3, 4 and 5 february (English)

A small trip to Groningen

Friday, February 3, was the first day of this year that it was seriously snowing in the Netherlands. Precisely on that day we (my family) went to Groningen for a family weekend. Of course I first just worked and my colleagues said I was becoming crazy. If we were to believe the news wholly the Netherlands was in an traffic jam. My sister Eefje and my girlfriend Maud had left earlier that day. They kept me informed of their developments. They drove at 50 km per hour from Rotterdam to Groningen and were indeed settled down. A optimist if I did not give up so I decided after my work top pick up my brother Florian and his girlfriend Alina. The ride through the city normally takes me about 20 minutes. Now I did take over an hour, not a good prospect. Once there this was the situation ...

We had to drive from Rotterdam to Groningen. The problem was in the "how could it be otherwise" brining the roads. Florian, Alina and I decided to delay the travel for a few hours, because it had been the biggest crowds and the roads would be better brine.

Meanwhile the situation of the eye wasn’t changed very much. A little red and little trouble with some light, it wasn’t  more really. During the drive I hadn’t a lot of trouble.

Ultimately it proved a grueling journey. We have done more than 7 hours on the road with only a stop to eat. Nothing to complain, because Eefje and Maud were still a few hours to add up!


Saturday, February 4th, I woke up and immediately I noticed... My eye is getting worse. You know perhaps? You lie fast asleep and suddenly somebody turn on the light. Your eyes respond immediately and you squeeze them automatically closed. This was also the case with me, only it will not leave that morning. As far as I could see was the eye again become slightly more red. My mother, girlfriend, all the others and I found that I should call the GP in Groningen. It seemed unwise to wait even longer. According to the lady on the phone that morning I could go immediately to the hospital, so I put my clothes on and get as quickly as I can that way. Together with Maud of course, she was my driver...

Once we arrived we were immediately helped by nice doctor. I only remembered that he had a white beard, because it hurt my eyes. He looked with a light in the eye and asked: "You normally wear contact lenses?" I could of course only confirm that. The following statement is still on my mind: "Then there’re two opportunities, whether it is a bacterial infection, or it is a viral infection. Because you wearing contact lenses you surely have a bacterial infection. Just wear a glasses and I will write an salve." Then he made a joke: "On Monday, it must be better. They have good hospitals in Rotterdam, right?" Maud and I went to the pharmacy to pick up the salve. It’s called Fucithalmic. I had already been used this year ago. At that time it worked really well and the irritation was soon completely gone. Full of good courage, I went for the rest of the day to the salve.

Sunday, February 5, there was not much change. This day I just stayed in the cottage with all the curtains closed. Very nice, because the television did not work and that was the reason I took a nice long relaxing shower. Maybe that's really my most favorite activity. Honestly I was glad that the weekend was over and we went home again. There were only a number of kilometers to be driven home. Fortunately, I have Maud, she`s a good one! That night I learned that even lights from cars could be pretty bright. I putted a towel over my head and get my eyes closed! The trip was a lot better than the outward journey. The brine cars had proven their service and the roads were snow-free again.

Next week, my group on school will have their last test. Here we called that the end-CITO. I wanted to be there anyway. It is for the children and for me a really exciting week. I hope that at least Monday or Tuesday I get back to work...