Oh readers!!! I just lost a very lengthy bit of writing!! I HATE when that happens. i will attempt to encapsulate my ramblings as i have now lost the desire to repeat it......OK I was ranting about health care. Many people were concerned that we would not get it here. What would we do? As if there are no doctors in existance south of the border or that they only have rudimentary tools such as..tin can lids and shards of dirty glass to fix us up with. Then i launched into a rant about the stellar care we got from kaiser..like the woman who said"oh oh" while performing a PAP test on me then proceeding to tell me i had cancer and would need a complete hystoectomy (without anything as mundane as a biopsy...) or the dr that through so many different meds at John at the same time he has ended up with tremors and numb feet in addition to the pre existing condition he was being treated for...than I wrapped it up with the story of how they have been jerking us around since before we left with random bills that trickle in from who knows what. We went around and around with them before we left about squaring things up as we were leaving the country. Anyway, without explaining adnauseum every detail, the last bill they sent , a frind went to pay (even though it arrived months after we had moved) and was told it had been taken care of, don't worry about it. Two weeks later, they turned it over to collection!! What? We were with Kaiser for 16 years, have always paid everything on time, really had not incurred any bills with them then, over $10 (that we don't even know what it was for..0 it goes to collection. I really do have a point to all this...Im sorry to vent on you all but it's so absurd to me. This is what we "gave up" to come here.
Now, since we've been here, we have met many Canadians and have heard what their medical system is like. You need medication? It's yours. no, you don't have to pay for it-its taken care of. it's free. You need to see a dr./ make an appointment. how much? Oh, it's free. Now, if you have to see a specialist, you may have to wait a while ( I had to wait three months to make an appt to get my teeth cleaned....)Are people foregoing food to pay for medication? Why? It's FREE! I know, its a novel concept- free healthcare...it's inconceiveable! Their mad! It'll never work! It'll bankrupt the country!!Well, it's been working pretty smoothly for a while now and their dollar is stronger than its been in years.
The day before yesterday, John and I were working in the yard. In the vacant lot next door, he saw a really big porcelain transformer that was partially broken. Being the 10 year old boy that he is at times, he wanted to look at it..it's a guy thing I guess, well, the next thing you know I hear"Jill run and get me something. i cut myself and I think it's pretty bad" These are not words i want to hear. As I put the rag on, I see he has a pretty big gash that will most likely need a few stitches. Just so happens that our friends Lucio and Marseille were coming to visit us from Dzidzantun. i called them and informed them, in my limited spanish, that we had an emergency and were headed in. Once we got there, I called them and asked them where a doctor was. Within 3-4 minutes they rode up on their motorcycle and we followed them to an office. " The doctor isn't here" back on the road to the clinic. Now, I knew where this clinic was but was under the impression you had to be registered- alocal- to go there. lucio went in then returned to tell us the dr. would see us. we went in to meet a lovely young woman ( who reminded us of Aleka) named pamelawho spoke a bit of english. she cleaned the wound (ow!) and bandaged it. She said it did not require stitches. At home, I can assure you, he would have been given 6-8 stitches but i think they are used to machete cuts here so this was small potatoes. We thanked her profusely and asked her what we owed. she looked at us like we'd taken leave of our senses ?those crazy gringos!) and replied "It's free" like we were simple. "free?" "yes" Do you know what an emergency room visit costs at home? Of course you do..."can we make a donation then?" "no, no"
So the next day as we passed through Dzidzantun on our way to merida, we stopped at the market and bought Pamela some flowers-25 pesos for a lovely bouquet.About $2. John dropped them off at the clinic and she smiled warmly as she took them.
Once before when we were here on vacation John had to go to the dr. The visit-at the docs house-cost $3.00. Now, the medications are not cheap here and actually thats what the largest chunk of our money goes for but we are still learning the ins and outs and have heard we can get a discount card. My point is, we are being taken care of in a very kind, humane personable fashion.
The day we came in to the emergency visit and met Lucio and marseille, they told us they had been planning on visiting us because they had christmas gifts for us. They had been out twice to give them to us but we weren't home. we followed them to their house. It was one of the old style village houses that had been costructed with small stones, pebbles really, because it was the material that was available. The 94 year old grama that lives with them was leaning out the window and the 7 dogs were circling about. Marseilles wife and young son came out as did Lucios mother. Warm hugs were exchanged all around the we were handed hand made scarves that the mother had made for us and each of us were given a bottle of cologne. Now, these people have next to nothing. the boys haven't worked much since they finished their work with us, but they are happy, loving, giving people. I was so touched Iwas instantly brought to tears. We talked for a while and i told her it made me very happy. that we had no family here. She told me "we are all gods children so we are all family" All of this was in Spanish of course, and i was so greatful i could understand and be understood. i can't tell you what a touching scene it was.
So, John's hand is healing nicely, he's not allowed to go in the vacant lot anymore. We are regularly amazed by this magical place we live. i know everyones idea of mexico is one of danger and violence. yucatacans don't consider themselves part of mexico and the yucatan was rated one of the 10 safest areas of the world. I believe it. I do miss my family and friends terribly but I don't miis the impersonal big business way things are run there. that the dollar is the big motivator. that people get so caught up in material things they lose the human connection. On the other hand, you probably won't find a big porcelain transformer thats tumbled down and fallen into the lot next door.....