Hoa drops us off at the local hospital which is about a half mile down the road. The main doors are locked and closed probably due to heat loss and instead we enter through a side door with a cloth tarp used to trap in the warm air. I start to notice that I'm getting really strange looks here. I don't think they see a lot of foreigners. The elevator call buttons don't seem to work and they have a special elevator just for patients. We end up waiting around 5 minutes for the elevator to arrive and are sardined into the elevator with around 15 other people. The attendant who works the elevator is making the motions that the elevator is unbalanced and that we can't leave until everyone scoots a bit to the left. At first I was thinking she was saying that there are too many people inside but later I figure out her request. We take the lift up to the 13th floor where Joanna's mother is currently residing and make our grand entrance. I try and put myself in Joanna's shoes for a few minutes. This is the first time I've seen her mother and while I know Joanna's been to visit her mother before I arrived, it feels like her first time to see her mother in over a year. Joanna's father is sitting in the chair next to mom's bed and rises as Joanna and I enter the room. Meet the parents. Joanna's mom doesn't look like she's doing very good, but I see a moment where she finally relaxes and her eyes light up with excitement to finally meet me. We exchange hellos translated through Joanna and the room is glowing with warmth. Joanna's mother is definitely a powerhouse of knowledge and energy and while it may be cold in the room, the atmosphere becomes warm and definitely friendly. Joanna and her mother start to obviously discuss me and I can only imagine what the conversation entails. Eventually I catch wind of a phrase that I am familiar with. Joanna's mom says as she gazes at me.. "Peyow Liong" which means "beautiful". It reinforces the comments that Joanna has translated in the past regarding me from her mother in which her mother suggested that I had (and this is a literal translation here) "tender meat". I am honored to be meeting her and it is wonderful to see her face to face. I don't think she ever imagined that I was serious when Joanna relayed the message that I would come to visit her in the past conversations over the phone - and here I am. I meet her nanny and her roommates that seem thrilled to meet me. We spend about two hours in the room getting to know each other and Joanna needs to go have a conversation with a doctor in the next building. We leave the room and head toward the elevator. We try pushing the elevator down buttons on all three elevators but nothing seems to work as all the elevators keep passing us by. Joanna mentions this was the case a few days before and we start to walk down 13 flights of stairs. This hospital is a bit disgusting. People are smoking in the stairway and they are constantly spitting on the floor. Not a place I want to have a kidney stone in for sure.
We make our way to ground level and Joanna walks across the front grounds over to the Radiology department and starts talking to a doctor. Joanna is not just an intellectual giant in English but probably twenty fold that in her mother tongue. I can tell by the way she interacts with the Doctor on duty. They start to converse a bit and the language is WAY over my head but I can read body language. The way she interacts with this doctor says that she understand everything he says and I think she's is actually digging a lot deeper than most people would for even more information as he points to her mother's cat scan film on his screen. I am astounded by the way she understand everything her is telling her about the anatomy from the xrays and mri film. I go outside for and buy a beverage from the local market just around the corner and sit down to enjoy my slightly sweetened tea I've purchased. I'm starting to get the eye from just about everyone in the plaza. I must look really really strange here. Joanna finally exits the radiology ward and we head to lunch with her Father and Hoa.
We pull up to a road side restaurant whose main emphasis is lamb soup. Its cold in here and the establishment has a lot of doors and hallways that open up to the outside. We are ushered upstairs to an eating room but the heater here doesn't work. We make our way back down to the main entrance downstairs and order some special dishes and enjoy a nice lunch complete with room temperature lamb and a fungus dish along with a vege dish including some peppers and a lamb soup. We order a beer I haven't had yet on this trip and the meal is very tasty.We depart and make our way back to the hospital for a few more hours. I hold Joanna's mom's hand a bit and the other ladies in the room (Joanna's mom's roommate and her daughter or nanny) start to make comments about me. Everyone starts laughing and I don't think I'll ever know why.
We say our goodbyes and Joanna and I catch a motorcycle taxi to a nearby restaurant that specializes in dumplings. We order three or four different kinds and start to enjoy the lovely meal. After dinner we catch another motorcycle taxi to the local lake.
It's dark now and Joanna finds it funny that I enjoy such rudimentary transportation - hey it's new to me! The lady taxi driver says that she'll wait around a bit for us but must take off if we don't return soon. Joanna agrees and we head out on foot. I start to snap a bunch of night photos of the lake including a beautiful pagoda and watch tower. It's cold but serene and beautiful here. I feel comfortable and at ease. As we walk the parameter of the lake we start to be followed by three young boys on inline rollerblades. Joanna asks them if it's time for them to go home as it's late and they respond with the question "Who is this guy? He looks like a celebrity!" Joanna laughs and informs them that I am not a celebrity but they insist on having their picture taken with me and want three copies of my autograph for memory's sake. I'm flattered but it's a bit strange. We snap a shot and I sign the paper they present me with and Joanna says to them that it's time they head home. They depart and we continue our walk around the lake. A few minutes later they pass us again and blurt out in Chinese, "We're heading home! Don't worry!" but it is obvious they want another look at me. Oh brother.
We finally find another motorcycle cab and head back to Joanna's home. Her dad isn't home as he's spending the majority of his evenings with Joanna's mom. Very sweet. I retire on the sofa with the dry heat emanating from the indoor heating unit and fall asleep exhausted.
