Today...

So today starts out normal as everyday does. 6:30 a.m. Wake up the kids for scriptures and family prayers. 7:00 run around the house like mad men trying to get ready for the bus to leave by 7:25. Packing lunches, gathering swim suits, finding shoes, helping child who remain nameless with the socks that are BUGGING her, run to bus. Sit down with Annie, call mom and talk to her for a while amongst the power outages. 8:30 (this is where it deviates a little) I get a phone call from the school. "Mam, This is Indus International School's Infirmary, Ellie has come in and needs to be picked up from school." "What's the problem" "She has an ear infection and says she would like to go home" "OK, I will send the driver out to pick her up when he drops my husband at work." "Is it OK if we give her some Ibuprofen for her pain?" "Yes, that would be fine." "OK She will just be waiting here." I go upstairs and tell Alan that Vijay needs to go pick up Ellie. I asked Alan if I should go to the pharmacy and get some Augmentin while Vijay is gone to pick her up. Keep in mind you don't have to have a prescription for anything here.  I think Alan was worried that I wouldn't know how much to give her, and we also wanted to teach Ellie a little lesson about coming home from school if your not really all that sick so...Vijay gets home with Ellie and about 1:00 off to Manipal Hospital we went. Ellie was almost in tears because she didn't want to go to the doctor, and I was not really wanting to spend my afternoon in the hospital either. I've been to this hospital before, and it is like a zoo. First you have to go to Registration and get registered, then off to admission to pay your 300 rupees to see the doctor then over to Pediatrics to show them the receipt and then to the waiting room to wait. They call your name and you go over and get weighed and measured, then back to wait. They call your name again and you go over to talk to the nurse and tell them what is wrong, then back to wait. As I'm sitting here waiting I am looking at all the people around us and all of the little kids wondering what type of homes they live in. I notice a Muslim lady holding her baby and see that she not only is wearing the Burqa (Black dress worn on top of their clothes), but also black gloves, and had her face veiled to where only her eyes are showing. I notice the lady next to her who also is obviously Muslim and wonder why her hands are not covered with gloves and why her face is not covered. I wonder how they can stand to be so covered here when it is so hot. Yes, it is starting to get into the 90's in the afternoon. Then I start to realize that being at Manipal Hospital this time has not got me all "freaked" out for lack of better words. I start to realize that I have become Indianized. Either that or Manipal hospital has all of the sudden gotten alot better. They call our name for the last time and then we are allowed to go in and see the doctor. After sitting in the doctors office for 5 minutes we leave with the diagnosis. She has a cold and an ear infection. Well, duh, that's what I told you. The remedy, don't eat cold foods or drink cold drinks and don't eat bananas. Oh, and give her Augmentin for 7 days. The pharmacist is the one who tells you how much.  So, I guess I could have self diagnosed the Augmentin, but I might have worsened everything if I had given her some cold water to drink it down with. On the way home we stopped for some lunch at KFC and McDonalds for Ice cream. :)