Greetings!
I just returned from an efficient and fruitful visit to the doctor’s and wish to take a moment to marvel at the whole system.
I live a few blocks away from the doctor’s office so I just took a gentle stroll over this morning, and upon arrival was told today is a lucky day because they weren’t that booked up with appointments and I could be seen within 20 minutes’ time. I wait a little over 20 minutes but it’s nothing bad, and then I meet with a charming gentleman who recognizes very quickly that I simply have a virus that’s causing my sore throat and prescribes some medicine. I then leave the doctors’ without having to pay because under the beautiful British NHS (National Health Service) there are no copays for doctor’s visits. (Or maybe I’m an exception because I’m a student? Not too clear–but still marveling at the beauty of it.)
I then ramble over to a pharmacy a few blocks away that the receptionist at the doctor’s office directed me to, and within a few minutes’ wait I’m called up to the counter and I once again marvel at the system. All I’ve done so far is walk a few blocks from my flat and not only have I seen a medical professional but now I’m getting medicine so I won’t have to feel like I’m dying anymore! (Seriously, I’ve been quite sick the past few days–on Monday, after showering, I didn’t even have the energy to dry myself and instead just sat on the toilet seat cover for a few minutes, wrapped in my towel, sopping and dripping everywhere. It was pitiful.)
And I’m thinking all this as the lady behind the counter puts my box of solubles into a small paper bag and seals it with a sticker that has my information and a barcode on it and I look behind her to the rows and rows of neat paper bags filled with medicine, just like mine, and I marvel once again at how easy all this was. And I begin to feel guilty, because I know medicine isn’t nearly as accessible in many other parts of the world. And then on the walk home I begin to ponder how truly unfair it is that I get to come study in the UK, because my parents have the money to pay for my tuition, and how unfair it is that I get to undergo all this personal development that’s been happening recently (as a direct result of the challenges I’ve faced in living in a new country–which I wrote about in my previous blog post) simply because I was born into a certain socioeconomic status, and in a certain county that bestows upon me a passport that allows me to visit many more countries than someone with a passport from certain other countries, and…the list goes on.
I don’t know. I’ve had this sense of guilt for years now…well, because it really is profoundly unfair, the way this world works. It truly is. But I guess until I can propose I solution I should just keep mum…
On a happier note, I went climbing again this past weekend! It’s probably when I got sick, actually…but let’s not focus on that. Let me show you some pictures from Sunday!
(Pulled again from facebook so forgive me for the poor quality.)
The early morning scramble to get everything ready before hiking down into the gorge:
The view from the top of the climb: 😀
Of course we end the day with a visit to the local pub:
More from during the day:
Aaand that’s it. 🙂 It was a very good day.
On a completely different note, I read a very good article recently (which is unrelated to anything I’ve mentioned in this post so far I just saw it again when I went on Facebook to pull these pictures and thought I’d bring it up here) and I highly recommend it:
https://medium.com/@amyngyn/the-impact-of-diversity-on-everything-b82e71140290#.l5vbm96lt
Also unrelated–my new favorite song is a German one called “Traum” by the rapper CRO. Have I told you I’m teaching myself German? I must have. I started learning on Duolingo back in February so it’s been quite a long time coming. I’m like…almmmost capable of holding a conversation in German. 😉 Hopefully by the time I visit Germany next spring (which is the current plan!) I’ll be fluent.
And that’s it for now! Gonna go prep for my 5:30pm tutorial. 🙂
Talk soon and cheers,
Em