September 9 to 15

We went to Westland Mall for shelves, goggles, a new router and to chat with the pharmacist for some OTC meds.  Armed with my list in English & Spanish (generic names) in search of Tums (not to be found anywhere here), Claritin and the PM in Tylenol PM without the Tylenol. (Benedryl) Just about everywhere in the world Tylenol is sold as Panadol and I was finding Panadol PM, but not just the PM part. So, the pharmacist had it behind the counter as well as the Claritin.



We also had lunch again at lunch at Leños y Carbon. Of course we had to have gelato too!

We went to the San Fernando Medical Clinic to see about RX’s for my prescription meds $34.00 for both of our office visits (without insurance). It was $20.00pp, but we got the jubilado discount. (retired down here) We have insurance, but you pay up front and fill out forms for the insurance company to reimburse after the deductible is met. (we pay 20% after the deductible is met)

Next task was to see if we can get all of the needed meds here. The doctor called the pharmacy and said they had all but 2 of them.  (yes, the doctor himself picked up the phone and called. We each saw different doctors and both spoke English. One of the two receptionists spoke English well. Despite the nurse who took our vitals saying she didn’t speak English well, she knew plenty and explained everything as she worked.  As our Spanish improves and locals like to practice their English, conversations often turn into “Spanglish”. 

I can get all but 2 of my meds here. I have one more pharmacy to try, a large chain here called Farmacias Arrocha, before we contact our insurance company and see if they can assist with getting them here. The doctor told us he could only write for 1 month on some and 2 months for the others. So, I thought we would have to go back to see him frequently. The pharmacy filled our scripts and then hands us back the prescriptions.  That night at Picasso’s we asked someone about that and they said yes, you just keep using the same scripts to get more refills. Lots of things here are over the counter that need an RX in the States, but insurance probably needs to see the prescriptions. The only things that can’t be done that way are the controlled substances, which of course we don’t use. So, we paid outright for the meds and then submit to insurance and they will reimburse us 80%.

We met an interesting young couple at Picasso’s that are biking around South & Central America. They had just ridden their bikes from Panama City. He is American and she is from Colombia, but they met in Ecuador where she joined him and is getting used to long distance cycling. Since Greg has done lots of long distance rides he was quite interested in their travels.

Tried Bamboo Express for Chinese food this week and it was pretty good. Huge portions.

Our shipping company called to let us know that customs was going to go through our boxes this past Friday and said it was our right to be there if we wanted to, but she also said most clients don’t like to go since it’s a long hot day in a warehouse with no A/C. We opted not to drive to the city to do that. We got an email today saying they will deliver our stuff on Monday morning. Whoo Hoo! Since we have such limited space here we rented a storage unit where they will unload everything and we will bring things over a little at a time as we go through things.

We saw a couple different birds on our beach walks. This month a lot of birds migrate through here. We saw a pair of Oystercatchers and a Surf Bird. I have added their photos to the web albums.

 



Today is my son’s birthday! Happy Birthday Scott! Tomorrow is my Dad’s birthday! Happy Birthday Dad! Love to you both!