My cold is progressing: less sore throat, more runny nose, a froggy voice, low on energy. Fortunately I bought a couple of boxes of lotion kleenex which should get me through the weekend, barely. I'll be in line when the missionary store opens tomorrow to buy more! The tissues they provide in the rooms just don't cut it when you are going through them so quickly. The Gatorade we bought at the store yesterday has also been helpful in keeping me hydrated, and the Afrin got me through the night with a good sleep. I haven't used as many meds in a long time as I have this week, but I'm sure grateful for them.
As usually happens at altitude (Provo is at 4500 feet) after a few days, it is a bit difficult for me to get a deep breath. This will pass in a few days, right about the time we leave. I've only stayed above 5000 feet a few times in my life, and each time I got sick. GaryC and his wife want us to come to their house in Park City when we get back, but, since it's at 8500 feet altitude, wisdom dictates that I not even try to go there.
I haven't really had time to exercise, which is quite a change for me. For example, at home I spent an hour on my elliptical machine six days a week, but thus far I have only gotten 20 minutes on the treadmill down the hall. There is also a very nice gym in the basement, with lots of weights and bikes/elliptical machines. I miss the exercise, but between the busy schedule and not feeling great, it can't be helped -- we knew this was possibly one of the sacrifices we'd make by serving a mission. My wife does stretch and exercise some in the room before I wake up -- she's better than I am! We did at least start walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator to our third-floor apartment several times each day, which rather leaves us winded due to the altitude issue mentioned above. Hopefully in Rome we'll figure out a way to exercise more regularly once our schedule settles down there.
Those of you who know about my low-fat vegan diet may be wondering how that's working with the cafeteria food here. Four years ago I started the diet for long-term heart health, not for weight loss. Fortunately, they have a dietician on staff in the cafeteria to help missionaries with special dietary needs. I met with her Monday and asked for some beans and brown rice each night to give me some filling protein, which has worked well. They have a salad and fruit bar at each meal, so I get plenty of fruits/veggies. For breakfast, I have cold cereal with a banana and my choice or rice/almond/soy milk. Overall, I'm doing better at sticking to my diet here than I had feared, with plenty to eat, so I'm never hungry. Once I get to Italy, it'll be a different story, so stay tuned to see how that turns out!
One example of the kinds of things we have bought on Amazon is plastic coat hangers for our room. The room came with a few "loose" hangers, probably left over from prior couples, and a bunch of non-removable metal hangers, which are useless for taking to the laundry for example. There also weren't enough of them, so we bought 30 hangers for under $20 on Amazon, and now we have plenty. There's a "courtesy closet" down the hall where couples leave useful things when they depart, so you can "shop" for things like alarm clocks, nightlights, hair dryers, etc. We have taken advantage of that and will return the favor when we leave, including our coat hangers.
Small world department: at lunch today we were sitting with another senior couple on their way to serve in a mission office in Brazil. The wife mentioned the name of some dear friends of ours from Carlsbad, Linda/SteveO. Linda served her mission in Italy, which is how this came up, and it turns our that the two couples have been close friends for decades. Here is a photo, which we emailed to Linda/Steve:
Meanwhile, my cold kept getting worse, including the start of a cough which can only get worse during the night. Since I'd like some sleep tonight, we had an MTC shuttle run us out to a local pharmacy to get some cough syrup (Delsym) that works for me and a few other items since we were there, including more lotion kleenex. Mormons usually don't shop on Sunday, but this ox was definitely in the mire. My wife felt like she was coming down with the cold for a while too, but after her nap and dinner she felt fine. This always happens: she gets cold symptoms for a few hours and is done, while I suffer for at least a week. At least she can take care of me.