Hernias, Surgery and Chaos!

Wow, yeah I know its been a long time since Ive last posted, but this last week and a half has been really chaotic!

On the 14th (aka last Tuesday) Adam went into the hospital for hernia surgery. The medical system is different here than in America. Usually after a simple procedure like this he would have been out the same day or maybe the next day at the latest. But, here he was required to stay in the hospital for 4-9 days!! I guess thats where they get all their money! Anyway, instead of doing a local anesthesia (sp?) they did a spinal anesthesia. This means that they ended up poking a small hole in his spinal cord. In America they tell you to stay on your back after this for 12 hours, but here they only had him lay down for 6 hours. The result of this? A week long migraine that no amount of pain killers can help! Because he didnt stay on his back, the hole didnt close up so spinal fluid continues to leak out when he sits and puts pressure on his spine..... great huh? I feel so bad for him!

Anyway, his mom, Regan has been here since the 12th and has been taking care of him and kept him company in the hospital during the day when I was at work. So that was really nice of her! Hospital food here was quite different! Very japanese in fact. Tofu blocks with soy sauce and green onions, mushy rice, occasional miso soup, black sea grass salad (ew...) and natto (double ew...). I guess it was a 1000 calorie a day diet, ouch.. So I would go to the convenience store and get him some other goodies to supplement the meager proportions.

Not only has this whole situation been a little stressful, but my predecessor (the girl that was the ALT before me) is in town and so we've been trying to meet up and talk. Shes shown me more about my school and its teachers than Id ever known and gave me some helpful tips on how not to lose my mind! (Thank you Sam!) Also, she invited me to dinner with her and some other teachers from here to help break the ice a little. As hard as it may be to believe, Im actually really shy around the people here and they hardly ever go out of their way to be friends, so its been tough. I think this dinner on Friday will help! Yay!

Adams mom will be leaving tomorrow night which is kinda sad because it was really nice to have her here, but itll also be nice to have everything back to normal. We ended up having some wonderful talks and bonding moments on the nights Adam was in the hospital so that was really cool. I really appreciated the company! Thanks Regan for everything! She also brought us looooooooads of toothpaste, deoderant, toothbrushes, allergy medicine and other goodies we cant get here, so that was awesome!

Yesterday, she and I went into Nara to meet up with Aaron and his friend who's visiting and went sight seeing. It was fun because I ended up seeing places I hadnt seen yet and the weather was really comfortable so it made everything all the more pleasant. Also, when we went to see the Daibutsu (the Great Buddha) I was surprised by how much I knew about it! I had been on a tour there waaaaay back in August or September when it was still dreadfully hot and sticky outside. They told us all about the history of the Todaiji Temple and the Great Buddha and I hadnt realized until yesterday how much I had actually retained! I was very surprised and happy since I dont seem to retain anything lately. After that, Aaron, his friend Ashleigh and I all went to Kyoto where we saw the lantern festival (not nearly as cool as the one here in Nara). Then, while eating dinner discussed at length how much trouble I have subtracting in my head. I seriously have a problem with it. Adding is fine, subtracting is just way too hard for some reason. But whatever, at least I can tell everyone all about the Great Buddha....!

I have some pictures to add to this but since Im at school, I cant upload them... itll have to wait until later.

Oh! One more thing. We have finally downloaded Skype! It took us forever, but we finally have it! Unfortunately, we still dont have a microphone or a headset, so.... as soon as we get that (hopefully this weekend) then Ill be able to call other Skype members (like Katy!!) for free!!!! Calls to non-Skype members cost a bit but usually not too much. So yeah, Katy I promise Ill get a headset this weekend to be able to talk to you! Im sorry its taken so long! This week has just been really off the wall.

Ok well, sorry this wasnt too interesting! Ill try to have something weird happen later to talk about!! haha! And Ill add the pictures soon!