Domingo 01-
Sábado 07 Diciembre
Monday we both had
IMSS clinic appointments around eleven am. Dan to get lab orders for
blood/urine tests before his next month's appointment, an annual
checkup. And Carmen for her monthly meds plus the dizziness and
elbow problems. Our appointments were fifteen minutes apart with the
same doctor, to be sure Dan was there to talk for Carmen. We arrived
a half hour early and knowing that our doctor leaves near one pm
(patients are set up annually at the clinic for morning or afternoon
assigned doctor shifts at one of eight consultorios, so you
always have the same doctor), we started getting very anxious when
12:30pm arrived. Dan asked at the desk when we were to be taken, as
we had already seen the nurse for the weigh-ins and BP checks. At
this point Dan was informed that he had to go down to Consultorio
Uno because our doctor was running out of time. Carmen was to
see Doctor Rendon in Cinco as usual. Dan had to leave Carmen
on her own, or miss his appointment. After another hour of waiting
time in the chairs at Uno, Dan (worried all the time that
Carmen would get called in and have issues talking to her doctor) had
no problem getting his lab order, written out by a young and pleasant
doctor. (Invariably, we have had only favorable interactions with
IMSS staff at all levels.) Then he rushed back to see how Carmen was
faring.
Here is Carmen's
story: After waiting that extra hour or so, she became very nervous
that the doctor would have to leave and she would be shuttled
elsewhere, to someone unfamiliar to her situation. Knowing that she
really needed to see the doctor this day, she practiced what to say
to the receptionist in her mind, then bravely walked up to the desk
and informed the lady that she did not speak much spanish, and would
she please let her know when to go into the office. Seemed that all
the other folks sitting about waiting were most interested in what
Carmen had to say. Apparently the receptionist understood, because
she walked up to Carmen to tell her when it was her turn. Carmen
went into the doctors office and found no doctor there, so she sat
and waited expectantly.
Meanwhile a fellow
came in asking where the doctor was. It was discovered that this
fellow spoke more english than Carmen did spanish. Carmen asked him
if he could help her if needed since her translator (Dan) was sent
down the hall. He did in fact hang out by the open door until Carmen
was almost finished, until the time Dan arrived. This fellow had
needed to talk to the doctor about some X-rays that Dr Rendon
returned with.
Ok – here goes:
Dr Rendon always speaks a few words of english to set Carmen at ease
– “hello” and “how are you today,” not much else. Carmen
first of all told him, in spanish, she was sorry that Dan was not
there, and yes he knew that Dan had been sent to a different doctor.
We had prepared & printed out several papers to give to Dr Rendon
describing what was going on with Carmen (we find this much more
efficient, doing the technical translating at home, rather than Dan
trying to relate everything verbally) plus exam reports generated by
the rheumatologist in Orizaba and the ear, nose and throat specialist
she had been to since last coming here to our clinica familiar.
He read everything and asked a few questions. It was really not too
bad. Dan then showed up and the doctor informed Dan of all that we
had discussed and gave us the needed prescriptions and off we went
back to his nurse to get our annual influenza vaccine shots. What
we learned today is to never accept an appointment late in the
morning, but to choose another day when earlier appointment spaces
are still open. We don't like seeing doctors that might not be
familiar with our situation (although the doctors we see always type
up everything that transpires in each session into their computers),
and it is hard on both doctor and Carmen when traductor
(translator) Dan is missing from the room. She is on antibiotics
again for the swollen elbow.
Before going to the
clinic, we had stopped to check on the status of our vacuum cleaner
order and special paver blocks. Also a stop at Office Depot. Only
needed a grocery stop on the way home. Walmart was in chaos, moving
big areas around, making room for all the extra Xmas goodies. Seemed
that not much restocking had been done the night before. Most
unusual for this store. And guess what new item we found there this
time – Temptations! Finally we have found our cats' favorite treats
here! Wondering if all our emails to mexican Whiskas finally
convinced some area stores to handle it? Now if only other Walmart
customers will purchase these Temptaciones regularly, so the restocking will
continue. When we first arrived here, WalMart was the only place
that carried Scoop Away cat litter (our favorite, because it works
better and lasts longer than mexican brands), but the store only had
a box or two at a time. It now gets it in by the pallet load.
Our front porch
area is really clean at the moment. Carmen watered flowers there and
laid the hose down for another watering later before winding it back
onto the wall. Some how, the hose was left running. Now, did Carmen
space out turning it off, or is our little ghost playing tricks on
us? Dan squeegeed the water off. He had earlier swept off the porch
and cut our spot of grass in the front yard. Tuesday evening we went
for a short walk down to the end of the street and back up the next
one over, and found that street being black-topped. It had been
dirt, gravel and cobbles. We assume that the trucks loaded with
sugar cane that crossed over by our house this week are using this
route since the other road was being resurfaced. These are huge
open-bed semitruck loads!
This has been a
crashing week. First Carmen dropped and broke a dish from the new
set we purchased here a year ago. Next while in bed one night, we
heard a crash and it turned out to be the light bulb falling from the
ceiling fixture over our upstairs shower. Dan has now replaced the
fixture, which had threading so minimal as to not grip the screwed-in
bulb firmly. The weather has been quite chilly for us this past
week. At six am wednesday morning a strong wind came up along with
many degrees warmer air. Yea!!!! On this really windy morn, after
talking to the fellow selling us orchids, we left the front door open
a bit for our cats. As we were taking our shower, there was a
horrific crash. Dan feared some of our roofing above the mirador
had blown off. Turned out to be just the door crashing closed,
driven by a gust passing thru the house. Luckily Gardi cat was all
the way outside, so he did not get flattened when it closed. He was
meowing to come back inside by the time we got downstairs. Kitties
did not like the strong wind.
Dan made and
installed a rack to hold our brooms and mops in our water heater
closet, which is in our new bathroom. He also worked on the faucets
in the upstairs shower again, repacking the valve stems. Maybe this
time they will not leak after a few uses. He is of course spending
time at his computer, copying more music, of which now 2/3 is
finished. The hour in the day that flies by the fastest, is the 6-7pm hour
when the show, “Teen Wolf” is on. This and a good many other tv
series and movies, are in english with spanish subtitles. The tv
station that had all the cooking shows in english, has recently
changed to mostly telenovela (soap opera type) shows in spanish. No all-english channels
are available from Cablecom, our packaged tv-telephone-internet service.
Thursday, Colyn,
the lady from Santa Cruz, CA, stopped by to give us a book. She said
she was moving, probably to Oaxaca, because her insect allergies are
too bad in Fortin. What a shame to lose a friend who speaks english.
Then as Carmen was laying in the hammock, on the front porch,
reading, this green noisey vocho (vw beetle) parked right in
front of our gate again. We have often seen it parked there and
thought the driver was with the social action group whose office is
next door. This time the man got out of the car, started to walk
past, and backed up. Yes, he actually walked backwards. He said
hello and asked if we are the people from the US. His name is Juan
Carlos, and he teaches english in the bilingual school here in
Fortín. Carl, as he is known in english, turns out to be the father
of Lewis, the teen age boy who used to stop and chat a bit, from Los
Angeles, CA. The reason we have not seen Lewis lately is that they
have moved a few miles away, over into the residential area behind
Walmart. We also found out that two other english speaking men and
their families who moved here from Houston, have moved to Tamaulipas
state Bummer. So – we have lost four english speakers from our
neighborhood. However, Juan also told us that a woman who is in a
wheelchair and lives a block away, is from the US. Also Juan said he
would bring Richard, another man from the US, to meet us. Richard
and his wife own a rental house a few doors from us (where Colyn
lives now), but he lives in downtown Fortín. Juan is giving private
english tutoring to the teenage girl (and possibly her mother Nancy),
who lives with her husband Oscar two buildings south of us.
On our walk into
town friday, we spied and bought the first fresh strawberries of
the season, also a pineapple. Both could have been better. The
grapefruit we had for breakfast, however, was one of the best ever!
On walks we always see something new. The house we considered our
second choice when we were house-hunting has been sold and has been
repainted, and has been having masonry work being done out back. On
another street, avenida 9, we have been wondering about one large
structure that had much rubble in the front and bare walls, plus some
walls & roofs missing. The rubble is now gone, outside walls
plastered, and the yard in the front cleaned up. Also the large
field next to it where we have often admired all the wild flowers,
had been cleared. Wonder what will happen there? Seems like there
is always evidence of growth and change in the neighborhood.
There was a long
line at our bank's atm machine. We will go there another day.
Checked for a specific o-ring at two hardwares and shopped for fresh
veggies at the Super Ahorros store. We saw Ania shopping there, and
firmed up our invitation for their visit saturday. The menu was a
fresh vegetable salad, chicken stew with dumplings, and peanut butter
cookies for dessert. When that day arrived, Ania and her mother,
Wanda from Poland, and Frank came for dinner and a chat. The ladies
toured and admired all our plantings. The guys ended up at Dan's
computer. Always an enjoyable time and we hope to see Wanda a few
more times before she goes back home. She is truly a delightful
lady!
