Blood infection turned staph..... brazil's flight crisis

I haven't written in awhile, so I have got a bit of catch up to do !
My apologies for this being selfishly lengthy, but I am eager to express, reflect, document, and share. Fortunately gmail has auto-spell check, as I gave up using apostrophes quite quickly as I just haven't got gotten used to the keyboard here so that I might as speedily catch my thoughts.

Sunday, we slept and slept after a night of sharing music tastes via youtube.com music videos. Then off to the TV Tower in the middle strip of the city which looks like an airplane from above.The TV Tower stands tall in the cockpit of the airplane, with the two government towers in the rear end and the streets griding out as wings. This city was designed, 40 years ago, from the ground up as I have gathered, right down to the buildings.
We are staying in SuperQuadra 209 North, Bloco I, apt 410.
The avenues and boulevards are named W2 and L2, and the buses all run back to the main bus terminal. If you are lucky, a car will stop at the bus stop on its way to the station and give you a ride... There was never enough room for the three of us, so we jealously watched others hop into the many stopping cars. The buses were fine of course, and actually almost every bus I have been in here in Brazil has been nicer than any bus I have ridden in the US - especially distance traveling!

Back to this strange city....The buildings are capped at a certain height, which helps with ventilation, I learned this evening, and the green spaces, help it not be so incredibly stifling hot. They are refreshing and relaxing, though they don't waste water keeping them green during dry season. Fortunately.
We tried again to go to the top of the TV Tower to see the view of the sunset, but the line was appallingly long and we had better things to do. Instead, we took the bus until we saw a Carrefour (grocery store I first encountered in Paris) and bought bread and cheese and wine and went to the movies! I was delighted when, instead of commercials, they showed the news highlights from the day! Refreshing!

The next day was a mini crisis day - family, work, and love - all entwined with 21st century technology - webcamming, skype conferencing, instant messaging, sms-ing thru skype, and more. What a world we live in and how it has changed!
My little sister, still in the slums of Sao Paulo on Monday, had called, a bit frantic and upset, saying she might have a blood infection. Then we couldn't get in touch with her after that phonecall.
As blood infections are quite serious, us concerned family members, without much knowledge of her actual condition, were discussing what we ought to do, Toby via instant messenger, Craig via skype-cell, etc....
I was a bit frantic trying to figure out whether I should go to Sao Paulo without having spoken with her on a flight leaving in an hour, to make sure she went to the hospital, knowing she thought she didn't have insurance to cover it. I wasn't quite trusting the poor peoples clinic she had gone to - should I bring her to Brasilia or go to Sao Paulo or get her back to the US even?

Less drama, less trauma - the calmer I could be the better, which I knew and was working on, but wasn't quite as successful as I wish, partially due to a bit of history with death in the late summer, due to lack of good medical care and other reasons.

Also, I don't know much about healthcare here in Brazil, except for free vaccines. Had she gotten online 15 mins later I would have been on my way to the airport to go back to Sao Paulo. A bus ride would take 15 hours. Instead, I ended up buying her a ticket to come to Brasilia the next day, as Sao Paulo is cold and wet, and the slums is no place to get healthy. Brasilia is a great place to get better ...hot and dry and relaxing.

Her flight was Tuesday afternoon, which turned out to be the worst travel day in the history of Brazil. We spent all day preparing for her arrival, looking for an english-speaking doctor, sanitary hotel, etc and wondering if her flight would actually arrive after many reports of the airport being closed and Brazilian authorities refusing outside help with their negligence in regards to international safety regulations.
It was a strange place to be in - some sort of urgency limbo.... feeling very urgent about her potential sickness, but having to wait to do anything, and not knowing the actual condition or even knowledge to really know how to react.
The airline didn't have much information to offer each time I called, and when we arrived at the airport, all flights were supposedly canceled and they couldn't tell me what was going to happen. In fact 70% of flights that day were delayed or canceled in Brazil, and we were hearing reports of rioting at the airport where she was. A bit disconcerting to say the least, to think of her with wounds and a fever, stuck in a riot with little chance of getting out of Sao Paulo.
I was wondering then what my options were, as transportation looked grim with buses overbooked, articles about people waiting a week to get home, etc. Also wondering how this flight crisis might affect getting back to the US in a week or so, depending on the political unrest with the international tensions rising.
The plane crash, killing almost 200, had occurred exactly one week before, and on top of that, during only mild weather, the roof of an area of the airport had blown off and mudslides were blocking runways.

There were only 3 flights that arrived that day into Brasilia, and one from Sao Paulo. Livs was lucky and was on it! She had been transferred to the international airport and was on the only airline who hadn't just canceled everything. Apparently a woman had attacked an airport employee and there were many riots crowds confusion wetness mud.

Waiting at the gate was nerve-racking and emotional, and a bit chaotic. No one was standing behind the red bars, but were right up against the doors, and cheering for every passenger coming through! It wouldn't have been allowed in the US - everyone pushing their way through the crowds to get out of baggage claim and people running into the secure area. The cheering was fun and light, but I was overwhelmed with relief and worry and hardly able to jump around.

The scene reminded me of the disorganization in relation to buses and lines.... Welton, my couchsurfing friend had mentioned this - a bit of common disregard for guidelines and regulations.. they are quite creative and fun people instead, and not time-bound.
I noticed that in buses, the same courtesy in the US where you let the people sitting in front of you on the bus get off first, in an orderly fashion, doesn't seem to exist. You just go and if they aren't rude enough to but-in, they have to wait. The same with lines.... constant cutting with friends, etc.

The point, however, wasn't to get her to me, but to get her some medical care - so after checking into the hotel, I suggested we just go to a hospital emergency room despite the late hour, banking on our family's conviction that we wouldn't have to pay up front.
The city is organized in areas.... all of the hotels are right next to each other, and all of the hospitals are together also. We picked Santa Luzia, which had a promising response to the english-speaking question. I needed some extra cash, but the cabbie informed us that the only 24 hour atm was at the airport 30 mins away! They wouldn't take her insurance... cab ride to the next as she wasn't in shape to walk... they won't either, despite them all being on the list of hospitals I had requested from the Insurance company. The third wouldn't either, so we sat singing to my ipod shuffle on the sidewalk at 1am until the taxi came to take us back to our hotel. This whole experience, increasing my already heightened and intense frustration and disbelief at healthcare systems - that someone needing urgent medical care can't get it!

At a hotel for the first time on this trip... guaranteed hot shower! Wonderful.

The hotel had promised internet access in the business center, but the computer was broken, so, with little energy to find alternatives I called internationally from the hotel phone - turns out we have to be reimbursed by her insurance company instead - hope they take creditcards.

I was appalled by the emergency rooms, but aware of the affect of my cultural perception. Olivia, having been here for 10 months, wasn't phased by the lack of professionalism, interest, cleanliness (to my standards), and I was wondering how to be more culturally open while ensuring proper care.

I awoke first to a manager kindly requesting we remove the towels we had laid out on the balcony and then to a $R 233 phonebill for my 23 minutes total on the phone sorting things out. I mostly calmly explained that I needed to speak with Renato, who had booked us in, in english, the night before. I explained to him that he had promised internet and, as I was unable to use it to make my international phonecalls based on their broken keyboard, I had no choice but to use the hotel phone and thus refused to pay the USD $150 phonebill. It was hard keeping the frustrated angered face knowing I would pay the money if I had to. They asked me how much I could pay after consulting various authorities, and I said I would pay for the room only. Then they had me calculate how much it would have cost to make the call via Skype... and, with paying for an hour of internet, I calculated about $R 5.986. They took the whole $R233 off of my bill!.. I tried not to smile walking towards the mirror-walled elevator.

I was wary of taking her back to sit in the waiting rooms, so I found a list of providers through the US Embassy and called the Internal Medicine doctor who was kind, and spoke English and made an appointment for that afternoon. Yet again wondering if I was waiting too long, or over-reacting. She seemed to be doing alright, though very rundown in many ways including a deep chest cough, fatigue, feverish, etc and of course the gaping bloody-pussed filled holes in her left foot - until about an hour before our appointment when she got a bit out of sorts and weak.
We waited in the mini receiving area, giggling and singing various ridiculous songs, and wondering how bored the receptionist is at her table cluttered by about 5 pieces of paper she kept arranging and writing on.
Dr Oliveira was very nice, asking a lot of questions in his big darkwooded desk with the wall behind him bespeckled with awards and degree plaquard. $R250 Cash. We laughed after our immediate surprise when he walked around the table to reach under her shirt and pulled out the thermometer and then whistled ourselves out the door (I am learning!).
We were sent to walk to find the Lab Exame.. and found that, despite everything being in the same area, literally with nothing else but medical care facilities, there was no signage. We found it eventually, and in it, a young labist who took down our information, and another labist, woman very evidently on cocaine looked over his shoulder. I was surprised that they gave me a card after paying the $R 175 that instructed me to see the results online. They literally used a big Q-Tip to get the culture - I don't even want to think about it!

The next morning I called the doctor who said it's staphylococcus - some sort of staph infection, and switched her antibiotics and cream. What a relief! Staph infections, though somewhat dangerous in unsanitary cold, damp conditions with weak immune systems, etc are hardly a big deal whatsoever and though she hadn't been getting better but worse for 5 days, she would quite quickly.
We switched hotels, and weren't yelled at for putting my laundry on the balcony, though I did lose a tanktop. They all spoke english in the very empty lobby and I could feel their curious eyes on me as I walked through each time... who's the young white girl by herself?

The new meds seem to have helped tremendously so far, and her slow healing was mostly due to her mis-diagnosis in Sao Paulo. Only 11 pills to go and she should be all set! A bit of a scare for nought, though there are med-resistant kinds of staph infections you can get in hospitals.

Next time you are in Brasilia, go to the top floor of the Mercure hotel, and enjoy the outdoor rooftop swimming pool and view! They wont check to see if you're a guest - promise.

Having spent more than enough money on sanitary conditions etc, we tried a family friend contact from Portland, Oregon and 2 hours later were being picked up from the hotel by a PHD trombonist and his Nature Conservancy working daughter and driving to the countryside to a marvelous house.... actually there were three houses and a swimming pool inside a locked gate. I had learned by this time, that you don't take off your shoes when you get to someone else's house.. that's actually a bit unsanitary and strange in peoples opinions. In Belo Horizonte they were teasing me for having taken off my shoes... I wonder if that custom and tradition of politeness occurs in countries based on the countries intensity of personal hygiene issues.

We had a wonderful light dinner, bread cheese fruit and coffee, and spoke to the couple and one of their granddaughters about traveling, trains, languages, different cultures and much more. It was delightful!
They warned us that once they went to bed and put on the alarm, we couldn't leave our rooms - a bit strange. So we lay there doing leg stretches above our heads with our restless bodies and experimenting with Tigerbalm, somehow managing to get some in our eyes and warming our tummies. I want to put tigerbalm in bodypaint - what a rush.

Our mid-day discussion with the mom today gave me a newfound respect for Olivia teaching violin in the favelas as I was made aware of the fact that they don't use ABCDEFG, but do re mi...etc. So not only a different language, but a different music theory framework.
At lunch we discussed many things - one being why Americans are so fat and I explained briefly that one reason, is that it is cheaper to eat unhealthy foods while in most other countries, its cheapest to healthy and its a luxury to eat otherwise.

We decided to make it to a conference and get back to my couchsurfing friends place in the city - it was just a bit remote out there though quite beautiful. Our hosts were quite surprised and concerned - wondering who we would stay with - a friend of a friend was my reply, aware it wasnt the right time to explain couchsurfing.. they were disappointed as they were planning evening activities without letting on. But we had to move on.

Next stop... a 5 hour drive to Uberlandia to meet some farmers who live outside of the city! What an adventure this will be.

And then some interviews in Brasilia, and back to the US. I know I will come back to Brazil, and during a time when I don't have internet research I have to do everyday which keeps me from gallivanting around playfully as I normally do travelling.

If you got this far - congratulations!
Hope all's well with everyone
Much love
Emma