More Adventures in Spanish Medicine

I went to the doctor's last week and was directed down the hall to the waiting room. When I walked in, there were about six or seven people already sitting in the small room, male and female, most of them older. As I sat down, I felt a little uncomfortable, as if they were all looking at me expectantly. I couldn't figure out why until the next patient walked in. "Buenos dias," he said, as he took a chair. "Buenos dias," they all replied in unison. Same chorus with the next patient, and the next. Apparently I am the only one who doesn't know waiting room etiquette.

After I had to get in a taxi to go for a blood test (these are almost always done in separate labs, far from your doctor's office). "You haven't eaten anything, right?" asked the technician who took my blood. When I told her that no, I hadn't, she handed me a voucher for breakfast at the corner bar. Because no one should suffer the hardship of going more than a few hours without food in Spain.