Acupuncture in the land of the Magyars

Since we have been here, I have not slept through the night once.

 I mentioned to one of the English speaking teachers at school that I was not sleeping.  She is a vegetarian and seems tuned into her health, so I quizzed her about her health care preferences.  Turns out that she goes to an acupuncturist whom she feels has changed her life.  He is Chinese and speaks no english  (only Hungarian) and is a professor here in Budapest. According to her, he has helped her manage with what sounds like some major intestinal issues. That is what I was able to infer from our conversation. I am never totally confident in my ability to communicate with the Hungarians because even the teachers speak only passable english.

She called and made me an appointment and offered to take me to it.  That would have meant that the school would have to substitute for my classes and hers.  They don't have a sub pool like in the states, the staff just covers for each other.  So I told her that I was sure that I could find it on my own.
The day of the appointment,  I traveled into Budapest by tram/subway armed with the map and an address.  The challenge in Budapest is that with every takeover they change the names of some of the streets.  Instead of taking down the old plaque, they just put another one above it.  Sometimes you see buildings with 3 different street names attached to the walls. Luckily, I did find it.  It was in one of those old buildings in Europe where you have to be buzzed in.  Well, Gobi had neglected to tell me that part.  I scanned the list of Hungarian names by the bell and found one that said "Wang" (well that certainly isn't a Hungarian name) so I decided it was the most likely and buzzed #I 11.  Sure enough, I could now push the door open.  Thankfully, once I entered the courtyard there were signs for the business and I entered.  The first thing I encountered was a rack full of sandals.  Okay, so I was supposed to take off my shoes.  I replaced them with sandals and walked to the receptionist, an elderly Hungarian lady.  When I spoke to her in english, she got an expression of understanding and got up to go into the other room.  Out came a younger man who was dressed in white (an assistant I supposed) and spoke to me in english with a Hungarian accent.  The receptionist handed him a form in Hungarian, of course and he started to ask me the usual questions about name, birthday, etc.  Then it got to the part of the form where you list your complaints.  I told him that I was waking up several times during the night and as soon as I did, I would have to get up to empty my bladder.  At that point he got this puzzled expression that I have come to recognize and he announces to the room full of patients and the receptionist something in Hungarian.  One of the patients spoke to him.  Then he turned to me and said, "I wasn't sure what you meant by bladder".  Great!  Now the entire room knows why I am there!  So much for confidentiality!

After about 1/2 and hour, they came for me and Zolton (I had to ask him his name) took me back to a curtained off area to see the doctor and acted as a translator.  There were about 6 little  sterling timers on the desk.  They were all a different design. As the two of them were talking about me, I spent the time puzzling as to the purpose of these little timers. Through the translator Dr. Wang tells me that my tongue is coated white, my pulses are weak and my kidney yin is low.  He told me that I needed 10 sessions and asked if I would like to start that day. I responded YES, so they put me in a bed behind on of the curtains and Dr. Wang did some points on my feet, legs, abdominal, the exterior part of my palm and my all time favorite, the 3rd eye point and left me for 30 min.   While I was laying there, I figured out the reason for the timers.  There were a bunch of curtained off areas in this big room and each one had a patient in it.  The timers were to indicate when each patient's needles were ready to come out.

Zolton helped me make the next two appointments and I changed my shoes to leave.  Okay,  down the steps to the courtyard, hang a right, down some more steps, yes, I found the exit! But the doors are locked and I can't figure out how to get out of the building!  Great, so I retrace my steps, have to get buzzed back in to the office and pantomime that I don't know how to get out of the building.  One of the other patients takes me to the front door and shows me the buzzer to release the front door.  Whew!  This really is a metaphor for living in this country, nothing is easy!  The good news is I left feeling clear headed and rested for the first time in months.