Burning in India

India is a place to burn. Mostly I mean this in a metaphorical sense, though it was the physical interpretation that sent us searching for a clinic today. For 2 or 3 days now, peeing (an activity which has become increasingly frequent and annoying due to the nonexistence of public restrooms) has caused an intense burning sensation radiating up my urethra, bouncing to and fro in my bladder, and ultimately threatening to extend its stay by venturing into my ureters in hopes of reaching its Zion: the kidneys. I ruled out Voodoo pretty quickly (although I'm keeping my eye on Allan!) but figured a definitive (and clinical) diagnosis was likely warranted. The Tibetan Delek Hospital--considered one of the best in the state--is conveniently located only 20 minutes away by foot. And with my threshold for pain decreasing with each step (a veritable earthquake to my urinary tract), I was happy to traverse the rocky path, dodge the occasional monk, then goat, then cow (not to mention that which the latter left behind) to ultimately arrive at the hospital. After walking through a maze of wards--TB most notably (we, probably with futility, held our breaths), until we found ourselves seated in a small waiting room outside "Doctor Consultation Room 1." With just enough time for Allan to say "I'd better come in with you," a beautiful (and pregnant!) Tibetan woman motioned us to enter the office. After a brief assessment, the physician (who I pressumed to have studied or travelled in the West based on the Keen shoes he donned on his feet [shoes always give a person away!]) handed me a tiny vile in which I might contain the bacterial beast within. We're spoiled with our 6 inch diameter sterile cups in the US, by which I mean to say I peed all over my fingers as I was squatting over the Eastern style toilet in the dimly lit bathroom. I wish you could have seen the huge smile on my face at that precise moment! I wish anyone could have!
Next we were off to the lab, but only after paying the quickly accruing bill--$1USD for the urine analysis. An hour later, we were again sitting in the doctor's office, this time with my results in hand. The doctor noted the high level of WBCs and wrote a script. $3USD and just a few moments later, we left with a week's worth of Cipro for both of us.