Ashley's Arabian Adventure

A couple of weeks ago I decided I should go ahead and get LASEK since it's so much cheaper here than in America. I had the surgery today and everything went well, but I experienced a lot of Arab-ness along the way.

When we discussed prices it turned into a negotiation. Silly me, I figured this was one of those things that had a pretty set price. Then we discussed what I would need to do for the surgery. The doctor told me over and over that I would not be able to do my eyebrows for a while so I needed to go have them done the day before surgery. Apparently eyebrows are serious business around here. For my checkup appointment right before surgery she told me to come in after lunch. What time is that exactly?

Today was full of even more Arab culture experiences. The doctor told me to be there at 8:15 and was pretty insistent that I be on time. I was even early. That was dumb. I waited for her for a while. As the waiting room kept filling up, it was like a game of musical chairs to make sure a woman didn't have to sit next a man she didn't know. Definitely cultural. When we finally went back, she was the only one with good English and she wasn't really around. The nurses were telling me to do things in Arabic and I was pretty much guessing about what was going on. Then when it came time to pay, it went down like a shady drug deal. I went in this tiny room with one of the murses and he took the money and scurried away. I was later asked if I would like a Valium. Um, sure. It ended up making me sick and I passed out after the first eye. But when I came to, I was answering in Arabic. Holla!