checking into our hostel and dropping our bags, we set out to stroll the streets and planned to meet one of Ericka´s good friends for a night out.  Leslie, Ericka´s friend, works as an Au Pair just outside the city and played tour guide for the night.  We walked around the Catedral, down Las Rambla, a pedestrian avenue, and found ourselves in yet another beautiful port. Along the way we stopped for tapas, paella and sangria, enjoying the night life of a once again buzzing city.

So, why am I writing already when we only have one night under our belts here?  Because it was an action packed night, that´s why. Unfortunately though, I do not have any photos to share this time. I want to preface this story with a major truth- I am okay.  I did have a minor, minor accident, though.  As my lovely parents will remember, I have a distant history of fainting.  Once, way back when I was in high school, I randomly passed out in Biology, and I swear it wasn´t because I hated biology.  I felt my mouth go metallic, I started to see spots, and before I could do anything, I head dove into the ground and walked around with a unicorn horn for some weeks. After going through the hospital shenanigans trying to figure out why I had randomly fainted, I was rewarded with an ambiguous ¨I don´t really know.¨  Blood sugar was fine, MRI was fine, everything was fine-  I just happen to have fainted.   I also pass out when I see excessive amounts of blood, get my blood drawn, etc.  BUT, this is by no means a regular thing.  It hasn´t happened in sometime (not counting when I watched Wes get his stitches out.  That time I laid on the ground before I went down).  

Anyways, as you´ve probably guessed by my long winded explanation and defense, I fainted.  On the street. And went head first.  Yep, awesome.  Here is the story-  We had about two glasses of sangria, tapas, and one glass of red wine over a few hour period.  No big deal in the history of big deals.  I was not even tipsy, but was still quite hungry.  We stopped at a street side cafe along the port to grab some paella, and went then on our merry way, hot paella in take out boxes.  After walking a few yards, I took a bite and it burned. Like really burned.  Like drinking hot chocolate straight out of the tea kettle and you can feel it all the way down your esophagus and into your stomach, kind of burn. I told Nick that it was super hot, and started to double over-  I remember all of this clearly.  Then I woke up with a group of people standing over me, asking me what my name was and if I knew where I was.  Nick had ran inside a cafe and asked someone to call an ambulance.  I came to (obviously, since I´m currently writing this), and was able to answer all of the questions being thrown my way.  I waved off the lady who was calling the ambulance, and sat with an ice pack on my chin for a few minutes while Nick, Ericka and Leslie were amazingly sweet and extremely concerned.  Although I refused the ambulance, we did go to the ER by taxi.  My chin and knees took the brunt of it, and are pretty sore today.  My upper lip is cut up, and my nose is slighty scratched.  Here´s the realllllly sucky part- I chipped the crap out of my two front teeth.  Apparently I nose-dove mouth open, or possibly my bottom teeth caught my top teeth, and now I look like the snaggle-tooth shark we saw in the aquarium in Monaco.  But, I´ve been assured by the Dr. that I am fine, nothing is wrong, it was just a weird fluke reaction of my body most likely to the hot paella.  His exact words were ¨You probably shouldn´t mix shitty wine and shitty paella in one night.¨  Lesson learned.

The staff in the hospital were kind, and thankfully I was in and out in probably an hours time. 

Yeah, a pretty huge bummer.  Fortunately, I purchased travel insurance for this trip and I have a decent medical plan back home.  I got documentation of the visit to the ER last night, and followed up today with required documents from my travel insurance´s website.  I was incredibly lucky, as when I showed up again at the ER today, I just caught the doctor who saw me last night, and he was more than happy to take me to his office and complete the paper work.  I have scanned and submitted all of the documentation, filed a claim, and hope to have my visit covered completely (it was about $460 US dollars).  Wes has been super sweet, and is making me a dentist appointment for when I get home.  I really hope to have these snaggle teeth fixed before Thanksgiving.  

One more piece of really shitty news.  I landed on my Ipad when I fell, and I can´t get it to turn on.  To be honest, this is the biggest bummer of all.  I stayed strong and never cried through the whole ER ordeal, but once we got back to the hostel and I tried my Ipad without success, I completely broke down. It really makes me want to cry right now, more than 12 hours later.  There is an Apple store here in Barcelona, and I hope to visit this afternoon to see if I can get it fixed.  I´ll also check with Grandma and see if it´s under warrenty, since it was here incredibly generosity that gave me the Ipad to begin with.  It has been my prize possession.  Absolutely heartbreaking, to say the least.  But, alas, I am okay, although slighty more bruised and knicked up then when I left.  I am incredibly grateful for Nick, Ericka, and especially Leslie, who were there through it all.  Leslie, having just met me, went in with me to the Dr. and acted as a translator. Incredibly kind of a brand new friend. 

Finally, and I want to emphasize this- PLEASE DON´T WORRY.  I am okay, and this isn´t the first time something weird has happened, and I highly doubt it will be the last.  I am in good hands with good friends, and am kind of proud of myself for navigating the insurance claim paperwork, despite the language barrier. My teeth will be fixed when I get home, and by then my bruises will surely be healed.  My pride and vanity, on the other hand, may take a little longer... I love you all and miss you tremendously. 

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