Monday, November 4, 2013

Medical Evacuation

The words medical evacuation strike a bit of fear in all expats, I am sure. Our experience was not critical and not an emergency, but it was definitely a medical condition that needed to be attended to.

It does sounds much more serious than it was, but I found myself back in South Africa for a medical appointment with one of my kids. About a week after our return from fantastic Cape Town, I was back on a plane to Johannesburg. The medical follow-up we had received in Luanda was not well-coordinated among some specialists and the treatment my child received is questionable. However, we met with a Dr. at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg and I was impressed with both his expertise and the overall service of everyone we met. The friendliness of South Africans is so refreshing and it was a pleasure to be there even under the circumstances. Fortunately, nothing serious was found, but more antibiotics were recommended. We will return if this does not solve the problem.

We stayed at two Bed & Breakfasts in a very pleasant neighborhood, Melville, full of gorgeous trees. The jacaranda trees were in full bloom and their lavender flowers adorned the city. Several streets had jacaranda trees on both sides and it was like driving under a lavender arch. We walked to nearby restaurants and never did I feel threatened although so much is said about crime in Johannesburg. We did take precautions like not take out money from the ATM at the airport and arranged for an airport pick up ahead of time. Also, we only used taxis known by the B&B's. There are neighborhoods and areas where one should be very careful and never venture in at night, but we had no need to go there. Most houses have high walls and almost all of them have stickers or signs advertising the security company that will respond with armed personnel.

The only experience which was a bit scary was using a taxi minivan when we were stuck at a shopping mall and had to return to the hospital. There were no taxis except for these crazy minivans and after some haggling, we ended up in a minivan full of women that had been waiting to leave and were not at all happy when they were told that we would be dropped off first at the hospital. The driver said "My sisters, I am sorry, but ... (switched over to another language) and the response was negative to say the least! We got off when we saw things were heating up between the ladies and the driver and then when the driver realized we were leaving, he got another minivan to take us. This driver was honking at everyone, shouting out the window and driving like a maniac while periodically smiling at us in the rear-view mirror. I was just about to ask him to stop, when I saw the hospital. Whew!

In between appointments, it was shopping for clothes, books, kitchen stuff and even Christmas ornaments which had already started coming out! In our little neighborhood of Melville, I found a nice little boutique where I got two beautiful, classic cut dresses (Yay!). Our hostess did us the great favor of buying us a Coleman cooler which we filled with our clothes and books as a piece of luggage. Good coolers are an absolute necessity in Luanda if we go to the beach or take any kind of road trip and I have yet to find a good one.

The food in Johannesburg was really good and we could pick among all sorts of food. A really good glass of wine with dinner was $4.00 and we ate some of the best lamb roast I have ever tasted. Red velvet cake is served everywhere and we shared a piece with a baked cheesecake bottom with one of my brother's friends whom met us and took us around one day. The world can really be small sometimes.

At the airport in Luanda we noticed that we were not the only ones coming back with Coleman coolers. Apparently, many people stock up on meat from South Africa. At the luggage carousel  there were several other coolers on the conveyer belt and I was really hoping that everyone would take the right one home. At this point our clothes and books are much more treasured than meat! Good meat is easier to find and of good quality while books in English are not found anywhere and clothes worth buying are crazy expensive.

All in all, I would call this an excellent medical evacuation and hope to return under different circumstances!

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