One Long, but Successful Day

We left the hotel this morning at 7:15 a.m. to go for Gabriella's medical appointment and got back at 6:00 p.m.. We won't go into all the nitty gritty details, but Gabriella is healthy, no TB, HIV, Hepatitis, or anything like that. She got 6 (count 'em 6) immunizations, 2 in each arm and 1 in each leg; she is one brave little girl. You could tell it hurt her, but she never cried. The nurses were amazed and said that she was the hero of the day.

Most of the time today was spent waiting around to go see the next nurse or doctor, but some time was spent paying for the services. The process for paying for the services caught us by surprise. You see, the doctor first figures out what needs to be done and writes out the list of services, then the nurse creates a payment coupon. We then had to walk half a mile or so, usually up hill, to the specified bank where we present the teller with the payment coupon and the money. Once the payment is credited and the payment coupon is stamped, you take it and the receipt back to the medical office and have the services done. Once you get back to the office, the world revolves around the receipt. I think that we had to show it no less than 10 times today. It is a good thing that we didn't lose it. This is done for all services, because we had to do the same thing this past Tuesday for Gabriella's blood work.

While the procedures at the medical office were not very efficient, the people were very nice and agreed to give us the medical report today instead of Monday at 4 p.m. like everyone else. We just had to be back at 4 p.m. So, during the 2 hour break we ran to the translator and picked up the translation (yes, when we had to pay for it we took a coupon up 2 flights of stairs, paid the bill, and then later presented the receipt). We also managed to squeeze in a late lunch (we knew to bring munchies and water for Gabriella). We got back to the medical office early and then waited until after 5 p.m. to get the medical results. We needed these now because we must present them to the U.S. embassy at 7 a.m. on Monday morning. It was a long wait, but we really can't complain being they were doing us a favor.

Gabriella was a real trooper. She got cranky a couple of times, but that is a long time to wait, even with coloring books and some other toys. Casey and Corey, while I wish we were all together, you are so lucky you were not with us today. Gabriella actually colored with another child and played with her dolls with another. She shared crayons and took turns coloring really well. I think that bodes pretty well with sharing with Corey and Casey at home.

All in all, the day was successful. Let's hope Monday goes as well or better.