Life Update: Flooding, Job, Sickness
Updated: Feb 17, 2023
I think it's time for an update, so let's dive into the last few weeks' events.
Most of you probably heard about the Auckland floods, as it was in news all around the world. Luckily I wasn't in Auckland anymore. The rain started on Friday, January 27th. Even here in Tauranga, the rain was incredibly intense. I had to work that night. Suddenly everyone was talking about Auckland, asking if we had seen the pictures. At that point I hadn't, so the next break I had I looked it up and was shocked. Whole supermarkets flooded, products just swam away, the airport under water, and no flights operating anymore.
Heavy rain continued for the next two days. Puddles started developing on the streets and would not go away. Luckily Mount Maunganui is built on sand and is surrounded by the ocean, so the chances of flooding here are very low.
The nearby regions did get flooded, though. A couple of weeks ago I went to the MacLaren Falls. A friend of mine went there a couple of days after the flooding and the Falls were no longer recognizable.
Two weeks ago I went to Kaiate Falls with some friends. It was crazy to see the effects at the Falls and on the way there. Although the flooding was almost a week prior, tons of fields were still underwater. At the falls we saw a landslide. There was way more water than usual. The bridges were either completely destroyed or almost underwater. It was crazy to see some of the effects with my own eyes. Of course, all of that is not as bad as what actually happened in Auckland or other places, but it makes it much more real. It really happened right around the corner.
On a lighter note, I got a job! My first job in this country. After handing out a few CVs, I got accepted at a brewery/bar/restaurant. They brew their own beer, which they sell at a bar, and it's connected to a restaurant. I'm employed as FOH (front of house aka waitress). It's not my dream job, but that was not my expectation. It's an okay job, that I can work for a couple of weeks to make a bit of money to then be able to travel again for a bit. So I'm satisfied with it.
Just two weeks after I started that job I got sick. In the evening of the day, we went to Kaiate Falls I suddenly was very cold, although it was quite warm. I went to bed early. But during the night I kept sweating and then freezing. I had a fever, my throat started to be scratchy, and my ears hurt. I called in sick for work for the next two days. I felt slightly better on Sunday and went back, but that was very much a mistake. My legs felt like pudding, I felt sick in my stomach, and was exhausted. My fever was gone at that point, but I had thrown up once and was not well overall.
So I went to the doctor the next day. That was my first time ever going to a doctor in a foreign country. It was very chill, though. It was a public holiday, so I had to go to an emergency clinic because all the GPs were closed. I arrived and talked to them at reception. After 15min I got called in and talked to a nurse, who asked about my symptoms. I had to wait for another 2 hours, where I grabbed a chai latte at a nearby café before I was called back in where the doctor saw me. She got me a doctor's note to get me off work and some medicine prescriptions. Usually, you have to pay for a doctor's visit, but because I exhibited Covid symptoms, I didn't have to pay.
In the next following days, I did not start to feel better. I got a cough and lost my voice for a couple of days. I had to go back to the doctor to get another doctor's note. I got antibiotics and started feeling better in no time. Yesterday was my first day back at work. In total I was sick for almost two weeks. I'm so glad to be well. I finally feel alive again.
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