Brasil IV - How to get it in the end
The beach near where we were staying was absolutely lovely, unspoilt with no one on it. This was possibly because of the remoteness of the area and probably because there are 4,600 km of beach between there and Rio, so why choose this bit?
Swimming was a bit risky due to the scattering of rocks, which, at high tide were hidden *just* below the surface - "sometimes dries" to use a nautical phrase. This did not deter my wife from launching herself into the breakers.
Spot the shop?1
Unfortunately, she caught her toe on a sharp piece of rock and it got infected the next day, which required a trip to the local hospital "just in case".
We drove about 30 minutes to the hospital, which to be honest looked a tad tired on the outside. Inside however, was spotless and there were only two other people in the waiting area. The receptionist was helpful, but stuck religiously to the rules. She said (in Portuguese) "Foreign nationals must present their passport before treatment". We had of course completely forgot about this. My brother-in-law speaks a fair bit of Portuguese, but wasn't prepared to do an hour's round trip to get her passport, so played dumb. "Eu não entendo" ("I don't understand").
Her eyes rolled to the ceiling and tried again. This little episode went on for a while and included getting the gay porter who spoke English to assist. His English was "yes", "no" and "a beer please". Eventually, with a face like thunder, she got out a form. "Fill this in!"
"What profession?", "Teacher", "Ah, professor!". For some reason, this made a difference, her demeanour changed to all smiles and we were invited to sit down and wait.
While we were waiting, a young girl was rushed in who had collapsed. Naturally, they saw here first and she was eventually taken to the hospital in Natal (about an hour's drive).
A very nice doctor came over and got the notes from the receptionist. The two of them had a lengthy discussion and the doctor took my wife off to a consulting room.
The conversation (all in Portuguese) with no translation and a lot of arm-waving was along the lines of:
"What have you done?"
"Bashed it on rocks"
"Hmm, that was silly of you"
"Ok, I'll give you a prescription for iodine spray and you'll need to get on here", pointing to the couch.
My wife sat down on the couch.
"No, like this" and the doctor mimicked someone lying prone.
"Ah"
"Yes, ah. Face the wall"
I didn't hear the screams, but apparently, 10ml of penicillin injected into the bum hurts like buggery.
Not posed by model.
We spent in total about 90 minutes. We thanked everyone we could and left.
Later on that evening I was musing about the doctors day.
"Hello dear, had a good day?"
"Yes, I saw an English professor with a gammy toe and managed to save the life of a girl who'd collapsed"
"Oh, well done you, English? Not many of them around here"
"No there aren't, she had to have penicillin, looked quite nasty to be honest"
"How many tablets did you give her? 12 like normal?"
"Nope, she upset Anna on reception so I jabbed her in the *rse instead. That'll teach her to forget her passport."
1Can't? That's because there are none.
Swimming was a bit risky due to the scattering of rocks, which, at high tide were hidden *just* below the surface - "sometimes dries" to use a nautical phrase. This did not deter my wife from launching herself into the breakers.
Spot the shop?1We drove about 30 minutes to the hospital, which to be honest looked a tad tired on the outside. Inside however, was spotless and there were only two other people in the waiting area. The receptionist was helpful, but stuck religiously to the rules. She said (in Portuguese) "Foreign nationals must present their passport before treatment". We had of course completely forgot about this. My brother-in-law speaks a fair bit of Portuguese, but wasn't prepared to do an hour's round trip to get her passport, so played dumb. "Eu não entendo" ("I don't understand").
Her eyes rolled to the ceiling and tried again. This little episode went on for a while and included getting the gay porter who spoke English to assist. His English was "yes", "no" and "a beer please". Eventually, with a face like thunder, she got out a form. "Fill this in!"
"What profession?", "Teacher", "Ah, professor!". For some reason, this made a difference, her demeanour changed to all smiles and we were invited to sit down and wait.
While we were waiting, a young girl was rushed in who had collapsed. Naturally, they saw here first and she was eventually taken to the hospital in Natal (about an hour's drive).
A very nice doctor came over and got the notes from the receptionist. The two of them had a lengthy discussion and the doctor took my wife off to a consulting room.
The conversation (all in Portuguese) with no translation and a lot of arm-waving was along the lines of:
"What have you done?"
"Bashed it on rocks"
"Hmm, that was silly of you"
"Ok, I'll give you a prescription for iodine spray and you'll need to get on here", pointing to the couch.
My wife sat down on the couch.
"No, like this" and the doctor mimicked someone lying prone.
"Ah"
"Yes, ah. Face the wall"
I didn't hear the screams, but apparently, 10ml of penicillin injected into the bum hurts like buggery.
Not posed by model.We spent in total about 90 minutes. We thanked everyone we could and left.
Later on that evening I was musing about the doctors day.
"Hello dear, had a good day?"
"Yes, I saw an English professor with a gammy toe and managed to save the life of a girl who'd collapsed"
"Oh, well done you, English? Not many of them around here"
"No there aren't, she had to have penicillin, looked quite nasty to be honest"
"How many tablets did you give her? 12 like normal?"
"Nope, she upset Anna on reception so I jabbed her in the *rse instead. That'll teach her to forget her passport."
1Can't? That's because there are none.
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