Being sick in a foreign country sucks

I would tell you I caught a cold but then I would sound like a weakling, so let's call it Plague.  I have had full blown Plague for about 4+ days now.  Normally I would just dayquil it to oblivion but ... well ...I can't find any.  On top of that, the mosquitos have discovered fresh meat - me.  My legs are covered in angry mosquito welts.  I am SO allergic...they swell up to about half-dollar size for a week or more...and the itching is agonizing...it actually behooves me to cut the skin open than to leave the swelling intact.  That's how allergic I am. 

Finally I couldn't take it any more. 

So with my English-Japanese dictionary and the anger of a thousand suns from being sick and itchy, I descended upon the pharmacy.  First, I apologized for my inadequte language skills and showed the employee assisting me the giant mosquito welts on my legs and said "itchy".  She nodded.  Good.  We had a common ground.  In the most broken Japanese imaginable, I managed to ask for the "number 1 cheapest" and "number one strongest" antihistimine cream. We narrowed it down to some weird liquid that looked messy and a pen that looked like it had more active ingredient - I got the pen.  598 yen.  Then, with a patient pharmacist assistant at my side, I looked up the word for "insect-repellent" and she found me an areasol type can that had little dead cartoon mosquitos on it.  What a coincidence; I am particularly fond of dead mosquitos.  Perfect.  Another 600 yen.  Not complete relief, but much improved!

Then the cold - er, uh, Plague - medicine.  Having purchased about 3 different kinds within the past week, and not really knowing what the hell any of them are other than that the boxes have pictures of people with bullseyes on their forehead, nose, and throat, I found my ability to decipher the words for what I needed insufficient.  Lo and behold, I located some Vicks medicated throat drops - something familiar!  Good enough.  Combined with the decongestant I found yesterday, I found that I could now regain status as a mostly fully functional human being.  Except now I'm spacey as hell.  But that's a price I'm willing to pay...because NOW I CAN BREATHE!! 

DING!  Japanese proficiency Level up!  I can now find medications I need in a pharmacy.  Yeay mother necessity!