My New Life in Malta

My silence on this space is due to a very eventful couple of weeks.

Right as my friends left, I thought my cold was over but then… it came back with a vengeance. I have been sick as a dog and it has been very exhausting. Such a ”simple” illness, and yet so debilitating! My mother arrived, and the first days I was not able to show her much due to my ill health. I had to miss a few rehearsals and then worked hard to catch up. And then things got interesting.

A couple of nights ago, as M was turning around to give me a hug, one of his fingers which had at its tip a nail that really needed clipping went directly into my eye! At first it hurt in such a way that I could not even open it. When I finally was able to, the world seemed very cloudy. I blinked and blinked but it was not getting any better. M could not see any damage, but something was not right. We wound up at the casualty department (emergency room) of St. Luke’s Hospital at nearly 1 a.m. After some formalities at the check-in area (which took several minutes of filling out forms) I was made to pay a deposit of Lm15 (€35, US$45). Maltese citizens are allowed in for free, but at least I did not have to pay an exorbitant fee, which had slightly worried me on the way to the hospital. After several more minutes walking through a maze of corridors (good thing I was not in a critical condition!) we made it to the ophthalmology department.

I knocked on the door, and a very scary old nurse reminiscent of the old Soviet Union told me, or rather barked at me, in a deep voice to wait while she went to get the doctor. A very tired and yawning doctor, whom we had clearly woken up, soon came and examined me. She said that I had a very minor scratch in the exact middle of the eye, which explained why I was seeing cloudy. After much insistence on our part, she reiterated that there would be no permanent damage. She then checked the inside of the eyelid for damage (ouch!) and then covered me up with an eye patch that I was to keep on until the next day at noon. She then prescribed some anti-bacterial eye drops for the next several days and sent me off. The doctor was not exactly nice, but she did seem to know what she was doing. Walking out with that patch was very strange. Half of my field of vision was gone, and I clung on to M the way blind people do. I was able to remain quite calm throughout the whole ordeal, but poor M was extremely worried.

The next day we informed my mother of the event, since I came out of the bedroom looking like a pirate. Luckily she had slept through the whole thing. And so, here I am, with a very surreal condition. If I look out of the bad eye, it hurts and the world seems blurry. If I open both eyes, it still hurts a bit but I am able to ignore the weird vision. I really try not to think about the fact that I have a cut ON MY EYE because it gives me the shivers if I focus on that too much. Several people have told me that they have gone through the same thing, and that I will heal fine. I sure hope so!

I am happy to report that a trip to the Maltese emergency room was efficient, expedient, and relatively inexpensive. I am now at ease knowing that if I ever have another emergency, a trip to St. Luke’s is not to be feared.

In other news, I am really enjoying my mother’s visit, and it is great to be showing her around my new country. It was also lovely having my friends here last week. It was surreal seeing them here, but now I miss them and look forward to their next visit, which they promised me. To round things out, out of the blue my friend A came for a holiday in Malta with his parents, and we met up last night. When it rains, it pours! If only I had more energy for all of this, it would be perfect.

Now to wait for my eye to heal, hopefully on time for the play’s premiere this Friday! And if I stop coughing, that would also be wonderful.