Drugs... and their procurement

On Sunday, I woke up feeling bad. That kind of lousy that you know is leading to trouble--big trouble. I had a wicked sore throat and the gland in my neck was swollen and tender to the touch. No fever yet, but I knew that if I didn't get a handle on this, I was heading toward strep throat or something equally toxic. What I needed was access to over the counter drugs. Something to dry up the drip down the back of my throat. Something to kill the excruciating pain I felt every time I attempted to swallow.

In the states, I would head to Walgreen's or some other chain drug store. Maybe buy some Chloroseptic spray or throat lozenges. Get some kind of Sudaphed or Benadryl for the congestion. Here in Tunisia, that means looking for this sign and finding a pharmacy. Why, oh why, is the symbol for a pharmacy a snake wrapped around a margarita glass? Perhaps, this is one of those great philosophical questions that are meant to remain mysteries.

It was Sunday, it was after dark and we were in a foreign country. We found an open pharmacy near our hotel and walked inside. Now, forget the image of a large, well lit 24 hour Walgreen's and imagine instead a storefront the size of a single garage bay. With a u shaped counter. No displayed goods on racks that you can 'help yourself' to. Just rows and rows of drawers behind this thin set of counters. The personnel hover behind the counters and question you. Then they fetch you what they have that you need. Before you counter with 'how can they have what you need when it's such a small shop?', all I can say, is I've been in three different pharmacies with three different people with three different ailments and no one has left empty handed.

DH's French, being existent, as opposed to my French, being non-existent, was used to chat with the proprietor. Did she speak English? No, not a bit.

Thus began the most interesting conversation of broken French I've ever heard. DH signed his hands up and down the outside of his neck, then pointed to me. She said something very fast. He said, "she wants to look in your mouth". I opened up to say ah... She didn't touch me. She didn't even come out from behind the tiny counter. She didn't have an otoscope or even a wooden popsicle stick. She just looked. Then said something else to DH. He said, "have you had a fever?" I said no. She turned and reached in a drawer and pulled out a box.

We paid less than $4 US dollars and left the store.

I pulled the box out of the bag and considered the packaging. The picture on the box was helpful. The cartoon guy has a radiating red blur in his throat. The name of the drug was spelled out in letters we could make out. When I got back to our hotel room, I looked it up online. Guess what it's for? Exactly my symptoms. She was very careful to write out 2 - 2 - 2 on the box while communicating with DH. He said, "2 tablets three times a day. With meals," as she pantomimed eating.

I came back to the hotel, ate a bowl of soup and took two of the pills. Within an hour, I felt better. The swelling in the back of my throat that was causing one tonsil to play peek-a-boo every time I swallowed is completely gone after only two doses. The pain on swallowing is also over. And all for less than $4. And less than 10 minutes invested.

I think I'm going to like Tunisia.

--Sandee Wagner