After four months of travel without any major sicknessess (other than the sniffles or food poisoning from that Strawberry Empanada), my good luck finally ran out when I reached Rosario, Argentina. Having just found a nice apartment and started my Spanish lessons, a tickle in my throat turned to a scratch to the feeling of having swallowed broken glass.
I spent all of Wednesday in bed with fever, barely able to get out. My throat was so painfully swollen, I couldn't really put anything down other than water (I've just now finished a bowl of Ramen, my first food in 2 days). I bought local antibiotics from the pharmacy, losenges which sort of helped. Earlier today I made the decision to see a privately-run "Sanatorio," as they are known, as opposed to the public hospitals.
I was first asked for my "obrero social" (social work), which I didn't have, so I had to pay 50 pesos. Sanatorios, though private, are free for social workers (like in France). I had to wait about an hour, there was one General Practicioner and no real line or system of knowing who was next; I finally got in just my asserting myself (which is hard to do when you can barely talk). The Doc took one look at my throat with a flashlight and nonchalently informed me that I had a throat infection and wrote me a prescription for antibiotics. No temperature taking, no strep test, just antibiotics that I have to take for the next 7 days. Not that different from a US clinic I suppose, and as I walk in, not to shabby on the wait time!
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