"You have pehn??..( I have a pen??) PEHN! PEHN!"

Hello from a bunkbed far far away. Oh my, what a week. Let me start by saying, if you ever feel the need to be sick in another country... this is the one to do it in. Woke up Sunday morning with a horrible swollen sore throat, after close inspection discovered the dreaded white spots. My immediate thought was 'Great... strep throat.. just what I needed'. After putting off medical attention for a couple days I decided to brave a trip to the hospital. With my trusty Melissa by my side, we wandered into a busy hospital. And after much failed attempts to communicate what I needed, I was turned down. (It was after 3 pm, which is apparently too late to get medical attention) So we wandered some more until finding a clinic. I was admitted right away, sent into what resembled a mad scientist/dentist circa 1962's office, and was asked a bunch of questions by an old man (close talker) in Chinese. After he finally figured out that I didn't understand him our conversation went something like this....

'Whe disconfret at?' (I point at my throat)

'You have pehn?' (I have a pen??) PEHN! PEHN! You have pehn hee?! (uh... OH! pain?? yes!)

'What you tink heff?' (Um, maybe strep? i have white spots)

'Why spa!??' (no... spots... white... back here.. )

'oh, you now have dat.. dis becktria, you not this heff becktria... look! (oh... okay)

'Open mout' (gaaahhhhh) *poke* *jab* *spritz*

'you heving barus' (barus?... barus....?)

'no becktria... bvaras' (ohh... virus!... ok.)

The rest of the visit consisted of him showing me a bunch of stuff written in chinese on his computer, and telling me to go downstairs to pick up my Rx. In total, the visit took about 5 min. including time to get my Rx. The total cost (w/o insurance mind you).. roughly $27 for the whole shibang. Not too stinking bad.

The result... white spots are gone and I'm feeling much better.

Other achievements this week... went to the movies, ate a lot more really awesome food, and did the most ridiculous trek to do laundry I've ever done. Picture Melissa and I squeezing onto the crowded metro train with a bag stuffed to the point of almost overflowing that's so big it takes both of us to carry it. Then walking in the rain for who knows how long to find a laundromat (again, each of us carrying half of the bag). Getting lost in some really rural REALLY Chinese neighborhood, then spending 3 hours at said laundromat, and returning the same way. Nothing is simple.

In other news.. I saw a man walking around with a poodle riding on his shoulders, a lady walking her cat by leash, and an asian man with what closely resembles the 'flat top' or more commonly known as 'MC Hammer' hair-do. We had a hard time telling if it was a helmet.. or just a masterpiece of hair. It looked pretty solid.

Tonight is our last night at the hostel. A sister in my congregation has graciously asked us to come stay with her and a couple other sisters in their apartments while we hunt for one of our own. This will be a crowded situation, and probably a little awkward, but it will save us money in the mean time and get us out of the hostel. So the hunt continues.

By the time I post again I might be in Japan, so stay tuned for news from there! Sorry, not many pictures this week. (Spent most of it in bed)