Empty Nesters on a Green Global Trek

So far, health and medical issues have been a positive experience here. Recently I had an ear infection, so off I go to the Santa Rosa Pharmacy where they dispense a small bottle of healing oil (which had worked well for me last year). Two or more weeks later I realize that I need antibiotics. Back to the pharmacy where I tell the man at the counter what I need. He is soon counting out my pills for a week and cutting a pack so that I only need to buy the exact quantity of pills I need, not the whole box. This ability of pharmacies to dispense drugs without prescriptions is very convenient, when you know what’s wrong with you and you know what medication you need. I will not have to go through the whole U.S. “make an appointment with busy doctor for a few days later, if you are lucky, then the long wait in the waiting room” experience.

A few days later, at a friend’s urging, I decide to see a doctor, just to make sure the infection is clearing up and to make contact with a local doctor, so that I will have that under my belt for any future issues that might crop up. Back at the pharmacy I am told that there is a doctor at the back and I can go and see him right away. Two minutes later I have an encounter with a doctor that leaves me saying “now that’s the kind of doctor I like… accessible, friendly, informative, thorough and efficient. How come I had such a hard time finding a GP like that in the Highland Park? So, I have found my Granada doctor.

Staying on the theme of medical stuff, recently I also went to make an appointment at Pellas hospital which is a private facility where we have our health insurance. As a breast cancer survivor, I need annual check ups with a breast cancer specialist. As I sit across from the intake professional, it is obvious he is not understanding my Spanish and more importantly I do not know the word for “breasts or boobs or tits” in Spanish. He seems to be offering me an appointment with a gynecologist. So I resort to grabbing said appendages in desperation and I say “estos!” (these) and wih a very straight face he says.. “ahhh, mammas!”

So now I know… breasts in Spanish are “mammas”!