Back to the Future

Hi Everyone! Today I had to do a fairly normal thing but I had Alfred's mom with me and, just for a moment, I was able to see through her eyes. It looked a little strange so I decided you might find it interesting. So here's my attempt to make a very short story, long.
The other day I was out on a boat tour of the sittee river. Because I was going to be in the boat and bugs aren't usually a problem out on the water, I didn't 'spray down'. What I didn't realize was that it is doctor fly season. I should have known because one of the suckers got me a couple of weeks ago. I deluded myself into thinking it was just a one time experience. Not so. Another one got me in the boat. A doctor fly is about the same size and shape as a smallish house fly but it is yellow. They bite. They are sneaky about it, though, and they don't hurt at all. After the bite, however, you get the joy of reacting. Now the daughter that isn't my favorite when it comes to this is Brynn. She gets bit and a small red dot appears. I get bit, on the other hand, and ... well ... this happens:

You might notice that my right foot looks like it needs to go on a big time diet. It doesn't hurt but the amount of itch is directly proportional to the amount of swell. The only thing I can do is ice it to death. I ice it at regular intervals all day and all night. Notice it doesn't seem to help the swelling. (or if it does, I don't want to know what it would look like without the ice!) Can everyone hear my Mom yelling 'take Benedryl!' at the computer. Good plan except I don't have any. Here's where the whole 'normal for me, maybe not for you' part comes in.

Today I am in Dangriga and I stop in at the pharmacy to buy antihistamine for my bite. (yes, in case you thought I was attacked by a heard of doctor flies, it is just one bite) I walk into the pharmacy. Pharmacies here are very small stores consisting of one room edged on three sides by glass counters with items shelved behind them. I hope you get the idea. If not, go to the western development museum and check out the pharmacy. Change all wood to chrome and shrink it by about 2/3. Two or three guys work behind the counter and customers just position themselves in an empty spot by the counter. Soon one of the 'pharmacists' comes over and asks what I need. I tell him contact lens solution and Benedryl. He hands me the contact solution (there is no choice involved, you take what he has) then reaches for the cough syrup. I say: no, do you have the pills? Oh for allergy, yes. He goes to another end of the store and brings back a huge bottle of pills. '25 cents' he says and looks at me expectantly. No it is not 25 cents for the big bottle, it is 25 cents a pill. I tell him '20, please' and he proceeds to count out 20 pills on one of those pill counter things and then pours them into a small ziplock baggie. On the baggie he carefully prints the name of the pills - not benedryl, but 'diphenhydramine tab. 25mg' and hands it to me. It is my job to know how many of these I can/should take and to know if the big d word is actually benedryl. This is how all pills are dispenced. Even prescriptions. You pay by the pill and have to remember the dosage. It's like being back in the 1800's - with a modern twist.