Dr. Quack and a little Habibs for the soul

My ‘cold’ that I mentioned in my last post some how manifested itself into the worst soar throat I have ever had. After several sleepless nights drooling on the pillow and days of painful swallowing I decided to go back to the hospital. I opted this time for the walk-in clinic which is much less expensive than the ER. $40 US in fact.
As I was forking over my credit card the man behind the counter he asked me something to the effect of ‘halves or quarters?’ which made no sense to me. I quickly realized that he was asking if I wanted to pay in installments. Such a foreign idea to me to begin with, especially for $40, but as I reached WAY back into all that useless knowledge I learned in college I remembered that Brazil compounds their interest monthly as opposed to the US that does it annually. Therefore when one puts an amount on their card all at once, if they can’t pay it off their payment probably close to doubles, as I can imagine the interest rate here in much higher than the US as well.
After my quick economics lesson and a short 2.5 hour wait I was finally ushered into a room to meet with the doctor. I tell the doctor that I’m American and don’t speak Portuguese, he responds in English and I am relieved. He immediately launches into a story about my last name and how it is close to the name Hutchkinson that apparently was the name of a gun used in World War I. I smile and try to act polite, but I really didn’t go to chat, in fact at this point talking is somewhat of a strain. He goes on and on about how he thinks the French are rude and how he can speak 5 different languages. Finally he looks at my throat and after about 2 seconds he tells me my tonsils are inflamed, writes a prescription, and painstakingly tells me about each drug and of course a personal note about his life. The whole visit took probably 30 minutes of which about 5 where related to my throat.
So I’m currently all drugged up and feeling great. (Minus the fact that I can’t drink…again.) I’ve been trying to lay low this week and rest up.
I’ve been feeling pretty good the last 2 days and to celebrate me and a couple other folks from the house ventured to Habibs for dinner this evening. I must preface this story with the fact that I have been talking about going to Habibs for 7 weeks now. I pass it almost daily on the way to the beach and grocery store. Other people in the house actually think I have been there many times because I talk about how great it is. I can only describe Habibs as the greatest fast food, yet sit down and be served by waiters, in the World. They even proclaim that on the menu. The Arab-American-Brazilian fusion restaurant comes complete with glass place settings, high-class uniforms for their million employees all waiting on you hand and foot and a super creepy genie as their logo.
I think more people in the house need to be exposed to the greatness that is Habibs so I have decided for my last night out I will go to Habibs where they have a drink special, buy one caipirinha and get a beer for free. Greatest place on earth I tell you.