Sheep Guarding Llama

We all slept in quite a bit today, Dominica was the first one up.  The rest of us slept into the afternoon.  Luciana, thankfully, had her fever down to 101 during the night and down to 100 by the time that she got up, and she was feeling well.  She actually got up and went and played with Liesl upstairs for quite a while before coming downstairs, which they almost never do.  They are much happier children today.

It is another just wonderful day on Crete.  We opened all the windows and doors and it is bright and sunny but not much wind today so things are not all getting blown around.  This is just about perfect.

By the time that Luciana had been awake for about three hours, her temperature was down to 99!  Her fever has officially broken now.  And she is much perkier and asking for food, real food again.

We were counting our chickens too soon, today.  By late afternoon Luciana suddenly spiked to a fever of 103.7!  Too fast and too hot for comfort.  We gave her ten minutes or so and she had come down to 103, but we could not wait at this point so we got the kids ready and set out to find a doctor for her.

The twenty four hour clinic that we found was very far east of the city, so we had quite a long drive ahead of us.  Long in relational terms, it is slow driving through the city but the total journey could not have been fifteen miles.  But we did not know the area at all, we have never driving to the east side of the city before, let alone beyond it.

We actually did pretty well getting right to and finding the clinic.  Sadly, the advertised 24×7 clinic was closed.  Maybe out of business, who knows.  Thank goodness there was another clinic that we knew about right down the block so we went there and it was straight in to see the doctor in an instant.  This was a private clinic, not a public one.

The doctor spent some time with Luciana and decided that she needed tests from  lab at the hospital.  It was twenty Euros for the visit, which is not bad.  While we were there Ciana’s temperature was still over 103.  The doctor asked us if Luciana was always this pale.  We were pretty surprised as she’s not pale at all by our standards!  Apparently in Greece we are all so pale that it throws people off.

We drove back to the city.  Luciana said that she was hungry and really wanted to eat, which is a good sign, but this was a bad time to try to eat anything and we did not have any idea how to find convenient food.  She told us that she does not want to go back home and eat but wants to eat in a restaurant tonight.  Apparently we have not been eating out enough.

We did pretty well at locating the hospital which is buried in a part of the city where you cannot see it at all, even sitting on the street in front of it you would never know that it is there.  We went in and it was straight into the ER (it was late, where else can you go and it was the only entrance) and they got us into see the doctor in like, well, instantly.  We actually spent the most time between the car and the doctor telling them how to spell my first name than anything else.  I’ve never been in a hospital that got you cared for so quickly.

The doctor was very nice and examined Luciana again.  By this time, not even close to an hour later, her temperature was all the way down to normal!  Crazy.  She visibly felt fine and was acting pretty normal, too.  The examination went well enough, thankfully just about everyone speaks English on Crete, and the doctor said that she had no concerns, that this was just a fever and likely a virus and that the fever is just the body correctly fighting it off and that we should wait it out a few more days before being concerned.  Technically just had only had the fever for two full days at this point, it takes four for concern.  The doctor’s one concern was a UTI so wanted to do a urinalysis to be sure that that wasn’t the issue as that is not viral and would need antibiotics.  But ear infection and throat are definitely ruled out.

So we did the urine test, dropped that off with the lab, were told that we would have to wait two hours until eleven thirty (it was somewhat obviously nine thirty at this point) to get the results.  We could get dinner while we waited, which everyone needed as none of us had eaten all day at this point.

We stopped and paid the bill before leaving.  We were rather shocked to find that our trip to the hospital, without insurance to help cover us, not just going to the hospital but hitting the ER, paediatrics and using the lab cost us two cents under seven Euro.  That’s right, we gave them a whopping seven Euro and got change back!  Quick truly just one percent what this would have cost in the States.  Not seven hundred Euro, which we were prepared for, but seven!  It is truly a different world.  And better care than we get from clinics or hospitals back home.  Once again we are so happy with Greece (and Europe.)

We dropped some things off at the car and discovered that the lights had been half left on again.  This time at least we had an excuse with the emergency, them being half turned off, no way to see the light from them under the city street lights, etc.  Thank goodness the car turned over.  So we took a few minutes to sit in the car and relax while the battery topped up.  I left the girls there and walked down the street to see what our handy dinner options would be.  That way we were not wasting car charging time while seeking food.  I found a very nearby cafe and a pizza place and figured one of those two would do just fine.  I came back and got the family and we walked down the street.

Everyone opted for the pizza place.  It had a few people in it but was essentially empty.  At first they brought us menus that were one hundred percent in Greek.  Um, not going to work.  We could not tell what a single thing was.  They found some with partial English in them after a bit, though.

Luciana just wanted French fries, which was fine.  Anything to get her eating.  She has been mostly living on juice (mostly orange and carrot) for days.  She just needs calories to fuel the fever.  The rest of us got our own fries with cheese on them and a vegetable pizza, even Liesl wanted the veggie pizza.

The fries came out and we got Luciana eating.  Then the pizza came.  Liesl was ready to burst with excitement when it arrived.

The pizza ended up being truly epic.  Positively delicious.  One of the best I have ever had.  Liesl thinks it is her all time favourite.   It was so good.

After dinner we had an hour to kill, yet.  The girls just wanted to sit in the car and watch videos on their Kindle Fires.  Dominica was happy to sit with them.  I used the time to have a nice, long walk around that part of Rethymno and get to know town a little.  It was a nice, quiet Friday night and the weather was just cool enough to make it nice for a walk.  It was a great chance to just relax for a bit.

At about eleven thirty we went in to the lab and picked up the results.   Then we had a small adventure trying to find the paediatric department which turned out to be on the first floor and over a bridge.  We found it and the same doctor that we had before in the ER (the ER has its own paediatric department) checked Luciana out again.  She looked at the lab results and instantly it was clear that Luciana had a UTI, which explains nearly all of the symptoms.  We really should have guessed it before tonight but we think she had a stomach bug just before getting the UTI that confused us.  But that was Monday and she was fine until the fever hit on Wednesday evening. There was a gap but we did not really notice.  And it means that the rest of us have probably just had a cold and that was masking things, too.

The doctor decided to do one more urine test, just to be safe.  But we will find out about that later should it show that this first one was wrong.  We got a prescription for an antibiotic and were on our way quite quickly.  A quick stop at the lab to drop off the work to be done and we were on our way home.  No additional charge for this extra visit or lab work.

There was no pharmacy open on the way home, it was around midnight at this point, so we will have to deal with that first thing in the morning.  We got home and the kids relaxed for a bit.  Luciana watched some Dora the Explorer and Liesl played Castaway Paradise.  Dominica was the first to bed, by hours.

The girls stayed up and got me to play Goat Simulator a little and then had me get them some food.  It wasn’t until around four that I finally got them off to bed.  I wanted to get SGL all caught up before turning in myself to make sure that everyone knew what the status was on Luciana’s hospital visit before calling it a night.

Luciana’s fever did not return at all this evening.  The high temperature taken at the first clinic was the last elevated temperature that we saw and she was awake for about eight hours after that reading was taken.  She was in a pretty good mood all evening as well.  Although she did tell me that she wanted to sleep alone again tonight because when she is sick she likes having lots of room.

We have been hoping for some unique Greek experiences.  I am not sure that this is exactly what we had had in mind, but I suppose that there is always a silver lining.  We really are getting the experience of what it is like to live in Greece and deal with normal, every day problems.  This is one that will definitely be good reference material for others travelling like us.

Got up at ten today.  Have a little bit of a headache, hoping that I am not coming down with the same thing that Dominica and Luciana have.  I’ve had a cough for days, so likely I have it just not as badly as they do.  Luciana woke up at ten as well, used the bathroom and went back to bed.    Dominica got up at the same time that I did.  Liesl slept in until afternoon.

It is a gorgeous, but windy day, here on Crete.  It is seventy three degrees and the sun is out.  I am very glad that I was up earlier than usual and got time to enjoy it.

When Liesl got up I managed to cajole her into walking to the corner market with me.  She never leaves the house.  She ended up being super happy the moment that we set foot outside of our door and she had a great time.  She danced down the alleys and was just so happy to be out and about in the sun.  She would stop at all of the open doorways to long abandoned houses and barns and look in.

We did our shopping, Liesl insisted on carrying the grocery basket while we did, then walked back home.  When we got home, Liesl wanted to explore the streets right around the house, so we took in the groceries and then went straight out and explored.  She then wanted to explore town!  She is very excited about getting out today.

We went in the house, ate a quick breakfast and set out for a walk together, just Liesl and me.  We went down to the north side of town and down the hill for quite some ways.  We did a round trip of about seven kilometers, it was a good walk.  And it was very downhill so the walk back provided rather a bit of exercise.

The walk was gorgeous and we had a really good time together.  Liesl carried a little container of gummy treats that she had picked out at the grocery store on the corner and ate one or two now and then as we walked.  We walked out of the village and found the where newer houses have been built and interesting living areas and a surprising amount of traffic for being where we were.

Liesl was excited to be walking towards the sea and exploring.  It was a great way to spend the morning together.  And so nice to be out of the house.  And it gave her a much better appreciation for where we live as she has been pretty isolated from the fact that we live right by the sea all of this time.

The walk back up the hill was pretty exhausting, especially considering I, like Dominica and Luciana, most likely have the flu and this hit my lungs pretty hard.  Liesl had wanted to walk even farther but I knew that she was not picturing just how long and hard the walk back the distance that we had gone already was going to be when switching from downhill to uphill.  I was right and she was tired almost immediately.  It was a long trip back for her.

We got to see an assortment of wildlife, many sheep, goats, dogs and cats.  I was amazed at the variety of housing once you left town.  In my wanderings thus far I have not seen anything like these homes.  Very nice, modern homes, but in a classic Greek style, built some alone and some in very small developments.  They looked like wonderful places to live and many were actively in use, we could see people coming and going as we walked.

Once back it was time for me to write and Liesl to do school.  Luciana was finally up and very sick today.  Her fever is higher and she is not feeling well at all.  Dominica is slightly better, but not well either.  I was a little sick yesterday but today it hit me quite a bit more and I was rather under the weather for a good portion of the day but started to feel better in the evening.

This evening I made an emergency run to the next village for needed grocery supplies as we have run out of juice and stuff which Luciana has been living on.  So I stocked us up on that and came right back home.  It’s actually very quick and easy to do when the car is close by like it is right now, parked back at the church instead of way up the hill.

We had a pretty quiet night.  Luciana and I played a little GoatZ at her request, but she did not last long before she wanted to lay back down.  We are bit worried as her fever got up to 103 tonight, we know where the twenty four hour clinic is and are prepared to run there and we got a few names and addresses of paediatricians at the ready if we can manage to go there.  She tends to feel pretty well when she has had Tylenol so we are keeping an eye on her and ready to go if we need to but are hoping that the fever will break by the morning.

Dominica and the girls went to bed pretty early tonight.  I ended up being awake very late which I was not expecting but as the night went on I was feeling quite a bit better.

I went to sleep with Luciana again tonight but she told me that I couldn’t sleep there tonight.  She is very odd with that, last night she asked me to stay with her, it was so sweet.  Tonight she was very upset that I was there and made me leave immediately.  So I went and squeezed in in the other room, which is a pain as I have to move my CPAP around whenever I move from one room to another.  It isn’t as simple as it is for normal people.

And thus begins the final week of my thirties.  Now there is a weird thought.

I was up at eleven thirty, a little bit earlier than we have been getting up, and I did my daily routine of walking around the house opening every door and window.  It is glorious outside.  I stood on the terrace for a little bit enjoying it.  So wonderfully nice.  In the low seventies (about twenty two Celsius) with sun and a light breeze and a hazy mist hitting the peninsula at Chania to the west off of the Aegean.

With the wind down today, the house is filled with the sound of chirping birds and the never ending sound of distant barking dogs and crowing roosters.  For some reason, both of those go around the clock.  Very distant, but they are always there.  And once in a while you hear sheep talking to one another.

Luciana has not been sick to her stomach for a full day now, but she still makes us keep her “bin” beside her wherever she goes and today she started to develop a low grade fever. She was pretty icky all day and had around a 101 fever by the end of the day.  We are guessing that she has the flu, it started as a moderate cough, which I have as well, and had just a tiny bit of nausea and is now a fever and generally achenes.

We all went to bed very early tonight.  When I took Luciana up to bed I told her that I would sleep in her room with her if she wanted and unlike her normal response she said, “Well, I would really like you to.” So I moved my CPAP into the girls’ room and slept on the big convertible bed in with Luciana and Liesl slept with Dominica.

Luciana got up and was feeling rather a bit better today.  Dominica, however, was fully sick and slept until mid-afternoon, then came downstairs, sat in the chair in the living room and before long, slept for another six hours in the chair and then went to bed rather early, too.  She is very much not feeling well.

It was another truly gorgeous day.  So sad that no one is getting to enjoy it.  We have all of the windows open and fresh air in the house all day.  It feels great.  I really wish that there was time and ability to get out and explore the island.  Maybe we will get lucky and be able to later in the week.  But with the way that things have been going, that seems rather unlikely.

Liesl was happy to have the day off from school and used most of her day to play Castaway Paradise, again.  For the second day in a row she was able to earn all of her “dailies” and she is learning a lot of reading, logic, math and skills from the game, so I am pretty happy with the time spent.

Yesterday, having been the end of a long weekend that we took advantage of to deal with a sick family, today was a busy day for me trying to catch up while watching over the kids as Dominica was unavailable all day.  So I was super busy and never got a chance for any downtime at all.

I worked until three in the morning, Dominica having gone to bed long before them.  Luciana asked that I spend some time with her, so we went in the game room and I closed my eyes and sat with her as she played a new game that is perfect for her: Shu’s Garden.  She really liked it.  It’s just a cute, playful piece of art, no objectives or ways to get hurt.  You just play a handful of creatures in a garden that jump around and eat plants and plant seeds and stuff.  Then we played a few minutes of Ostrich Island, but she felt that that was a little boring.  Maybe if we figure it out more.

So off to bed just before four.

Luciana got up sometime during the night and threw up.  She isn’t even five and she handles getting sick, going to the bathroom and cleaning up and doesn’t even ask anyone to help her.  She is such a trooper.  I didn’t even wake up!

It is President’s Day and Liesl knows that her cousins have the day off from school so with Luciana being sick we decided that she could have the day off too.

Luciana spent much of the day sleeping in the game room.  Liesl played a lot more of Castaway Paradise today now that she knows that she loves it and understands much of the game mechanics.  She did not progress nearly as quickly today as she did yesterday with me helping her but she did spend most of the day reading the words on the screen (the game has no spoken dialogue, everything is word bubbles) so that was very good for her.  She managed to do her first day in which she got all of her daily rewards since we understand how they work and she earned the big Fire Badge and was so excited about how well she did.  She also built the first bridge to another island.  This is really turning out to be a great game for her.

Luciana was sick all day and threw up one more time after having tried to keep down some toast.

The weather was truly amazing today.  So nice that when I got up I made Dominica come sit on the terrace with me for a while.  Liesl came up to and just ran around. It was bright sun and seventy degrees!  Our warmest, nicest day yet in Greece. Maybe winter is over here.  This will do wonders for reducing the mould problem.

Dominica spent the day watching the Gilmore Girls again.  I was busy posting and writing all day and never got a chance to watch anything or play anything all day.

I went to corner store for groceries as I do every day.  There have only been a few days for the past month and a half that I have not walked to the store at least once.  I’m sure that my average is at least once per day or higher.

Dominica made tortellini alfredo for dinner tonight.

Luciana went to bed very early, as did Dominica.  Liesl I got off to bed at two.  I went to bed myself around four.