I was still sometimes having diarrhea (can anyone spell this without a spellchecker?) after I had come back to Germany so I figured that a trip to the institute of infectious and tropical diseases might be in order.

And while this was probably the most extensive examination that had ever been done on my blood or feces I was not exactly prepared for the bill I just received! I mean, compared to what something like this would cost in the States it's probably still dirt-cheap. But I thought this would be something along the lines of 100 Euros. Boy was I wrong! The total bill is 373.18 Euros! Ouch! And they didn't find anything. But that's alright since my stomach hasn't done anything it shouldn't do for a week so I suppose the bug is finally dead. Well, still better to be safe then sorry I suppose. And besides my insurance will have to pick up the bill anyhow.

There are two positions on the bill that I find particularly interesting. There is a footnote that two tests have been as expensive as they have been (83 and 53 Euros) since they involved "Special cultures and/or animal testing". Animal testing?!?!?! Boy!

Another thing I found interesting is that it seems like tehy didn't scan for HIV. I mean, the idea is that they test for all kinds of infectious diseases. And HIV certainly is that. Not that I would be worried about having gotten it. I was always careful. I just find it interesting that it doesn't show up on the results.