Hospital Visit: CHECK

So I can check visiting a hospital in Qatar off my list of things to do here... I woke up two days ago with the most killer pain in my neck. I could hardly function because I was constantly in pain (note: I have a rather high threshold for pain). I have no idea what I did to cause such agony. I suffered through Tuesday thinking it would subside by Wednesday, but it only got worse and my right arm started to feel sort of numb. So I went to Hamad Hospital to figure out what the hell was going on and get some pain meds. Hamad is the big main hospital in Doha...and a bit of a mess and thus I had quite the experience. First of all, Hamad has separate entrances for each gender (but inside there is a good amount of mixing so it sort of defeats the purpose...) and all the staff (except for the docs) appear to be from Kerala (where I went in India) or the Phillipines with the female staff in bright pink scrubs and the male staff in blue scrubs. Then there was the constant playing of the Backstreet Boys as background music in the waiting area (what year is this again?) and language barrier between myself and nearly everyone else. I also noticed that Qataris tended to want preference over everyone else waiting for care (some succeeded, but others did not). However, it was with the help of a Qatari woman that I finally got help. Somehow I was skipped (you are given a number) and this woman realized this and insisted that I be helped at once. It was extremely kind of her to let me go in front of her daughter. The doctor (wearing not just a hijab, but niqab as well) asked me what was wrong (I thought it was a pinched nerve), poked and prodded around, decided I needed a shot in my ass for the pain and then sent me to get some tests done. The x-rays and such were done in another area of the hospital, not far from the emergency area, where I saw a couple workers brought into the hospital in bad shape from injuries they likely received on labor sites. I had a feeling bad accidents were rather common at labor sites, but to see the result in person was a reality check. Anyway, the tests were run (note: it humors me that instead of asking if you are pregnant, they ask you if you are married because I guess they believe only married women get pregnant...)and their best guess is that I have a pinched nerve in my neck and some muscle spasms going on. Awesome... But I should heal in a few days. So they gave me a sexy neck brace to wear at home (not gonna wear it...) as well as some pain meds and some sort of cream to rub on my neck (the cream is made in Saudi and its tube has a horse on it... SEE PHOTO BELOW). And the whole cultural experience, because that is what it was, cost me 4 QR (just a little over $1). I had to have the cashier guy repeat it a good four times because I thought I was not hearing him correctly (him: 4 please. me: 4? him: 4. me: 4 riyals? him: 4. me: 4, not 4-0? him: 4. me: 4, like less than 5? him: 4...). So hopefully I will heal soon because it is a major pain in the neck (pun intended) and I have plans. And just further evidence that I am getting old. Boo...