Backlog

I published a few things I have written earlier but haven't been able to post since we don't have internet at home right now and I haven't been to work much in the past week. I am actually sitting in the lobby of my office building uploading stuff on some random internet signal.

I did go to the doctor on Tuesday and they say my knee is broken. Not shattered, per say, but there is some kind of fragmentation at the bottom of the femur. I got an xray and CT scan but I didn't see them. The hospital system is a bit different here than in the States. For instance, in the States you are sitting in an exam room and the doctor comes in with the xrays and shows you were the problems are. In Belgium, I was sitting in a wheelchair in the hallway with black socks and no pants on, and the doctor came over and drew a little stick figure on the back of an envelope. "Uh, that's great Doc. Can I have my pants back? It's drafty in this hallway and old women are leering at me." Her English wasn't so great but she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. The whole hospital experience was quite interesting, for instance getting an xray while an xray tech who didn't speak English barked commands at me that I didn't understand. But I have private insurance, and I am eligible (and have almost finished paperwork) for the Belgium insurance plan, and these tests only cost 10 Euros in these communist countries anyway. I ended up with a full cast on my leg, and I see a specialist next Thursday.

Speaking of communists, in order to get on the Belgium insurance I needed a document from the commune. Andy, my German coworker, was kind enough to drive me there yesterday. I hobbled to the basement on my crutches, and saw that there was a 45-minute line. I am not able to stand for 45 minutes, and didn't want to make Andy wait that long, so dejectedly I hobbled back to the car and told him the line was too long and that I will just go another time. He asked me if they had handicapped access and I said there wasn't, that the "take a ticket" machine was broken and there was just a line. "This is not acceptable. I'll be right back," he said sternly, and thus the second German invasion of Belgium was launched.

He returned 5 minutes later. "I've found someone who will help you. Some were helpful, and some were not." We hobbled past the receptionist with her piles of pamphlets. "Like this one, who is ONLY GOOD FOR DISTRIBUTING MAGAZINES!" She pretended to be busy. We reached the basement and went around the corner to a back office, where Andy knocked on the door. A woman nervously pushed her head outside. "She is the one who will help you." She took my documents and I could hear the employees chattering amongst each other about Germans and handicapped access as she closed the door. But a few minutes later she returned with my documents. It was the fastest and friendliest experience I have had at the commune yet.

So, I'm bored but things are going OK. My internship was set to end next week anyways, so I'm not missing a lot. Orientation for new students is the following week, which being part of the student government I will have to help with, but won't be too taxing. School starts the week after. This might be a good time to get my knee and ACL fully repaired. I've actually had a damaged knee for more of my life than it was healthy, and to tell you the truth it always hurt. It hurt if I exercised it a lot, and it hurt if I didn't. So this might be the perfect time to get that piece of housekeeping out of the way.

I really had a great summer playing basketball twice a week. I lost most of the fat on my stomach without doing any situps. When we started playing in May, I could only play for about half an hour before getting winded. Last week we had an extended session of about 3 hours, with only a handful of 5 minute water breaks. When my wallet was stolen I was able to run a mile home without being winded to start cancelling my cards. And I had a lot of fun getting better at the game and meeting Belgians on the court. If somebody asked me at the beginning of the summer if I would still want to play knowing I would end up with a broken knee, I think I would say that I would do it all over again.