ON VISITING OUR LOCAL ITALIAN HOSPITAL
Today's adventure:going to the hospital for an ortopanoramica. Doesn't that sound dramatic? Well it does involve a gizmo that takes a theatre-in-the-round-style X-ray of the teeth to show what's left of them, and to predict the location of the next dental disaster sure to come my way. Despite all the sacrifices I have made to the gods of dentistry, they still refuse to smile on me. This was my first hospital visit, and as with all things Italian, a learning curve is to be expected, not to mention a whole exotic vocabulary that you need to know. When your Italian dentist tells you that you need an ortopanoramica, it also means that you will need to see your dottore di famiglia, the doctor to whom you have been assigned, but whose office location and hours have changed without you being any the wiser. Once found, the doctor will give you a signed richiesta rossa, the magic slip that you will take to the farmacia who will make your appuntamento at the...