Posted in SMA on February 8, 2009 |
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I’ve never been superstitious. But when every last person on the street avoids walking under ladders, I start stepping off the curb instead of going under too. So it took my by surprise last week when F unswervingly continued on the sidewalk and under a ladder. I told him he was the first Mexican I had ever seen walk under a ladder. Didn’t he believe in bad luck? He answered that he’s already plagued by bad luck and the ladder won’t make a significant difference.
That night, he became very ill. So ill, in fact, that he couldn’t work the following day. The next night, he “slept” sitting up because his lungs were full of mucous. The second day, we determined that he probably had bronchitis and should go to a doctor. He went to the doctor on the third day.
I was impressed by the doctor visit. The clinic is centrally located, right next to the library, about a 5 minute walk from our place. It opens at 7am and when we arrived, there were two mothers and their children waiting. One doctor saw all patients and we waited no longer than 10 minutes before he motioned for Fernando. The doctor interviewed F and wrote him a prescription to take next door. F bought his medicines and came back for an injection he didn’t have to wait for. The doctor was kind enough to show me how to do it-emptying out the air bubbles, the quadrant to inject, go slow-because F was going to need four more injections. The entire consultation, not including the medication, cost 45 pesos or $3.17 USD. Affordable, fast, and good health care: what I would have given for a clinic like this when the girls were small and I was uninsured. F told me that there are clinics like this set up in almost every city in Mexico. The clinics are set up by Grupo Por Un País Mejor (The Group for a Better Country) and provide low-cost medical services “the same only cheaper”, their slogan.
After F got back in bed, I went looking for some chicken noodle soup. When I couldn’t find it in a can, I went to the butcher and later learned that I asked for chicken boobies. The butcher laughed and asked me what I needed “chicken boobies” for and I told him soup. So he gave me a great big chicken, pechuga, and I figured that was close enough. I have to tell you, homemade is so much better than canned. We couldn’t stop at one bowl.
F is convinced he became sick because he went outside after taking a hot shower. I notice that most Mexicans here, and all the folks that work at the pharmacy, believe you can get sick from being outside after taking a shower or when you’re sweaty. I know this is not true. But then again, I don’t believe walking under ladders will bring you bad luck either.
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Besides playing guitar, another manner that adolescent males bond is to hold an electrical conductor in one hand and a friend’s hand in the other. A smiling old man slowly turns up the voltage and each young man repeats he can’t feel anything. Then they stop talking and just smile at one another. Soon after, one of the two will start to giggle and the other looks as if he’s planning to jump. Finally, one yelps and lets go and the other is declared a winner. Loser pays the man with the box. Fun, yes??
