Why would you want Malaria?

"Why would you want Malaria?" the US customs agent asked us as we drove back into the US from Canada. We explained that we in fact did NOT want malaria, which is why we drove across the border to buy cheap prescription malarone (an expensive malaria-prevention drug).

Our day began heading to Windsor, Ontario, Canada in search of cheap prescription drugs. If bus loads of senior citizens could do it, so could we. Unsure of the legality of it all, we figured we only had time to lose. Entry into Canada was easy enough (even if the border patrol asked if Jeremy always spoke for me :) Our first stop was Shopper's Drug Mart. No luck. They said the doctor must be licensed to operate in Ontario.

Our second stop was Southbridge Drug Store, a small pharmacy located in a medical strip mall. The friendly Chinese man at the counter eagerly took our prescriptions and quickly engaged us in conversation regarding the Natural History Museum located on the University of Michigan's campus, where his children enjoyed perusing the dinosaur bones. Within a matter of minutes he had us signing a document saying their doctor could co-sign for the prescription (thereby allowing us to legally obtain the prescription in Canada). In less time than it takes to get a prescription filled in the US, we had our bottles of malaria medication and were paying 1/5 of the US price. We were all set, and it only took 30 minutes of being in Canada....or so we thought...

Startled by the ridiculously low price, I compared the active ingredients of our prescription with what was given to us - and it did not match. Confronting our friendly pharmacist, he apologized for the mistake, and quickly began correcting it. Unfortunately, we needed a total of 80 malarone pills - and they only had 24 in stock. Able to order more, he would not have the additional amount until 4:30pm. It was 11:30am.

Forced to spend the entire day in Windsor, we were determined to be productive. If you have never been to Windsor, don't bother. I am from Michigan, and with Windsor just across the border, both those in Canada and Michigan don't believe Windsor is anything to brag about it - it's like a poor man's Detroit. There are a lot of motels/hotels, tire stores, drug stores, doctors' offices, and that's about it.

We stopped at a Columbia outlet store. Jeremy struggled with his crunchiness...next for him, a Jerry Garcia t-shirt and hacky-sack. Going to some very hot places, it made sense for him to purchase a pair of sandals, much to his dismay. From there we explored Windsor's "China-town" block for lunch. Only three more hours left to kill....

After lunch, the most awful thing happened...we entered a Wal-Mart. For those who don't know, I'm headed to Target to work at their headquarters, and combined with my general dislike of the retail chain, I felt blasphemous entering the retailer. But we were given few options (damn you Windsor!). After purchasing an outlet adapter kit, we sat in the car for 1/2 an hour. Only 2 more hours....

We wandered around Windsor, went to a Tim Horton's, and finally back to our pharmacy. The pills came, and we saved about $50 (was it worth the day in Windsor?). Finally, back to the good ol' US of A. Declaring our prescriptions at the border, we encountered little resistance, much to our relief.

Armed with our malaria meds, we are all set with pills - we just hope they do the job so we can enjoy the trip...