Rats

Last night I was woken by what I'm pretty sure was a rat giving birth in the built-in cupboard above my closet. There were the sounds of muffled shufflings, claws on wood, and high-pierced screeching. I bolted upright in bed and flipped on the lamp next to me, hoping light would protect me from anything about to shoot out from behind a door to gnaw me to death. But apparently light and me shouting "Go away I want to sleep" is no deterrent to rat birth. The noises continued for another 15 minutes and then I just stared at that cupboard for about another hour before finally feeling safe enough to lie down and try to fall asleep again...with the light on of course.

I've heard something scampering around at night for some time now, but have tried to convince myself that it's the rain outside or people moving in to the apartment above me. After last night,though, I can no longer lie to myself. There's no mistaking rat shrieks for new neighbors or inclement weather. Although tonight the cupboard is oddly silent, so maybe it wasn't rat birth I heard, but really rat death.

A trip to the doctor

It'd been about 4 weeks of battling this wretched bronchitis when I finally broke down and decided I needed to go to the doctor. In China, as far as I can tell, they don't have clinics like in the US. Instead, they head straight to a regular hospital. My supervisor's girlfriend and now friend of mine, Meizi, generously offered to take me to get checked out. So I got my supervisor to cover for my last class of the day and met Meizi at the front gate of campus. We hailed a cab and went to the First People's Hospital of Shanghai.

I had the choice of paying an extra $30 to go to the "upscale" western half of the hospital where there are no people lying around on cots and the nurses speak English, but I opted to save my school the money and go where the rest of the population gets care. I still think I made the right decision, but man did it take a lot of time and energy to get a diagnosis. I think we went back and forth between various windows and buildings literally about 20 times. After paying and filling out a name card, we got in to see a doctor in a small room crammed with 12 other people all listening to my complaints. I guess you just get very friendly with all the other patients around you. :o)

The doctor ordered that I get an EKG, CT scan, blood test, and a urinalysis. I'm not quite sure why all of this was needed...and I was so afraid of them taking my blood, I started crying. For one, I'd barely slept the night before, so I was exhausted and just an hour earlier I'd learned that one of my students passed away. Plus, I've read stories about contaminated needles being reused at hospitals here and I'd just read a book detailing the spread of AIDS at blood banks in a nearby province. My poor translator and support, Meizi, had no idea how to react to my tears. I finally calmed down and realized all they were going to do was a finger prick. That I could handle.

Then came the urinalysis. I have finally gotten used to the squat holes here and can use them with ease, but a new dimension is added when one is required to squat and pee in a small plastic cup. And once one successfully pees in the cup, one must pour the urine into a small glass vile and carry that down the hall without a cover to the testing station. I am so embarrassed to say that during the transfer from cup to vile, I spilled. So now I have pee on my pants, oh, and I'm walking around braless from building to building because I had to take mine off for the CT scan. What a day!

Three and a half hours and numerous tests later, the diagnosis of bronchitis was affirmed. I was sent home with a z-pack, some kind of medication used for pneumonia, and orders to rest. Hey, at least after all that I know that my heart is working well and I don't have a blood disorder!

Karaoke

Yesterday morning I woke up to the most unusual sound. I am used to hearing car horns honking outrageously loud and long, squeaky brakes being applied, dogs barking, and Fur Elise playing (it is the "bell" for one of the schools located behind my apartment), but this is the first time I've heard singing. A group of men and women outside my window decided to get together in the street and sing karaoke. And not just any karaoke....sappy British love songs karaoke.