Tramites ...again

You may recall that the spanish word ´tramite´ causes headaches for us.
It is hard to explain in English, but its the painful process and paperwork one must hurdle to survive (ha ha).
Let me give you our most recent example....

Jacob´s class has an excursion  planned in November to a neighbouring town for the day.
Along with parental permission and the payment for the bus, this time the school requires from every child a medical certificate to confirm full health before travelling.  And no ordinary medical certificate, but a full examination including heart monitoring with electrodes.

 No, the children will not be doing any extreme sports on this day trip.
In fact they will not be doing any particularly taxing physical exercise.
They will spend a lot of their day inside a bus.

We are baffled.
As it is, every child was sent for extensive medical examinations prior to starting classes in February.
The school has these records.
And the recent 2 day camp, which DID involve physical exertion, did NOT require an extra certificate.

So what has changed?
Is a government department reacting strongly against a legal claim by a student who became unwell on a school excursion?
Or is this another way of employing many of the underemployed doctors in Cordoba?

We don´t know the answer. But we were frustrated with the implications:
i)      fork out more than the original cost of the excursion, to pay for a private doctor´s signature,   or
ii)     stand in queues all day in a public health clinic to get a doctor´s signature,  or
iii)     find a doctor friend to sign away!

In the end, God dealt with the issue in an amusing way.

Unlike many middle class Argentines, we do not have complete health insurance, but we do have coverage that includes cost-free home visits from a paediatrician. Amusingly, this doctor is not equipped to perform full medical examinations required by the education department. On Friday evening we were surprised by a random visit from this doctor in our home.

´I haven´t seen your children for a long time,´ she said. ´I have come by to give them a medical check.  Have you been seeing a different doctor?´ she asked.

´No,´ I replied, ´they just don´t get sick very often.´ (... and thinking, ´and I don´t believe in doctor´s visits for every sniffle, as my neighbours are apt to do ...´)

She was very thorough. And no doubt visiting us because she was being paid per patient and was having a quiet night ...
After being poked and prodded, Jacob quietly asked, ´Mummy, do you think the doctor could sign my excursion note?´
Generally the answer has been no to this request in the past, but prompted by Jacob´s gentle request, she was happy to stamp and sign his permission note.

What a relief!