-^-for posterity-^-

we went to the hospital the other day. one of my students came down with something serious and we decided it was the right thing to go and visit him.

the hospital here sits on a thin street. it sits very, very close to the street. people were everywhere and i became weary as we got closer. i never liked hospitals. they seem less like a place where people get better and more like a place where you store society’s contagious population.

the hospital was the center of commerce in the area. there’s no question about that. people were selling anything you could imagine. small gifts for visitors. lots and lots of different kinds of food. the streets were packed.

the hospital is laid out as a series of buildings inside of a compound. they are all separated by grassy paths and trees and benches and more vendors. the buildings are all either two or three stories and it took us a long time to find the right one.

we found the right one and entered. my student was inside a large room filled with beds. you had to take your shoes off before you entered and all of the nurses and doctors had masks on. the air in hospitals is always thick. the air always seems harder to breath. i’m always afraid i’m going to get some strange disease and was probably exposed to a bunch of new viruses. the beds were laid out into two rows facing each other. there was space between the beds for walking and little else. we sat next to the student and talked to him a little in butchered english. he looked pale and tired. he was wearing a pair of jeans and a hospital smock. we only stayed for a bit and the lady laying in the bed behind me kept touching the back of my shirt. it was eerie and i wanted to leave.

we left through the middle of the hospital compound. one person was selling beer and cigarettes. i couldn’t imagine who would want beer and cigarettes at a hospital and spent most of the rest of the day thinking about it.