Sick in Bed

 Today marks one week since I tested positive for Covid-19. A visa run to the Malaysian border was probably the cause of how I got the virus because none of my friends on the island tested positive as well. On the 22nd of November, I got off the island and went to Hatyai where I stayed one night with Mert, Doğan, and Burak. The following morning, after visiting the new DOJU Cafe where Doğan made me an egg sandwich for breakfast, I went to the dentist in Hatyai. Following the dentist's visit, I got on a van to go to Padang Besar. It was in the afternoon when I crossed the border and some really helpful people assisted me in finding the guesthouse I was looking for. Throughout my one-day trip on the Malaysian side of Padang Besar, I ran into a handful of people who could all speak Thai with me. So, Thai became the lingua franca.

On the 24th, I was on my way back to the island. I took a lunch break at DOJU Cafe in Hatyai, again with an egg sandwich. And then, Doğan drove me back to the station where I sat and waited about 45 minutes for the van to Trang to fill up. Eventually, the van took off and I was wondering if I'd catch the 3 o'clock van from Trang to Lanta, the last van that day. There was great synchronicity in the air that day because we arrived at Trang bus station at exactly 3pm. I went and talked to the Ko Lanta van driver who told me that we'd be taking off shortly. I went to the bathroom and bought some snacks before getting into the van. I was happy that I was going to be back home on the same day.

The whole trip to Padang Besar helped me see what my life used to be like. For one, I saw Hatyai again and Hatyai is doing very well. There was also the question of moving back to Hatyai throughout the trip and that has to do with why I took a sudden visa run after years of not running. At no time in Hatyai, did I ever think that if I had to return there that life wouldn't be good. Life would be good in Hatyai too and it would be much better than before. And I was seriously considering the move back until I woke up in Padang Besar on Thursday the 24th and I thought of how DJing on Lanta was easily more exciting than living in Hatyai. 

So, why did I take a last minute visa run to Malaysia after years of not having to worry about such things? Well, I had spoken to a lawyer here who explained to me that my visa was technically expired although it showed otherwise. And then, after a phone call with my old school in Hatyai, I realized I had to do a visa run. And my school also suggested they would renew my work permit and my visa if I returned back to teaching in Hatyai. This decision I had to make was on my mind for most of the trip. 

On Friday, I went to a bar on Lanta to see DJ M&M play because although I'd met him several times, I hadn't heard him play. I asked if I could be his warm up DJ sometime and he told me to talk to the owner who was sitting nearby. When I went to talk to the owner, he said he knew about me from a recent Facebook post that showed me DJing at Roundhouse, another bar I'd played at the previous Friday. He invited me to play the following night.

The following day, I was excited to play, of course, but I was also very tired. Sure, I'd gone to bed late and woken up late but something was unusual about how I felt. I felt a bit sick but not enough to call everything off that day. There was a Couchsurfing Meetup during the day as well. I went to FULL - FILL Café to host that and as expected, there were no couchsurfers - which was good because I just sat and rested. CS activity has been quite low on the island even considering it is the high season here. Following Chris's suggestion, I took an hour nap between the CS event and the DJ gig at night. And that helped a little. I went to DJ and it was alright. I was enjoying some of the things I was doing and it looked like a few people were grooving along as well but the bar owner kept interfering in the music. "Play this, play that."

Ruslan and Irma had also recently returned from their trip and it was the first time I saw them since they got back. Chris was there too and I tried to enjoy my time with them after I was done DJing but I was too tired. And eventually, I went home. The following day, on Sunday, I bought some medicine from the drug store and they gave me medicine for fever.  I cancelled my only class that day and it wasn't until Monday that Gwang from Inlingua Hatyai suggested I take a Covid test. I happened to have a test kit and so I did it right away. The results came up invalid. So, I went back to the same pharmacy and bought another kit. This time, the results were positive. That's when I cancelled more classes.

I've been sick in bed ever since. I feel uncomfortable in many ways and there's nothing I can do but continue resting and taking the medicine. Throughout the covid lockdowns, my girlfriend at the time and I didn't complain about having to stay at home. While others were complaining about being bored at home, we had our hands full with all kinds of things that kept us busy. I was actually happier under a lockdown in some ways. For example, I worked much less and still had enough to get by. I was happy about that. There were some obvious advantages too, like getting the opportunity to live in a mountainside village in Chiang Mai. That wouldn't have happened if I had to continue going to school every day. 

However, now the world isn't under a strict lockdown. It's just me who's at home. And being sick makes it that I'm not able to do the things I want to do. All of those activities that kept me busy during the lockdown are out of reach right now. I haven't really had the energy to do anything like that for the last week. I don't want to complain but it's definitely not like the Covid lockdowns. The biggest difference is that I'm sick and don't have the energy to stay busy. I've just been watching movies and stand-up comedy and listening to music. I don't feel productive at all but at least my symptoms have been mild. 

On Thursday, I went to the hospital on the island. I was met with confusion as one nurse was pointing at some chairs in the inside-part of a tent while telling me to sit down. At the same time, another nurse was cringing with every step I took closer to them, telling me to sit down at the outside-part. I was going to have to squeeze through them to get to the inside part and so it would've helped if the one nurse wasn't inviting me inside. I had to wait for them to get my medicine and a letter from the doctor. The medicine came and I continued waiting. I waited for nearly half an hour after getting the medicine. Finally, I went up to ask where the bathroom was. A third nurse shot up onto her feet as I got closer to their office and frantically asked about a piece of paper on the table. Then, the nurse who was inviting me inside earlier took that paper and ran off to get a doctor's signature. I went to the bathroom and came back and by the time I was back, so was that nurse with the paper. They had me waiting for no reason all that time.

Anyway, I'm thankful to Sunny, Ruslan, and Irma for helping me get food and groceries at this time. Big thanks to my landlords for providing porridge in the mornings and helping with other things too. It's not the best time of my life but I still have a few to be thankful for. I'm gonna make it. I can't wait to join life again because I feel so far from everything. For now, I just have to remember that everything is going to be alright.

The photos in this post were taken on the 21st of November by Sunny at the waterfalls.