If you can believe it...

...I actually have strep throat. Yes, it's true after a harrowing extended week of Dengue Fever, I now have a bout of tonsillitis and require another round of antibiotics, on top of the Malaria antibiotics that aren't the right ones for strep throat. I am so sorry liver and I love you. It is almost unbelievable that after the Dengue, the toe infection, the piles and piles of random bug bites, bruises, sore muscles and a horrid acne break out that I now have tonsillitis to add to my list of ailments. Alex is being very supportive and sensitive to my endless complaining and pondering why...why Lord why!?! I must say that the medical care we have received...or that I have received mainly...has been top notch and I cannot fault it once. Even in India, the chemists offer a lot of support and you don't need prescriptions to get antibiotics and other various hard to get medications, which does make travelling a bit easier. It is reassuring to know that you can actually get medical care and it is simple and easy and most of all effective. Today, I was just too ill to manage any sort of scuba diving in open water with my throat being full of white puss filled pollops. Sucking in the air through the regulator from the cylinder makes ones throat very dry and strep throat + dry cold air = pain and suffering for Mel (like my use of scuba terms). I was able to muster up enough energy for a day of classroom work so we have now completed all our scuba modules and have passed our 4 quizzes and 1 final exam, as well as our standard scuba skills in confined water, which we completed yesterday so all things considered we are doing very well. Due to yet another Mel ailment, we have to now extend our time in Koh Tao by one day in order to complete the 4 open water dives necessary for our first level Open Water Dive certification...how cool is that. However, it is well worth it in order to ensure we are fully certified and have our first 4 dives under our belts. They will all be no further than 18 metres/60 feet beneath the ocean surface, so nothing that can cause "the bends," though I am sure something will happen to me while we are drifting around under there...maybe some coral infection or sea urchin sting...but something. This is me after all and as my mom told me in a recent email, I was born under a "everything happens to Melissa star," which basically means that when something can happen it will...to me. At least it makes for great story telling, which Alex loves and offers a lot of laughter through tears...well maybe months or even years after the fact...but laughter none-the-less.