Who's that in the back of the police car?

---

I've had a cough for the past few weeks. There was a bug going around campus, so I most likely picked it up from my students. I considered going to the hospital to see a doctor (there are no separate doctors' offices here) but decided against it after talking to Godfrey (who possesses an insane amount of medical knowledge) and another teacher who used to be a nurse. It's standard practice here that any time you show up at a hospital they'll give you an IV, and it's become a bit of a joke amongst the foreigners. Broken leg? Have an IV. Can't breathe? Have an IV. Here to see your friend? Have an IV. So I decided to just buy some antibiotics OTC instead and save myself a lot of hassle and needles.

Well, I should have gone to the hospital. I finally went to the village hospital yesterday--Godfrey in tow--and after being asked many questions, having my lungs listened to, and being led around by the doctor to the X-ray room and where they check your blood, it was concluded that I have a lung infection. The treatment? You guessed it, have an IV. And lucky me, I get to get IV's five times, requiring a trip to the hospital each day for the treatment.

Today I took a student as a translator and went in for round number two. Yesterday Godfrey and I had biked to the hospital but since I didn't know if the student had a bike, I suggested we hire a illegal taxi to take us. There are lots of 3-wheeled vehicles to hire to bring us back, or we could call the taxi driver and have him come get us.

After visiting the hospital, the student and I couldn't hire a 3-wheeled taxi back to school because the drivers were too busy playing cards. We called our original driver and he said "25 minutes! Promise me!" but 45 minutes later he hadn't showed and the student's phone was dead. (He has a special kind of phone number and I can't call him using mine.) It was getting dark and starting to rain. I suggested she go into the police station and ask if they had a mobile phone to call him. So the student went into the police station to ask to use their phone. They asked what was happening (and probably wondered why a Chinese girl was having problems getting a ride home) and she explained she and I were here because I was sick and had gone to the hospital. Almost immediately, they offered to drive us back instead.

We climbed into the back of the police car, laughing quite a bit. Neither of us had ever ridden in a police car, muchless in the back! We joked about how people would wonder what we had done. The policeman turned and said, "Don't be afraid! I no bad guy! I good guy!" I told him I knew and he laughed. The rest of the ride home was him speaking broken English, Cantonese, and the student translating. I learned that the village police department does have someone who speaks good English and passed an important English test, but that it wasn't him. I learned how safe our area is. I learned to never take one road at night because I might get robbed. (Not hurt, just robbed.) I learned how he was born and raised in the area and loves it here.

As we pulled into the school gate, the security guards looked at us in bewilderment. We climbed out, laughing and thanking him, a bit relieved there was no one taking our photo with their phone.

And then I took her out to dinner.

---

Comments

[Fei]

I really like your writing style
I am a Chinese living in the States. A few years back I ran into your "Home is where your heart is", which struck me to the realization that in spite of cultural differences, people are pretty much the same. Since then I became one of your "secret admirers" (This doesn't sound right. No, I am not going to do anything to the President). I had been wondering about what the word "sunket" means for a white till you changed your name. :) This is another blog that I enjoy reading and hope you get well soon. My English skill runs into bottleneck, I am wondering whether an IV cycle will help.