Please, drink hot water...

This is day 3 of your author's feeling generally yucky.

I've just returned from teaching my morning class at the school and hurried back to tend to the 1...2...3 sicko kids here at home. Bummer.

I will break from the intro to this narrative to tell you that the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. If only we lived here in perpetual October! The sky is clear, blue and the weather is sunny and warm. Not too warm, just that perfect warm that you feel good being outside in as much as possible. I took some pictures out our window/balconies that I'll post later...the weather is not to be taken for granted!

Back to sickville...

Truly, never in my life have I ever lived with a group of people so GENUINELY concerned with my health. I consider my own mother to be in the running for "Sister Compassionate"...but here...the tidal wave of concern is incredible.

At the first sign (or confession) of "I'm not feeling well"... the suggestion is immediately made to "Please go to hospital."

Being from the Old Place and being highly educated by The Unlikely Doctor therein, I know that these illnesses are likely just viruses that will pass with time.

If you do not immediately express interest in organizing a car to take you to the hospital, then, the suggestion is made..."Please, drink hot water."

As yet, I have now had 6 different people call/stop by or otherwise generally accost me to insist that I "Drink some hot water."

Before I left for school today one of the mother's of our students came by the apartment. Of course she initially insisted that we go to the hospital. (Of course, given the size of our family...what our colleagues and neighbors see in us when there are 3 kids and 1 parent down is an EPIDEMIC!) I politely assured her that I would go to the hospital if things worsened. Then, of course, she suggested that we begin drinking lots of hot water. Lastly, she wanted to make certain that I knew that there is now a nurse's station here in our Living Quarters and that we should go there to receive some medicine.

It is really, really touching to have so many truly concerned about your health.

But on the way home from school...I began to see that our benevolent caretakers were organizing!

As I strode across the road (a little short of breath from my congestion) one of our friendly security guards came out to meet me. He greeted me with some of the English he's been practicing, I used my local dialect on him. But, he was intent to tell me more...

He rattled of several sentences at me while pointing at the building across from the guard shack.

I smiled and told him repeatedly..."I'm sorry, I don't understand."

He then said "Go with me."

Hindsight says it's a little funny that I just did what he said...but, I've never had a problem with authority...so I went with him.

Into an open door with a sign, in unintelligible language for me, hanging on the window.

Upon entering I got the gist...

She was waiting for me...

The nurse.

She smiled and began to speak to me ushering me to sit down.

Business has been slow, I think.

I tried, in my best broken dialect to tell her that I didn't speak enough to tell her what was wrong, that I 3 kids at home I needed to get to and that our Ayi (the woman who helps us with our translation needs) wouldn't be around until 2 PM.

No communication was understood.

Then she quickly picked up the phone and called our dear Ms Yang who has been our right hand with many things since arriving her. My conspiracy theory mind began to race...

"This nurse was expecting me. I was clotheslined by the guard and sent here by design. The nurse knows to call Ms Yang to translate to me what she wants to do to me."

I explain through the phone to Ms Yang just what I'm planning on doing and that I might return later today with 3 of my young.

I was released.

I was amused.

Everyone from parents, to colleagues, to the nurse and even our Security Guard want desperately to see us get medical attention...now matter how they have to get us there!

On another interesting note...

Some of the medicine in her cabinet had English on it...

Erythromycin, Amoxicillin, etc...

Right there, over the counter...The Unlikely Doctor would never approve...

Super Bug?... bet I've got a guess where it will come from...

I'm going to drink and serve up copious amounts of hot water...

STAT.