Medical screening

I posted this picture before:

 A friend on FB posted it from the clinic where expats (workers from foreign countries) must go to be screened.  If a worker is deemed "unfit" he is sent packing for home.

When I arrived on Monday the room looked pretty much the same as in the pic above.  There are four stages to move through and all have long queues.

For a mere Dh 100 ($27) you can bypass all of the lines.  It was easily the best Dh 100 I have spent in this country.  I was in and out in less than 20 minutes.

I don't anyone who has ever failed this mini-physical but I was concerned.  Why?  I feel like crap... and I have for a long time.  The only other times in my life when I've felt this way were caused by medical problems - no thyroid in my system - or a psychological problem - depression.  I'm not depressed.  I'm not perfect on taking my thyroid medicine but there's enough my system that that can't be it.

I feared that I had contracted something... perhaps during my trips to Sri Lanka or Nepal.  And I may have, this screen is only designed to rule out the biggees:  Malaria, TB, AIDS, etc.

All I know is that I was relieved to get the paper that said "Fit."  This means I'm good for working here for another three years.

Perhaps the malaise I feel is because this summer is much hotter than my first summer in this country back in 2009.  I know it's hot back in Iowa right now, but we're hitting 120 pretty much every day here... and it's been over 115 for weeks.  Maybe all will be well when I'm back breathing the fresh air of Iowa.

Two weeks from this moment I should be somewhere over eastern Canada on my to a stopover in Chicago before connecting to Cedar Rapids.  After a day of dealing with spectacularly bad customer service I am sooo ready to come home.