I had an occasion to go to the doctor in Mexico.

It was nothing serious, but the process was interesting.

I had noticed that, along with multiple pharmacies, there were a few signs out front for medical consultations at the businesses around town.  The two are separate, at least the ones I went to.  

I didn’t know if I needed an appointment or if I needed a doctor’s consultation at all, but after going directly to the farmacia I found out.  I did need a doctor’s consult and prescription.

So I remembered the Consulta Medica signs I had seen and found one of them on google maps.  Because my Spanish is so rudimentary, I dread making phone calls that have to be in Spanish. Plus I’m one of those weird people who hates to talk on the phone anyway, to anyone. (The only person I make a point to call now and then is my son, because he likes it. That’s how much I love him.) So I found a med consult in google maps and the listing had a messaging option. I didn’t know google listings did that.  

I translated what I wanted to say on google translate: Sorry I don’t speak much Spanish. I need a med consult. Can I make an appointment? The person on the other end asked what language I speak and I told them English. 

Then she explained in English that I do need an appointment and it would be good to call this number.  I explained that my Spanish wasn’t good enough, and could she book me an appointment via text?

She did! Two hours later I walked over.

It was a very small, dark lobby and the woman who opened the door was apparently the one I had been texting because she tried her English on me, and I tried my Spanish on her.

There was no one else there and I was grateful to not have to struggle through this in front of other people.

She took me around the corner and took my vital signs, and then height and weight. Then she directed me to wait for a few minutes until, at her direction, I went down a very dark hall (a motion sensor light turned on at the end) to a door that was just opening with a bald man in a very worn white coat ushered me in. 

It was a closet like office, and he smiled and shook my hand. He was so nice! I apologize again for not speaking much Spanish and he indicated that we would understand each other.

I sat and he asked me a few questions. I answered and used google translate once to clarify. He was very amenable and soon I had a prescription.  

I did ask him if it was alway this cold and rainy in this area in July. He said yes, November and July are the same here. Remarkable.

The cost of my consultation was $150 pesos.  About $8.30 USD.

After I left I realized no one had asked me for my whole name, or birthdate or ID, or anything. I looked down at the script: instead of my name it had my internet name. Shit. They just took that from the google messages I had sent.  

Oh well.

I then went to the farmacia around the corner and asked if they could medicate me. The doc had explained that the medication I took was not available in the amount that I take it. But he wrote a script for two of the same med in differing mg to make up for it.

At the farmacia they looked at the script and were confused if the patient was supposed to take one med for a while and then the next (same) med at differing strength after?  I said no, it was all together.  They were saying something about it being unclear and I was resigning myself to having to go back and get clarification from the doc.

But as I was trying to say this to them they were dialing the phone. They had him on the line in 5 seconds and cleared it up right there. That might have been a three week process in the states.

So it all worked out and everyone was so nice. Mexicans are notorious for their friendliness and generosity, and I could see why.