July 8, 2008

My finger

Dear Dad,

For more than a year I have thought that I was getting some sort of arthritis in my index finger of my right hand.

The knuckle has been swollen and sometimes the area has been very painful.

Since Grandma suffered from arthritis and I never remember smashing or cutting my finger I just figured that old age was getting to me.

Lately my finger has been redder and more painful than usual and I decided to go to the doctor and have it checked out.

Now, this is not an easy task for me since I have an allergy to doctors and anything connected with them.  Seriously, I do.

I have mentioned many times to David my sore finger, but he doesn’t ever remember I told him about it and gave me one of those looks when I told him I wanted to go to the doctor because now my finger was very painful.

Since we were in Puntarenas and David had to wait in long lines at the phone company to solicit a change of address and a new phone line for the new Casa Calypso there was time for me to find and go to a private doctor.

I went to a pharmacy first but there was not a pharmacist on duty but a nice young man directed me to a private clinic with a doctor on duty.

I almost chickened out until I looked again at my poor finger.  Since David was busy at the phone company and we were with Bill, I commandeered Bill to go with me.

We found the office located near the court house; a big yellow building with black window frames.

Bill parked the car and we went inside and talked to the secretary who assured the doctor was on his way.  I heard her call him and say, ¨You have a patient- a foreigner - waiting.

Bill and I only waited five minutes when the doctor walked in the door.

I followed him into his office and we both sat down.  He then asked me why I was there.  

Now, can you imagine how silly I felt when I held up my finger and showed him the tip that was red and swollen?

Of course the doctor wanted to know how long I have had a sore finger and honestly I didn’t want to tell him that it has been swollen over a year.  I felt like a dummy, but I honestly thought it was the beginning of arthritis.

The good doctor, even smiling after I told him of my allergy to his profession, told me that he thought I have an infection and even though I don’t remember hurting my finger he explained that bacteria can get into a microscopic sized puncture and get infected.

The doctor sent me to get my finger x-rayed and then return.

Bill and I left and went in search of the next office.

It was not too difficult to find since it is located in front of where our favorite Chinese Restaurant used to be located – a place we ate often since it had air conditioning (not too many places in Puntarenas had air-conditioning in the 70’s) and a wonderful old Chinese cook/owner in the kitchen.  We ate there for years, became friends with the family and we were even invited to the wedding of the owners only daughter.

The restaurant is no longer there and the buildings around the area are falling down, with paint peeling and broken windows. 

When Bill and I got to the door I knocked on the window because the door was locked.  Nothing.  I peeked inside and saw a young woman sitting behind a receptionist desk talking on the phone.  I knocked again and this time saw that she held up her hand as if to say stop or wait and kept on talking on the phone. 

OK, patience is not one of my virtues, but hey, I am the customer standing in the hot sun.  How long can this phone conversation last?  Well, she kept on talking and I knocked a few times more. After a few more minutes and a cell phone conversation with an impatient David who had finished his errand and was waiting in the Cevichito Bar to have a late lunch (it was 2:30pm); a short man in hospital garb arrived and magically the door opened, but the phone conversation continued.

At least now I was inside and there was air-conditioning and chairs and I was out of the strong sun and heat of the day. I could not help but notice the shabby office with peeling paint and Christmas decorations still up.  I sat and waited and finally the woman hung up the phone and asked me what I wanted.

During the waiting time I was annoyed, but at least I had a book to read. (Here in Costa Rica, traveling with something to read is a must or you will go nuts waiting and waiting is something that happens everywhere)

I went up to the desk and debated whether I should let the receptionist know how annoyed I was; I decided I had better get what I wanted first.

Finally I was called into the room with the technician and once again showed my finger.

He took an X-ray and I waited for it to develop.

In the meantime another patient came in for an X-ray and the receptionist escorted her to the area where the X-ray machine is located.  I tried, really I did; but could not keep my mouth shut and asked, in very polite Spanish, why she left me standing out side for so long before she opened the door. (She didn’t even have to go to the door because it opened by pushing a button in her desk.)

She looked at me and said, we don’t open until 3:00pm.  I made sure her boss was listening and then asked why she could not get off the phone and come to the door to let me know that since there was no sign of office hours posted on the front door.  She did not reply, but I sensed a chuckle from the technician who may or may not have been her boss.  Maybe she owned the shabby office building?

Anyway, I felt much better that I had let the receptionist know that I was very annoyed at her lack of courtesy and glad I am now able to express myself so well in Spanish. Bill and I left.

X-ray in hand I returned to the clinic to show the waiting doctor.  I could see nothing in the x-ray and the doctor said he didn’t see anything either.

He gave me a prescription for anti-biotics and something for the swelling and pain. 

I was able to talk to him about a problem we have with doctors and bad diagnoses

for our employees in Puntarenas and I wanted them to have a doctor who could help them when they  needed it especially in an emergency situation.  I also want to have someone to call if there is an emergency with a passenger on board  Manta Raya too.

This was all accomplished and my finger is on its way to recovery.  It only cost me $100.

Even though we pay a fortune for insurance and social security medicine for us and our 50 to 60 employees and have an insurance card, it was not accepted.  Only cash at the X-ray office and credit card or cash at the doctor and pharmacy.

It was well after 3:00pm when Bill and I joined David at the restaurant and we had a wonderful lunch before heading back to San Jose.

It was past 7:00pm when we got home and I had a pile of laundry to wash.  Our friends from Belgium spent the day with us at Punta Coral on Friday and didn’t want to leave.

I had lots of sheets and towels to wash and re-pack because we have to return to Puanta Coral on Thursday for a wedding on Friday.

 

Today is Tuesday and the day I cannot drive my car into town.  David went for a haircut and returned for me since I was still trying to finish the mountain of laundry.

His stupid phone woke me up at 6:00am and at first I didn’t know where the sound was coming from.  Finally I found the cell phone and although I wanted to smash it, I just turned it off.  Now I was awake.

David told me later it was a reminder ring so he would remember to call his granddaughter and wish her a Happy Birthday.  I gave him a reminder too.

 

 

Wednesday

 

Today it is cold.  There is noise coming from the roof.  We are having it repaired and some places in the ceiling inside the office are being changed too.

The good – no great news- is that we do not have to change the whole roof.  We do have to change most of the roof at Punta Coral and the new Casa Calypso.  It is always something around here.

The new Casa Calypso is being prepared for our move.  The carpenter has removed all the Cristobol (I think in my last letter I told you the floor was made from Ron Ron) and is being readied for the new ceramic tile floor we are going to install.  The reason we are changing the floor is not our idea but the ministry of health if we want to get a license and permission from the municipal government and health department to have a commercial kitchen there.

We have picked out the tile but so far they are still in the store.  We need to prepare the floor and also cut a new door.

Another bit of great news is that we discovered that the house is on stilts as we thought but there is also a big slab of cement between the cement pylons and wooden floor.  This makes all repairs easier and a lot cheaper.  We may have a problem; no probably have a problem with the level of the ocean rising if any more ice bergs melt.  I don’t want to think about that yet.

We have a friend who is a decorator who has agreed to help us with the colors of the outside of the house and the big wall in front or on the street side.  Remember my friend who is also my teacher for Feng Shui, well……………..she told us we need to use the ¨hot¨ colors of red and orange because the entrance of the house faces South.  We wanted to put a fountain in the front yard but Elsa warned us that it would be a bad idea. 

Since she has given great advice in past for decorating the office and our house here in San Jose and Punta Coral I am not going to chance anything or change anything without her advice and approval.

 

Tomorrow David, Bill and I are off to Punta Coral, again.  I have a wedding on Friday and tomorrow we will take the flowers and a tiny tiered wedding cake.  You should see the cake, it is so cute and I ordered it not to eat really, as we serve a delicious dessert, but to make the cut and toast for the newly wedded couple.  Even the decorations are edible and they look like real shells.

The guys have been busy painting and getting everything ready for the wedding celebration on Friday.  They have painted the cement urns and the big lattice arch.

The two houses are scrubbed clean and even some roofing has been replaced.

The group has their own transportation and wants to be on the property for only 5 hours.

The liquor for the bar and ice will go out tomorrow.

Thank you for reminding me.  I think I need to send in the Amapola (the panga/dingy for Punta Coral) to pick up the Bartender, waiter, food and cooks so that they are there when the then group arrives at 9:30am.  Whew.

 

It is late and I have not had lunch and now I need to go into the closet in David’s office and get out new uniforms for the crew for Friday. 

 

I love and miss you.

 

Besitos,  Cecs