WWJD

Today has been full of ups and downs. Let's be positive and focus on the ups, or at least the good things and making light of some ridiculousness. This morning, I paid a ridiculous amount of money to see an orthopedist. It was kind of awkward, I showed up and got to cut in line in front of an entire waiting room of people... I guess because I am a rich gringa. Anyway, I had selected this doctor from the Embassy's list of local physicians for one reason. He had a very American name and his only language was listed as English. Hallelujah! Hallelujah indeed. After about five minutes in the room with him and a few medical students (who also only spoke English, I wonder what the quality of care is like for their patients) I realize that he is some sort of medical missionary type. They asked me about what I was doing in the DR and I made extra special care to avoid specifics, lest I have to tell them I am working with something related to - gasp! a mortal sin! - sex. After promising to avoid heels and any form of physical activity, I was allowed to remove the full leg brace - I can take it easy until I start physical therapy and get a new kind of brace back home - or really whatever the UNC docs say. Freedom!!! Clearly they sensed I was launching into a fantastic mood because they immediately started to salivate over my leg brace, ask me how much it cost, etc. They wanted me to leave it with them and I was starting to get uncomfortable, so I was like "I think I will wear it for the rest of today and try tomorrow without it" and strapped it back on and hobbled out as fast as I could, dodging the posters with passages from the Bible and their disapproving "that's not what a good Christian would do" looks.

Later this afternoon, it was time for a different kind of religious man. Yes, the taxi driver taking me and one of my bosses to a hospital in northern Santo Domingo clearly thinks the man upstairs will compensate for his driving skills and hangs a rosary around his rearview window to increase the chances of this happening. Because he definitely accelerated straight into the pickup truck in front of us. Luckily we had only gone a few feet and weren't going very fast, but it was sufficient to knock all our stuff off the seat next to me, smash in his front headlight, and crinkle up the hood of his car. He got out with the other driver to inspect the damage - it was mostly to the taxi, just a few scrapes on the bumper of the pickup. And since nobody has car insurance, that was it. Turn the other cheek I suppose? The cabbie climbed back in and was like "okay where are we going again?" so we rolled up to the hospital in a freshly jacked up taxi.