Real reasons for smiling

Today was the opposite of yesterday- a picture of great organization and satisfaction. This morning I met in the lobby with a group of other teachers to go get medical testing done. We were driven from the hotel to the medical office in a nicely air conditioned bus. Upon arrival we were all greeted and given numbers and then moved in succession from room to room as we went through the various tests. There were probably a few hundred of us doing the tests today, so it took about 4 hours total for the trip. I was impressed though, with how organized the whole thing was and how efficiently they were able to get us all through a visit to a nurse to get blood pressure, height and weight, then a doctor for a medical history and skin test (where they look at your skin to see if you have leprosy-SERIOUSLY!), then getting blood taken by a nurse, and finally a chest xray to check for TB. We were brought back to the hotel once we had all finished, and we will be notified of any issues within 48 hours. Good on Abu Dhabi for getting this whole process right!

A fun thing of note, was a sign I saw posted in the medical office. There are regular medical tests which take 48 hours and you come and pick them up (in our case, they are sent to our employer), then Rapid tests, which are done in 24 hours and can be emailed or called in to the patient, and then Deluxe tests. The deluxe ones were my very favourite because for a fee (it did not say how small or large) you can be picked up in a limosine, driven to have your tests done in a private facility, drop off at home in the limosine, and hand-delivered results on the same day. Find out you have leprosy in STYLE! That will be my new tagline for Abu Dhabi. I would love to know who goes for the Deluxe package.

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The next efficient thing I experienced today was hotel customer service. I had been noticing some unpleasant creepy crawlies in my room yesterday, so I let the front desk know and hoped they'd clean my room extra well or something. Just as I was about to lay down for a nap, my doorbell rang (yes, my hotel room has a doorbell) and there was a smiling hotel guy and an exterminator there. They wanted to spray my room to fix my bug problem. While this was great, I tried to explain to them that if they sprayed it, I wouldn't be able to use my room for about 24 hours. They smiled and nodded, clearly having no idea what I was talking about because they couldn't understand me. I called the front desk and explained and they told me to tell the guys to go back downstairs and that they would move me to another room. I felt a little bad telling them this, because the exterminator guy looked really sad. I think maybe he only gets paid if he sprays, and unfortunately he didn't seem to understand that he was still going to do it once I left. So I packed up my bags and a hotel guy (I keep calling them that, I don't really know what else to call him...) helped me bring my bags to my new room. On the way we saw a hotel lady and she seemed very concerned about my issue and was radioing her manager in the elevator. After I got to my new room, 3 different people called me including the hotel manager to make sure I was happy, and then a random hotel guy with a clipboard came to my door. I did feel like they took the issue very seriously and really wanted me to be happy, which was nice. (Even though I am not even paying for my room).

The best part about all of this is, I got a better view of the yacht club/racetrack and a King sized bed instead of two twins! Score!