Day Six: Tell about an "Only in Dominica..." moment.
These moments happen on a daily basis. Recently my cat Lola started shaking her head more often and keeping her ear cocked at a funny angle. Not all the time, or enough to make me seriously worried, but to the point that I wanted a vet to check her out. So I got a phone number and called. The conversation went something like this:
Vet: Hello?
Me: Um... is this the vet?
Vet: Yes.
Me: Oh! Okay, good. Um, so I have two cats and I think one of them might have ear mites. [I also describe the symptoms.] Can you come take a look at them?
Vet: Okay. The next time I'm in Portsmouth will be Tuesday.
Me: Oh... But it's Friday.
Vet: Is it an emergency?
Me: ...No? [I'm thinking "you're the vet, you tell me how worried I should be..."]
Vet: Okay, then I'll call you on Tuesday for directions.
I only made her repeat herself about seven times in the three-minute conversation. Her accent wasn't even that bad. And I consider this progress.
So, Tuesday I sat at home all day and she never showed up. Tried to call, and the call wouldn't go through, which usually means I'm calling a cell phone that is turned off. Sent a text after a while, and she texted back saying she couldn't make it and would have to come out the next day. Great, another whole day of sitting at home wondering when she will show up, if she actually does.
She calls me around 3pm the next day. The conversation was along these lines:
Vet: Where do you live? I need directions.
Me: I'm in Glanvillia. Do you know where Mountain Breeze Road is?
Vet: Yes.
Me: Okay, I live at Mountain Breeze Road and... uh.... well, it intersects with another road... do you know where the Mountain Breeze bar is?
Vet: No. What's the name of your building?
Me: It doesn't have a name. It's just... a purple house. On the road that intersects with Mountain Breeze.
We went in circles like this for about five minutes before she pulled up in the driveway. As previously stated, it's REALLY hard to give directions in a country where houses don't have real addresses and roads don't have names.
So anyway, she arrives and looks at Lola's ears. She says she doesn't see anything wrong, they are just dirty, and she cleans them out. At this, I am skeptical, because I did about four hours of online research over the five day waiting period I had for this appointment, and I had convinced myself it was definitely ear mites. But whatever, she's the vet, not me. Then I pull out Zoey from where she is hiding under the shelves in terror. The vet looks at her ears too and asks me if she's been acting unusual or favoring one side of her head. I don't understand the question until she shows me the otoscope, which is covered in gross white goop. So the cat behaving oddly is fine, and the cat behaving normally has an ear infection. I am thoroughly surprised.
My favorite part of the story is this: the vet looks around for her prescription pad and can't find it. She asks if I have any paper, so I rip a page out from a notebook. She writes a prescription on this regular old sheet of paper and tells me any pharmacy should be able to fill it. Least official doctors orders ever.
Then I pay her about $40 USD for the whole appointment. What a bargain!
The next day I take the prescription to the pharmacy across the street from campus. I feel awkward with my notebook paper prescription, like they are going to think I forged it myself and will throw me in Dominican prison, even though it's just for antibiotic drops. Conversation with the pharmacist:
Him: So... it's for a cat?
Me: Yes.
Him: Is your kitty sick?
Me: Kind of, she has an ear infection.
Then he goes to retrieve the drops. I look around while I wait and see several items that require an official prescription for back home, but here you just need to ask and you shall receive. Ha!
The drops cost about five bucks. Again, what a bargain!
The whole experience was... weird. Absolutely nothing like taking your cats to the vet in the states. It was a ton of "Only in Dominica...." moments one after another.
Day Seven: What is the best meal you've had on the island?
The food here is much, much better than I expected. There are a group of buildings near campus called "The Shacks," which are literally shacks that sell food, much like a food court back home. You can get a great variety of food there: enchiladas, pizza, kebabs, fresh juice. Everything I've tried thus far has been something I would happily eat again. However, my favorite meal didn't come from the shacks. It came from Shawarma King!
We have been eating at Shawarma King weekly. I get the same thing every time - the lamb plate - because it is so good I have not been able to branch out yet and try anything else. But I've also tried the shawarma and the hummus, and they are also delicious. This is probably my favorite meal since I haven't been here long enough to try some of the off-campus restaurants, and I expect my answer will change with time.
Shawarma King is run by Albanians, which make it legit in my mind. As a bonus Chris gets to say a few Russian phrases when we go there, which always makes him happy.
Day Eight: Does your spouse like it here?
In a nutshell, my "spouse" does like it here. We are talking about someone who has been to Germany, Belgium, Thailand, Mexico, Iraq, Afghanistan... okay, so the last two haven't exactly been a picnic for him. But he's the most adventurous person I've ever met, and he spent several years living in Alaska. How can this not be paradise to someone who has lived in Alaska?!
Most of the time Chris is too busy studying to pay much attention to his surroundings. But I know he looks forward to the time we can spend on the beach and exploring the island. He manages to spend time every weekend with me though, which is always appreciated! He even has time for intramural soccer.
I tried to take a picture of him for about 15 minutes, but he never ran over to where I was sitting. Oh well. Luckily I am very talented at crudely drawn Photoshop arrows. Please note how the Caribbean Sea is visible from the soccer field!
However, in unexpected bad news, he sprained his ankle while playing today. Right now he's icing it with a bag of frozen veggies while watching anatomy videos. This is bad news in a place where we have to walk 20 minutes to get to anything. He hobbled all the way home because he only saw two transports on the way and neither stopped for him. :( At least he can still get around. Hopefully it gets a little better overnight. He has one exam tomorrow morning and another in the afternoon, so getting to the clinic might be difficult.
That's all for now. Stay tuned tomorrow, or the next day, or whenever I decide to finish my blogging challenge!
