The Allen's Online Blog

So, from all of the bouncing around on our semi-violent scooter, I ended up with an injured back. Through a connection at school, I found an English speaking chiropractor and made an appointment for the following evening. Unfortunately, this connection was a bit lacking in the directions area and sent me off with "Go under the bridge. Take the road until it ends, then go right. Go to the light and take a left. Then turn right, then left, and his is the third house on the left." Those were the actual directions. No road names. No landmarks. I should have never left the house, but of course, I did.
I left a good bit of time, assuming that I would get lost. After wandering for about 30 minutes, I called to say I was lost, and to ask for directions. The woman who answered the phone responded by saying, "Ok. Just call when you get here!" Hmmm... So, I continued down the poorly paved road weaving through fields. I never actually reached a stop light to turn left at. In fact, I didn't reach anything for quite some time. After about an hour and a half of nothingness, the bumpy trail dumped me onto a road with a lone structure: a gas station. From this gas station, I could see the distant lights of a city, my city. I pulled in and called the chiropractor again to see if he could help me find my way. I had to hand the cell phone off to the attendant so that he could explain where I was. The gas station attendant talked to my chiropractor for quite some time, until my phone died. Being a very kind man, the attendant used his own cell phone to call the chiropractor back. Eventually he handed the phone back so the chiropractor could inform me that I had left the city and crossed a mountain and was too far away to bother coming back, so I should just try to go home. Go figure. So, I started up my scooter... wait. Let's try again. I started up my scooter... No. The scooter wouldn't start. In fact, I was completely out of gas, but had been to caught up in finding my way to notice. So, there I was, in the dark, lost on a mountain with no cell phone, no gas, and no English speakers. Praise God the scooter died at a gas station and not on those back mountain roads! After fueling up, I tried to get directions home, but no one spoke English, so I just headed back the way I came. Amazingly enough, I made it back to my apartment that same night.
I rescheduled my appointment for the next morning, but this time I took Phillip with me. Naturally, we got lost again, but we did stay on this side of the island. The chiropractor ended up coming to pick us up. Did I say "chiropractor?" Turns out he actually specializes in acupuncture. So, he took us to his home, I laid on a sofa in his living room, he put long needles into my back and then lit them on fire to send healing herbal heat into my muscles. I apparently have a slipped disc, and if the acupuncture doesn't help, he's sending me to a chiropractor. He says if I was in the States they would have recommended surgery, but such things aren't necessary here. Imagine that.

Labels: Adventures