Unaware

Last Monday morning I woke up. At 11.30 am. Now that’s late for me. Very late. I never sleep that long. But I slept like a baby. I slept through all the traffic noise outside my window - I even slept through all the noise my housemates make. You know, the kind of commotion that usually wakes me up at around 8 am. But no, not that morning. That morning I didn’t hear a thing. Now, either my housemates were tiptoeing around or, much more likely, I had lost my hearing.

- Unfortunately for me, it was the latter.

Well, I didn’t lose my hearing completely, but a huge part of it. It started with my left ear, and then gradually it spread to my right ear. By Wednesday, both my ears were blocked to the extent that I could only hear people speak, when they were standing 1 foot away from me, speaking with a LOUD, and I stress LOUD, tone.

While my hearing loss didn’t really bother me when it came to bed time (if anything positive came out of this experience, it’s the fact that I could sleep through ANY noise. Heck, if a bomb exploded outside my window, I would have slept right through it), I also realized how annoying it can be not to be able to hear fully.

Having conversations is tough (this includes face to face as well as over the phone). I mean, I like my personal space and I am sure that you do too, so standing 1 foot away from each other, speaking VERY LOUDLY, just so that I can hear what you’re saying. That’s not how a conversation should be like. I know this may sound crazy, but some people do not appreciate spit in their face. Or bad breath.

Not being able to hear my housemates come home or knocking on my door – that can be quite uhm…how do I put it…revealing for some and embarrassing for others. (By the way, sorry housemates, I didn’t mean for you to see that, I seriously didn’t hear you come in)

One of my biggest misses: music. I cannot live without music. I always listen to music, whether at home, at the office or when I’m on the road, I always have music on. But this past week, I had to turn the volume WAY up. Again, sorry housemates for turning our apartment into a temporary disco.

And God, do I miss the sound of the kettle, microwave, laundry machine, Diego’s faster than fast speech, Johannes’ soft spoken voice, MSN/FB/Skype (you know that distinct sound it makes when you receive a new message)…Those little sounds, most of which normally irritate the s*** out of me – but now I was missing them!

This past week made me realize just how valuable my hearing is to me. During the whole week, I felt like was asleep – dreaming – even though I was awake. I felt like I was there, but unaware. I just hope I get my hearing back soon, cause as much as I love my peaceful sleep, God do I miss the pandemonium my roommate makes when she wakes (me) up at 8 am!