Language Barriers

Alright so leave it to me to get sick in random country. But hey its another new experience. Well I have been looking for a doctor to go to all week. At first I brought along Andy (she speaks English, Czech, German, and Croatian)to help me in case I can not find an English speaker. Well it was a good idea because she understood when the hospital said they were only taking emergencies at that time. Then I found out there was an English speaking doctor in the same building as the international students office. Next day I go to find her. She is on her honeymoon or something and then it was a national holiday. So i finally get into a doctor's office by the end of the week. The nurse keeps coming out and bringing people back, everything is moving smoothly. I am the only one left and she comes out speaking Czech of course, so I give my usual response, ne mluvim cesky (I don't speak Czech). So she keeps talking in Czech asking me more questions. Then she waves me in and points to a chair. I get out an ID and insurance card because that is just a given. As she is taking to me a voice from behind a curtain ask if I speak English. I was saved, for a moment. Then they could not figure out the insurance card and wanted me to go get another card and new insurance. Then they said i could just pay it all myself but it was going to be very expensive and it would just be easier to buy a new one and save time. Which would be so wrong because they would only speak Czech and I would take another like 2 hours to fill out a form. Finally I told them I would pay all $10 on the spot without insurance at all. First problem solved. Next, all doctors do pretty much the same thing to sick patients so I followed directions well. The tricky part was telling her why I was there. Being the good student I am I looked up all my symptoms in the waiting room and handed her a sheet of paper. The next problem is to fill the medications. The voice from the curtain was still there and took me to the Lekarna to translate for me. What a nice boy, who apologized for his unfriendly country and said he loved how nice the people were in America when he studied in Colorado. Good Job Americans on being nice. The only problems I have ever had with any Czech person has all stemmed from language barriers...grrr...i wish i learned languages better.

But at the end of the day pointing and acting out what you want or need seems to do the job 99% of the time...Granted we do get Liver instead of chicken for dinner or mushroom rice when we order mashed potatoes but hey that's what makes this place so memorable.