In "Writing School", one of the first things taught is the rule about not...ever....editing as one goes along. So, today, I went back and edited (to the delight of writing teachers and those who teach and have taught grammar and punctuation), the last of my posts. I was tired and intent on finishing up so that I could watch the new Bridgerton series on Netflix. I'm hungry for English-speaking media and I do NOT mean the nauseating coronation ceremony. I watched that because I watched Queen Elizabeth's coronation as a child and wanted to see why my child-self got the impression that the Queen was to be pitied because she could not ever, under any circumstances, leave the throne. How DID she go to the potty???
And now, I am not going to write about anything else about speaking English. Because, I have had to use my Italian very,very,very much in the past few days. Good thing that medical terminology is based on Latin and that makes it somewhat universal. But it wasn't Latin that I had to speak when we went to the "Walk-in" medical clinic on Sunday morning with a wheezing, coughing Joe. The day before, we made our first visit to the pharmacist here in the center of Assisi. There are no chain pharmacies in Italy. CVS would make a killing here. Nor can you buy over the counter medications anywhere but in a pharmacy. Usually, they are small in size, beautifully appointed and gentrified. Pharmacists are not busy dispensing. They are at the counter, ready, willing and able to give advice. They are very well educated and have some command of the English language. So, our (new best friend) pharmacist recommended that if Joe needed something other than an OTC, we go to a clinic that is open 24 hours a day, all weekend. Just across the road from McDonalds in Santa Maria. Okay! We know where!!
We have a very good Assisian friend. In fact, we are blessed with many which may become the point of this story or another soon. His name is Pietro. I have known him since 2012 when we met over perfume. He is better than a friend. He has a car! He's the friend who forms the third of our "Tre Amici" when we go grocery shopping each week. He drives, we buy the cappuch. We have lots of fun together. I asked him about this clinic, what he might know about it, and immediately, he responded "I will pick you up at nine tomorrow morning". So, the three of us went to the clinic. Without his assistance, we would still be looking for the SNL Clinic. It appeared closed to us and of course, there was a lack of signage. After a lot of buzzing on the buzzer, we were admitted by the woman who turned out to be the dottoressa. Could have fooled me. Especially when she asked us if we had a face mask for her. She spoke not one word of English. Again, dear Pietro came to our rescue.
Joe got a reasonably good evaluation. We clung to the fact that healthcare in Italy is rated very high. No pneumonia. A few meds prescribed and no waiting. When we asked about payment, we were told that we can stop by anytime this week and drop off the twenty euros. The doc was having a hard time answering the phone, examining Joe, filling out papers, prescribing medicine and answering the door. She finally did answer the phone, told the person on the other end off, gesturing as if they could see her. "Can't you see, I'm with these people now?" Bam, down slammed the receiver. Brava Dottoressa.
Next stop, the pharmacy (here we are again!) and this time, a lovely young woman pharmacist who instantly gave us the pre-packaged items, handed us her card and said to stop by if we needed further assistance. The price, twenty four euros. All of this, done during the course of a little over an hour! This is almost as good as free.
So, Joe's on the mend from whatever Puglia doled out to him (no, it wasn't Covid) and we've returned to the pharmacy a few times for "route guidance" or maybe, just to keep in touch with our newest friends and give them our home address for the Christmas card!
One final note. Don't leave home without travel insurance. We have an excellent plan and having it has given us confidence and a blanket of security. And, if you have an Italian friend, hold on to that person. They are a National Treasure!
Domani, more about Italian friends. Don't make me cry here.
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