Day 36: Hooky Day

Chris woke up this morning feeling pretty icky (guess that's what happens when one drinks 2.5 litres of beer when one normally doesn't do such a thing). Welcome to Oktoberfest! He was supposed to go to a conference today, but instead, he worked from home. This was a nice change of pace for us, as we got to see him during the day and have lunch together.

Xander's cold has gotten worse. Poor guy is coughing and sniffling. He felt too tired to join us for lunch, so we decided to go out and bring hm back some food. However, we stopped at the Apotheke (pharmacy) as there is one on every block. I can only assume they are all similar, some with a wider set of products than others. The one located across the street from us is a very small one and when we walked in, I could see lotions and shampoos, but didn't see any kind of cold medicine.

I decided I wouldn't be able to find them on the shelves anyway, not unless they were the same kinds from home. So, we went to the desk and asked the women behind the counter. It was a bit of a pantomime to begin with. I could say, "Mein Sohn hat eine Erkältung (My son has a cold)." But that was it. So, then I went into the whole "looking like I'm in a commercial" charade of putting my fingers across my cheeks and nose, saying he was congested (because, if I pantomime it, she'll understand my English, right?) Good thing the other woman spoke English. She jumped in and helped us out, asking questions about his breathing and other symptoms. She gave us a choice of pill, children's liquid (flavoured) or regular liquid (un-flavoured). We chose the regular liquid, verifying how many drops per dosage.

Since we were right across the street, we ran back up to the apartment to dose Xander up. The drops were difficult to shake out, so we shook them into an espresso cup. Then they came out very small, so we added water to make sure he got all the drops. He downed it and we went off to lunch.

About the time we got to lunch, is when I started to think about what we just did (bad parenting!) We just gave our son medicine, of which we know nothing. I don't know what it is. Xander is allergic to Amoxicillin. I can't imagine that drug would be in an over the counter type drug. But I don't even know who we just talked to!? Were the two women pharmacists, doctors, or just two ladies wearing white lab coats? Even though I'm 99% sure it's not Amoxicillin in the medicine, what else could it be and what if it's something we've never had and what if he reacts poorly or what if... Dumb. On the other hand, with the drops being so hard to get out, what if we didn't even give him enough? Oy.

Be this time our food has arrived and it's wonderful hamburgers and fries. While we have only gone to an American restauarant once (KFC), this is our third burger joint (just in Berlin) that we've gone to. Because there seems to be a burger "thing" going on here, I don't feel we're eating American food, right? We're not cheating and eating "home" food, right? Here's another way to tell it's not American... all the french fries are served with mayonnaise. So there's that.

Behind the soda bottle is a man eating a burger and fries,
with a fork and knife. He cut it into 6ths, maybe.
BIG bites.

Side note: Before eating at this restaurant, Chris had shown me a funny meme about eating a burger with your hands NOT a fork and knife. I asked him who would do that? What do you know... the man sitting next to us used a fork and knife! I'm not trying to shame him. Really, I'm not. It was just so weird to see someone doing it and, might I say, he was cutting ginormous bites (although, he was super tall, maybe 6 ft 5 in, so I guess he could handle such a big bite). Also, he used his fork for the fries as well. We've noticed that a small-wooden forks are often served with basket of fries.

Another side note: Sharing table is not uncommon here. So, the gentleman eating his big bites, along with is VERY pregnant partner, came in and sat down next to us at a table already occupied by another couple. No one blinked an eye. Definitely common.

Xander enjoyed the burger and fries we brought back for him.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the bathrooms, laundry, and rest. The kids rested. Chris made dinner (the best thing about him being home today!) And then early to bed in hopes that Xander feels better and the rest of us don't catch anything.