2008 Family Vacation (2)

December 19

The thing that we worry most about this trip is either Uriah or Thea get sick. Sure enough, Uriah woke up with fever a couple days ago. He is still recovering from it. He was lethargic, clingy and seemed uncomfortable most of the time. He usually would still be an active kid even though he has fever. But this fever seems to be different, so we decided to bring him to the doctor. The doctor spent a minute and looked at his throat, and said “it seems to be virus”. He then gave prescription for antibiotic. I was confused, because as far as I know, we cannot treat virus with antibiotic. Plus, he doesn't even know for sure if it is virus or something else. But, I am no doctor either. We have no choice but to give him the medicine although we are a bit hesitated. If it was not because of how he reacted to the fever, I would not feed him the antibiotic. Not that we are doubting the doctor. But there have been many many cases in Indonesia where doctors gave prescription drugs with no apparent reason, or no strong reason. And doctors here do not educate their patients, either; they get offended if you ask too many questions. *sigh*. Anyway, that's a little note about the medical practice here in Indonesia. :)
As for now, we will continue to give Uriah the medicine, and hope that he won't get sick anymore the rest of the trip. Of course, Thea too.

December 20

Every time we visited Indonesia, we can't help but feel that the day seems very long here. The clocks here somehow tick a little slower. Maybe that is a good thing. :)

Oh! The other day, Basri, Uriah, Thea and I went on a little trip to the supermarket. Because Basri's brother was busy that afternoon, and we needed to get Uriah's diapers in the store, we went by ourselves on a “becak” (tricycle). It must have been a decade since the last time I was on one. We thought it would be fun for Uriah to ride on one, so we decided not to drive.. and instead, ride in “becak”. Boy, becak that we remembered was much larger. It was very tight even for two people. Uriah sat on Basri's lap, while I carried Thea. We couldn't even move and had to hold our breath (sort of :p). Either we have gotten wider over the years or the becaks have gotten smaller. :) Thank goodness the store is very close from the house. Not to mention, it was such a scary ride. In Indonesia, people do not follow traffic law. We can easily see three-way traffic on a two-way road. :) So riding on becak, we see motorcycles, cars coming and going from our right and left. Well, well, welcome to Indonesia. :)

December 23

We are leaving tomorrow to my hometown, Medan. I am very excited. For the first time, we will get to see my sister's chubby 6-month-old, Ayden. :) And it is the first time for most of them to see Thea, too.

p.s. Thea started to sneeze a lot this morning.. hope she is not getting sick.. :(